Perfect weather this past weekend meant perfect time for my first ride of the season. Been looking forward to this for a while!
As I knew the bike paths would be pretty busy with families being a gorgeous Saturday, I opted to go ride on la Voie Maritime where the bike path is a road so lots of space to go my own speed.
Of course as it was my first ride, something had to go wrong. Even though I made sure my chain was clean and oiled, breaks working, I realized my saddle was too high. (I brought my bike at the shop at the end of the season last summer and I guess they didn’t put it back to it’s proper height.) As I didn’t have the proper tools with me, I decided to go to the closest bike store, Primeau Vélo in Brossard. Excellent service I received from Mathieu who in no time adjusted my saddle according to my height. Very important to have a bike fitting to prevent injuries and to enjoy cycling to its fullest!
My starting point was the parking lot at Parc de la Voie Maritime on Riverside street in St-Lambert. I’d barely been riding 5 min when I arrived at the “locks” which meant I’d have to wait for the boats to go by as the bridge was up. I enjoyed the gorgeous sun and talking with other cyclists who were waiting patiently. I overheard some cyclist say that sometimes the wait can be very long for the bridge to come back down. During the week when they have to get to work, they don’t have time to wait, so it’s worth it for them to go and take the Jacques Cartier bridge to cross over to Montreal. I was just happy I wasn’t going to work.
20 minutes later.
I finally made it to la Voie Maritime bike path and it was totally worth the wait. Barely any bugs out at this time of the season, and not too crowded. To one side I enjoyed the beautiful Montreal city views and to the other, boats going by. I was able to go my own speed and simply appreciated being outdoors. No sound of traffic, only the birds singing.
Great bike path to go ride however if you go and you’re starting point is on the south shore, be prepared to wait at the locks/bridge if ever it’s up and letting boats go by. Also the new Champlain Bridge is being built, under the bridge there’s a passageway for cyclists however for safety reasons, you must get off your bike and walk beside it.
When I finished my ride, I was happy to see that I’d just biked 28km at a speed of 24km/hr. Not bad for my first ride of the season.
