My desire to escape the
summer heat of Atlanta took me to Canada for 3 ½ weeks of cycling in temps of high
60’s to mid-70. My two tours were with my Canadian friends Melissa and Richard
that I met on the Hudson Valley NY bike tour in 2011. Melissa starting a cycle
touring company last year so I booked two tours with her that took me through
four provinces – Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island (PEI).
Never have I seen so many luggage racks on top cars as vacationers explore the outdoors
of southeast Canada. Melissa’s van sported a luggage carrier “upstairs” as
there were five cyclists on the first tour and nine cyclists on the second
tour.
Tour #1 of 550 miles over
ten days took us along the northern shore of Lake Ontario on the Waterfront
Trail then next we followed the St Lawrence Seaway on Route Verte #5 (the Green
Route). Beginning at the outskirts of Toronto, cycling to Montreal where we
cycle-toured two nights then cycled onto Quebec City. Canada has a robust
system of well-marked bike trails. We had signage to follow the entire route.
Both bike trails were a combination of dedicated bike trails, country roads,
busier roads with shoulders and gravel paths through meadows. There are now
eight Route Verte cycle routes in Quebec. Remember, the predominant language in
Quebec is French. Verte means “green” in French.
Tour #2 of 440 miles
over eight days covered the islands of Prince Edward Island and French speaking
Madeleine Island (Îles de la Madelein).
Between tours, I spent three days solo in Quebec City walking, cycling,
exploring and eating. To get to PEI, I took a night train (17 hours) to
Moncton, New Brunswick. After a night in a lovely Victorian hostel, Melissa and
Richard picked me up for the two hour drive to PEI. Until 1997, PEI could only
be reached by ferry. Then a 13k bridge was built which costs the unbelievable
fare of $44.50 to leave the island.
We viewed many
beautiful farms on both tours. In Ontario and Quebec the crops were corn, soybeans
and wheat. Upon awakening from the over-night train ride I was fascinated by
the beautiful fields of foliage, wild flowers and farms in New Brunswick. A
curious fact is Canada out-lawed the use of herbicides by home owners 15+ years
ago. Rather than road sides, yards and landscaping becoming unsightly with
weeds, they have become beautiful with many types of wild flowers. Only farmers
are allowed regulated use of herbicides. Hmmm, something the U.S. could learn
from our neighbors.
Another interesting fact
is Canada has both Beer Stores and Liquor Stores (SAC). Neither is sold in
grocery stores. And beer only comes from a Beer Store, not a Liquor Store. I
also understand why Canadians living near the U.S. border like to do their
shopping in the U.S. since they have a hefty 15% sales tax.
In the Ontario region
we cycled through many communities with a strong British heritage, still flying
the glory of British flags. Turning north toward Quebec province the switch to
French signage and language was almost instantaneous. With a rich Catholic and
Anglican heritage, beautiful churches dotted the landscape of both tours. Magnificent
beautiful churches exist not only in the populated cities but also in the
smallest of villages. Historic Notre Dame exists both in Montreal and Quebec
City as well as Paris, France.
The St. Lawrence Seaway
was a huge undertaking completed in 1959. This seaway opened the great lakes
for large ships to haul crops and goods from the middle of North America to the
Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, to expand the existing waterway and build a lake
meant the flooding of many villages in its wake. To commemorate many of those
lost homes, the history is re-created in the Lost Villages Museum and park
which re-creates home life “back in the day”.
Ever heard of Thousand
Island dressing? It was created by here along the St Lawrence Seaway where a
thousand tiny islands appear soon after leaving Lake Ontario. Many of the tiny
islands are large enough just for one house so many folks have built their
summer homes on their own island. Let’s hope they don’t sleep-walk!
Staying in downtown
Montreal, the 2nd largest city in Canada, we enjoyed strolling at
night and people-watching. It was particularly interesting in the area known as
the Village, home of the quirky, artsy and gay. The frivolity continued at
Mado’s, the long-running transvestite bar with stage show. The most amazing
melt-in-your-mouth pastrami sandwich was found at the renowned Schwart’s Deli
where we fortunately arrived before the line extended down the street.
