Where the Matapédia river runs into the Restigouche, the Gaspé peninsula begins, and so does one of Canada's best salmon rivers. The village of Matapédia is a small place of a few hundred people squeezed between the water and forested Appalachian hills, right on the border between Quebec and New Brunswick, and for anyone riding Route 132 it is both a doorway and a full stop. The big loop around the Gaspésie, nearly nine hundred kilometres, is usually started here or finished here, and arriving after days of coast and cliff, you feel the road softening into river valley.
The river is the story. Atlantic salmon run up the Restigouche and Matapédia every summer, and fly fishermen have come for more than a century, sometimes staying in old fishing lodges beside the water. The Mi'gmaq people have fished and lived on these banks for much longer. Just downstream, at Pointe-à-la-Croix, a naval battle in 1760 sank the last French relief ships sent to Canada, and the little interpretation centre there tells the story of this forgotten final act of the Seven Years' War in North America.
The riding on the Matapédia valley road is gentle and elegant. Route 132 follows the water through spruce and maple, with long, easy sweeps and the occasional covered bridge or old railway station. Traffic is light, and the surface is generally good, though frost heaves can disturb it in spring. Moose are common, particularly at dusk, and a rider on a fast bike should be especially careful from dusk to dawn. In autumn, the maples turn scarlet and the whole valley burns with colour, which is the time most people recommend.
For fuel and food, the larger town is Campbellton, on the New Brunswick side, about twenty kilometres away, with supermarkets, restaurants and several filling stations. Matapédia itself has a couple of simple places to eat, and the local speciality is salmon, smoked or grilled. Cash and card are both accepted, but small places can be limited.
The border between provinces is open, but a time zone shift can catch you out, as New Brunswick keeps Atlantic time while this part of Quebec uses Eastern. Summers are warm, winters long and snowy, and the road is best from June to October.