Head east young man

My ankle held up to a ride out to Dorval on Thursday so I decided to ride out to the east end of the island. I prefer to ride out along the Notre Dame bike path and then come back along boulevard Gouin. It can be a downer and rather dusty riding on the path against the traffic with the many transport trucks moving back and forth from the container docks.


Near the end of the Port of Montreal docks in the east is a nice little park called Rene-Labrosse where you can see tankers docked just along the shore and other vessels waiting at anchor.

Rather than continuing all the way to the extreme east end of the island I turned in to the Parc Nature de la Pointe aux Prairies. The access from rue Notre Dame is not well indicated so you need to watch out for it, but it is a pleasant ride on gravel paths. Take care, though, as some spots are soft sand that can catch your front wheel if you are not careful.

They've done some work at the overpass crossing the highway 40; just follow the signs for Pavillon des Marais to get you to Boulevard Gouin. You'll know you are going in the right direction if you smell the distinctive aroma of the sewage plant!