Chantal, pinch me! Am I dreaming that we’re cycling in Europe? Bike lanes and separated bike-ways everywhere. Motorists giving us lots of room, smiling and waving, instead of dirty looks and fingers. Wow, where are we?

Not in Europe, in fact we were on a cycling long-weekend trip with the Toronto Cycling Club at Le Suroit, which is an island just south of Montreal. We had some great rides with fabulous people.

After that, we continued on to Quebec City to visit family and friends. Some beautiful cycling trails there as well. The province has built the famous Route Verte, which extends all throughout Quebec. Not only the trail, but B&B’s and hotels are encouraged to cater to cyclists, to promote a different kind of tourism (like Europe maybe?). We saw the “Bienvenue Cyclistes” sign on many hotel doors.

We stayed for a night at Chantal’s aunt’s place on Lake Témiscouata at Cabano, Quebec. This is a beautiful and rustic area, and sitting on her back patio, I saw a Hummingbird, Kingfisher and a pair of Loons, all within 20 minutes.

On the way back, we spent a few days camping at Presqu’ile Provincial Park, close to Prince Edward County. More great cycling in that area, but it was 35° hot, so limited. Reminisced about all the bike club camping trips we enjoyed in the 90’s at Smugglers Cove, which is now RV’s only… what a shame, but as my dad always said “You can’t stop progress… for the love of Mike!”

At one point, after a very hot bike ride, I was sitting in our nice, shady campsite enjoying a beer, when I noticed all the birds singing. I got out my new binoculars, which I had to purchase for a forthcoming trip in August. Looking at birds with the binoculars in one hand and a beer in the other, I thought about my other sports that go well with beer. Skiing goes well with beer (apres, that is) and so does cycling. So, therefore, I determined that I am now a birdwatcher. Or is that just beer logic? 😀

On the way home, we stopped at Port Hope for lunch at one of our favourite pizza places. Turns out the whole downtown area is setup like “1960’s small town America” for shooting the remake of Steven Kings “It”. I checked Google on this and it seems like it will be kinda like “The Twilight Saga”, in other words… scary clowns for 13 year olds. Anyway, had some fun making a few shots and talking to some of the people on the set.   [click on photo for slideshow]