Montreal airport

I am sitting in my hotel room just by the Montreal airport enjoying my breakfast and watching the planes take off. Yesterday was the start of my Route Verde bicycle holiday led by my intrepid neighbours Ray and Julia Cislo. I think this will be our 4 or 5 bike trip together. With Covid over we have decided to travel farther afield than western Canada. This year's trip will be in Quebec. Last year while on vacation with my family in Quebec, I realised that the have an elaborate system of bike routes both within the urban centres and between cities known as route Verde. Our plan is to bike from Montreal to Quebec through the Eastern townships and then to return via the north shore. We will then bike North to Mont Tremblang on a rail trail known as Le Route de petit train de Nord. Our trip will be for three weeks. We will be unsupported and we will camp along the way.

Yesterday we flew with our bikes and equipment from Edmonton to Montreal. We packed our bikes in EVOC bike bags. Thanks very much to Tanya Durant for lending me her bike bag. It is always a bit of a production travelling with bikes. We had to take our pannier racks, fenders, pedals, handlebars and wheels off the bikes and squeeze them into the bike bags. Thank goodness for Ray's mechanical abilities. Cheryl and the Cislos son Eric dropped us off early for our 12 o'clock flight. All went smoothly and we were off on our adventure.

We arrived in Montreal at 6 their time and then had to wait for an hour with everyone else for our luggage. The only snag of the trip was that Air Canada had gone through Ray's duffel bag and confiscated his camp stove, empty fuel bottle and his chain oil and unpacked his tent and sleeping bag and thrown everything into a large plastic bag. It was all the more frustrating as he had declared the stove and fuel bottle to the AC staff when he had checked his luggage in. AC allows stoves and fuel bottles. I had checked my bag through oversize luggage also declaring my stove and fuel bottle and my stuff had made it through. We will have to make a visit to the MEC in Longmont today to get the Cislos a new stove.

Then came the fun part. We had to reassemble our bikes. That took us about an hour and a half. I was quite proud of myself as I was able to do much of the assembly by myself with only a little help from Ray. I By then it was dark and we had to make it to our hotel located 1 k from the airport. We were all a little nervous as the map showed only a major highway system around the airport. Ray and Julia noticed Air Canad employees leaving the terminal on electric bikes. They were using the bikes to get to the parking lots where they parked their cars. One offered to show us the safe way to our hotel. With lights flashing and our fluorescent vests on we followed her the back way on some unbusy streets to our hotel. Despite my no exercise day, I was quite tired after all of the travel excitement of the day and had an early turn in.Read more