HUGH C2C: July 26 - Day 52 - They Almost Sound The Same!!!!

Well it had to happen. Sooner or later our flawless record of getting from Point A to Point B was going to take a hit, and today was the day. Our ride was planned from Rigaud to a place north east of the City of Montreal. The pronunciation of its name, combined with a lack of confidence in our GPS (probably due to lack of know how), and the confidence we had in the information we were receiving from great people along the road, all contributed to what became a huge blunder, Ok, here's the juice.........we were supposed to be going to Sainte Sulpice, but we were asking for directions to Sainte Sufice, which early helpers convinced us must be Sainte Sophie....and it just got worse from then on. I know it sounds ridiculous, but with accents and all, and a poor at best handle on the French language, it was destined to happen. Should have written it down! At the end of the day, we ended up in Sainte Sophie, probably 50-60km away from our target. We booked 110km for the day which was more than enough to get us to Sainte Sulpice, but by 5pm, we had had enough and called Jon.......hey, Jon's back........and he came to the rescue. It is nice that you can buy a beer in the grocery store here in Quebec, so Sid grabbed a few cold ones from Metro and we sat outside and waited for our taxi ride home.

Gives a different meaning to the word boathouse

Many thanks to all who tried to help, and believe me it wasn't your fault, and especially want to thank Luic and his family who took a great deal of time with us, and in the end, gave us great directions to Sainte Sophie.

Pit-stop

So that was the screw-up for the day. The best part was first thing in the morning, leaving Rigaud, and riding some beautiful country roads and hills, on the way to Hudson to catch the ferry. We passed a great many cyclists in groups, obviously the local clubs out for their weekend rides, and just thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The ferry ride over to Oka was timed perfectly and we literally rode right onto the ferry when we arrived at the ramp, and for $2 the ride was a bargain.

Sister ferry passing us mid-channel

Snack time

The Saturday morning merchants were out in force just beyond the ferry ramp, so I stopped in at the bakery table and spotted one of my old Patachou favourites, an almond croissant........gone in 60 seconds. The bicycle trail that was supposed to take us right to Sainte whatever! began right there so after our light snack we were on the way. What an incredible trail system. Absolutely fabulous, and being well used by all types of cyclists, runners, and rollerblade types. It obviously took a lot of planning and money to put this system together, but it is well worth it, and I can't say enough good things about it.

Just like Patachou

Approaching Oka

Even though we were off track, it was a good ride today, through some very nice country north of Montreal, and let's face it I would have never seen Sainte Sophie unless this happened. I realized I was running low on fluids when we were riding through Sainte Anne des Plaines, so we stopped at a convenience store across from their stunning church. There just happened to be a wedding going on, and those attending had a good laugh when I walked across the street to take a picture of the bride and groom. Nice 57 Chevy.

It was nice to get back to camp and jump in the shower, wash my kit for tomorrow, tie on the feedbag once more, and have a chance to send you my blog with a great wifi signal at the Les Marquis Campground. We miss Tony today, but know he is with Mama and family in Montreal having a great time. Managed to keep the extra jar of Mamas sauce for pasta later this week. Tony, I know you will read this, and I want to thank you loads for everything you have done over the past week. You were great, but you need a little work on your foot massage technique.........