Friday, September 21st 2007 The weather was great, without a hint of wind and it was amazingly warm for the first autumn day. I chose to begin the ride by climbing the 200 meters high Mont Royal. And there is my first stop of the day after not even 10km, to take some pictures. I rode down on some fun single tracks, heading down town to the old port of Montreal. Then a great cycling path leaded me to St-Hélène’s island. I thought for a second about doing a few laps on circuit Gilles Villeneuve (4.361 km), but after only halfway around the first, I gave up. Too much asphalt and smog around there, so I chose to ride away and took the St-Lawrence seaway bike path. It’s an almost straight road, surrounded with the seaway on the south and river on the north. My goal of the day was to ride all the way to the end of that road, approximately 35 km further, and back. But after only 10 km of boring views and fast spinning the coker, I decided to change my plan and got back to cross the St-Lawrence river on the breakwater bridge leading to ''Îles des Soeurs”. The 8 km loop around this island, with some off-road single-tracks, was one of the best part of the day. Now I have been on the saddle for 45 km. I know well those bike paths of the city, so I took two long stretches that could get me to the 90 km goal. A big loop on the south coast of Montreal’s island just to go back to the earth of Montreal by Lachine canal. Along the bike path, approaching downtown, my wheel got caught in a bike rack at the terrace of McAuslan Brewery. A delicious pint later, I remembered I live 15 km away so rolling straight home got me a total of 89.99 km. What a great day. Awesome weather and no technical or physical problem.
Stats
Distance : 89.99 km
Climbing & descending : 350 m
Riding time : 4h 25min
9/22/2007
160
Saturday, September 22nd 2007 A tour on the east of the Montreal was planned for the second day. I woke up in a great shape, without being sore of the day before. Weathers report for day two : cloudy passages and risks of thunderstorms in the afternoon, with winds of the southwest from 30 to 60 kph. 10:00 AM, I jump on the 36er. My legs are fluid and riding feels good. As it is on Saturday, the cycle paths are crowded. The road is beautiful, and I have a good back wind that allows me to roll 25 kph of average to the end of the island. There, I already knew returning home would be along industries and busy roads, but I also got a good face wind and some rain on top of it. The only solution was to duck and keep on spinning. I can say I hit a wall around the 50k mark. I slowed to 15 kph until the sun came back and I reached the old port path. With my last boost of energy, I climbed once more Mont-Royal. Finally home, it felt good to sit down even on my old futon. But of course, the day after I still took the uni for my commute ride.
Stats
Distance : 87.89 km
Climbing & descending : 200 m
Riding time : 4h 45min