Crossing the St. Lawrence at Québec City

18th August: Neuville to L'Islet-sur-mer

Odometer: 125 km, Start: 8.30am, Finish: 5.15pm, Avg: 21.8 km/h,
Weather: Sunny intervals, Temp: 15-24°C
Road Conditions: La Route Verte 5 to Quebec Bridge on mostly backroads, La Route Verte 1 from Quebec Bridge, 12km cycle path through Lévis then #138, 1.5m paved shoulder, light traffic. Plenty of stops. Ascent: 400m/450m.

You have to hand it to Vélo Québec, the Québec government (for their $90m funding) and anybody else involved, La Route Verte & Québec’s cycle-path network is fantastic. Today I had to get through the western suburbs of Québec City, over a 1km bridge and through the large city of Lévis. I did it all on dedicated cycle paths and a few roads with barely any traffic.

Pont de Québec over the St. Lawrence, Québec City

St. Lawrence from Pont de Québec, Québec City (left), Lévis (right)

I’ve now crossed over to the south side of the St. Lawrence via the Quebec Bridge, a superb riveted steel trussed structure. It has the longest cantilever bridge span in the world, apparently. It’s also a bit rusty. The “cycle-lane” is technically a footpath you’re supposed to walk your bike across, but cyclists seemed to be riding it. It’s narrow though, I had to stop several times to let others past.

On the bridge (looking back)

Once over the bridge, I started following La Route Verte 1. To get through the city of Lévis, I joined a very popular cycle path alongside the St. Lawrence. There were loads of cyclists and inline skaters about, even though it was mid-week. I had good views of Old Québec City on the other bank at one point.

Québec City (old town) from Lévis

I stayed close to the river all day. Once out of Lévis I was on the #132 which I’m taking as far as Riviere-du-Loup. The #132 had a slightly elevated position over the St.Lawrence at first, giving good views of the river and the hills behind. It was also lightly trafficked and had a good paved shoulder.

Sunset over St. Lawrence from L'islet-sur-mer

I decided to camp tonight. (Well it’s been around two weeks since my last one)! I’m at L’Islet-sur-mer, a small village on the St. Lawrence, which as the town name suggests, now resembles sea rather than river. The banks are a few kilometres wide here. I had a great evening watching the sun go down from the jetty just beside the campsite.

Sunset shots