Distance: 187km
Elevation: 512m
Today, I needed to make it to Montreal to be back on schedule. I wanted to spend Sunday with Jonathan, an old friend from my Bombardier Days, and his family in Montreal.
However, due to the rain yesterday, I did not cover much ground and needed to make it up today. I had done 200km distances before. So, why not try.
I got up early and found that the hotel manager had wheeled Rosinante into the hotel lobby over night for safety reasons. How thoughtful.
I had a hearty breakfast at a nearby Tim Hortons, my goto place in Canada, and was in the saddle by 7am.
The sun was shining but it was still chilly from the last day.
Both my mobiles were impaired by yesterday’s rain. One was totally dead, the other one would not charge. Luckily, navigation was kind of simple since I „only“ needed to follow the Ottawa-River to Montreal.
Cycling was fun today. The scenery was beautiful, the road was mostly flat and a gentle wind was pushing me eastward.
Due to the flooding, some roads were blocked for cars because of trees that had fallen over. Also, I had heard that basements had been flooded in cities like Montreal.
The shoulder of my road was covered with dead frogs, snakes and other amphibious animals of various sizes who had been run over by cars in the rain.
Around lunchtime, I had already covered about 100km and made a break in Lachute, when I got a nice call. Tabea, who had just returned home from a year as an Au-Pair in New Zealand last week, was having a „Welcome back“ party. All our kids were together plus some friends and other Au-Pair. They called me up and we chatted a little. It felt so good to be connected with my family.
The remaining 90km got increasingly tougher however I was able to maintain my pace. And even my phones were finally coming back to life!
50km before Montreal, I could already sense that a big city was coming because I met road cyclists in Spandex who would not great back. Typical big city behavior 😉
On my way, I came through Mohawk territory, my first First Nation encounter on this tour. There were many dozens a Cannabis shops, casinos and gas stations next to each other. Indigenous territories were considered tax free in Canada. So, everything heavily taxed was attractive for them to sell.
So, while white people had once stolen their land and dignity the First Nation were now paying this back by selling legalized drugs to white folks. There was some logic to it.
Loud rap music was playing, people were shouting and the energy of the place was just not for me.
After a final push through the hilly outskirts of Montreal and its zigzagging cycling network, I arrived at Jonathan‘s place around 6pm. I was quite proud of myself.
Jonathan, her daughter Eve and some neighbors kids greeted me with a beautiful welcome committee. The kids hade painted murals on the pavement and Queen‘s „We are the champions“ was playing. Awesome.
Jonathan and Eve welcomed me to his place and I got an icecold beer. This day was perfect!
After a shower and some catching up, Jonathan’s partner Virginie and her sister Caroline came back from a yoga class. Caroline was over from France for a spontaneous visit.
Both were super hungry so Jonathan expedited a salmon dinner which was really delicious.
We had a great evening together and around 10pm I faded and went to bed.