We left Shawville early after having a snack in the room as the weather forecast was for a hot sticky day. The road and traffic into Hull were good so we made good time getting to the beginning of the bicycle paths. After a few km we came to a fork in the path and were trying to figure out where to go when a nice couple stopped to help us. The husband explained the bike paths to us then gave us his copy of the free trail map. We were near the CIBC and McDonald's so we picked up some cash then went for breakfast. During breakfast we pored over the map and picked a route. As we made our way through the city on bicycling paths, we had to work our way around a bicycle race and flood - induced detour. Eventually we made our way back to Rte 148 as it exited Gatineau. From there the bicycling was pretty strong forward along 148 eastbound.
As we were leaving the city we got a picture of the National Capital region from a different vantage point - north side of the Ottawa River and a bit down stream. The water was still quite high and evidence of flooding was everywhere - the bike paths sowed signs of having mud scraped off them and there was silt on low-lying lawns.
Eventually we settled on Montebello as a destination for the day. That was a good day of biking with making it through the city and going 153 km. About 10 km from Montebello we stopped at a side road for a water break when a local man stopped to talk with us. He invited us to his horse facility just a short distance off 148. Henri Hebert had built a track for harness racing and was hosting about 20 horses. He told us about building the facilities and also being mayor for many years. I wished that my French was better so that I could have had a good conversation with Henri. In Montebello we got a nice room in the Bel Eau motel and had a nice dinner at the Montebello Bistro close by.
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