From SNOT-Central, one can ride West to the mystical Calabogie area, North to the Land of poutine in the Laurentians, South to the Adirondacks or East to the flat farmland if you’re into counting Holsteins for kicks. There will also be a "tourist option", a little day loop going up to Gatineau Park with the option of visiting a few museums.
Detailed maps and rides are forthcoming, but here's a preview of a very long Western ride:
A local rider, moto instructor to boot, has a few pretty good roads described on his site, at http://www.themcdonalds.net/richard/bike/rides.shtml.
This one allows you to explore Quebec's notoriously bad roads -- and test your suspension settings... Slightly less than 400 km, you can plot this road on your GPS with the following waypoints: From Orleans to Cumberland village, onto the ferry to Masson, then 148 W to Montebello, where 323 will take you to St-Jovite and then Tremblant, where you could have lunch. Then, 327 S to 364 W to Saint-Sauveur. In that touristy village, find the church because right next to it is Boulangerie Pagé, where the twisted donuts (and sugar pie) are out of this world. Backtrack on 364 to Morin Heights and take 329 S (a plethora of sweepers) to 148 E, then take the bridge to Hawkesbury and 17 W. Stop in Alfred, like Jean Chrétien used to do often, for a poutine at La Kenebec, a chip stand on your right. 17 leads back onto 174 but, from Hawkesbury, you can also elect to stick as close to the river as possible, for some nice curves and views. Click here for the S&T file.
This one allows you to explore upstate NY's notoriously good pavement... Slightly less than 700 km, you can plot this road on your GPS with the following waypoints: From Orleans to Ogdensburg, NY, via 174 W, 417, 416 S and the grated bridge at Prescott, ON. Then take NY 68 south east through Canton, to 56 S, where the good stuff begins. That road takes you to NY 3 East at Sevey, to Tupper Lake, to Saranac Lake and Lake Placid, where you could have lunch. Take 73 to Keene for ultra-high-speed sweepers that climb up (or down, depending on the direction). From there NY 9N makes you loop through Jay, Upper Jay and Au Sable Forks, before joining NY 9 southbound, to catch with 73. From Lake Placid, 86 will bring you to 30 North, at Paul Smiths. Malone is where you'll take 37 that will take you through Mohawk territory to the bridge to Cornwall, ON. Watch for the OPP on 138, north of Cornwall before 417, which will then be 60 km of slab from SNOT-Central. Other options include going through backroads by staying on 138 pass 417, through County Road 8 which will take you to Bourget, Clarence Creek and then Clarence, before taking 17 westbound to Orleans. Click here for the (rough) S&T file.
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