Friday, September 26, 2008

La Presse says Bixi too expensive

We agree with La Presse's Nathalie Collard who writes (below) that the city should revise the prices that the city plans to charge for the public bike rental program Bixi.

Bixi, great idea, great bikes, stupid pricing policy.

Merci Nathalie!

Cher, le BIXI (Bixi, Expensive!)

En lançant BIXI, son nouveau vélo libre-service, Montréal vient de faire un pas de plus pour encourager l'utilisation du vélo dans les rues de la ville. Réjouissons-nous.

En plus, le vélo conçu par le designer Michel Dallaire est superbe. Par contre, les coûts d'abonnement à BIXI (il faudra s'habituer au nom) sont un peu élevés. Si on les compare à ceux de Lyon, par exemple, on constate que les Montréalais paient beaucoup plus cher. À Montréal, il en coûte 78$ pour un abonnement annuel qui couvre une période de sept mois alors qu'à Lyon, où on roule à longueur d'année, il n'en coûte que 5 euros (7,50$). Dans les deux villes, la première demi-heure est gratuite. Ensuite, les Lyonnais doivent débourser 0,5 euro pour chaque demi-heure additionnelle. Après 90 minutes d'utilisation, c'est 1 euro chaque 30 minutes. À Montréal, pour les mêmes périodes, le tarif sera de 3$ et 6$. C'est une grosse différence.

Montréal doit absolument songer à des tarifications plus amicales pour ceux qui font le choix des transports en commun sur une base régulière: le citoyen qui achète un titre de transport mensuel devrait avoir droit à BIXI gratuitement durant ce mois. On devrait également offrir un abonnement annuel gratuit à BIXI à tous ceux qui ont acheté au moins 10 titres de transport dans l'espace d'un an. Le même privilège devrait être offert aux abonnés de Communauto.

Bref, l'idée est excellente, le vélo est magnifique, reste à peaufiner les détails.

New bike path south of Quebec city

There is a new 70 km, paved bike path in the Bellechasse area south of Quebec city.

Here are some first impressions from the blog writer at SDV*Ti bicycle company. The writer gets a big thumbs up from Cycle Fun Montreal because he makes sense and encourages safe cycling, even for the racy set.

First impressions: well, let's just say that when cyclists ride a new bike path on new asphalt, they are happy indeed!

Here's the link to the review on this excellent new addition to the quebec city cycling scene.

Dangerous Montreal bus driver


Montreal city bus driver, learning he had not killed us, conceals his face.

This bus driver, who seemed to have some road rage issues, almost killed us yesterday.

He passed us going downhill on St-Joseph, he was in the middle lane with fast-moving traffic, but he wanted to be in our lane, so when he was half-past us he pulled over into our lane FAST.

The only motivation we can deduce was that he was trying to scare us, a.k.a. "teach us a lesson."

What he actually did was attempted murder.

He covered his face when we tried to snap a photo at the light, because he KNEW he did something wrong.

That something was a serious crime.

We have called the police. We were obeying every traffic law in the books. We did nothing wrong. This bus driver should have his license taken away and serve some serious jail time for what he did. We still physically shake from adrenaline when we recall how close we came to death.

We take this kind of assault with intent to kill very seriously.

What if he had gotten away with murder?


Bus on route 51, thursday Sept 25 5 pm.

Cote Ste-Catherine bike path work about to begin

Woohoo!

The long-promised bike path along Cote Ste-Catherine road is about to have construction begin.

This is a major improvement for the safety of Montreal cyclists. It also begins to make the concept of a ring-road for cyclists around Mount Royal a reality.

This street, a major axis for many people on bicycle, requires cyclists to try to find space between the moving cars and the parked vehicles. In fact there is NO space for bicycles. But, brave people that we are, hundreds of cyclists a day travel here along the only axis north of Mount Royal mountain.

A two-way bike path to modern standards will be built along the south side of the street. This will replace the car parking zone presently there.

This phase will be between Vincent d'Indy (Unversite de Montreal) and Villeneuve street. (Good luck turning east on Villeneuve!)

The path is supposed to continue to Cote des Neiges street, but that detail was strangely absent in the news article (although this article was regarding the arondissement of Outremont, and continuing the path to Cote de Neiges would be outside the Outremont burough).

read the complete article at this link at the excellent Velo Nouvelles website.

Côte-Sainte-Catherine à vélo… bientôt !

D’ici la fin de l’année, l’arrondissement d’Outremont sera relié au réseau cyclable montréalais par une toute nouvelle piste aménagée sur le chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine. Longue de 1,8 km, cette piste de 2 M$ répond à une demande de la population, formulée depuis plusieurs années. Commencés il y a quelques jours, les travaux devraient s'échelonner en plusieurs étapes sur une période de huit semaines. Ce nouveau ruban bicycliste et protégé devrait être livré fin novembre.

