Thursday, August 14, 2003
Bike Ride to Rawdon

It was the day for my bike ride, with the guarantee that Sheryl would come and get me, so I could do a one-way ride.  I had originally planned it for Friday, but Sheryl had asked me to be home that day, to help prepare for the weekend.  I got Alex up and out at 08:00 and then sat down for breakfast with Sheryl.

It was 09:45 when I left.  I had no firm idea at first of where I was going.  I headed northwest across the city, pretty well deciding I would head for Rawdon along the route I had last done in 1974.  I rode throught TMR and found work on the l'Acadie Circle to have advanced at least far enough that I did not have to make a long detour as the last time.  There was still major construction going on, though. When I got to Gouin, I had a choice to cross at the CP Tracks or at Pont Viau.  I made the wrong choice.

I crossed Pont Viau at 10:50.  I saw the new metro line and metro station under construction. As soon as I came down on the Laurentian Boulevard side, I was determined to find the trans-Laval bike trail that I had heard about.  I stopped in a depanneur and examined Laval maps looking for an indication. I found nothing.  A couple of blocks further up, I came by a bike store.  There I was given a Laval brochure which showed the bike paths.  Most of Laval's bike paths do not really connect or go anywhere, but I saw the Route Verte line going along the CP tracks.

I headed west, therefore, and descended to the CP crossing, which I came to at 11:30.  I had lost about half an hour.  On the way I had crossed a bike lane along a street, but had ignored it.  That, too, was a mistake.  The Route Verte line along the CP tracks did not start right at the river.  The trail I had crossed had been part of it.  So, I had to backtrack once again.  

Finally, though, I was on my way.  Soon the trail left the streets and went quite pleasantly alongside the rail line, behing the tall fences of the housing develoments.  At St. Martin Station, I had to luck to have a commuter train pass.   Not too much further,  I came to the historic St. Martin Junction (12:00), and the the wye leading to tracks heading east.  At the Hwy 440 crossing, I called Sheryl. Further on, instead of a wall shutting off the housing developments, those backed up against the green belt next to the tracks were busy appropriating it for tennis courts, gardens, and bar-b-q's.  Near the top, the trail left the tracks, as they headed west towards St. Rose.  I could look out over the valley of the Mille-Iles River, to the escarpment on the north side.  The trail headed east on a marked lane along Les Terraces.

I crossed over the bridge to Bois des Filion at 12:45.  All the area had changed so much with the opening of the Hwy 19 extension.  Where Boul. des Laurentides had made an 'S' curve east through the bush to connect with the bridge, it now came to an intersection with Hwy 19.  The bush had become housing developments.  Thankfully, the bike trail kept me off of Hwy 19 until I came to the bike lane on the bridge.

I rode down along the bike path at the far side until I came out at Grande Cote, right by the Belle Province where I had stopped my ride in early Summer.  I stopped there and had a coke and some fries.  

After my break, I headed up Hwy 19, up past the Hwy 640 interchange and on up to the top of the cliff.  As I was riding up, I realized I was NOT on the old road, but parallel to it, and on a completely new one.  There was lots of traffic, but thankfully a wide, paved shoulder.  At Rang. St. Francois, the completed section of the new road came to an end and I was shunted over to the old road, the road along which my school bus had descended to Bois des Filion and along which I had ridden in 1974.  Everything was so much more built up!   The old road had no shoulder whatsoever, and was quite narrow and busy.

I came upon a toolchest in the road, which must have dropped from a truck. Cars were hitting tools and they were flying.  I stopped and, as traffic would permit, moved the toolbox and most of the tools to the side of the road.

I passed Rang. St. Louis, along which my school bus had come.  It was here the that new road would connect.  It was almost finished.

I passed the turn-around point where my school bus used to turn around.  It was at the top of the ridge.  I would then descend into the town of Ste. Anne des Plaines, which I reached at 14:15.

I climbed back up out of town and the road took me along the crest of yet another ridge, and I could look down into yet another valley.  When the road came down off the crest, it was to meet the busy highway from Mascouche at the tiny crossing known as La Plaine.  I made La Plaine at 14:50 and called Sheryl from a phone booth (my cell battery being low).

