I had wondered whether Lac-Saint-Jean, a two-day drive from home in Virginia to the edge of the Quebec, Canada, wilderness, might prove to be a trip too far as a bicycling destination. A sublime moment on the lake’s Veloroute des Bleuets, the Blueberry Trail, put that question to rest.

Yes, this was worth it, I thought, rolling through Point-Taillon park on a fern-lined trail with solitary beaches and deep blue waters sparkling through trees on one side of the trail. On the other side, wild blueberry patches spread out like throw rugs on the forest floor. Icing on this cake: bear poop in the briars.

Quebec has over 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometres) of bike-friendly roads and trails in its Route Verte (Green Way) cycling network and selecting which segments to ride can be bewildering. In making a plan months earlier, I decided to follow the food.

Napoleon famously said an army marches on its stomach and that’s what I did in seeking the conquest of New France, on a bicycle. I ventured boldly into the heart of Lac-Saint-Jean blueberry country. I stayed in a chocolate factory overlooking the magically moody St Lawrence River. I rolled in the territory of fine cheese-makers in storybook villages topped with spires, shrines and other icons of the faithful.

I knew I might come back plump and Catholic. But nothing ventured, nothing conquered.

Over two weeks, I cycled on two separate sections of Route Verte: the 160-mile (256-kilometre) circuit around Lac-Saint-Jean, and a collection of country lanes and bike paths on the eastern shore of the St. Lawrence between sunset-kissed Kamouraska and the Gaspe Peninsula.

This was my second year sampling Route Verte and it confirmed an impression from the first: Quebec reserves prime real estate for cycling. If you’re biking in lake or river country, often nothing separates you from the water except a palette of sand, rock and wildflowers. This makes for arresting vistas.

The roaring Ouiatchouan waterfall, which once powered the mill, dwarfs visitors to Val-Jalbert, a re-create paper mill town from the 1920s along Lac-Saint-Jean. The spectacle dominates the town, both by day when visitors can stroll the streets, and by night when the waterfall is dramatically bathed in lights of changing colors and the town is reserved for guests who stay there. It’s a popular stop for cyclists on the Blueberry Trail around Quebec’s Lac-Saint-Jean.

The ghostly concrete sculptures of Marcel Gagnon stretching into the foggy St. Lawrence River in Sainte-Flavie, Quebec, along the Route Verte cycling network. The figures are consumed by high tides and laid bare by low tides in the vast river, 30 miles wide at this point. Gagnon is patriarch of a family of artists who work from their galleries and riverside inn in Sainte-Flavie.

The broad river offers world-renowed sunsets, a large population of whales and breathtaking vistas for people cycling and exploring the villages and byways of Route Verte from Quebec City into the Gaspe Peninsula.

While biking Route Verte trails and roads right along the river, it’s sometimes worth climbing a big hill and diverting away from the water on quiet roads that give you panoramic views of farmlands, meadows and the St. Lawrence.

VELOROUTE DES BLEUETS

Stitched together from bike trails, country byways, village pathways and occasional paved shoulders, this is a beautiful ride along a lake so big it resembles the sea.

Cyclists on Veloroute des Bleuets are treated to candy for all of the senses — the sight and sound of waterfalls, the crispness of the air, the tiny taste-explosions of those wild blueberries, ripe in late summer and better than any berry in captivity.

People generally take three to five days to circle the lake. The longer the trip, the more time to see places such as Zoo Sauvage, where great wild spaces are given to animals, and Val-Jalbert, a historical 1920s paper mill town dominated by a towering waterfall, dramatically illuminated at night in changing colours.

The zoo, notable for the wide open spaces turned over to its animals, is a favorite stop for cyclists circling Lac-Saint-Jean on Veloroute des Bleuets, the Blueberry Trail, and a year-round attraction for many in the region.

One tip: Ride counterclockwise to fare best with winds.

Another tip: Equinox Aventure will drive luggage from inn to inn for $9 to $18 a bag per day, plan itineraries, book lodging and retrieve you if needed.

Associated Press