Friday August 3rd
For first time in weeks I got up really early and because I had no food was on the road by 7:15 and had covered 30 kilometers by around 8:30 where I stopped for breakfast. I had an awesome omelette to start the day and was back on the road in no time. It is so much cooler in the morning and since I was on a less travelled road at any time it was especially quiet this time of day. It was also another day were I really didn’t pay attention to the time or the kilometers since I new my destination was around 110 kilometers, an easy day by my current standards and terrain which was flat, flat , flat!
The 148 highway continued to have an excellent shoulder and fairly good pavement but since it headed due East rather than South I switched off of it for a while and rode along on some country roads. There were a couple of hills and the odd rough road but nothing to write home about. Eventually I hooked back up with the 148 and rode it over into Laval which I thought was Montreal because I am silly and didn’t see that there are two islands.
I rode across Laval again on the 148 but heading East and traffic was starting to pick up and the cars were less willing to give up space even though there were three lanes. I turned South on the 335 highway which leads toward my Cousins place near the old downtown Montreal. Things were getting busy though as it was around 12:30. I crossed the bridge into Montreal and pulled into a nice little park near the river to call a very special someone. Right after our conversation my phone died completely which is not so bad in the city but basically I have no navigation, contact or address information when this happens. I knew I was going the right direction though so I kept riding waiting to see a restaurant worth stopping at. It was a Chinese buffet and immediately I had a Pavlovian reaction. I turned the bike around and went in for a meal while I charged my phone and I have to admit this was the worst Chinese food bar none that I have ever had. It was really that bad, everything had probably been sitting out all morning as the meat was like rawhide and the sauce was so full of sugar I could hardly taste the meet. For chow mein they used Stortini which is the same kind you see in kraft dinner. Anyway at least my phone was charged so I left a text with Francois that I as 15 minutes away and got back on the 335.
It was getting busy by now so I decided to find a side street and wouldn’t you know it I found a full on bike lane covered with trees on a one way street where parked cars protected the path. There are a lot of cyclists in Montreal so I had to keep a look out more for them than cars. Within a few minutes I pulled up in front of Francois’ apartment building where he was waiting outside for me. It has been a few years and he is now a young man with a beard and pony tail. Good looking guy too.
We went inside and carried my bike stuff up to his apartment on the second floor where I met his girlfriend Maria. We chatted for a while as it really has been a long time since we have seen each other. He has been in Montreal with Maria for about 3 years now and they really like here. I could see why as their apartment bordered a very large and busy La Fountaine park . There are bike paths everywhere and you can walk to the old downtown Montreal in about 15 minutes which we proceeded to do after I cleaned up.
Downtown Montreal is as I remember all those years ago (I won’t mention), it is simply alive with activity with people, bars and restaurants. There is street entertainment and a very relaxed atmosphere with a lot of beautiful looking people walking around. We stopped in a pub for a few hours to catch up before walking home and calling it a night. Still can’t believe I am in Quebec!
