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Starting in 2022, the road connects Quebec’s idyllic villages and lake-laced landscapes, passing over 100 gastronomic stops from Montréal to Sherbrooke.
Once, in 2019, I cycled 42km across a windswept, gravel causeway built atop an ancient train line that crosses across the waters of New England’s Lake Champlain, uneasily sitting on a borrowed, big bike.
Based on that experience and a leisurely 32km pedal near my Vermont home recently, I
decided to hop on a Greyhound bus to Montréal with my sister, a more
experienced biker, and spend five days tackling the Véloroute Gourmande: a
235km paved and gravel cycling trail connecting Montréal and the city of
Sherbrooke in southern Quebec.
That’s how I found myself sopping wet from relentless rain, wearing padded
biking shorts beneath running tights, many shirts under a rain jacket and
dripping over the wooden flooring of one of the most beautiful coffee shops I
have ever visited, Yamaska Café in Farnham, Quebec. Though I’m not yet an
intermediary rider, I am a stubborn novice. And a hungry one as well.
Fortunately, I was – very literally – on the correct course. Starting in April
2022, the Véloroute Gourmande threads over the bucolic villages and lake-laced
countryside, passing more than 100 gastronomic stops from farmers’ markets and
vineyards to casual bars and fine farm-to-table restaurants. From the woods
where I forage for wild mushrooms and my garden, which abounds with heirloom
tomatoes, rare herbs and edible flowers, I north to explore the culinary
legacy of the Québecois countryside; I was eager as a food writer, goose
farmer, cooking teacher, and restaurant chef to turn my attention from the
woods.
Most of the trail runs beside a section of the Route Verte, whose 5,300km crisscross
Québec to form North America’s largest bicycle path network. Apart from their
duration, the two paths differ primarily in that the Véloroute Gourmande was
planned essentially as a slow-travel culinary tour. Cyclists pause to refuel on
gravy-slicked French fries, pastries packed with blueberry jam, coffee gussied with
maple syrup or alcohol flavoured with boreal herbs, forest mushrooms or
wildflowers while riding around Québec’s countryside.
One hundred twenty icons on the interactive map of the Véloroute—small forks,
beer glasses and squat jam jars—represent locations to stop for things like
golden panini stuffed with house-cured ham and bloomy rind cheese, dark ale
delicately scented with spruce tips or wedges of cheese to squash into one’s
panniers and nosh by the side of the road.
This “Gourmande” path is not only gastronomic, despite its name.
Organisers also recommend tasteful hotels and friendly B&Bs, historically
significant sites like a Le Vieux Clocher concert hall in Magog, a closed
copper mine providing underground tours, and every bike shop along the rail
trail should your derailleur get twisted.
While the Véloroute website advises beginning in Montréal and cycling east, it
is possible to follow the path in either direction. Montréal is the most likely
entry point for out-of-towners, and biking closest to the city is easiest
(read: flatter), thus enabling cyclists to build up to the longer, hillier days,
which makes good sense. Though climbing increases by 150m, riding east offers a
higher chance at a tailwind.
Suzanne Padhaizer From Montréal, the path runs 235km east (Credit: Suzanne
Podhaizer).Suzanne Podhaizer
From Montréal, the route runs 235 kilometres east (Credit: Suzanne Podhaizer).
Comprising 55 of the 120 gastronomic pit stops on the 45km ride from Montréal
to the city of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, this first section We allowed
ourselves one additional day to cover the first leg so we could cram in more
eating.
Usually, as a chef, I scheduled my trips around gastronomic adventures. From
comforting and laid-back to magnificent, I have evolved techniques for sniffing
out the best cuisine throughout time. But this was the first time I had been
limited to the locations I could reach using bicycle power.
I reduced the choices in two different directions. First, I removed
locations—including farmers’ markets open for just four hours every week—that
would be closed as I drove by. I then sought stops that accentuate the finest
of what Québec offers, discounting rather attractive Italian restaurants and
ramen stores. Think buttery pastries, French onion soup and crêpes folded
around sweet or savoury contents; the present food of the area mainly draws on
its French-occupied heritage. Long-lasting hard cheeses, charcuterie, and
spiced meat hand pies balance these foods for a trip to log or fur trapping.
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Celebrating
hiking, bike riding, and other self-propelled travel, Set Out is a BBC series that invites
readers to get outside and reconnect with the planet.
