long bike ride

I only learned about this trip a few days ago. A 256km ride around Lac St Jean, in central Quebec, on a bike route known as Route des Bluets, due to te abundance of blueberries in this region, especially at this time o the year.

I was a little hesitant at first, afraid to be imposing on the plans of someone I had just met and who happened to share my love of biking. But she insisted it would be no trouble at all , and as they say, the more the merrier.

So with three others, we sped through the night to the area and checked in late at a B&B. The next morning, we started biking toward our destination some 90km further north.

The scenery is beautiful, with rolling hills and valleys, and at times the broad, inviting blur surface of Lac St Jean itself in the not so far away distance. We went at a steady pace, paused here and there for photo ops and to visit historic sites, but generally we are a fun and friendly bunch of people who, though some of us have never met before, are fast beginning good biking buddies.

Again, being on a bike and going the long distance made me feel so alive and invigorated. Initially I was afraid of the distance, but really going at a steady pace you hardly feel or notice.



Of course, there are moments when i think of my friend and imagine how great it would be to do this long bike ride together, for we've so often talked about going here and there... And at times, I was reminded of the charity bike ride we did last year, our longest together yet, when we just felt so happy and trouble free being next to one another.

But I could forget, at least temporarily anyways. Forget what had pulled me down for so long, and I could feel myself, my body be so strong and so determined to continue. Forget, and leave all the noises and troubles that has so disturbed me for the last few weeks, months, and just focus on the road, on the peddling, on getting to where we are headed. It is wonderful to distract yourself and to remind yourself that beyond your worries, fears and attachments, is a world so vast, so beautiful and all of it waiting to be explored and taken in with the mind and eyes.

Tonight we are camping outdoors, merely a few steps from a broad river of rough rapids. I can hear the water, crashing and tumbling, I can smell the scent of an open campfire, and I can feel the romance I always feel wing outdoors and being with nature (less bugs would be nice though...).

Time for a good rest, relax my body, to enjoy that momentary peace of mind and resting of my soul.