Day 7: Cornwall - Montreal (90 mi)


Once I could see Montreal – about 30 miles out – there was no stopping me.

It took me about 10 hours (elapsed time) to travel 90 miles. About half my riding was on bike paths, which are invariably slower than roads. I also experienced some problems with my bike: a stick got caught in the rear derraileur, causing it to bend and malfunction; I hit a soft spot and came to an abrupt halt, causing my handlebar to rotate out of adjustment; and the pannier attachment mechanism failed causing one to flop until I secured it to the other with a strap.

The bridge to New York from Cornwall would have been quite a climb, but New York seemed only a stone's throw away.

Much of my riding was along an old canal used for shipping before the construction of the St Lawrence Seaway in 1959. These things (I can't recall what they're called) were used to tie up the boats in the canal.

The bike paths were wonderful.

I crossed the Ottawa River on Highway 20, one of the busiest highways, but cyclists were well protected from the vehicles.

My friend Vern told me that once he canoed from Algonquin Park down the Ottawa through Ottawa and all the way to the St Lawrence. Here is where the Ottawa empties into the St Lawrence. The Ottawa is flowing away from me as I stood on the bridge. It looked like a good canoe or kayak river.

I rode for hours through neighborhoods reminiscent of Gross Point, Michigan or Wilmette, Illinois. The waterfront views were quite impressive.

I never before saw such nice bike paths.

Even where the bike routes went out onto the street, they were fantastic.

I bicycled for several hours in urban conditions over huge distances. I was so absolutely beat when I got to downtown Montreal, I wasn't sure I could stand up when I stopped bicycling. I had a list of three hotels to try, but couldn't find anybody, including 3 policemen, who knew where they were, so I decided to aim for the train station, Le Gare Centrale, then look for a place nearby. The station was several blocks uphill in road construction from the waterfront trail I arrived on. I was shaking from exhaustion and dehydration, so I checked into the closest hotel I could see, the Marriott. It is less than a block from the train station.

Looking out my 21st floor window, I couldn't see most of the urban area I cycled through, but could tell it was a huge distance.


The trip was fantastic. Montreal is fantastic. I had an excellent dinner tonight at Wienstein & Gavino Pasta Bar on Crescent.

Happy Canada Day!

I have a lot more to say, but am going to call it a day now. I catch the VIA Rail train to Oshawa tomorrow and will be home ASAP. Hopefully, I'll have a chance then to edit this BLOG to get in some of the things I want to say.




Posted: Mon - June 30, 2003 at 11:06 PM      

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