Finalement, nous avons arrivé dans la belle province! Ontario seemed to last forever, or at least for half our trip, so we were definitely ready to move on today. We finished the last twenty kilometres of Ontario on the St. Lawrence Recreation Trail, which had resumed as a paved shoulder beyond Cornwall. Our favorite thing about this route is that someone has taken to it with spray paint to draw navigation arrows, bump warnings, and encouraging expressions like, "you are great", or "ice cream 2km." These markings are helpful and uplifting but we are left to wonder who this bike path guardian might be. If you're out there bike path painter, we thank you!
We were delighted to experience the care and diligence Ontario's St. Lawrence Region has directed toward providing safe and accessible bicycle pathways but Quebec has taken us into another realm. The entire province is coated in a vast network of designated bike paths called the "Route Verte." The trails zigzag across the extensive system so unfortunately we will not be able to ride the trails all the way through Quebec but we have already had a taste of their splendor. From the moment we hit the provincial border we were greeted by Route Verte #5, on which we rode for more than 30km on a cyclist and pedestrian only roadway. When the trail cuts back to traffic, it is light and on the other side of a paved shoulder. We've already seen people of all ages and skill levels on the route verte, the protected trails are a wonderful and effective way to make cycling accessible as part of everyday life for all kinds of people and purposes.
As has been our tradition when crossing provincial borders, today we have updated calculations on our granola tally and the results may be a little disturbing. By the time we finished the last inch of Ontario, we had collaboratively eaten 483 granola bars and 17kg of loose granola.
Tonight we have a less gluttonous treat through a hotel stay sponsored by the West Island Cardiac Rehab Program. After nearly 70 days of living primarily outdoors, we very dearly appreciate the indoor space and comfortable bed. Tomorrow we'll have the chance to visit the Cardiac Rehab site here in Pointe Claire before we head into downtown Montreal.
Is it too late to ask Nature's Harvest to sponsor you for, oh, say, $1 a bar?
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