Points South

Traveled down to Havana last week for a holiday with hopes of renting a bike and cycling around the city, but those hopes were quickly dashed after seeing the amount of traffic, the dearth of bicycles on the road and breathing the carbon laced air.

I had read some blogs talking about how many bikes there were in Cuba because of the embargo and the economy and the gift of a million bikes from the Chinese and the sparse traffic due to gas shortages, but these must have been from a few years ago because the economy seems to be improving judging by the amount of vehicles on the road.

Not to say that there were no bikes on the road.

Mind you, even this fellow has somehow jury-rigged his bike with a motor though I'd be wary having all that gas and an iffy engine between my legs!

Havana is an extraordinary city but it gives little place in its infrastructure for bicycles or even pedestrians. Hopefully, they will buy into the cycling revolution that is happening in other countries before their streets and atmosphere are completely clogged.

The song remains the same...

"Ottawa police are investigating after a male cyclist was struck by a truck and died in west Ottawa Thursday morning."

And in Montreal,

"A cyclist has died following a collision with a transport truck on Nazareth Street near the Bonaventure Expressway."


On a late November day, sad news with similar circumstances: trucks and proximity to major roads/highways.

Platitudes in the Plateau

Overheard at a four way stop in the Plateau between a cyclist and a motorist who were apparently both absolute in their certainty of having the right of way as they pushed ahead into the intersection:

"Hey, fuck you!"

"Fuck you!!"

"Go suck your mother's cock!!!"

While the cyclist won't get a passing grade for anatomy, he certainly wins the day for an imaginative riposte.

Unfortunately, both participants will carry their bile into future car/bicycle interactions and extend the divide between road users. 

Why can't we be friends?

Expanding Montreal Bike Network

With half the streets torn up in the city throughout the summer and into the fall, and with the recent mania by the city for painting circles around defects in the remaining streets rather than fixing them, it took me a while to realize that a new series of lines on some North/South running streets in the Plateau is supposed to be a cycle lane.

It looks like it is part of the city's plan for increased cycling infrastructure through the miracle of paint.

http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/docs/page/transports_fr/media/documents/programmation_cyclable_2014-2015.pdf

It is not absolutely clear, though, whether this lane is supposed to be two-way or North-bound or South-bound since there are no arrows to indicate direction. One thing, however, that is new is the double line bounding the parked cars, which gives a safety margin for cyclists to avoid getting doored.

The only question remains is whether this lane is supposed to be year-round or only when it is not covered by snow.

Weekend ride to Oka

As the pre-winter opportunities for cycling are dwindling with November fast approaching, we decided to brave the elements by riding out to Oka with the return the following day via Hudson and Vaudreuil. 

Distance-wise, it was weighted on the second day (50 versus 75) but our choice was dictated by available accommodations, which are pretty limited in the area. 

The route was mostly following available bike paths into Laval but then we stuck to the shore road in Laval, which was fine. The only heavy traffic area was along Boulevard Samson (note-when you pick up Samson from Levesque-check out the Restaurant Souvlaki for lunch. It doesn't look like much from the outside but the food is excellent and they even have Greek beer) to get across the 13 but then we turned left at rue Lariviere and picked up the shore road again until we picked up the bike route that crosses into Deux Montagnes and followed it all the way to Oka. We had biked around the Parc d'Oka before but I was surprised at how nice the path was along the whole section from Deux Montagnes to the park; well-maintained and passing mostly through wooded areas.

The only hiccup came just before Oka as we were coming out of the park when we came across a short section of the path that was flooded. As it appeared not too bad, and we didn't relish the thought of doubling back to the road after cycling in the rain for the last two hours, we bravely pedaled on. We got through but not without a couple of wet feet in the end.

Fortunately, our Bnb was just another ten minutes down the way so we were able to peel off our gear and dry off.

The next day we headed for the Hudson/Oka ferry for a trip across the river. With the sun shining and costing only two dollars per cyclist, the ferry ride is a pleasant treat and allows for taking an alternate route back to Montreal.

Hudson is a great little village to visit on a Sunday afternoon and the ride back to the city along the shore was enjoyable with lots of interesting homes to gaze at and views of the lake as we entered Vaudreuil.

On this leg, we had to deal with a bit of traffic again crossing the 40 but then we quickly picked up a bike path (on Boulevard St. Charles, after going over the highway, turn left just pass the IGA) that carried us to Dorion, Ile Perrot and across the Galipeau bridge to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue.

A very yummy and healthy lunch at Cafe Twigs fortified us for the rest of the ride home. An extremely enjoyable ride with very few high traffic zones and one I would do again, perhaps reversing the direction for a changeup.