P'tit Train du Nord - Mont Laurier to Nominingue

 

 

We have 7 friends visiting from Edinburgh and we have planned a bike trip on the p'tit train du nord. On Monday  we are collected by Bike bus from Montreal which delivered us to the Best Western in Mont Laurier.  Not a pretty town, but the start point for the ride.

 

There are very few restaurants in town, so we end up at a Cage Aux Sports 

 

The p'tit train du nord is a disused railway path that runs from Montreal 250km north.  Tuesday morning, after a quick breakfast and a number of bike adjustments we begin the ride.  It's a nice easy simple route, no navigation, no maps needed, should be just a lovely bike ride.  There is only 1  navigational error that is possible to make at the start of the ride.  Head north instead of south.  So anyway, after we reversed our way back out of an industrial estate, we made our second attempt at starting the ride

 

The weather forecast was not good

 

And it delivered.  For the first half of the day, the rain was fairly constant. A heavy drizzle.  However, the folks we were riding with are Scottish, a hardy group, to whom a little bit of rain meant a normal cycling day!  Although some are more hardy than others! (Just saying, Mary!)

 

Every few km along the route are shelters which are useful meet up points to regroup.  The rain could have been a little disheartening, but no, at each shelter there was usually some form of entertainment such as solving logic puzzles, having a photo shoot and even some Scottish country dancing!

 

First puncture of the trip - and it's my bike!  Despite the early part of the route being billed as tarmaced  there are some fairly serious ruts and potholes.   Fortunately, Stuart is ready with his toolkit.  Sally stays behind as well as she also claims bike repairing credentials.  She provides moral support!

 

If we  had studied the route a little more carefully we may have realized that the reason for such a large number of picnic shelters is because there is nowhere for lunch!!  Despite a number of detours and very bad french conversations we fail to find a lunch stop.  Fortunately, day 1 is only 55km, so we all survive on a chewy bar, a banana and a little bit of insanity!

 

When we arrive at Nominingue, our destination, the Auberge BelleRivie more than makes up for the lack of lunch

 

 

It is a delightful villa right on the edge of the lake, the canoes, swimming pool and hot tubs mean we can carry on with the day's theme of getting pretty wet!

 

 

And in the evening a delicious gourmet 5 course meal finally banishes the pain of no lunch!