Day 130 Montreal, Quebec to Plattsburgh, New York

September 7, 2011

< We woke up reasonably early and got the bikes ready to go.

In Josh and Sabrina's back yard, the bikes are ready to go.

We were able to say goodbye to downstairs friend Jenn and neighbour Gael, and then had one last peek at the still sleeping Amelia. What a good baby!

Up on the Jacques Cartier bridge I was more worried this time about the other cyclists than about the height. For some people, even a little bit of power is too much to handle responsibly. That applies to putting someone behind not only a small car engine but even to putting them on the downside of a tall bridge on a bike. Cyclists came whipping down the thing at a totally unsafe speed, given the narrow space.

Clearances are tight, a collision here would be ugly.

In the maze of Longueuil on the other side of the bridge, Dodie's carefully prepared cue sheet paid off, and we escaped without wasting a lot of time lost.

We retraced our route to St. Jean sur Richelieu along the lovely Chambly Canal path.

This lady asked the UQs in French and then guided us through the final hoops to head for the US border

Our route south is quite simple. We are following the Richelieu River back up into Lake Champlain, and then we will travel along the shore of the lake before striking off a bit West to Schenectady. At Ile aux Noix, still on the Richelieu, there are a large number of dealers for large fibreglass yachts. There was one other thing too, an ice cream and candy store that had gone beyond the ordinary in decorating with collected toys and kitch:

Tresors de L'Ile - a fancy ice cream and candy shop at Ile Aux Noix on the Richelieu River

More neat stuff at the ice cream/candy shop

The level road took us nicely to the US border, where the Rouses Point crossing is open 24/7. We got a friendly welcome from the border guards. One told us that his house had been flooded out by hurricane Irene.

They seem to have bike routes too. We will check this out a bit more carefully.

We were that close to another state : Vermont

At least one reminder of hurricane Irene

The arhitecture here is much different from Quebec. This one seems very New England

It's an area of apple orchards and dairy farms

Just outside Plattsburgh we found a farm store that had top quality baking. What was not top quality was the very rude girl behind the counter. She ignored us for a long time and then without leaving the sink where she was washing some pans asked us if we wanted something. Well, duh. Why am I standing at the counter? I called over that she would have to turn off the water and come over to hear and handle my request. She was not pleased.

Outside Plattsburgh, a good bakery with a rude girl behind the counter

The next New Yorker not too eager to make a sale was the lady at the Rip Van Winkle motel. She had a take it or leave it attitude for her run down motel. Since we had gotten soaked in a couple of hours of earlier rain, and since it was getting dark, we took it.

Our fleabag motel in Plattsburg. The GPS said it was taking us to a Super 8.

The lady would not negotiate on price, and was oblivious to suggestions the place could use a little repair.

Actually, the bed turned out to be comfy, and as you can infer since you are reading this, the wifi worked too.

We traveled further than we figured today, and really enjoyed the Richelieu and the farms and towns so far by Lake Champlain. The road has a good shoulder too. We are off to a good start as we claw our way back to the Coast!

Today's ride: 119 km (74 miles)
Total: 7,110 km (4,415 miles)

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