Michel Joanny-Furtin

Ce projet en site protégé prévoit l'aménagement d'une piste cyclable bidirectionnelle, protégée par un mail en béton de 0,9 mètre, sur le côté sud de l’axe, entre les avenues Vincent-d’Indy et Villeneuve, ajoutant ainsi 1,8 kilomètre de voie cyclable au réseau actuel. Un prolongement de cette piste jusqu’à la rue Rachel sera complété en 2009.

Piste cyclable essentielle, cette nouvelle voie facilitera les déplacements à vélo en desservant les institutions proches du tracé (Université de Montréal, École de musique Vincent-d'lndy, hôpital Sainte-Justine, métro Édouard-Montpetit, etc.). Elle s'intégrera au réseau cyclable montréalais et offrira une continuité de parcours entre l'avenue Villeneuve sur le Plateau Mont-Royal et le lien cyclable de la rue Édouard-Montpetit.

L'aménagement de la nouvelle piste cyclable permettra de conserver le même nombre de voies de circulation en périodes de pointe, ce qui n'affectera pas les conditions de circulation. Toutefois, la largeur des voies sera réduite, ceci afin de diminuer la vitesse et faire respecter la limite de 40 km/heure en vigueur sur le chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine.

Ce projet inclut la construction de puisards, de mails, de bases, de conduits et de saillies, la reconstruction des trottoirs, la réfection de la chaussée et le marquage. Les travaux seront réalisés du lundi au vendredi de 7h à 19h30. Toutefois, des travaux sont prévus le samedi selon l'avancement du chantier. Durant les travaux, une voie de circulation sera maintenue en tout temps dans chaque direction. De plus, deux voies de circulation seront conservées dans la direction la plus achalandée, pendant les heures de pointe. Le stationnement sera interdit sur les deux côtés de la rue, et ce pour la durée complète des travaux.

Tous les feux de circulation sur le chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine seront remplacés et certaines intersections seront reconfigurées pour maximiser la sécurité de tous les usagers de la voie publique, piétons, cyclistes et automobilistes. Si tout se déroule tel que prévu, ces travaux seront terminés d’ici la fin novembre.

Ceux-ci se feront en deux phases. Les travaux d’aménagement de la voie routière (feux de circulation et carrefours) se feront en premier du côté nord pendant un mois. La circulation se fera alors principalement du côté sud. Puis la circulation prendra sa place comme convenu du côté nord afin de dégager l’espace sud pour l’aménagement de la piste cyclable et les travaux complémentaires.

La piste sera élevée au niveau des trottoirs aux arrêts de bus afin de permettre les déplacements des piétons et des passagers sans anicroche.

« L’arrondissement est conscient que ces travaux vont causer des inconvénients aux riverains. Mais notre territoire sera prochainement relié au réseau cyclable montréalais et les intersections du chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine seront mises aux normes et sécurisées », a expliqué Marie Cinq-Mars, mairesse d’Outremont. « La mise en place de cette piste - au coût de 2 M$ - répond à une demande de la population, formulée depuis plusieurs années. Les travaux d’aménagement de la piste cyclable nous permettront de mettre aux normes l’ensemble des feux de circulation du chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, ce qui aura pour effet de sécuriser la traversée des piétons et des cyclistes. Les feux seront synchronisés par GPS pour optimiser la fluidité de la circulation automobile et la géométrie de plusieurs intersections sera revue pour limiter la longueur de la traversée des piétons, atténuer la vitesse des véhicules et rehausser leur niveau de sécurité ». Dans ce sens, certains carrefours seront aménagés afin que les rayons de braquage et de virage obligent à réduire la vitesse afin de protéger ainsi les autres usagers. Et la mairesse Cinq-Mars conclut : « Je suis très heureuse de cet aménagement, mais je serai le chien de garde de la sécurité des usagers de ces installations. Je m'engage à y exercer mon devoir de surveillance !»

Info-travaux au 514 872-3777, entre 8h et 17h. En cas d’urgence en dehors de ces heures, composez le 311 en mentionnant qu’il s’agit de travaux réalisés par le Service des infrastructures, transport et environnement de la Ville de Montréal.

Le réaménagement obligé du stationnement
L’implantation de la piste cyclable bidirectionnelle nécessite le réaménagement des voies actuelles de circulation sur le chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine. Elle occasionnera la perte définitive de 142 places de stationnement du côté sud de la rue (direction du centre-ville), ceci dans le but d’améliorer la visibilité des cyclistes circulant sur la piste cyclable et de permettre le maintien des quatre voies de circulation en périodes de pointe. Le nouvel aménagement occasionnera également la perte de 100 places de stationnement, en périodes de pointe du matin et du soir, du côté nord du chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine. « L’arrondissement examine présentement des solutions alternatives pour compenser la perte de ces places de stationnement », affirme Marie Cinq-Mars «Nous allons faire tout en notre possible pour minimiser les inconvénients, mais il est impossible d’intégrer une piste cyclable protégée à la trame des rues d’Outremont sans affecter le stationnement ».

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Improved bike parking


Before modifications, chaos rules. The mitre saw to the rescue!


After: a beautiful and perfect world is again upon us

We decided to improve our outdoor bike parking (for the old bikes - our good bikes live indoors when we aren't outside playing with them).

