Ottawa-Quebec City – A Bike Trip in the “Other Canada”

At the end of summer we set off on yet another bike trip. Our flight was very early in the morning and followed a night of very little sleep. It was a domestic flight though, to Ottawa, so there was less airport hassle than usual. As were leaving, the sky looked hazy. It turned out that the smoke from wild fires had finally rolled into Vancouver. Up until that point we had no smoke in Vancouver.

Five hours later we landed in sunny Ottawa. We took a taxi to our wonderful Warm Showers hosts, one of six different hosts we stayed with during this two and a half week trip. They gave up their bedroom for us, let us use their bike stand and tools, and it was a very nice and comfortable start to our trip. We spent the next two days exploring Ottawa and its beautiful bike paths, parks that were closed to motorized traffic, and even joined a family bike ride organized by For Our Kids. We also swam in the “lake” and checked out the parliament buildings. Ottawa felt magical and we fell in love with our capital city. We were told that it was actually a very rainy summer there and that we lucked out by arriving on the sunniest days of summer they had till then.

Leaving Ottawa was super easy on designated bike paths along the river. We spent the night at another wonderful Warm Showers family who had a boy Kai’s age. They got along so well together and we enjoyed dinner and an evening by the campfire.

Soon after we left Ottawa we crossed the “border” to Quebec and French became the dominant language from that point on. It was hard to convince the kids that we were actually still in Canada. So they kept referring to Quebec as the “Other Canada”. In their defence they had a few good points – we took a flight of nearly five hours, people speak a different language, and if we asked people they mostly said they are from Quebec, not Canada… With the French, good food, and the amazing cycling infrastructure it often felt like we were in France.

The longest riding day of this trip was 72km that Neil rode with no complaints. We started early that day and luckily arrived quite early to our campground. Then it started pouring and everything around us got very muddy and unpleasant.

Over the next few days we made our way to Montreal, generally riding along the Ottawa River. The route included a couple of river crossings on tiny ferries. We camped in two national parks and in one of them we met a family from Montreal. We realized quickly that we had actually been in touch with them through Warm Showers, asking if they could host us. It turned out that they were on a bike trip as well, biking in the opposite direction from us. While we didn’t manage to stay with them in Montreal, they arranged a special stay with the grandpa about a week later in Trois-Rivières (“three rivers”)…

The next campground at Oka (another national park) was already pretty close to Montreal. We were amazed by the cycling hospitality at some of the campgrounds. Not only did they save or have separate sites for cyclists, in this campground they insisted on delivering our firewood as well as a large metal food cache, right to our site.

On the way to Rosemère, a suburb by Montreal we stopped to play mini-golf. In Rosemère we stayed with a family we hosted last year in Vancouver. They literally returned the night before from Belgium where they were on a bike trip as well. They insisted on hosting us despite the timing and being jetlagged. Neil enjoyed reconnecting with their eight year old daughter. This girl rides about as much as Neil, and just like him never seems to get tired of riding…

They also showed us around Montreal. We took the train in and then walked a lot. The kids weren’t so impressed that our only “rest day” on this trip included so much walking. The highlight for us was finding the traditional Montreal style bagels that we devoured.

From Montreal we had a few riding days to reach Trois-Rivières. On those days we enjoyed a pleasant ride mostly along the river, quiet small towns, and lots of ice cream. We also camped at campgrounds with pools, water parks, and playgrounds. Every night we had a campfire. In British Columbia there was a fire ban all summer, so it was nice to enjoy fires and marshmallows.

It only rained on one day. We hung out at the campground for a while but then decided to brave the rain. It wasn’t actually that bad, and the burgers we had for lunch that day felt well deserved.

In the evening we arrived to our next host. That’s the grandpa of the family we met in the campground the previous week. He welcomed us with open arms and a yummy meal. The kids enjoyed playing with his two fluffy dogs and even taking them on walks. On our evening walk the most beautiful rainbow appeared. In the morning we spent time in the backyard pool and taking the dogs for a walk in the forest.

After half a rest day we left after lunch and biked into the town of Trois-Rivières. There we were hosted by a lovely family with two young kids. This family seemed to be the hub of the neighborhood, as many kids and even a dog or two were hanging out in their home and back yard.

From Trois-Rivières we only had three more days to reach Quebec City. All of the sudden we entered apple country, as apple stands appeared on the side of the road. We also stopped at the cutest farmers market for lunch.

Our last night of camping was already during Labor Day long weekend and the campground we stopped at was full. Many campers were cyclists from a cycling club on an annual trip. They had no problems sharing a small piece of grass with us where we pitched our tent (for free). The campground hosts were also giving out the most delicious corn straight out of the pot, the specialty of the area.

The next day we rode into Quebec City. We first stopped for a hamburger lunch – Neil’s request, just before the big bridge where we crossed over to Lévis. We had an ice cream stop before connecting to the separated bike lane along the river where soon enough views of magnificent Quebec City appeared.

From Lévis we took an incredible ferry to right into the centre of Quebec City. It looked like this ferry was built, designed, and used mostly by cyclists. What a world of difference from the ferry system we know in British Columbia… The ferry brought us right into the core of the city. We didn’t linger though because we still had quite a way to bike to the last and final host family for this trip.

Our hosts in Quebec City were also previous guests of ours in Vancouver the year before. They spent a year biking, woofing, and exploring Costa Rica (not by bike). They recently returned from their world tour and generously agreed to host us. Not only that, they also arranged bike boxes for us in advance, showed us around Quebec City by bike, and drove us to the airport with our bikes. They made the end of this trip so smooth and enjoyable that we were able to enjoy the last couple of days as tourists, rather than chasing down bike boxes and arranging rides to the airport.

The next day we biked back into the city with them, stopping at all the scenic spots. We especially admired the Château Frontenac. Gili and I visited Quebec City in 1999 (yes, we are old!), and remember it fondly.

When we arrived to their place it was like coming to old friends. The only difference from last year was the huge improvement of English for their kids. I guess a year of travel can do that. The kids immediately connected and played board games together and ran around the yard.

After that it was time to box the bikes and the next day we headed to the airport. Our flight was delayed and caused us to miss our connection, which caused us to arrive very late to Vancouver. But thanks to jetlag and the time difference, the kids were up bright and early the next day all ready to go back (and start!) school. With the exhausting schedule of kindergarten gradual entry, soon enough this trip felt like a distant memory.