My return to Quebec

The return…

My arrival in Montreal.

 

September 7 – Campbelton to Sainte-Florence : 75 km
Back in Quebec…  After a salutary stop with my family.  A family that was kind enough to take me to Campbelton to spare my tired legs despite a nice break with them.
It’s clear that the end of my trip is approaching as Quebec is getting closer and my body is feeling it!  It seems that it is more and more difficult to ride, to move forward, to get closer to the end of an adventure that I don’t want to leave even if my body and my head ask for it…
Luckily the Matapedia valley charms me.  I stop in a wonderful place to cook on a wood fire and feel the pride of having become the woman I always wanted to be!  I am happy and proud of how far I have come!

Retrouver la Nature du Québec avec la vallée de la Matapédia.
How about a nice campfire to warm me up!
Bike path along the Matapedia River.

September 8 – Sainte-Florence to Amqui : 32 km
Despite the beauty of the place, I feel exhausted…  I’m sick, I have a sore throat that forces me to stop for two nights in a nice inn in Amqui, in order to get well and continue my journey towards the grand finale of this wonderful trip.

You have to eat to cross the valley.

Local gastronomy, why not!

September 10 – Amqui to Sainte-Flavie : 84 km
Strange departure from Amqui in the wrong direction!
I definitely feel a resistance towards this return to Montreal.
I have to get used to my return to civilization and to the Quebec I know so well.

Sunset on the western side of the Matapedia Valley.
Typical Quebec hills.
A first night near the St-Laurent river.
Sainte-Flavie and route 132.

September 11 to 14 : 233 km
From Sainte-Flavie to Rimouski > Trois-Pistoles > Kamouraska / Saint-Pascal > Saint-Jean-Port-Joli

The road continues… with a good headwind that exasperates me!
Despite everything, I’m on the edge of the river and I get drunk on the beauty of the landscapes and on these beers from microbreweries and generous in alcohol… To this are added beautiful meetings and a beautiful evening in a field to finally fall asleep under the stars!
More or less well recovered from a fresh night, I fall asleep near a grocery shop…
But Providence provides for my great fatigue and I am offered a ride to Grondines past Quebec City.
That’s it!  I am on the north shore of the river.  My home is getting closer and closer…

September 15 – Grondines to Louiseville : 97 km
Second to last night before returning to Montreal…  I’m panicking… it’s the end!
I am proud and happy with myself.  But the fear of returning to this life that is not my ideal scares me.

September 16 – Louiseville to Repentigny : 77 km
I’m riding on the Chemin du Roy, I’m tired… my thighs are burning… there are only a few kilometres left before I get to Montreal… but they seem endless.  I find myself in the suburbs, I have to sleep in a motel…  Phew!  The place is very mediocre…  I sleep with difficulty, because the smell and the dilapidation bother me.  I feel very far from my nights under the tent swept by the sea winds…

17 September – from Repentigny to my home, Montreal
It’s over, I’m crying.  But I am also excited.
My friends and my mother are waiting for me impatiently and I can’t wait to see them…  They will be there…


My arrival!

I am coming.  They are here!  I am back.

(see my arrival in video)


Epilogue

It’s not over yet…

You still have a few days to make a donation via my GoFundMe page.
And I’ll soon be giving all these beautiful pennies to the Répit-Jeunesse organization.
Thank you to all those who did it and to those who will do it again.

Women’s food

Repas au restaurant La Batture

Feeding myself

It’s 9pm, I don’t know where I’m going to camp tonight…

After 120km of flats, climbs and descents on my own, I arrived in a beautiful tourist town on the river called Baie-Saint-Paul and I am recognizing the need to take care of myself…

Food is a must…
Here! A good restaurant calls out to me. And it’s called ‘La Batture’ !
Why not !  I feel like feeding myself with a bit of luxury !
To celebrate my solitary moment of physical overcoming by embracing this opportunity of western culinary richness !
As I don’t know where I will pitch my tent tonight and as I leave this restaurant I will be homeless, alone and vulnerable in the dark of this late June night, I fully savour this moment when, seated at a table, I feel secure, proud and female !

I thus begin what I could consider the second part of my journey. After a break in the Montreal area, a visit to Victoriaville at Répit-Jeunesse and finally some time in the beautiful Quebec City area, I am now climbing other beautiful mountains, those of Charlevoix. The presence of the water of the St. Lawrence River nourishes me in a different way than the absence of the Plains. And I hope to go back to the source of this road…

Thank you for continuing to follow me!

Tonight I’m getting a $200 room !
I slept in a city park… Haha ! it’s still crazy life !