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EmayTravels
If it weren't for the sections of the route along the highway I would give the Blueberry Route 5 stars. The wide paved shoulders leave plenty of room, but the transport trucks are a bit hard to deal with. My husband and I cycled and camped the whole way along the loop. We have a lot to say about it, so point form:- it's inexpensive to have your gear shipped from place to place if you're camping. We wanted to be purists, but honestly, it would have made the ride more enjoyable not to lug all our gear everywhere we went. - We did the loop over 4 days. It was too rushed for us. We could easily do the distance, but we felt we missed out on spending time experiencing the little towns, many beaches and side attractions along the way. 5-7 days would have been better, because there is so much to see and do. And, if this doesn't allow you enough time on your bike, there are lots of attractions just off the route that you can cycle to as side trips and easily add another couple hundred KM to the route. - The zoo at St Felicien was expensive, yes, but totally worth it. The train ride through the "open zoo" was something we've never experienced before, and a must do, especially with kids. - The city of St. Felicien is beautiful as well. The downtown has a music stage and a beautiful garden right on the river. Although we didn't get a chance to see it they have free music concerts and light shows throughout the summer months. - Point Taillon Park is stunning. We passed through on our first day and only stopped once to swim, because we had to rush to make the last ferry crossing. The trail is gorgeous, and a great relief from the sun. The public beach is nice, but there are countless private little strips of sand along the trail, that we discovered after leaving the beach. - Top notch camping all along the route, all very well maintained, with helpful staff. We booked sites ahead of time (a good idea) but chose our prime location when we arrived, and staff always accommodated our request for a site with a better view/more sun etc. - Snacks/food are readily available at gas stations and supermarkets. Don't carry too much with you. - At Dolbeau Mistassini there is a spectacular municipal beach on the river. Don't miss it!We were welcomed by people in communities all along the route. Almost everyone was friendly and helpful, and our experiences with people along the way contributed a lot to our experience. A special thanks to our friends in St. Felicien :)
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ethanstrominger
Based on other people's reviews, we did the loop, and it was an okay vacation, but only if you have a thick skin for biking many miles on a busy highway, sharing the road with trucks, including double trailers, going at full speed on a daily basis. The parts that were not on the highway at all were great, but the highway portions, which was a substantilal portion of the trip, were horrible. There is a brochure for "Veleroutes des Bluets". The map tells you where there is a trail and where you just have a shoulder. Look at that map closely. Any parts that are on route 169 are horrible. There are some places where you are using a shoulder of 169 and some parts where there is a path - if there is a path, it is tolerable. Studying the map and talking with locals, I would recommend looking at the map and taking side roads from Albanel to Dolbeau to avoid one of the worst parts of 169. Highly recommended is the Chute De Pere motel in Dolbeau - great food, right on the river. The trail from Girardville looked very interesting coming out of the woods. The zoo in San Felicien was expensive, but fun, and one of the nicest parts of the bike and a very nice bike ride. Another tip: there are signs to a monastery in Dolbeau, which is not the same as the highly advertised "new monastery and choclaterie."
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jeans_bastienf
We recently completed the cycling route around the lac St-Jean which is about 260 km. Because we were on vacation and looking to explore what the region has to offer, such as microbreweries, cheese factories, a zoo, a ghost town, and wild blueberries everywhere, etc., we took 5 days to do it. We would pedal between 50-60 km in the morning. I think that this trip is accessible to most people as it is a beginner to intermediate course. The downs: most of the time you are on a cycling trail or a less busy road but sometimes you have to peddle on the side of the 169 where big vans pass by at 100k.Overall great vacation that we recommend to everyone!
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546CherylS
Just completed a 5 day cycling trip around Lac St. Jean. What a great trip with beautiful scenery, fabulous paved bike paths. Some of the cycling was on secondary roads but they are a dream as well. In Quebec the main roads have a 1.5 meter paved side so it is safe( unlike Ontario, where you sometimes take your life in your hands)!We booked through Equinox adventures which I found was great. They transported your luggage so you don't need to worry about carrying lots of gear.If you are into camping Quebec has fabulous camping so that could be an option as well.Lots of cheese places and microbreweries so that was a welcome treat at the end of the day.All our places we stayed were great, some in a town, some outside where it was quiet and peaceful.The friendliness and hospitality of the French Canadians was superb. Can't wait to return.You get to cycle through 2 provincial parks with great beaches and scenery. Make sure you bring your camera!
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Cloclo222
The roads are clean and in good shape, but people drive fast out there. The view on the Lake St-Jean is fantastic but more than half the travelling around the lake is away enough from the lake side that you cannot see the water and the beaches.
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thon
Second time we did this circuit. This time during blueberry season. Really good cycling all on paved surfaces. Lots of the circuit is on dedicated bike paths with parts on secondary and residential streets. Parts are on the a highway but with quite wide shoulders so, other that when crossing short bridges, we always felt quite safe. We did the 270 km in 4 days.
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lifecraver
The 256km around Lac St Jean takes you through farmland, blueberry fields, forest, villages, lakes and rivers. It is well maintained and there are a variety of activities along the route. Museums, cheese factories, micro-breweries and beaches. There are lots of well maintained rest areas with clean bathrooms and places to picnic. We decided to take the package with Equinox where all our accomodaton was pre-selected and they arranged baggage transfer between B&B's. A very enjoyable cycling trip.
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JudithAM
We recently completed a 4 day circuit of Lac St Jean with much help from Equinox. When we first made our reservations all we planned was for a bike, lodging and transport of our luggage. What we didn't expect was that both my husband's and my luggage would be lost from our United Airlines flight. The owner of Equnox, Hugue, took us to his home, provided clothes for us both so we could start our adventure.We started the trip mid-May prior to the "official opening" of the season. Rain, sleet and even a few minutes of snow were part of our trip. So be prepared to bike wet. We even hid out in a car wash during one rain storm. We chose to include the route through Pointe-Taillon Park, which was worth the extra miles. When going through Roberval go a few blocks past the bike route to Boulangerie Perron. Great stop for lunch. The locals are in and out for their breads and pastries. We had a flat tire and were out of spares so the bakery called us a taxi to take us to the bike shop in a nearby village. If you have never done a bike trip outside of a group, this is the place to start. The route is well marked, whether bike only path or bike lane on a car road. We never felt unsafe and the few times we stoped to look at a map someone approached us to see if we needed assistance.Even though our clothes were borrowed, it was wonderful to have them already at our nights lodging. If you plan to bike the entire lake I would hesitate to take young children since there is a good amount of road biking and some hills. So 12+yrs would be my suggested minimum age.As for us, we are both in our early 60's, and one day was 45 miles which we had no problem completing. As for food, we picked up cheese, bread, wine etc and had our dinner's at the lodgings. All owners allowed us to store any extras in their frig and were more than accomodating in letting us use the dining area.
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wordscriber
This is a terrific 5 day trip, cycling around the huge lake. Our accommodations were arranged by Hooked on Cycling who then contracted Equinox for final bed and breakfast arrangements. Equinox carried our luggage from place to place, rented us the bicycles and gave us the itinerary. All B and B's were terrific and I will be writing separate reviews on them. The ride was a joy and a way to truly appreciate the beauty of Quebec and the friendliness of the French Canadians. If you like to cycle and like fairly flat routes, I highly recommend this ride.
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MTLcyclebuff
We completed it in 4 days with our camping gear in tow. It's scenic with a variety of landscapes, relatively easy no real hills. Very well marked all along the route, people extremely friendly and quite helpful. Good services for cyclists, there are 3 cyclist service centers evenly spaced. We have NO negative comments.
