It's 20th October and the temperatures are dropping considerably, but sunshine is forecast and there is will be quite a serious tail wind heading from the SW, so it seems like an ideal day to do my favourite ride!
This ride involves catching a train to Deux Montagnes, cycling through Oka National Park, catching the ferry to Hudson, cycling round to St Anne-de-Belleview, onto Pointe Claire and back along the Lachine Canal to the Old Port. It's hard to explain, so with my very best mapmyridewithgooglemapsandpowerpoint.com app here is a picture of the route!
We arrive at Gare Central ready to catch the 9am train, and as usual I get my extra large, one shot, skimmed milk, no foam latte. (So much easier to order in the UK - tall, wet, skinny latte). Fortunately I remember to remove the coffee from the convenient on board coffee holder before Stuart hangs my bike on the bike rack)
The leaf fall has been incredible and there are some points on the route where you can't even see the bike path and you have to hope that the pile of leaves that you are cycling through doesn't contain potholes or sticks that might tip you off. I'm hoping that the Fall season isn't too literal.
The ride from Deux Montagnes station through the Oka National Parc is really lovely. The sun is shining and the leaves that are left on the trees look really pretty
There is one hill on this whole trip, so as usual I fall quite behind at this point, but this does give me the opportunity to take this shot of Stuart sailing off into the distance!
At the top of the hill we turn left and get to cycle along the shore line down my favourite road in the whole of Montreal. The houses on the right side of the road are all unique and very photogenic, whilst on the left side of the road are seating areas for each house where the residents can watch the sun going down across the Lac de Deux Montagnes.
When we get to Oka the ferry isn't in yet and I realise that I am running on empty. A couple of slices of toast this morning and soup last night is not enough to keep me going. I'm close to the "bonk", but fortunately there is a little Resto which serves snacks close to the ferry stop. I have my first ever grilled cheese sandwich - who knew these could taste so good!
The winds are probably 25km/hr, but unfortunately at the start of the route these are head winds and not tails winds. Average speed for the first part of the trip is only 14.1 km/hr. Not particularly impressive, but don't forget the big hill!
As we depart Oka, the little church fades into the distance....
...and as we approach Hudson we see one of our favourite restaurants Auberge de Willows appearing on the far shore.
It's pretty breezy on the ferry, so Stuart seeks the only shelter available.
Once we get to Hudson the next road we cycle down has some fairly ostentatious "look at my money" houses. We have christened the one that Stuart is cycling past in this picture "Gopping Towers"!
St Anne-de-Belleview is our scheduled lunch stop, and despite the promise of a nice tasty lunch, average speeds have not noticeably increased. Only 15.5 km/hr!
We return to our favourite restaurant Herbs, and find the back gate locked, The garden isn't in use this time of year. We head round to the front of the restaurant and then have the dilemma of where to park our bikes. Stuart wants to leave them perched outside and keeps pointing at the table in the window saying we can keep an eye on them whilst we are eating. I want to padlock them to something solid to stop someone jumping on one and riding off into the distance. After what must have been a fairly expressive debate on the issue, Carole the owner opens the front door and asks us if we would like her to unlock the back gate so we can park our bikes inside the garden!
From our window seat table at Herbs we can see a gift shop /ice cream store over the road called the Cool Shop. It also sells Bouchees de Castor. Castors are beavers and we know that Beaver Tails are a horribly unhealthy but strangely compulsive snack of a steam rollered donut sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. We wonder what Bouchees de Castor means, and I'm sure it must be Beaver Balls, but disappointingly it turns about to be Beaver Bites
The road from St Anne-de-Belleview takes us past a house where even the bin bags are Halloween themed....
.....my favourite house, which has the Quebec Fleur de Lys adorning the window shutters...
.... and Stuart's favourite house which has three glass sides and amazing views across the water.
Next stop is the boulangerie and patisserie at Pointe-Claire. (top ride - three nice food stops in one day!) Average speed still only 17.8 km/hr. I don't think the tail wind has kicked in yet!
As we leave Pointe Claire I see quite a few examples of what I believe is the first sign of winter. A white plastic stick, with a Snow Clearance company name printed on it, hammered into the front of a driveway to indicate that the house owner has paid to have their drive cleared for the season
The final part of the ride is back down the Lachine canal and the light is perfect for photos as we approach downtown Montreal.
Finally, at the Old Port we look across the water to the building that I dubbed the ugliest building in the world when I first saw it (apologies to any fans of the architectural wonder called Habitat 67). However, in the evening sunlight you can see that there is a certain beauty in this building!
Final average speed of the day is only 21.2 km/hr. I try to suggest that we were heading up hill towards the end (impossible, we are on a canal path) or there is no tail wind after all (the waving flags indicate otherwise), but unfortunately I think I have to face facts, fitness levels will drop away if you don't keep riding. Time to sign up with the gym!
