Into Montreal

Ruth: Our ride into Montreal was blissful after our previous day. Most of the route was on bike paths or bike lanes right into Montreal.  We are spending three nights with my cousins in Montreal West so we can look around and reconnect. They are both passionate about Montreal and history, so for our first day we requested a historical tour. 

We started the day at the local patisserie before heading off to see where the Brodie farm used to cut through what is now Montreal. 

In old Montreal we stepped out of the historical period briefly as Gord tried the zip line set up over the port. 

He came back with a gleam in his eye and a huge grin. 

Above is Louis Joseph Papineau's house. He led the Lower Canada Rebelion in 1837. My family, of course, was firmly on the other side of the conflict. 

Still Smiling: Upper Canada Village to Saint Zotique, Quebec

Ruth:  We planned on a long day today so that tomorrow's ride into Montreal would be easier.  The first 40 Kms were beautiful. The Long Sault Parkway enroute to Cornwall links the chain of islands that were created when the area was flooded for the Saint Laurence Seaway in the late 1950s. Over 6,000 people and their houses and businesses were relocated. Below is a church on it's way to Upper Canada Village. 

We visited my friend Wendy's family home in Cornwall. 

In Cornwall the rain started lightly but an hour later it was picking up steam.  A kind man let us use his garage to get our rain gear on  and wait out the worst of it. Instead of easing the rain continued to increase and Gord and I decided to just push on towards the motel we had booked 34 kms down the road. With the rain and a strong head wind we were head down and focused, but apparently not focused on our route. We were 7 kms north of the river before we realized we had taken the wrong road. Crossing the 401 should have been a clue, but we missed it. Our final destination was now going to be my longest day ever at 110 kms.  The final blow, literally, was my back tire. I pushed my bike the last kilometre and fell into a hot bath. 

Slightly revived, we shared a meal of stout, lasagna, carrots and pecan pie with Ian, a fellow cyclist, who also braved the day.

Kingston to Upper Canada Village

Ruth: I loved Kingston and our visit with Gord's cousin  Brittany, her partner Emeric and their new baby Madeline. Kingston certainly has some amazing "Castles."  After Kingston we paralleled the Thousand Islands where high water levels threatened many of the islet homes. 

Gordon:  The cycle trip from Toronto to Montreal is generally done from west to east to take advantage of the prevailing winds.  We did in fact have strong tailwinds for a few days, but in the last couple of days we have been bucking strong headwinds that have lengthened our time on the road and left us more fatigued at the end of the day.

The landscape has been gently rolling, shockingly green and quite pleasant.  Many of the towns are attractive, with well maintained 19th century homes.  After the Thousand Islands the St. Lawrence River has narrowed to the point that we can clearly see the houses and hear the gunfire on the opposite, American, bank.  It is also clear that we are approaching Quebec, as many people are francophones. 

We cycled a shorter distance today so that we could spend the afternoon at Upper Canada Village.  This is a collection of 19th century buildings assembled to resemble a village in the region in the 1860s.  The buildings come from a variety of locations, but many of them were moved to the site in the late 1950s when the development of the St. Lawrence Seaway would have submerged them.  Animating the village are a large number of actors in period dress who play the roles of residents and answer questions.  There are also a number of tradespeople and skilled artisans who work as blacksmiths, tin smiths, shoemakers, broom makers, bakers and cheese makers.  They actually make the various products using the materials and tools of the era.  Particularly notable is the water powered sawmill which rips 2 x 12 planks and other dimensional lumber from large logs.

A night in Trenton

The three day ride between Port Hope and Kingston was lovely and varied.  We spent a lot of the last few days  riding by  monster houses set on lots that you would need all day with a rider mower to mow, that is, if you actually had to mow your own lawn. This is Loyalist country where the Union Jack is flying in the many historic towns. 

We spent a night at The Guest Inn at Trenton, and although it did provide me with my first opportunity to make a 911 call, I'm afraid I cannot recommend it.  Unlike the other hotels where we have stayed, The Guest Inn had very few guests and even fewer vehicles. It's not a good sign when most of the guests at a modest hotel arrive in cabs.  The room beside us held four knuckle dragging young guys and a young woman.  They generally kept the noise of their socializing to a reasonable level but about two hours after we went to sleep we were awakened by loud voices, thumping sounds and a crying woman.  We quickly called 911 and anxiously waited for the police to arrive.  Our neighbours, who were known to the police, pulled it together and blamed the noise on the television.  While this was clearly not the case, the remainder of the night was quiet.  In the morning we departed before we had a chance to exchange pleasantries with our neighbours.

