On the Camino it was the old doors that asked the questions and let you imagine the stories of days gone by. On the TCT it was wooden barns that played a similar role. These barns are the statues of some of the original settlers of Canada and represent the lives and hard work of the settlers of the country. You might say that the character of the Trans Canada Trail was shown off in the beautiful old barns.

On my way to Orillia, Ontario

Travelling from Orillia towards Lindsay.

Travelling through Eastern Ontario to Charbot Lake.

On my way to Perth. The farmer that owned the barn immediately above, proud of his barn, yelled at me and said "the barn's 135 years old and built by the Taylor Brothers". The skyline is hazy because I was close to forest fires and there was a lot of smoke in the air.

Making my way to Ottawa.

Riding into Vaudreil-Dorion, Quebec.

Riding towards Eastman in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.

Riding to Victoriaville through a valley with rolling hills. Here the barns were part of the beautiful landscape.

En Route to St-Agapit

Ste-Marie among the Hurons is a National Historical Site dating back to 1639 and is the oldest European settlement west of New France (Quebec).

It's interesting to see the differences between churches in Europe built in the 1600 and this church. From the architecture alone, you quickly get the sense that life was much more basic and difficult in the new world.

I took my first tumble riding up a grassy hill as I approached the Martyrs' Shrine – a good omen I think.

I spent some time on the lake front and some time riding along the shoreline, enjoying the sunny afternoon.

Murals on buildings about town.

My trusty steer (AKA my ride).

Trail: uphill and downhill with steep inclines and declines; 8 km paved, 27 km unpaved; A

Last night I stayed at La Maison Jaune de Eastman on Lac d’Argent. It was a clean and comfortable room in a home with private entrance and bathroom. The setting was beautiful and the hosts provided kayaks and bikes. Highly recommended.

A nod to Eastman's literary heritage.

I sat in a café for over an hour hoping that the rain would let up. It didn’t. After checking the weather I saw that it would rain all day and the temperature would also fall. I thought of my friend Pep from Spain who would say “I am a pilgrim, the rain won’t hurt me”, and off I went.

Trail conditions were very good, with the addition of a 2 streams created from the heavy constant rain, 1 on each side of the trail. Periodically the streams were punctuated with ponds or rivers crossing over the complete trail.

Danger signs should have been at the base of each incline because if anything was going to kill me it was the steep ascents. The decline signs should have read “Wheeeee”.

I traveled through hilly forests with lakes sprinkled along the way. I saw a people walking and a couple joggers, but no other bikers. Most people seemed to know enough to stay inside, out of the rain.

Google was optimistic in it’s description of the trail, “mostly flat”. Google’s disclaimer “Use caution – bicycling directions may not always reflect real-world conditions” applied. The first third of the ride was up and down, up and down, but mostly up. The last 2/3 of the trail continued to be up and down but generally descending, which was more enjoyable. The last 2 days were physically challenging and, for the record, I never walked my bike up any hill.

Magog is at 200 m elevation and Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré is almost sea level. It should be an easy downhill from here on.

I was hoping for some amazing views today (the summit was 365 m / 1200 ft elevation but the rain and fog made it difficult to see much.

It was a shame that I had to use my brakes so frequently on the declines. They were often steep, muddy, and with sharp corners. It just felt so wasteful. I wanted to go downhill fast, but there was a real risk of getting a really big ouchy.

If I hadn't been relaxing and enjoying a fast downhill ride on pavement, I would have seen a shortcut to the right, less than a kilometre outside of the park. The shortcut would have cut out the Orford loop, saving about 3.5 km.

I arrived in Magog soggy and hungry. I had lunch. The rain didn’t let up so I didn’t get to see much of this pretty town on Lac Memphremagog.

Trail: very steep hill; 93 m up, 212 m down, 88 km paved; A

In a nutshell, I got to Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré after 9 hours in the saddle. I pushed through day-long rain & a constant headwind. A tough day.

Last night’s stay was at Gite le Duvet d’Oie. This was the gastronomic treat of my journey. I booked a room for the evening only to learn that there was a restaurant attached. After the most amazing dinner, and breakfast, did I realize that I booked a gourmet restaurant that offered a place to stay. I can’t say enough good about it. Thank you chef Gaston and family. It’s a splurge, but highly recommended.

Due to complications getting home on a train with a bike, I decided to compress my last 2 days into 1. This gave me more time to finalize my return trip home. Did I mention that the VIA Rail website states that the train has room for bikes? At time of booking my return trip VIA Rail Customer Service told me that it wasn't possible to take a bike on a train, regardless of what the website says. Hmmm, another poorly managed government business? This can’t end well.

My ride started at 8:00 after a delicious breakfast. Normally on the last day of a journey I’m pretty much adrenaline pumped, but today I way just blah. It was pouring rain. The temperature was 11° and felt like 9° (48 F). The wind was from the northeast at 22 km/h, a headwind.

The trail, from start to finish, was paved thankfully, so this made pedaling easier. It was tree-lined and then along beautiful homes along the St. Lawrence River. Similar to previous sections of the trail, there were frequent rest stops, except today, almost every one was uncovered. Bummer. So, reprieve from the rain was very limited.

