Cycling day

I had to skip two Friday cycling days as my partner, my brother Jeff, was on holiday for two weeks. It's a good bet that if we both are unavailable on the same day, then this is the day that all hell breaks loose. So cycling today was especially appreciated. Plus the weather was at its best: warm, dry, sunny with a light southeasterly breeze.
As chance had it, only Ari signed up for this week's ride. The other usual Friday suspects were out of town, injured, or otherwise occupied. Taking advantage of the small group size, I had last night plotted an 86-km loop beginning (and ending) in St-Philippe, a small town 20 km due south of Montreal that I am certain I have never passed through before. It's a one church, one dépanneur, one gas station kind of town with not a hint of anybody actually living there, save for a few homes and beat-up cars. We parked at the boarded-up community centre and jumped onto our bikes.
We very quickly cycled out of town and headed due south towards the US border, 40 km away. It's a funny sensation to be passing through farm country, the corn I recognize but uncertain as to what the other crops are, so close to Montreal but feeling as if I am in another country, experiencing a foreign adventure. I will very soon be cycling through Puglia, in southeast Italy, and can imagine feeling the same warm sunshine, noticing the farmhouses and farming equipment, marveling at how fortunate I am to have the experience, and so I decide to feel the very same right now and right here in my own backyard! What a treat to have the day off! The roads are uncharacteristically free of potholes with almost zero traffic to consider. If not for the gelatto and the Adriatic Sea, why spend so much money to cycle in Italy anyway?