The Guest Inn is nestled amongst the big box stores and right next to an all you can eat Sushi place. The sushi was pretty good and freshly prepared after you sent your order in via iPad. You could order as much as you liked and we were able to almost bankrupt the place. 

The Eastern Suburbs of Toronto

Gordon: We have been following the Waterfront Trail east of Toronto. For the first 100 kms we were almost continuously in parkland or housing subdivisions.  The trail was well marked and there was frequent access to infrastructure such as picnic tables, washrooms and public beaches.  It was very pleasant and quite attractive.  About midday today, however, we moved from the suburbs to a more rural landscape.  The sign on the nearby Highway 401 says that Toronto is still only 100 kms away, but we have cycled about140 kms to get here: while beautiful, the Waterfront Trail is far from the most direct route.

We have seen ample evidence of the wet spring that Ontario has experienced.  The water level in Lake Ontario is falling, but it is still much higher than usual.  This has caused damage to beaches, trails and roads.  We encountered several sections of the Waterfront Trail that were closed, and several others that required some care to traverse.  The unpaved sections of the Trail are also often muddy and we have been trying to avoid them.

We "shopped hungry" this afternoon and came away with $60 of groceries that included 1.25 kg of potato salad, a banana loaf, 6 butter tarts, a bag of carrots, a litre of yoghurt, a pound of cheese, part of a watermelon, some figs, a couple of apples, and a baguette.  We are hoping this will keep us going until lunchtime tomorrow.

Ruth: Last night we stayed in Ajax with our first Warm Shower hosts. It was fantastic. Cathy and Michael fed us a wonderful dinner and we had a lovely evening visiting with them. We were then greeted in the morning with a bacon and egg breakfast before we reluctantly pushed off to ride. We started hosting cyclists through warmshowers.org.last year and we have only had good experiences. 

First Stop: Cabbagetown Toronto

Ruth:   Much to everyone's surprise this is my first trip to Toronto. With only two days to discover this place we, have narrowed our focus to just a few neighbourhoods. 

We are staying in Cabbagetown, once a working class neighborhood and still filled with Victorian cottages and row houses. The houses have been largely preserved but the gentrification has forced most of the working class elsewhere. 

Last night we had dinner with Johanna, a friend of Gord's from the University of Alberta. Over a wonderful meal Gord and Johanna agreed that neither had aged in the thirty years since they had last seen each other. 

We cycled around the center of town to see Old Town and Kensington Market, but Cabbagetown is my favorite area so far. 

The cycling infrastructure is amazing! We have been zipping all over the core of Toronto on separated bike lanes and well-labeled routes. There is a critical mass of urban cyclists and the buses and cars seem to have learned to live with the changes. I hope that in a few years similar lanes will be celebrated in Victoria. 

This evening I strapped a cake onto my bike rack and headed off for dinner with our old friends Fiona and James who live across town. The cake, which was quite beautiful when we bought it, arrived looking more like a cow pie than a cake. Shoveled into bowls with much laughter, we were all pleased it was still quite delicious. 

 

 

Heading off on a Canadian Bike Tour as the country celebrates and protests150 years of the big C.

The 150th birthday party has started across the country, and what a time to start a bike trip through the area that was first called Canada. The festivities are already on, even in the places like Vancouver Island where Confederation didn't happen until 1871.  One hundred and fifty years ago Canada encompassed a much smaller area, with four provinces including a tiny Quebec and Ontario and the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The actual birth of Canada was a much longer labour that spans a historic period with indigenous roots, the pains of colonization and continued evolution as wave upon waves of immigrants arrived and settled here. The dynamism and multicultural evolution of Canada leaves some of us conflicted as we start to celebrate 150 years of - what exactly? Confederation or Colonialism?

Now I love a good party and I also am very proud to be a Canadian, but not in a traditionally nationalistic sense. Sure, I will put on my red t-shirt for July 1st, but it will be the one with Louis Riel's face on it not John A's. It took 106 years after Louis Riel was hanged as a traitor of Canada for the government of Canada to recognize him as the founder of the province of  Manitoba and perhaps even one of the architects of  Confederation. The fact that Canada's 150th birthday is controversial in this country makes me proud to be Canadian. I love that I live in a country where people can voice their opinions and not fear incarceration or death. I also think that although racism is alive and well in Canada, we have embraced our multicultural roots and, at least for the most part, try to get along with each other. We still have a long journey to go but with the truth and reconciliation process I think we are heading in a good direction.

Whether you are joining an Aboriginal protest, basking in the massive fireworks and live music, or sitting down to a great meal of Thairogies, have a wonderful Canada day. 

Glossary
Thairogies: A fabulous dish of Thai sauces, veggies and pierogies. A perfect Canadian fusion food served out of a street food truck in Victoria.