We did it! (Well almost…)

Posted In: Fitness May 4th, 2011 divider 1 Comment »

So my brother and I set out on a little adventure yesterday. His crazy idea was to bike to Montreal. I went along for the ride figuratively. We actually had a great time!

A few things we didn’t fully realize:
-Montreal is not next door (about 210km’s going on the back roads)
-Weather is unpredictable in early May
-Mapquest doesn’t tell you if it’s a paved road or a dirt road
-210km’s is a long ride, especially this early in the season (especially if you haven’t been riding all that much indoors/spinning).
-It’s not easy to find someone to come and drive to Montreal to pick us up…

We set out from my place a bit before 9am and headed out of town on Walkley. It was rather smooth sailing for the first 60km’s or so. Good thing we dressed warm though, booties and gloves and extra layers really made sure we didn’t turn around and call it a day before noon. We went through some cute villages like Carlsbad Springs, Bourget and Curran.

We stopped for our first snack in Plantagenet. Who could say no to a double cheeseburger platter with poutine while he’s out biking for the day? Not me! This is partly why I do these things…

Then we got back on the bikes and it started spitting rain a bit. No big deal. Until we got to Hawkesbury and it started pouring. We had to head in for a quick tea to warm up and hopefully dry off a bit. It didn’t last long.

We made our way onto the Quebec side and it was all downhill from there. We took a few detours and then ended up on a road that was hard packed mud. My brother was sure loving that part. And it continued for a bit until we got back on the right path and followed a regional road.

By the time we stopped for some food and warmth in Oka, spirits were somewhat dampened… We started deliberating cutting it short since it was still raining rather hard and it was actually getting colder. We would just need to get our buddy to come out of his way to come and pick us up. Or would he?

As soon as we got back on the road I noticed the ferry coming in from Hudson. Saved by the ferry. We took the ferry over so we could get close to the main highway and the fine gentlemen aboard let us hang out in the cabin since we were shivering by then. We slowly cycled to another Subway where we waiting for Brooke to pick us up.

All said and done, we did 170k or so in some pretty miserable conditions and I enjoyed it. Not bad for a first long ride of the year. And I’m not even sore today, just some tightness in my upper traps. Now onto another adventure!

All that is well that ends well!