Quebec City probably
has the nicest and best preserved Old Towne than all of Europe. Named a UNESCO
site in 1998, history abounds through-out. One evening included a ghost walk
tour with tales of the types of torture used by their ancestors for criminals
and adulterers. Such inhumane treatment would not be tolerated today. Hanging
was popular as was stockades, breaking of bones and branding. Children as young
as seven were placed in jails along with adults.
Quebec City is oozing
with bike paths, doubling as cross-country ski trails in winter. Cycling north
of the city, I discover the powerful Mountmorency Waterfall (272’). While
higher than Niagara Falls, it’s not as wide. Tourists explore it from all
angles including the long steps to the top, the bridge over the falls and the
rock climbers going up the sheer cliff to an intimate viewing stand.
Discovering new foods
is a fun part of travel. Kangaroo (from Australia) meat was my new food
adventure in Quebec City along with a most fabulous liver pate’. The French pride themselves in making pates
with a variety of meats and herbs. Even our night in a Days Inn delighted us
with a vacuum packed pork meat, called Creton for breakfast. Hmmm, maybe I’ll
re-visit some of our canned meats when I return to the U.S.
On PEI (pop 140,000),
lush farms are abundant with white blooming potato plants and yellows of
blooming Canola plants or wheat straw as
far as the eye can see. PEI produces 25% of Canada’s potatoes. The land is
fertile red sandstone. The red sandstone soil also means their water has a high
iron content, great for women. Roadsides and many fields are carpeted with a
fabulous pallet of wildflowers often with the Atlantic Ocean in the background.
The PEI shoreline has red cliffs and sandy red beaches. Similar in size to
Delaware, its most narrow section is only 3k wide. PEI’s landscape is
pastoral with rolling
hills, woods, reddish white sand beaches and ocean coves. PEI
was settled by Irish, Scottish and Brits. The Catholic Irish were escaping
persecution as the Protestants were gaining control of their country. On the north coast, farms were divided based
on 50’ lengths of chain facing the water. Each family would get 50’ of
waterfront for each male member aged 16 or older. The farms extended deep but,
every farm had water access for shipping their crops. Today, farmers are a
dying breed as the children leave the island in search of an easier life. The
abandoned farmland is burdened with mounting property taxes each year. Eventually,
many farms are turned back to the government in relief of taxes. As the
government regains these narrow strips of land, the land is allowed to grow
wild with trees and shrubs. Pine trees have been planted on many of these
parcels which is not a natural tree to the island. In the 1970’s the government
paid $500 to many of the descendants for the approval to burn the decaying
family homes. At that time, families had no idea the future fortune in antiques
and history that was burned in those abandoned homes.
One of the more
interesting tours was the Prince Edward Distillery built in 2008 by two women
from North Carolina. They toured the island, fell in love with it and moved
here building both a distillery and a B&B along some dramatic cliffs on the
north shore. Their primary spirit is potato vodka. With a huge supply of
potatoes on the island, what a perfect fit. Potatoes arrive in 1,500 lb.
crates. After their first batch, they realized they didn’t need to peel the
potatoes. Yes, it was a learning process. One woman was previously a dental
hygienist, the other a psychotherapist. Of course, each tour is followed by vodka
tasting.
Surprisingly,
Charlottetown has a passion for harness racing with a race track walking
distance from downtown. Fortunately, my one day to explore Charlottetown was
the grand finale of their annual Old Home Week Festival. The crème de la cream
of the week is the Cup and Saucer Race which occurs at midnight. The pacer/trotter
horses are primarily from Canada but in the premier race, I found a horse from
Paris, KY, just down the road from my birth place. Of course I had to bet
$2.00. It was the horse with winnings ($1.2M) far higher than any other horse.
I still lost the $2.00.
Charlottetown has a
well-respected play house and I enjoyed the play Evangeline telling the plight
of the Acadians. The Acadians settled in the Maritime area from France in the
1700’s. Later, the British expelled them from their homes and dispersed them
throughout southern Canada and the New England states. Some of them eventually
migrated to Louisiana and became what we know as “Cajuns”, a wording
combination of Canada and Acadian. Evangeline was a poem by Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow later adapted to a musical of two newlyweds that were separated on
their wedding day. They spent the rest of their lives searching for each other,
walking all over the Eastern seaboard and to Louisiana. It was a gripping story
and one that I hope tours the world and tells this little slice of history.
