Back to Montreal and its cycle paths.
On my way to Canadian Tire, I took those pictures: random day, at random hour, for a random errand.
The easiest route is through de Maisonneuve bike path a.k.a the Claire Morissette bike path.
So, we start on the René-Lévesque path all the way from under Jacques Cartier bridge to Berri St. corner.
Up Berri St.
Turned left onto de Maisonneuve St
Corner of Sanguinet St. (I think). Anyways, always blasting that red!
Nearing St Laurent St. a.k.a. The Main, red light District...
On Place des Arts,
Where stupid design,
Encourages pedestrians to walk on the path.
This must be Bleury St.
Hum, University St.?
So, I am pretty sure this is McGill College
Peel St.
Drummond St.
Crescent St.
Bishop St. or Mackay St.?
Nearing Concordia University bike parking,
In front of the John Molson School of Business, girl with set of tires. Ah! Memories... Of both carrying similar load in similar fashion AND attending said school... Oh well, time flies.
Somewhere before Atwater,
There we are.
Terminus, tout le monde descend!
Its always fun to travel by "photo-bike" through other people's cities and towns! Thanks for the lift, it was great to see Montreal ! :)
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome!
ReplyDeleteWhen I get my camera back, I'll try to do a few other ones before the snow sets in.
Hey, great to find your blog. I used to ride when I went to School in MTL in the early to mid 90s. It was great to take a trip on part of my old route to school as I used to live in the Plateau and over near Papineau Metro for a while. I haven't been to the city for a visit since I moved from Ottawa a decade ago. I am heading back this fall for a visit for my (and my wife's) 40th birthdays. I hope to use Bixi while I am there. We'll be staying on St. Denis. Things look so much better with infrastructure since I've was there. What Bike shops/cycling culture destinations are must sees?
ReplyDeleteTake Care
Peter
@ Peter
ReplyDeleteYou need to:
- cycle along the Canal Lachine all the way to Lake St Louis, book one full day for that.
- Cycle around in the Plateau area. I promise you won't recognise your own neighbourhood!
- Cycle across downtown on de Maisonneuve. Worth it really. Do it at rush hour if you can. You are bound to experience what a bike jam means.
- Same thing on Berri at rush hour. You need to cycle up that @$%# slope with 30 other people, half of whom can't handle gears.
Those are my must-sees. For the rest, you can go to places recommended by the tourism organisations. They're all fine.
Hope you enjoy!
Stop by La Maison des cyclistes at the corner of Rachel and Brébeuf (two bicycle paths)- there is a café where you can have coffee, light meals, a beer or glass of wine, pick up some accessories, bicycle path maps etc.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely ride northwards from the Plateau towards Jean-Talon Market. I can provide more specifics on restaurants, boutiques or whatever if you tell us what you like.
The Berri slope is not very steep, though it is long. I can certainly do it, I'm in my 50s and no athlete. But it is true that a lot of novice cyclists simply don't know how to use their gears.
La Piste Claire-Morissette along boulevard de Maisonneuve(named after the late cycling activist, one of the founders of Le Monde à Bicyclette and a friend of mine) is definitely worth experiencing despite some design faults Montrealize has shown in another post here.
"The Berri slope is not very steep, though it is long"
ReplyDeleteWhaaaaaat!?!
Excuse me? Hell yeah it is freaking damn steep. Every time I have to haul my a$$ up on it, it takes me 15 full minutes of breathing "like a seal" to recover...
As for restaurants, two must-dos: L'avenue du Plateau on Mont-Royal St. and L'Express St. Zotique on Chateaubriand and St. Zotique.