Time: 3h52m47s
Distance: 105.87km
Avg Spd: 27.3km/hr
Climbing: 218m
Great ride on Saturday, and fun times in Montreal today...
I left camp with the Top Guns on Saturday, and we crossed into Quebec on a side street parallel to the 401, and took a picture at the little roadsign.
After navigating some tough traffic through a busy section of town, I found myself at a garden center with Julia, Shannon and Ryan and everyone else was up the road. We had stopped to take a picture of Ryan #eleveoing in the giant deck chair out front of the restaurant, then struck up a conversation with the nice lady working the store.
A little restaurant in Beauharnois was our next stop for Ryan's first taste of poutine!
We arrived at our destination - the Kahnawake Survival School - and set up camp. This is a new facility that will be opening for their first day of classes shortly after we leave in the morning.
Our first mission was to do laundry. Brandon borrowed a van, and we ventured into town to find the laundromat. But that was easier said than done. We ended up talking to a local at the gas station, who directed us to a non-descript white building off the main road that wasn't evened signed. But sure enough they had washers for us!
Eukre tournament was the action for Satuday night, as we were far away from any night-life.
Sunday we got bused into Montreal for a church service at St Paul and St Andrews. It was a gorgeous old church building, and we were led in a mixture of liturgical and contemporary worship.
After church, Ryan's friend from college led us on a walking tour of Montreal. We had a sweet lunch at Santropol - a "foodie" restaurant with some awesome sandwiches and milkshakes.
Walking from the restaurant to Old Town, where we were to meet our bus back to camp, we came upon the Pride parade blocking our path. We watched the second half process past us. I was shocked at the shamelessness of many of the participants...
Montreal is a great, busy, happening city. There was so much activity - even away from the parade. We also walked through a park right beside McGill University, and saw people lounging in the sun everywhere. There were vendors, buskers, dogs, frisbee players and all sorts of other people. And bikes! There were bikes and cyclists everywhere. There were dedicated lanes at many main roads, and bike share stalls on the major intersections. I was thoroughly impressed with the extensiveness that cyclists were permitted and encouraged in the city.
Our final stop of the day was at Montreal Poutine for one more taste of the original delicacy before we return to the USA tomorrow. Topped off with a French beer (La Fin du Monde), it was the perfect ending to our time in the city.
PS - Time trial results... I won! It ended up being a 16.3mile route, and I finished in 40m01s, average speed of 39.6km/hr. Tim from NJ came in second in the mens at 40m09s. George won the masters category and Martin came in second. Shirley won the womens, and Katie R placed second. All winners took home some awesome silver plates as mementos.
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