Some Bikes and Beers crew (Mark, Andy, Stephane and Charles) took a weekend trip to the Oka - Mont Rigaud region in La Belle Provence for some riding and a trip to Beau's All Natural Brewery in Vankleek Hill.

Stephane and Andy hard at work in the truck on the way to the hotel. Since it was a 6 hour drive we had some time to brainstorm and come up with some excellent events for later this year. Keep checking the site for news once we are able to release our plans.

Mon Village in Saint Lazare was our dinner spot on Friday night. This converted farm house has a great atmosphere and even better food. Stephane is from the area and has been coming to this restaurant for many years.

For our ride Saturday we went to Sentiers de l’Abbaye de l’Oka. These trails are on the former land of the Oka Monks. The trails were awesome. We didn’t know what to expect but we were not disappointed. They were definitely technical with a lot of short burst of climbing and some quick downhills.

Towards the top of the hill, at the start of the Cabane trail. Recommended trails for the North side of L’abbaye are definetly G2 and Petit Viree. Both trails have some great flow and can pick up some good speed on the descents. You really can’t go wrong with any trails as long as you don’t mind some climbs.

Unfortunately we did not have enough time to fully explore the North and South sides as we had an appointment at Beau’s Brewing to keep. But we will be back to spend a full day or two on these amazing trails.

We all were in heaven at Beau’s All Natural Brewing. I’m sure most of you are familiar with Lug Tread but they have so much more to offer such as their Haters Gonna Hate Kolsch and their The Tom Green Beer! Milk Stout and many, many more.

We were able to get a behind the scenes tour and it is pretty amazing what this craft brewery is able to produce.

We have to give thanks to Robyn and Judd for being excellent hosts and keeping us topped up during our visit to Beau’s. And also for patiently answering all 297 questions from Andy. Yes, I counted.

Sunday morning it was time to hit Mont Rigaud for some biking before heading back to reality. Since Mont Rigaud is a ski hill we were expecting some pretty tough climbing. However, this was not the case. The climb to the top is actually pretty nice. You can tell you are climbing but the way they layed out the trail was quite nice and you were able to go up at your own pace and cruise.

Once on the top the fun began with a nice trail on the top of the hill with some rocky sections and nice berms. After you come out of the woods the super fun begins with a descent back down L’Oree du bois.

For some extra fun after the descent you can head over to the skills park and if you are feeling brave you can give the downhill run a shot.

I wish we had some more time to explore all the great trails, but now that we know this gem is out there we will be going back every year, and who knows maybe we will take some of you with us.