Lac Morency – Day 5 – Montreal

Sadly, our time in Lac Morency came to a close this morning, but at least we had a day of riding in Montreal to anticipate. The drive to Montreal was about an hour. Then the drive home was six hours plus stopping time. We still had groceries remaining, that we brought with us, that allowed us to make a packed dinner, so that we only had to stop for bathroom breaks, and to switch drivers. Here I am ready to go with the big pink suitcase, my wheelie cooler with cold stuff, and another cooler on top with food that didn’t need to be kept cold, my backpack that I use on my road bike which doesn’t have a rack, and my bike. Unfortunately, I realized once I got home, that I had forgotten my foam roller. Too bad it didn’t occur to me when I was taking this picture.

It is a very different kind of trip when staying in one place, with a kitchen, and a car, compared to our self supported tours. It is more economical, allows one to pack more liberally, and the car can provide more range for trips to restaurants, or to start riding. I like both kinds of trips. We have had a mix this year.

Here we are ready to drive.

We decided to keep our riding distance to 30km given the driving time to home, and that we were meeting friends for lunch. We headed for Parc Agrignon, a large, popular park in the west end, where there was free parking and access to the trail along the St. Lawrence for our ride into the city, and from the Lachine Canal for our ride back.

Right away after leaving the park we saw Montreal’s distinctive “plex” architecture with outdoor staircases. Most of the 30km we cycled was on cycling infrastructure. Some of it painted, like below, much of it curb separated downtown, or on wide multi-use paths along the water.

This was out first sight of the St. Lawrence.

The path had separation between cycling directions and pedestrians marked by the small reflective flexible markers. You could ride over them. We also saw them on the highway coming into the city. I would be interested to know how many get ripped up by snowplows.

We had to leave the waterfront for a few kilometres to avoid highways, rail lines, and rail yards.Initially we made the mistake of riding to the east side of this intersection before realizing that there was a bi-directional cycle track on the west side. This one was just buffered with paint. Even in Montreal, where they are much more accustomed to seeing cyclists, one has to be very alert – a driver on her phone came straight across the cycle track without looking and would have hit me had I not taken evasive action. I did realize the irony of the fact that I was holding my phone having just taken a picture, and that I didn’t know whether or not that is illegal in Quebec. In Ontario, the Highway Traffic Act specifically refers to motor vehicles with respect to cell phone usage.

Some of the roads through this industrial area had bike lanes, some did not, however there wasn’t much traffic on a Sunday morning and we are quite comfortable on the roads, regardless.

Here we crossed the Lachine canal to the Old port.

The Old Port is beautiful and one can ride on a bi-directional bike lane on the road or ride more closely to the water on shared pathways.

There is much to see in the Old Port including the cruise ship docks, the science centre, zip lines and aerial park, and the market, Bonsecours. There are also accommodations and lots of restaurants, bars and cafes.

We left the Old Port and headed north into the city with the vast majority of streets on which we cycled having curb separated cycling lanes.

Heading west to the restaurant where we were meeting friends for lunch there were many colourful sights.

We had lunch here, the most crowded place I have been, unmasked, since the pandemic started. One placed an order by going to the counter and then the food was delivered to the table. I ordered for everyone in our group and was the only one asked to produce a vaccine certificate. Six days later, feeling healthy, I assume all is well.

Heading back to the Lachine canal we continued to enjoy Montreal’s cycling infrastructure. I spent four days riding here ten years ago, and a few days walking around five years ago. I remembered the general layout and how much I enjoy this city.

The Lachine canal pathways were very busy. It was a beautifully sunny, still and warm day.

In many places there are bike paths separated from the walking path, on both sides of the canal.

It is busy enough that there were four way stop intersections at places and signs to cyclists to yield to crossing footpaths. I think there were more places to cross that were active transportation only, than there were that also accommodated motorists.

We even encountered a roundabout! There was no excuse to being confused about which way to travel around it.

Coming into the north end of Parc Agrignon we were treated to beautiful fall colours and experienced how extensive the park is.

Here we are with the cycling coming to an end. A six hour drive with a few stops for bathrooms and to change drivers took us back home from another memorable cycling trip. I would highly recommend the P’tit Train du Nord and Montreal. I hope to go back and explore the last 15km of the trail at the south end, and the 110km north of Mont-Tremblant.


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