Veloroute des Bleuets; Biking the Trail of the Blueberry-Day 1-Alma to Chambord, Quebec

The Trail of the Blueberry began for us about 4 weeks ago when we decided we needed another Canada bike trip. We had enjoyed last summer’s trip on L’Petit Train du Nord so much, that we were looking for a repeat adventure.
This time though, because we had a much shorter amount of time to plan, we decided to go with a company that would make our lodging arragements and transfer our luggage each day to that night’s destination. We worked with a local company in Alma, Quebec, Equinox Aventure. There were a few options in itineraries. We opted for a 5-day trip on the bikes, averaging about 32 miles a day, so that we’d be able to take in all of the beauty and I’d be able to take a bunch of pictures!
We broke our drive to Alma into 3 days, so that we would have time to explore the area just a bit and have a nice dinner before hitting the trail this morning. Alma is a small town on the shores of Lac Saint-Jean and we did a good bit of exploring the night before our ride, walking the pedestrian trail over the river before we enjoyed dinner at an outdoor cafe.

We stayed in a cute little hotel, La Maison du Matelot (just 5 rooms) on the shore of one of the rivers that flows from the huge lake that we’d be biking around. Our room was tiny, with just enough room to move around the bed to get to the bathroom, but squeaky clean and as cute as could be. We had access to a back deck overlooking the water. The room included a hearty breakfast served in the dining room, so we were well fueled and ready to hit the trail.

We were to report to Equinox Aventure at 9:00 am to receive an orientation. We arrived a little early, but they were ready for us. They took our bags and placed them in the back of a van they used to transport all the luggage for all the bikers staying at various hotels, motels, and inns. We received a one on one orientation going over each day of our trip, the distance we would ride, where we would stay each night and detailed route maps. They also had recommendations for places to eat, places to get water, and things to see along the route.

Veloroute des Bleuets (Bike route or Trail of the Blueberry) is a 256 kilometer (159 mile) bicycle path around Lac (lake) Saint-Jean. Lac Saint-Jean is huge! It looks like an ocean because it is so big, you cannot see the opposite shore in many places. It covers an area of 407 square miles and is 207 feet deep at its deepest point. It’s considered a shallow lake and is in actuality an inland sea.
The early part of our ride took us away from Alma and along country roads and dedicated bike trails. The day was mild and overcast, with temperatures in the low 80s with low humidity, a welcome break from the high 90s and high humidity we have experienced in Kentucky. We knew some of the route traveled along “shared shoulders” as they refer to travel alongside cars on the road, and some on bike-only trail sections. Still, we were surprised at how much of our first day was on roadways (at least 50%). We’ve always avoided bike travel on roads, but realized that the country roads we were on had very little if any traffic. The only sections that were busier were the short sections that connected small towns, but even then, the folks in cars gave us a wide berth and it was apparent they were accustomed to sharing the road with bikers. Some of the route was through agriculture areas with fields of row crops such as beans, wheat, and buckwheat. Other sections took us through pine forest and wild areas with a profusion of wildflowers in bloom.

We rode through several small towns and stopped for lunch in Metabetchouan-Lac-A-La-Croix (that’s a mouth full when you don’t speak French!) at one of the places Equinox had recommended, Restaurant Coco Rico. Neither of us speak French, so we’ve had to rely on the kindness of the Quebec residents and Google translate. We have never failed to find some way to communicate. There are nice people everywhere, and we’ve found lots of them already in Quebec. When the people we’ve encountered learn we don’t speak French, they’ve switched to broken English, or gone to get someone who can speak English to help us. Each time we stopped along the trail today to look at our map, someone would stop alongside us and ask us a question in French. Our one-word reply in return was always,  “English?” They would smile and nod their heads and could usually use enough English to communicate with us. They always asked if we needed help, then asked if we knew the way we needed to go on the bike path.
The rain started right after lunch, so we pulled off the road and put on our rain gear. (I actually took the photo below not of my rain gear, but of the impressive hill I just biked up. Turns out it’s not so impressive in the photo!)

It was not a heavy downpour, no lightening thankfully, just a steady rain, but it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm. Some of the prettiest sections we rode today were during the rain shower.

We arrived at our motel, Motel Lac Saint-Jean, between the towns of Desbiens and Chambord, at around 3:30 pm. It was right on the trail and we were happy to see it and be able to get out of our wet biking clothes. The motel looks a lot like the motels that were common in the U.S. during the 60s.

The room is basic, no plush amenities, but very clean. We also have a back deck that looks out over the lake. The attendant pulled an old fashioned key out of a slot behind his desk and was very helpful in describing our options for dinner since we are between two towns in the middle of nowhere. He told us there were 2 restaurants that would deliver food to the motel for a very modest charge and that the menus were in our room.

During our orientation with Equinox this morning, we were told another option was to stop at a market and buy something for dinnner. She explained that this would be the only night we’d be without access to restaurants. We checked into the room, found our luggage had arrived, and sat on the deck overlooking the lake while we dried off from the rain. I think the whole motel is full of bikers tonight. Everyone ended up on the back deck behind their rooms and it was interesting to hear the variety of languages and accents as they spoke. We met a couple from Montreal who were staying in the room beside us. They were having trouble with a repair to the wife’s bike chain, and Jimmy had the tool they needed. They spoke very little English but we were able to communicate enough to help with their bike. We also met a couple from Boston that were traveling with a group of fellow musicians. There were 8 of them in all and we heard them playing music in the evening.

We decided we’d have dinner delivered since we had such a nice view overlooking the lake, it was still raining, and the thought if getting back on the bikes in the rain was not very appealing. We used Google translate to read the menu, but there were several things it couldn’t translate, and we knew we’d have to have help phoning in an order. The gentleman in the hotel office was a great help to us. He translated the menu items for us, describing what the options were for each, and then called and placed the order in French. Our food arrived shortly afterwards and it was delicious! We both chose a soup that the motel clerk told us was a traditional favorite in the region, with the beans for the soup grown only in this area. It was called Gourgane soup and the bean is a very large brown bean in a broth with barley, carrots, celery, onions, etc. It was delicious and warmed us up after the chilly rain. Jimmy’s entree was fish and chips and mine was chicken skewers over rice. A slice of blueberry pie came with each of our meals.

By the time we finished our meal, the rain had stopped and we took a hidden staircase in front of our room down to the lake and walked along the shore.

Did I mention I also had blueberry pie at lunch? One cannot ride the Blueberrry Trail without a slice of blueberry pie at every opportunity! Tomorrow, on to Saint-Felicien!