The road from La Plaine up out of the valley towards St. Lin - Laurentides (formerly known as Ville des Laurentides) was pure hell. It had no shoulder and yet was extremely busy both ways, with cars and heavy trucks zooming by at breakneck speeds.  In the distance I could see the steeple of the church in Ville des Laurentides, but I never seemed to get there. Finally, I reached a 50km zone, but the road got no wider.

I stopped at the bridge over the L'Achigan River at the centre of town. I saw the street called "rue du vieux pont".  I went over to the chambre of commerce, but they had no brochure on the town.  It was not as big or as prosperous as I had remembered it back in 1974.  Where the new Federal historic site of Wildred Laurier's home was, on the NW of the main corner (the house being a fake), I think there was a big two or three storey wooden hotel back in 1974.  It was 15:25 when I got to VDL.

I headed north along Hwys 335/337.  Within town, the streets were so narrow, I had to ride on the sidewalk so that the cars could pass.  Slowly the close buildings of the old town began to open out and the street became more like a road.  It took a long time to get clear of the town and back out into "the country".

At 16:00 I came to the Hwy 335/337 split.  I followed 335 towards Ste. Julienne.  The road was much quieter than before, but not nearly as quiet as I had remembered it back in 1974.  Then there had been only one car every few minutes.  Now there was almost always a car visible somewhere.  The road must be just along the edge of the valley, for there were a number of ups and down.  At one point, after a modest climb, I passed by a small community around a private lake.  Then the road dropped back down to the valley.  I came to a crossroads, with an option to either go to l'Espirit or to Ste. Julienne.  Leaving that, I climbed back up once again.   

It was 16:45 when I finally descended a long hill into Ste. Julienne.  The church was beautifully lit by the late afternoon sun.  Just past the church, I climbed up "Government Road" to join Hwy 125 at the top of the hill.  I rode right past the cemetery.  I knew from before that Hwy 125 and the newer 'business section' skirts the eastern side of town, and that would be out of my way.  I had discovered the shortcut in 1974, upon my return, when the road broke right at a "V" interchange .  Now, however, it was only a minor road access by a hard right turn.
It was in descending this hill in 1974, that the rainwater washed the salt of my sweat into my eyes and I was running almost blind!

Hwy 125 was much busier, but at least there was a paved shoulder.  I rode by Ste. Julienne's small beach and rest area, where I tried the tourist info, but it was closed.  At 17:15 I came to the turnoff for Rawdon at the Hwy 125/337 split.  

I was on a smaller road again, with no shoulder.  I had one long and gradual hill to climb, and then began to coast downhill.  At one point I came to a point where I saw the old road curving around the hillock which the new road just blasted through.

Eventually there was the steep descent to the bridge over the river and then the Dorwin Falls municipal park.  I reached the park at 17:40. The park gate was already closed and only a few cars and people were left inside.  I rode over to the casse-croute and bought myself a water.  Then I walked the bike down to Dorwin Falls and relaxed with my water.

When I came back up to the casse-croute at 18:00, it was closed.  I used the pay phone to call Sheryl and give her directions to Rawdon. I told her my phone was on and that she should call when she cot to the corner of Queen Street.  

I then went for a ride-about.  I rode down to Queen Street and looked out over the river valley.  Then I rode to the far end, and went down by Rawdon Beach.  I had never realized before that Rawdon was sandwiched between two lakes.  As I rode I checked out restaurants with  terraces. I found one in town on my way through, but when I passed back by the terrace was full.  I ended up on the terrace at Le Tournesol at around 19:00.  (This was the same restaurant that I used to come to in the mid-seventies).  

I got a corner table on the terrace and sat down to have some beers and await Sheryl.  She arrived around 20:00.  I had called her about 7:50 and she had been in Ste. Julienne, so I gave her directions.  She had no trouble finding me.  We had dinner (ribs,sh;pizza,rk) and coffee and finally set out for home around 21:30.

I normally would have had enough time, but we got caught in a ridiculous traffic jam at the Terrebonne Bridge, where we lost half an hour.  Because of other closures and construction, I had to take the 440 to the 13 and come around on the 20.  We got home at 11:05, and Alex was waiting for us.