Our distance today was short but we wanted to have time for a leisurely lunch in Old Montreal so we got off to an early (7:00 am) start. Eric joined Elaine and me again today. We had three objectives for today: find a bakery around 40 km, have a Montreal smoked meat sandwich and beer for lunch in Old Montreal, and ice cream late in the ride. We realized that it was a tall order but felt we were up for the challenge.

Elaine, Eric

The early morning ride was still along the river. Part of the route was on bike paths and when we came to one construction zone it was quite interesting to see the bike detour sign.

Very close to the 40 km mark we rode into Point Claire and soon found a nice little bakery where I ordered a latté and a pastry. It was delicious and was quite relaxing sitting outside on a beautiful Sunday morning. Just as we were about to leave the TdC “peloton” rode by. A large group were riding together today to tour parts of Montreal.

The “peloton”

Dan, Yukon Greig, Myra, Louise

In Dorval we saw a sailboat which had obviously run aground. It looked like had been there awhile.

How not to anchor

Lachine Rapids

For most of the trip to downtown Montreal we were able to ride on bike paths. It made travelling a breeze and provided great views of the St. Lawrence and the Lachine Rapids, not to mention a lot of pretty nice homes along the way.

Place D’Armes

Place D’Armes

In Old Montreal we found the building that Elaine used to work in so she could get a picture of herself in front of it. The building faced onto a square (Place d’Armes) opposite a large Catholic Church (Notre-Dame Basilica). In the middle of the square was a statue of Maisonneuve.

From the square we rode downhill on a very bumpy cobblestone street (reminded me of roads in Manitoba) towards the waterfront where we found a restaurant for lunch. We ordered our smoked meet sandwiches and drinks (Elaine and I had beers). The food was good when it eventually came but the service was terrible. We basically had to ask for everything about 5 times. For dessert we ordered Beavertails.

Lunch – when it finally arrived

View from Jacques Cartier Bridge

We made our way out of Montreal via the Jacques Cartier Bridge which offered a great view of Montreal from the top. Once again we were able to stay on bike paths for quite a bit of the ride to Mount St. Hilaire.

Not far from the campground we finally were able to find an ice cream shop thereby bravely completing our three objectives for the day!

In camp we met Emily who had done TdC last year. As always with the vets, it is interesting to hear about their experiences.

Becky

It was nearly 8:00 before the “peloton” arrived, all excited about their tour of Montreal and showing off the bags of bagels they had bought. Unfortunately Myra had taken a tumble when she caught her wheel in a railway track but other than a cut on her eyelid she seemed to be OK.

Gee with his treasures

Our ride today was a most enjoyable 115 km.

This evening while at the campground office accessing WiFi a woman rode in. It turned out to be our new rider, Mary, a vet of TdC ’89 (the second year) who is joining us for the balance of the trip.