Montreal Adventures by Bike

“Out there things can happen, and frequently do,

To people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don't worry, don't stew.

Just go right along, you'll start happening too!”

― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

A boat can't go everywhere, so sometimes it would be nice to have a car available.  Since we don't, we brought our bicycles on the boat.  We strap them to the bow railing and unload them when we want to go somewhere that is too far to walk. 

A recent example was our visit to Montreal.  Although there are two marinas right downtown in the Old City, one was closed due to a labor strike and the other was full.  So we were directed to a less-expensive marina seven miles south at Lachine. 

Port de Plaisance de Lachine is in a beautiful park like resort setting on the St. Lawrence River, at the mouth of the Lachine Canal that goes to downtown Montreal.  Your boat must have a height of less than 8 feet to travel the Lachine Canal. If our dinghy had a motor, we could have traveled that way.  But since it only has oars, we unloaded our bikes.

Montreal has many bike paths, including along the canal and the river.  On a sunny morning after rush hour, we selected a path. After a brisk 40 minute ride, we arrived downtown. 

 

We had corresponded with another "looper" couple that we knew was in Montreal, so we arranged to meet them for lunch.  In the meantime, we enjoyed wandering around the old port. We even saw a demonstration march by the labor union that had closed the city marina. 

The four of us found a nice restaurant with outside roofed dining that had a view of the Jacques Cartier marketplace.  When the predicted downpour arrived, the   wait staff quickly closed the transparent curtains so we wouldn't get soaked.   We lingered over lunch and dessert while it rained, enjoying a discussion of loop experiences with the other couple.  We also exchanged cards. Most loopers have boat cards (like business cards) printed up with their contact information to stay in touch.

We then rode our bikes a couple of miles through city traffic to reach the Museum of Fine Arts.  One of us has an aggressive biking style in the city, cutting in and out of buses and running red lights, while the other has a laidback style that allows all other traffic to go ahead.  Since these are incompatible, one of us has to modify our style to suit the other.  It takes patience on the part of both of us.  But we did arrive safely at the museum and enjoyed a couple of hours of varied art exhibits housed in six buildings. This included seeing furniture built by Mike’s stepmothers relatives!

Old Port Workers March

So far the visit to Montreal had been textbook perfect.  But then the trouble started. When we retrieved our bikes, Kathy's rear tire was flat.  She had left her repair kit on the boat, so Mike contributed a tube from his kit and we fixed the flat.  Since the tube was a slightly different size than the tire, we headed for a bike shop to repair it correctly. 

We wanted a new tire and tube, but the tire was out of stock, so we settled for a tube and headed for "home" down the bike path.  Within a mile or so, the tire went flat again.  We again put Mike's spare tube into the tire, which got us to another bike shop.  Likewise they did not have the correct size tire, so they put a new tube in the old tire and off we went.  You guessed right; it went flat within a mile.

At the same time, Mike realized that he had left our backpack at the bike shop, containing phones, money, and passports.  He hurried back, but arrived too late; the shop had closed. 

The day was not ending as well as it had began, but the worst was yet to come. 

We put Mike's spare tube into the tire yet again and started for home.  Riding behind Kathy, Mike noticed her tire begin to lose air.  Despite his prayers that it would hold up until they arrived back at the boat, it did not.  Out of spare tubes, we ended up walking the last three miles to the marina, arriving at dark.

Mike rode to the supermarket to get food for Kathy to make a late but delicious supper.  We believe that everything happens for a reason, and someday we will know the reason.  But we did discover that our adventurous spirits were still intact and we were able to laugh about our troubles. 

The next morning Mike got up early and biked all the way back downtown to the bike shop where he had left the backpack. 

Fortunately an observant staff person had retrieved it and locked it in the shop for safekeeping.  The shop returned it and Mike was able to return to the boat with phones, money, and passports safe.  

As a follow-up, we have ordered several new tires for Kathy's bike and we have a spare for Mike's. 

Next up- Montreal to Ottawa