At Levi I faced a steep 22° decline (so steep that barriers forced me to walk down the hill), followed by a wet narrow bridge over rapids, followed by a matching steep hill. Brutal.

I know that I wasn’t in a race but I felt compelled to compete races time after time. When I left the coverage of trees, I raced to the next section with tree coverage. Every time I passed an uncovered rest stop, I pedaled harder, racing to the the next rest stop in hopes that it might be covered. Every time I went down a hill I pedaled hard to get out of the wind and rain sooner.

I rode through a number of cities including St-Romauld, a beautifully preserved historical town on the St. Lawrence River. The TCT crossed the St. Lawrence River via ferry proving a welcome rest and cover from the rain.

By the time I got to Québec city, the wind had picked up to 35 km/h. I had to shift down to the lowest gear. It was like climbing a steep hill. Somehow I thought that riding against the wind was better than climbing hills. I convinced myself that: hills were permanent but that the wind could stop at any time; and that I could escape from the wind when I rode behind trees, buildings, and berms.

I rode past Montmorency Falls, 30 m higher than Niagara Falls.

I saw just 1 other biker today but half a dozen runners. Are runners endorphin junkies or too dedicated to stay in from the rain?

The last hour or so went by very slowly. I ate a pack of energy chews. The rain continued. The headwind was strong. All I could do was down shift, put my head down and pedal. I couldn't see the trail because my glasses were wet from the rain. I could only hear the sound of my raincoat flapping in the wind.

Trail: moderate hills; 139 m up, 199 m down; 17 km paved, 15 km unpaved; A

I had a change of plans. Originally I was going to stay in Sherbrooke for 2 night's, resting one day. On the advice of an "in the know" waiter in Granby I decided to stay one night in Magog and one night in Sherbrooke. Unfortunately, it was raining when I arrived and since Magog is an outdoorsy town, I didn't have much of an opportunity to partake in local activities.

I stayed at À L’Ancestrale B&B in Magog. The home was clean and the bed comfortable. The host was incredible. She had tea when I arrived, an excellent and filling breakfast, and as if that wasn’t enough, she gave me a dry place to work on my bike. Oh, and then to top it off, while I was fixing my tire, she came out with a large bag lunch, at least half the size of my already full bike pack. Highly recommended.

There are plenty of boathouses along the Magog River and an electrical power plant.

Magog is on Lake Memphremagog and activities are heavily based around the water such as boating, sailing, kayaking, eating & drinking, swimming, sun bathing, biking, walking. I would definitely give this town 3 days in the future. It may be a real gem.

I started the day by repairing my flat tire. I found a 2-3 mm thorn that had poked through the tire and punctured the tube. I removed it, replaced the tube and away I went, but not before the host got out an air compressor to properly inflate my tire.

Leaving Magog, I was faced with a detour. After taking surface streets back to the trail, I realized the TCT was in better condition than Quebec roads. Keep up the good work on the trails!

Even though I ended the day at a lower elevation, the trail was up and down. Not like the past two days where the trail was more like a “scream like a little girl” kind of roller coaster. Today, the trail was much more like long gentle hills, climbing for a km or so and then downhill for a km or so. The ride was fun. I just smiled all the way down the hills.

I arrived in Sherbrooke in the afternoon. After the detour and then missing a trail marker (La Route Verte forked to the right at l'Eglise St-Roch in Rock Forest while the TCT continued straight ahead) I rode an additional 13 km, so it took longer than planned. Sherbrooke is the city of "too many hills". I took my bike and coasted to a restaurant in 10 minutes and it took me almost 30 minutes to get back. It’s at the confluence of the Magog and St. Francis rivers, a university town with large building murals, waterfront activities, and a very cool train station microbrewery/restaurant - Siboire.

A day of beautiful weather and scenic riding, without any casualties.

Last night I stayed on my friend Malcolm’s boat. I’d highly recommend this 5 star accommodation but I understand that the waiting list is over 2 years. A good alternative would be Lakehead University Residences or a  B&B.

The TCT turns north just outside of Orillia and is not  the direction that I wanted to travel, so I created an alternate route travelling south just after Atherly. This route takes you along the Ramara Cycling Route and some country roads until arriving in Cannington. In Cannington you join the Beaver River Wetland Trail until it connects to the TCT at Sunderland. From Sunderland, you take the TCT to Lindsay. Of the 95 total km approximately 60 km are on roadways. This sounds worse that it really was. The roadways were mostly paved, mostly flat, and had very little traffic. The roads were actually pretty good for biking.

The ride was mostly through farmland punctuated with marshland. The old wooden barns, cedar fences, and lilacs growing along the roadway reminded me of when I was growing up in Ontario.

The day was made interesting with wildlife sightings including wild turkeys, rabbits, plenty of birds, and a snake. At one point a deer was running alongside me.

The highlight of the day was a visit with 3 of my aunts: Karen, Ruth & Cathy. It was nice to catch-up and hear stories from my youth. The visit was topped off with a hardy “pilgrim’s” meal including 2 pieces of pie  (raspberry being my favorite) for dessert.

For sentimental reasons I chose to ride along Demoe Road. My (late) grandparents’ farm was enroute.