Pedalling through History: Day 69 - Leclerclville to Quebec City - And Then We Pedalled...... Cross Canada 2015

August 10, 2015

Pedalling through History: Day 69 - Leclerclville to Quebec City

Every rule has an exception, and the exception to the "avoid big cities when cycle touring" rule is Quebec City. In fact, I think I should make a new rule (or law) that states that at some point every cycle tourer must bike into Quebec City (this could also be a bit of an antidote to our current federal dictatorships' penchant for trying to tell Canadians where they must not go)

Another great and short day of biking through 16th and 17th century villages on the south bank of the St Lawrence on Route Vert 3 and then crossing into Quebec City across the famous Quebec Bridge (more on this later).

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Quebec City has to be one of the most, if not the most, bike accessable large city we've ever cycled into (ranks right up there with The Hauge and Düsseldorf). Ride along route 3 through rural settings, cross the St Lawrence and immediately access a very well maintained, signposted and used bike path system right into the heart of the city.

We arrived just after noon and spent the rest of the beautiful day and night exploring and eating our way around. Rest day today, with fairly heavy rain so it will likely be inside sight seeing (museum of civilization maybe).

Will write more and upload pics later. Off to explore now.

Quebec City is full of beautiful things. Many are big and obvious, but some are small and go unnoticed. Is this an old cannonball that is being consumed by this tree in Vieux Quebec?

Morning light over the bay at Levlerclville

We got an early start hoping to avoid the headwind which seems to start mid day. The wind also got up earlier so we were still biking into a pretty good headwind all day. We knew we had a short day and the scenery was great so a bit of a headwind was no bother at all. We cycled through classic Quebec villages dominated by their church's dotting both sides of the river. St Croix, St Antoine, St Nicolas (spot a pattern here?) and then before we knew it we were approaching Quebec.

Morning light on the church in Lotbinere

.... And the Church in St Croix. This is the new one with construction finished in 1886

Roadside snack in Levi's just before Quebec CityApples and the Quebec classic, cheese curds. You can here them squeak while you chew!

This is one of the oldest cities in North America with some of the original buildings from the very early 1600's still standing. The buildings and architecture may be old but the people and the culture are artistically and socially progressive. The past is preserved and celebrated, but not ossified. This makes this a very exciting place to be. It also helped that the weather was fantastic.

For most people the historic buildings around the citadel stand out, and they are wonderful, but for me one of my big highlights was just as we entered the city.

Nerd warning here.

There are two bridges over the St Lawrence west of the city. The new Pierre Laporte Bridge that takes the majority of the traffic and the Quebec Bridge, competed in 1908. This bridge features in the mythology of every Canadian Engineer.

When the bridge was being built it collapsed, killing 75 workers. Investigation of the disaster determined that the cause of the collapse was inadequate engineering and design. This was one of the catalysts for the Engineering Institure of Canada to create standards of ethics for graduating engineers, symbolized by an iron (or stainless steel) ring worn on the pinkie finger of your working hand. Common foklore also has it that the original rings were sourced from a beam from the collapsed bridge, although this is probably not true. Notwithstanding where the metal comes from, this bridge features in the mind of every Canadian engineer who wears an iron ring. And I was just about to cycle over it, with clear conscious that it would not collapse.

Touching the Quebec Bridge ..... Completed in 1908 after a disastrous collapse that killed 75 people.... This was a catalyst for the creation of the modern Engineering Profession in Canada

Me and the Quebec Bridge. Photo taken from a beautiful pier built out into the St Lawrence adjacent to the pedestrian and cycle paths that lead all the way along the river to the heart of the city. Fabulous place to ride, and hundreds of other happy people were thinking the same thing on this Monday afternoon

Bridge crossed, we were now on the outskirts of Quebec City. As I said at the start, this is one of the most bike accessible cities we have ever ridden into. The bike path off the bridge leads onto an extremely well laid out park and pedestrian & cycle path network along the river. Very interesting and beautiful art installations including a humidor zone, essentially a cooling mist you ride through, great on a hot day!

About half way along the path we came to what we both thought was a pretty cool art installation. A series of stylized metal horses running along the river. Turns out it was a gift from Calgary to Quebec to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the city. No wonder we liked it!

The running horses ..... A gift from Calgary to Quebec City

We were at our Route Verte recommended hotel in no time, virtually all of our travel on dedicated bike paths. Checked in, cleaned up, tent set up in the room to dry out! and then off to explore the old city. This is a truly beautiful city, which means we were sharing it with a lot of other tourists, even on a Monday. No worries, there's enough room for everyone.

I'll let the pics do the rest of the talking save to say we had a lovely afternoon, a fantastic dinner at La Pain Beni and then we took in some of the incredible street entertainment along the boardwalk.

To those who don't know, Guy Lalliberte grew Cirque du Soleil out of street busquing on these same locations. That traditions lives on with really talented and ambitious folks providing enlivened and enlightened entertainment. When you see stuff like this please support it with your own enthusiasm, and if you've got it, your money too. These guys probably burn as many calories as cycle tourers do.

Some of the detail on the Calgary horses. Pretty cool IMO

This is what most people come to Quebec City for, can't blame them!

And some come for this.... Historic sites and great real people providing real talent and entertainment and only putting out their hat in hope of compensation

Everywhere you look there are stunning things to see in Quebec City

Great sweeping vista's..... The ferries plying their trade between QC and Levi ...

... And the small touches of beautiful geraniums on old stone buildings

Sculpture recognizing the work of the Order of Grey Nuns ...

"The Riverman" a scultpture commemorating the raft drivers who moved the log rafts and broke up jams on the rivers of Quebec. This is part of the beauty of QC. This beautiful sculpture is tucked into a small space between two buildings on a main street. Very easy to walk right past. This city encourages you to take your time and just look around, and then talk to people. Good things usually happen as a result

Song of the Day:

Dance Me to the End of Love ... A Leonard Cohen Classic covered by Madeleine Peyroux

Leonard is a Quebec Icon, or maybe more correctly a Montreal Icon. We didn't go through Montreal so I'll pay my respects to him while in QC. This version also seems to fit with the vibe of QC, you can almost envision someone playing "a burning violin" here. In classic Cohen style, he's created something beautiful out of something horrific. His inspiration for this song came from irony of holocoust victims being pressed into service in string quartets while their cohorts were being killed and burnt, with the music being a metaphor for the belief in passion and love, something their persecutors failed to embrace. Anyway, Quebec City certainly seems to embrace passion and the love of life.

Historic monument of the day:

There's so much to choose from, too much in fact. But I've got to go with what's close to me and that's the Quebec bridge and its iconic stature in Canada's engineering profession.

Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 6,333 km (3,933 miles)

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