Day 4: 2013 East Coast Trip Ottawa to Quebec City

Start:Kanata, ON
End: Quebec City, QC
Distance: 633 km;   Total distance: 1312km
Gas: Ottawa: 11.46 litres @ $1.33; $15.35 total
Chenveville, QC: 10.4 litres @ $1.34; total $13.59
 Louisville, QC: 16.5 litres@ $1.399; total $23.15
Temperature: Today was stinking hot. We left Ottawa about 10:30 a.m. and were sweating before we left. It was a clear, hot day with no clouds. The temperature at 7:00 pm was still 85 degrees.
 We started the day by riding thru the centre of Ottawa to cross over to Quebec. We rode towards Montreal but cut off onto Hwy 315 travelling north towards Mont Tremblant.
We stopped in Ripon to take a few photos of a beautiful waterfall. From there, we took Hwy 323 and then Hwy 117 into Mont Tremblant. We hit a small section of road construction on Hwy 323 but the Harley was able to make it thru without and damage.

Mont Tremblant is a beautiful ski resort and in the summer, cyclists seem to take over the rodes. There are excellent cycling roads and the Canadian Olympic teams train there. After Mont Tremblant, we took a road called Chem Duplessis. This winding, rolling road was in superb condition and had to be one of the nicest motorcycling roads I've come across. As you ride it, you continually make sweeping curves, up and down smooth hills.

Once off of the Chem Duplessis, we went towards Lac Superior. It was a small lake with many cottages and chalets surrounded by mountains. It was just gorgeous and I wish I had stopped to take a few photos.
Past Lac Superior, we took Chem Nordet and encountered a collection of old, old cars that were touring together. The photo is of a old but prestine boogotti. We followed Chem Nordet as it went thru very hilly territory. We climbed very high hills and then went down very steep inclines for about 30 km. The views were outstanding and the roads were excellent.

We then took Hwys 125, 347, 348 towards Louisville. The terrain gradually got less hilly and became mainly large farm fields, many with freshly rolled circular hay bales. Just before getting to Louisville, the aroma of fresh manure filled the air. We had the opportunity to whiff this just before stopping for a bite to eat in Louisville.
We then headed along Hwy 40 East which straddles the St. Lawrence River. The Highway was very smooth and we were able to cover a lot of ground at a higher rate. The scenery was not as spectacular as I had anticipated. It was a clean, well cared-for road, but you could only see the tree line as you drove along it. As we approached Quebec City, you could see the large dirt cliffs along the St. Lawrence.
The ride took longer than we thought and we under-estimated the amount of sunlight we had. Since we were heading east, the sun set much sooner than we were used to. As a result, by the time we hit Quebec City, it was near dark and we had a hard time locating a camp site, so we decided to stay in a motel for the night. We stayed in Motel Spring, a small family run motel along Hwy 40/138. The owners were very friendly, spoke fluent English and were eager to give us information.
Tomorrow, we plan on going to the Old City of Quebec City before heading north to Saguenay/Chicoutami.