DAY 12-172K

I had a really sound sleep that night and woke up feeling great and ready to ride myself to Montreal to spend a week or so with my sister.I hadn't seem her for four years and so I was really looking forward to doing nothing but hang with her and her friends for a while and forget about everything to do with the road and trying to raise enough money not only for Athletes in Kind but for my own trip.First things first though,I still had to cover the 140k or so to Quebecs' largest city before I could start to enjoy anything.

The roads were pretty quiet that morning so I decided to ride the main highway for a while.I would also ride again on the 132 today instead of riding the 138 on the northern bank of the river as by doing that I would save a few kilometers that the 138 had in detours.The roads would meet up again after about ten ks so I figure that I would risk it.Man what a difference riding on the expressway.That road surface was awesome,unlike the potholed excuse for a highway that I had been riding for the last 500k.All good things must come to an end though and I was soon back on the dodgy 132 winding my way through the Quebec countryside once again.This time without the wind.


It was a great mornings ride and I was thinking that I may be able to get into Montreal at about 2'ish but the roads really started to deteriorate and I had to slow down to a crawl at some stages as there was just no room for me to ride on the tarmac,I had to ride on the dirt by the side of the road.Trust me,with all the weight I had to pull along that made for a really tough few hours and my fatigue levels started to rise.It was pretty mind numbing work not to mention the fact that my hands and feet were starting to lose feeling.All that shaking around started to loosen some bits on my bike as well and I found out one cause of my problems with being not so comfortable on my bike.My saddle had shifted way back and was now in the totally wrong position for me to ride properly.No wonder my legs and ass were sore,they had been trying to get used to a new position on the bike.That never goes very well!

I made it to the large town of Sorel-Tracy and sat outside a gas station wondering why todays ride was feeling so hard.I mean,my legs didn't hurt at all but I was suffering.I guessed that the effort of 1ook into the wind the day before was taking it's toll but I was confident that I could still make Montreal today.Maybe not as early as I first thought but I'd get there if it killed me.A lady at the gas station wasn't so convinced when she asked me where I was going and I told her that Montreal was my destination for the day.She looked at her watch and shook her head. "Today" she said "I don't think so".I just laughed and assured her that there was still about nine hours of sunlight left and that would give me plenty of time to make it.She wished me well and drove off,no doubt while telling her husband what an idiot I was.


I didn't take long for my enthusiasm for the whole day to leave me.I was really suffering and figured that I may actually have to try and hitch a ride to Montreal.Which ,after another horrible hour of riding in the dirt ,I tried to do.I had made it to the town of Varennes which really isn't that far from the city but I just didn't want to ride anymore.It was weird but I stood on the side of the road for a while thumbing a ride without much enthusiasm.I figured it was my minds way of demanding a long rest stop.I really knew that nobody would pick me up but at least I wasn't on that damn saddle anymore. After a while I decided to stop acting like a little girl and got back on the road for the last long push to the city.


As seems to the be the norm for me out of nowhere my pace picked up late in the afternoon.All through this trip I have had some really bad mornings followed by awesome afternoons.Don't know why.Maybe it was the change in road surface as the closer I got to Montreal the better it got.It wasn't long before I was riding on a beautiful bike path through some really pretty outer suburbs of the city.Some of the houses on the river were amazing and at less than 40 from the city I think I could quite easily live here.Don't think they would like me pitching a tent in their neighbourhood though.

One thing that did perplex me was the fact that I knew I was really close to a big city but I still couldn't see it or any signs that there may be a city anywhere in the distance.It took about two hours of wondering before I finally saw the Montreal skyline in the distance.God was I ever happy about that.My pace quickend again and I raced down the streets to the outskirts of Longueuil which sits on the opposite bank of the St Lawrence from Montreal.I followed the roads along the expressway and soon found myself in the middle of a huge street party which was part of the Longueuil summer festival.There were bands ,playing and street performers doing their thing while thousands of people crowded the bars and spilled out into the streets right where I wanted to go.I was too tired to find a detour and wheeled my rig into the throng,much to the dismay of the security people manning the road block that I totally ignored.

After explaining to them that I had just ridden from Quebec City and that I was just trying to get to Montreal before I was too tired to move they let me through and even gave me directions and hints about riding the Jacques Cartier bridge.I must have looked an absloute mess as so many people just stared at me as I walked my rig through the crowds to the other end of the festial precinct. With that done it was a simple task to find the bridge and start the long climb into space.I thnought I'dbe really freaked out but the barriers are really high so I didn't feel the affects of my vertigo tis time-thankfully!

The rest of the trip through Montreal to my sisters place was easy as well.I had a map of the city with me and after about 20 minutes I found her street and pulled in for a week of R&R and more importantly a great family reunion.