Day 91 Cornwall-Montreal

Cornwall had a distinct border town vibe to it, which is just fine but I was happy to be on my way to Montreal.

I got an early start today to get in some km’s before the heat storm arrived (this region has been going through a massive heat wave) and set out about 7:30am but not before saying farewell to my cycling buds the Ruru’s who had planned to ride to the outskirts of Montreal rather than stay in town. It has been great reconnecting with then in Wawa over Lake Superior and as were all going to the same place it’s likely that we shall cross paths down the road.

One of the interesting things about Canada is that throughout the country in almost every town you’ll find these wonderful murals.

I finally made it to my 6th province after a tremendous adventure across Ontario, three of the great lakes (Superior, Huron, Ontario), meeting multiple new friends and catching up with old new ones. It has been great Ontario, Au Revoir! Bonjour Quebec.

La Route Verte welcomed me right away with this amazing bike trail. Quebec is intersected with wonderful bike lanes and roads so I won’t be riding on any highways fro the foreseeable future.

After my lunch stop I was riding along at a good pace and noticed some other tourers stopped up ahead, nice always fun to chat with a fellow traveller. But, as I got closer I recognized the gear and was literally dumbfounded to see that it was the Ruru’s! Now I knew we would meet up down the road but seriously! The dumbfoundedness came from the fact that I left 30mins before them so they must have sneaked by while I was in the store buying cold water. After some much deserved ribbing we said farewell fro the second time and I trucked on to my destination

I really like cities and riding through them, you see a wide cross section of diversity in neighborhoods: rich, poor, industrial, new development it tells a story of the city in a very poetic way.

Now the last few to get me to my home for the next few days in Montreal. I’ll be staying in the St. Henri neighborhood a historically working class area that is in the throws of gentrification. It’s close to things I want to see and the rate at Airbnb was too good to pass up. So I’ll have to put up with a few hipsters, luckily Capitol Hill in Seattle has toughened me up to their tricks, so I’m confident I won’t succumb to their silly ways.

Just down the street from my place is a park lined on both sides by these great houses and at the end just before the canal is a free public pool. ‘ll be giving that a go, probably tomorrow 🙂

Here’s the building I’m in. That’s me on the top floor second from the left with the air conditioner (the on room with one! Lucky me).

Tomorrow is a relaxing day but I’ll start exploring. Depending on content I might group my Montreal into a post in a few days, but then again I might not.

Jusque là!