WHAT: Some riding around Burlington Vermont, then a long meander through Quebec to Montreal
WHO: Planned by dirt and joined by 11 others folks
WHEN: June 6 - June 23, 2024
Bike up the Lake Champlain Islands. A very flat day, mostly on the Champlain Bikeway route, though we detour off of it several times for smaller roads.
Mostly on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (50 miles, looks like it was freshly graveled last year), slightly uphill all day!
The hills begin. A mix of gravel and paved back roads.
Gravel roads and some two-track through the forest today, and a few climbs.
Short day. Start out with One Big Climb through the Lincoln Gap, grades approaching 20%! Van rides available. Sadly no view from the top without a moderate hike.
Another short day, relatively flat, gravel roads with a bit of 2 track, getting more populated as we approach Burlington.
The first 15 miles are on Bike Route 7 out of Burlington, the last 3 miles of which are on a pretty busy road with a wide shoulder. Turning off, we cross the Lamoille River and find 6 miles of gravel road through some rolling hills, heading back towards the shores of Lake Champlain. After a 400ft climb into an through St Albans (and stopping for lunch) we pick up the unpaved Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail and ride for 13 miles. A short 3 mile jog off the trail (up 200, down 150, up 200) we camp for the night at Lake Carmi State Park.
Heading back down the hill to the rail trail we ride the remaining 13 miles of the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail to Richford. North of the Canadian border we pick up La Route Verte 4 for 7 miles up to lunch in Sutton. Three miles north of Sutton we leave RV4 and take some (mostly unpaved, but there are alternates if you want) backroads to Knowlton. Here we pick up the du Lac-Brome Path, following it to Rue Vert 1 and tonight’s camp.
We follow La Route Verte 1 / Sentier Transcanadien (STC, Trans Canada Trail) the entire day as we meander east, passing through Mont-Orford National Park along the way. There are a few climbs, including a long, straight, boring road (350ft) and into the Park (500ft, 4.5 miles, 1.5%.) Then we follow the Massawippi River on the STC Les Grandes-Fourches into Sherbrooke. The day ends at a campsite on an island in the Saint-François River near its confluence with the Magog, just outside the town of Sherbrooke.
We continue north on the RV1 / STC Les Grandes-Fourches route, meeting up with La Cantonnière route, following the Saint-Francois River on a mixture of roads and dedicated unpaved trails. We leave marked routes around mile 30, doing 7 miles on a shoulderless, fast but low volume road before hitting gravel roads again. Coming into Drummonville we cross the river on a ferry and do the last 7 miles on quiet residential streets and dedicated bikeways.
After heading south out of Drummonville we turn to the southwest along the La campagnarde segment of RV4 for a day of mostly paved and unpaved rail trail with a few roads segments. Along the way we pass through some small towns including the historic village of Roxton Falls. Camping is at Yamasaka National Park, which has a swimming beach.
A long day! A few miles out of camp and we’re back onto the STC, La Montérégiade, a paved and very straight rail trail into Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu. Here we stay on the STC, turning north onto Lieu historique national du Canal de Chambly until we reach the town. From here on we begin to enter the suburbs of Montreal, mostly on dedicated bike infrastructure. Hopefully the headwinds aren’t too bad! Reaching the St Lawrence River we bike across a lock on the Seaway, a bit of Formula1 track, and then through the old port of Montreal.