Fishing is the other
livelihood on PEI making this a great place to eat lobster at a reasonable
price. But in the 1800’s lobster was viewed as a poor-man’s meal. Children
would toss their lobster roll sandwiches on their way to school so their
class-mates would not know they were a family of fisherman. Today there are
1,300 lobster fishermen putting out 300 traps during their spring and fall
seasons and collecting 20 million pounds of lobster per year. After chatting
with a lobster fisherman, it appears farmers here are also getting squeezed out
by the middleman since they receive very little of the high dollars typically
paid for a lobster meal. This fisherman also charters tourists from all over
the world to go tuna fishing. The cost is $1,000 per day for six (or less)
tourists. The tuna weighs 300 – 1,200 pounds but, its catch-and-release based
on government regulations. How their world has changed!
The joy of cycling on
PEI or Magdalen Islands is directly related to headwinds or tailwinds which are
usually strong. Rolling hills and headwinds going west was a challenge.
Traveling east, we had the “wind beneath our pedals”. Not surprisingly, modern
windmills making electricity dot the island. Most windmills are on government
land but, rumor has it that a farmer will receive $35,000 per year for the
lease of his land for a windmill.
PEI’s most famous
person is the red-hair pig-tailed orphan, Anne of Green Gables. After watching
the 12-hour TV series before arriving, I had great appreciation for “all things
Anne” on PEI. The author, Lucy Laud Montgomery, created her many fictitious books
from her experiences growing up on PEI. Her books have been translated all over
the world so seeing the excitement of the Chinese exploring the various Anne
venues on PEI is worth a chuckle.
A five hour ferry ride
of 90 miles deposited us on the archipelago islands of Magdalen (pop 13,000)
for two days of cycling the windy islands. Located in the Gulf of the St.
Lawrence, the islands are infamous for the second highest number of shipwrecks
(400+) in North America. As it seems,
most regions make some type of wine, the bartender on the ferry treated me to a
sample of island cranberry wine with dandelions. It was a nice treat but, not
worthy of shipping home. With an average high August temperature of 67, wind is
never-ending. About every three weeks, the islands get terrific winds of 25 mph
gusting to 40 mph which was our treat for our second day of cycling. The
islands, now owned by Quebec, is French speaking with limited English.
Income on the islands
comes from fishing (lobster), tourism, salt mining and the ferry service. It is a
gorgeous destination for bicycle camping, sea kayaking, windsurfing and kite surfing. The cost of kite surfing for gear and a three hour lesson is $250 for one day, $700 for three days and $1,000 for five days. The salt mine is owned by the Canadian Salt Company and produces one million tons per year of road
salt for the Quebec province. The mine is 98’ deep with an elevator and ¼ mile
pipe above ground to transport salt to the ships for hauling. Not seeing any
agriculture farming, they do have a dairy
herd which arrived in 1998 after 22 hours of travel by land and sea. I invited
myself into the barn to watch the evening milking. The dairy produces the
popular cheese curds along with a few other French type cheeses. Another food
oddity to me was Poutine which is French fries slathered with brown gravy and
cheese curds famous throughout Quebec.
Scenery on the islands
is breath-taking with the dramatic red sandstone cliffs and brightly colored
houses scattered along the rolling hills. The houses are even more striking
since much of the area is treeless. Re-forestation has begun in some areas with
many stands of Spruce trees. The beaches are fine white sand. While cycling on
the narrow strips of land between islands, often the only protection, if any,
from the wind are the tall sand dunes. The soft sandstone cliffs have worn into
beautiful formations and in some ways remind me of the rock formations in
Arches National Park in Utah.
With every journey I
bring home not only memories and a new appreciation for other cultures but also
a desire for the “tastes” of the region. Back in Atlanta, I will be on the
search for interesting French pates’, smoked salmon and mouth-watering pastrami.
