Day 86: Brownsburg-Chatham, QC -> Montreal, QC

Date: Wednesday, August 9, 2023
Start: Brownsburg-Chatham, QC (Municipal Campground)
End: Montreal, QC (Staying with a friend)
Distance: 96km

We woke, packed, and set our tents out to dry.  We weren't expecting any rain for the day, but we were hoping to get into town in good time.  We ate breakfast (oatmeal) and I found that non-alcoholic beer from the night before sitting in my bag.  I didn't want to carry it all the way to Montreal, so I cracked it and started the day off hydrated.

We set off from the campground at around 9am and weren't expecting a difficult day.  It immediately started on a paved bike path leaving the campground.  The day was off to a brilliant start!

It was sunny and clear.  We stopped at a small observation tower just outside the campground to take a look around.

We set off on La Route Verte heading for Montreal.  The path remained paved and we anticipated it might stay like this for most of the day.  It was also remarkably well signed.  There are places where regional pathways intersect it and go to nearby towns.  Sure enough, these intersections are marked with signage that clearly communicate which way to go.  Most people think that pathways are all about being paved, but way finding is a HUGE part of what makes bike paths accessible and easy to use.  Imagine a highway without any signs.  It would be infuriating.  The fact that I was surprised by how much signage there was tells you about how much I usually expect!

We emerged from the woods and back to the Ottawa River at a place called Carillon.  There is a national park here, and a large hydroelectric dam.  This spot is also notable as it is where the Ontario border with Quebec starts on the Southern side of the river.  Up to this point, everything across the river from us had been Ontario.  Now it was all going to be Quebec on both sides.  Ontario was really behind us now.

We rode into a nearby town called Saint-Andre-d'Argenteuil where we were confronted with a detour sign.  Ahead it looked like the bridge over some river was gone and a new one under construction.  Because my alignment is lawful good, I did as the sign ordered and expected a minor detour.  Three left turns later and we were going back the way we'd come and both Skipper and I had no more interest in following the signs.  Skipper hypothesized that there could be a way for pedestrians to get across.  I checked the Quebec 511 website (for road conditions) and it confirmed that there was a bypass for pedestrians and cyclists.  We went back and I noticed that the detour sign made no mention of the bypass, but luckily for us it existed!  We crossed the temporary pedestrian bridge and as a reward got a long stretch of highway on the other side without any cars.

We rode through countryside in the increasingly warm morning.  We stopped to shed layers as the day warmed, and enjoyed some of the sights.

At some point we passed through the Kanesatake First Nation and the road was lined for a few kilometers with businesses selling marijuana in all it's forms.  A few were selling cigarettes.  There were so many it was difficult to understand how they all stayed in business.

We then rolled into Oka - a town synonymous in my mind with crisis - and found a very pleasant place steeped in history.  There's a ferry that crosses between Oka and Hudson on the other side of the river.  We found a cafe right by the water and sat down for lunch.  What we saw happening outside really surprised us.  Either we were there on a day when lots of people just happened to be riding, or Quebec likes to bike.  Group after group of people rode up and stopped here.  Dozens of them.  It was a real cycling hot spot!  Either the culture here is more cycle oriented (it is) or building good infrastructure encourages more biking!

Skipper decided to break the ice on poutine and we each got one.  I'm happy to report that he's fully sold on it as a food stuff and we've had several since.

After lunch we had a milkshake at a local ice cream stand and sat out on a pier watching the river and the local ferry come in and out.  It was really beautiful.

All stuffed with comfort food (this was a mistake) we rode out of town and towards Montreal.  It was 1pm and I had told our host that we'd be there between 1pm and 3pm.  I updated her that that definitely wasn't happening and that I was an idiot.

The ride out of Oka took us through Oka National Park.

Note: If you're not familiar with Quebec, it has tried multiple times to break away from Canada and become its own country.  It sees itself as a distinct nation within Canada, and so everything in Quebec is labeled "national" referring to the nation of Quebec.  Provincially run parks are "national parks," the provincial library is the "national library," and the legislature is the "National Assembly."  This can cause some confusion to those who don't know.  Now you know!

From the time we left Oka until we arrived at our host's house, we were entirely on paved bike lanes.  Almost 60km of easy riding.

After riding trails through the woods we entered the suburbs of Montreal at Deux-Montagnes and rode into Saint-Eustache.  We got a bit mixed up direction wise but were quickly back on track, and crossed the bridge onto the island of Laval which is another heavily suburban part of the city of Montreal.  It took a while to get through, but we were on designated bike lanes the entire time.

At some point we reached the other side of Laval and crossed the bridge onto the island of Montreal proper.  We didn't get a welcome sign unfortunately, but we got the next best thing: a sign warning you that you cannot turn right on red lights in Montreal.  It's illegal across the entire island.  If you know the place, it means you've arrived.

From here we rode onto one of Montreal's new REV MTL bike lanes.  These lanes are essentially bike "highways" through the city.  They're wider than usual lanes, and there are lights for them.  It was super comfortable riding as we went from the edge of the city and towards it's heart.

The lane took us directly into Mile End, a trendy neighbourhood where my friend Emily lives.  And so it's time to introduce Emily!

Emily and I met in our computer science degree at the University of Calgary and became friends pretty quickly.  Like me, she had a previous degree when she started the program and so there was shared experience in what we were doing.  Emily and I collaborated on projects in classes and outside of class.  She was one of the people who helped pioneer and advance The Information Security Club at the university which I'd co-founded.  She was a big part of what made it great.  She also introduced me - and some of our friends - to rock climbing (specifically bouldering) and we have spent an unknowable number of hours together climbing at different gyms.  In the last year we would regularly meet to make kimchi together, and played board games together.  She has been one of my closest friends these past 4 years.  When she moved from Calgary to Montreal she rented a U-Haul and I joined her as we drove across the country to Montreal in March and moved her into her city.  I've seen far less of her since the move, but we still stay in pretty close touch.  She's wickedly intelligent with an intuition for design, funny, insightful, and with focus on the social good.  Emily is also a fellow bike enthusiast.  Sometimes I feel like Emily and I just sit down and agree with one another most of the time, but I'm always happy to share experience and new knowledge with her.

So I was excited to see her again for the first time since moving her in March!  And we rode up and she was waiting for us out on the street with a big grin and taking pictures.  She's been following the trip from the start for the longest time all I could tell her was that I would arrive sometime in late July or early August.  I was finally here.  From my 1pm-3pm estimate, we'd arrived at 4:30pm.

We showered and took some time to make introductions between Skipper and Emily.  It was then time to find some food.  We walked to a nearby pizzeria that was known for making incredible pies.  Sure enough, they were slammed and couldn't make anything for us for at least 2 hours.  We walked a nearby street scoping out options and then Emily hit on a golden idea.  Montreal allows alcohol consumption in public so long as you're also eating.  So we went to a local bodega/Italian market and grabbed sandwiches, snacks, and a can of local beer for each of us.  We then went to a park in Little Italy and ate and drank.  The park was plenty busy with others doing the same thing.

We enjoyed the sunset and being surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the city.  There are few things better in a city than seeing a park that is filled with people enjoying some relaxation and nature.  And to have them all eating dinner and drinking is an even more relaxing feeling.  I could go on and on about Montreal, but this culture and relaxed feeling is one of the many reasons I love it.

We went back to Emily's place and chatted some more as the night rolled on.  It was hot and humid, a typical Montreal summer night.  At some point we tucked in and fell asleep safe in the home of another friend, surrounded by a metropolis that was humming with life.  It was the feeling of comfort and the excitement of another day of exploration of one of the great Canadian cities to come the next day.