Generally speaking, restaurants with extensive menus depend on frozen and
prepackaged foods. Hence, I eliminated those even if they were tempting me with
references to Québecois cuisine, including poutine, steak, salmon tartare, or
custard maple syrup pie. The list included briefer menus that included those
same traditional dishes and mentioned the usage of local or seasonal
ingredients.
Once I got my schedule, we started. Riding east, we followed the great St Lawrence
River, past crumbling factories, building-sized cruise ships, Parc
Jean-Drapeau’s two islands with a Ferris wheel, a geodesic dome resembling a
giant soap bubble, and Montréal’s slick Formula 1 racing circuit.
Suggested epicurean stops:
Easy riding and mixed urban and suburban landscape defined the first two days. I skipped
a small airport, pedalled past schools and many sculpture parks, and was trapped
in a two-wheeled traffic congestion waiting for a drawbridge to close. One
exception was in the 29km east of Montréal town of Chambly. With
Véloroute-recommended stops lining the town’s charming main street, it was
simple to sip a cappuccino, taste chocolate truffles, eat house-smoked pork
ribs, and tour Chambly’s well-known stout stone fortress-turned-museum with
just a little effort.
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, with its more gritty atmosphere, had our first
épiceries—tiny neighbourhood grocery stores sometimes used as cafes. One local
farmer arranged tables on the porch to offer bundles of greens, late-season
tomatoes, and summer and winter squash. Our excursion would primarily depend on
these all-in-one locations, each with a unique character and a different
assortment of goods.
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On our third morning, on our way to Granby, the landscape changed drastically as
we passed through little wooded areas encircling industrial parks, marshes or
farmland with vast soy and maise fields. The road was covered in ripe golden
soybeans that had blown away from their pods in the robust, manure-scented
breeze and crunched under our wheels in one area.
Suzanne Pod Haizer, The farm-to-table eateries along the path highlight
Quebec’s various flavours. Suzanne Podhaizer credits ( Credit: )Suzanne Pod
Haizer
The farm-to-table eateries along the path highlight Quebec’s various flavours.
Suzanne Podhaizer’s credit is ( credit )
That day was redeemed by trips to some of our preferred destinations, even if
it subsequently poured. With jars of locally grown organic lentils and other
gourmet items nestled among vintage pieces of furniture, Yamaska Café in
Farnham had a wonderfully crafted boutique feel. Beautiful as the space was,
the sandwiches and pastries from a pâtisserie a few towns over, a luscious
pecan tart with melting caramel on a chocolate cookie crust and a pistachio
mousse cake.
Create your travel schedule:
Need to remember to bring your bike? There are many different sites Montréal has to
rent one. Véloroute advises Voyager à Velo service, which provides bike
rentals, the capacity to tote your gear if you don’t want to carry it on your
bike, and a shuttle back to your starting point if you need to transport
yourself (and your leased bike) back to Montréal once your ride is complete.
Monday and Tuesday riding is also best avoided since many markets and stores
along the route are closed.
After seeing the sparkling copper-and-stainless alembic used for gin
distillation at Absintherie des Cantons, a distillery on Granby’s outskirts, we
sat at the bar to taste the product. Then we witnessed their award-winning
green absinthe turn milky as water splashed into it from a $1,200 Art Nouveau fountain.
Though smooth and easy to drink, the wormwood and anise-flavoured alcohol had
great potency.
Perfect weather, mountainous climbs, and breathtaking scenery—complete with
deep-blue lakes, grazing cattle, and the first fiery autumn leaves—filled
the last two days of the journey. Stopping often seemed foolish given so many
kilometres to cover—more than 60 every day—so we stayed at locations that
provided coffee, dinner, and desserts in one.
Fortunately, Massawippi Mercantile in North Hatley and La Station in Eastman, a
café and art gallery bursting with other riders, offered excellent cuisine,
large dining rooms and charming personnel.
Arriving in Sherbrooke on the evening of our fifth day, we were somewhat exhausted but still
quite hungry. Though generally literal, our adventure had ups and downs. As a
novice rider and experienced eater, I can’t see a finer first trip into bike-packing
than the Véloroute Gourmande. Along with sampling foie gras pȃté with large local blueberries, sipping gin
perfumed with sea buckthorn, and distributing local cranberry compote on my
pancakes, I also got to test my mettle by pedalling throughout the pastoral
Canadian environment from whence the ingredients came. On the next trip, I will
pack less clothing and leave more in my bags for fromage.
