Yesterday was a magnificent ride along the banks of the St. Lawrence River. Opting to make some time rather than hang around for Quebec City on a Friday afternoon, I set north along the historic Royale Ave.  Quaint farms and 300+ year old houses stretched from the steep shale cliffs to the fertile river floodplain.

Last week I was in a predicament where I needed to get a new belt ahead of me down the road but didn't know quite where to send it. I was going to head into Fort Kent Maine and pick one up there but instead decided the $50 ferry for the St. Lawrence crossing was too much.  There's a bridge in Quebec City so that's where I was heading. I googled scooter shop Quebec City and scootertuning.ca came up.  Maxime answered my call and had a Polini  belt in stock. Perfect.

The next thing I received was an email saying the belt was on the house and he'd be happy for the company to support me in my adventure!  What amazing kindness and generosity.

The shop was busy expanding into an adjacent room but they had the most amazing selection of scooter belts variators , clutches & accessories I've ever seen. Maxine explain to me that in Canada you can get your scooter license at age 14 instead of 16 like in the United States. That means there's a lot of scooters rolling around a lot of people with paper route money to spend on parts... Just kidding.

Before leaving they sent me off with some stickers keychains and even a tshirt! That will come in handy because I only have one t-shirt. (Thanks Friends of the Locust Fork)

Once again, after a secondary immigration detention, they let me in to Canada! Onward Nord!

Yesterday morning I departed Augusta headed north on 201.  The route follows the Old Canada Rd, a route of trade and historical importance between the St. Lawrence River Valley and Gulf of Maine.  Staying close to the Kennebec River for the first 80 miles or so, the beautiful 70/sunny day made for a peaceful day in the saddle and plenty of time to walk and explore the roadside informational kiosks.  Notable historical moments include the last river logging drive in the US (1976) and Benedict Arnold's  10mi portage enroute to Quebec City.