We built a super-simple "bike hanger" a few years ago. It worked well, but it had some issues like the bikes were not far enough under the upstairs balcony for good weather protection, and the bikes were not arranged very well. At least it was better than 4 bikes leaning against each other.

We had been thinking of modifications for a couple of years.

So we finally rented a mitre saw, and got to work.

(spoiler alert: we finished the job and still had all ten fingers.)

99% local content

Since we began the blog we have tried really hard to keep it local to Montreal and the nearby regions. But 99% local content does imply that 1% external substances seep into the local mix.

The Economist magazine recently featured it's obituary page a cyclist. Not just any cyclist, but Ian Hibell, a world-traveling, epic-enduring and one seriously obsessed cyclist.

Read the complete story here.

We maintain that if more people went outside and had fun riding their bikes, there would be less troubles in the world.

Good cyclists!


Bike parking that doesn't block the handicapped ramp. PA Supermarket needs more bike parking!


A cyclist who walked her bike on the sidewalk.





Cyclist going the correct direction on the correct side of the street. One of them anyway!

Good cyclists? Yes, we exist. we stop at lights, we walk our bike on the sidewalk. We lock up our bikes where they don't block the handicapped ramp to the store.

Here's a few good examples of good people doing good things, on bikes!

Wrong way down St-Laurent?

You decide:

What is she thinking?

Is she thinking?

How long will she last if she rides like this?


Pretty much the stupidest thing you can do on a bike.

We just don't understand wrong-way riders.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

A few bad drivers

Some folks have commented that we seem to pick on bad behavior by cyclists when it comes to traffic regulations.

What about bad car drivers?

Here's a quick sample of some of our least favorite car driving behaviours. These are dangerous driving habits that we see all the time.


Making a left turn from the right lane. He cut off that car on the right who was in the correct lane to turn left. We are seeing more of this and it needs to stop. He passed me and asked me why I was taking picture. Oh, and he honked like crazy when I was waiting for the traffic going in the other direction at light.



Running red lights. My least favorite red light runner location, red light at Graham road in TMR at NE side on giant traffic circle. (not where picture is taken). This man saw the light turn yellow. He saw the light turn red. Our light turns green. We go. He speeds through the red light with a few feet to spare. Takes traffic loop (30 km posted max speed) quite a bit faster than the legal speed. Licence number 022WXQ.



Running stop signs. School bus driver ran stop sign a few feet before this. I stopped legally and as I was starting (no other cars) , he comes up, barely slows and then guns engine and cuts off my legal intersection crossing. He got out of van at light when he saw the camera and started to scream at me. He said, I think, c'mon, take my picture too. He ran a red light further south on St-Croix street also. This person drives a school bus? Call that phone number! (we called the SAAQ instead)



Car passing other cars on the right lane at stop sign, won the race and took off at Formula One speeds. This is the lane where slower traffic is, and where cyclists are supposed to be safe. Quebec license plate number TS1318



Right turn on red light is not legal on Montreal island. That law didn't stop this jackass from saving 30 seconds on his drive to work wednesday morning. License plate 125 QYP



Cyclist riding the wrong way on the one-way street. And, on the wrong side of the road. Use the sidewalk as a shortcut around our legal cycling behaviour a second after this. Oh, sorry this was supposed to be about cars. But really, it's about dangerous drivers on city streets, and this women clearly qualifies.


Good advice

We always try to keep a safe distance from dangerous/crazy people. You should too. Avoid confrontations. Take down the licence number and call the police. Do NOT take revenge. Do not take the law in to your own hands. We pay for police to keep the roads safe. If there is a problem driver or intersection that concerns you, call the police, your elected representative, or start your own blog.

Ride safe everyone!

Montreal's Bixi vs France's Velib'

The Bixi bicycle rental program is now public.

We've seen the bikes, and we've seen the prices that we will be charged.

Guess what? We're getting ripped off. Bigtime!

Guess who runs the Bixi program? Stationnement (Parking) Montreal.

Stationnement Montreal? The source of our incredibly expensive downtown parking rates? The parking-meters-everywhere-racket organizers? The nice folks who ended free parking on Sundays?

With those vultures running the show, we not surprised that the system's prices are a major league ripoff.

Read a comparision here from Le Devoir newspaper. You will be un-pleasantly surprised.

Once again, let us say we really think a public bike-rental program is a GOOD idea. And the bikes look good. But the rates... bend over and assume the position.

Sure, the first 30 minutes are cheap, but ride for a couple of hours and you'll wish you had bought a bike instead.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Attack of the killer tree leaves

With autumn comes leaves. Colorful leaves.

Leaves falling down, oh so pretty you think?

Not when you slide on them when you turn a corner!

Woooeeeaaaiiiiisplat!

Actually that sounds more like WhoooOOOOScrape AieeeEEEE!

No matter what sound YOU make, be careful riding around corners when there are wet leaves on the street.

Once again, you'll have to trust that we learned the hard way (so you don't have to).

Montreal's new bike-rental program

Ho hum, the city's providing a bike for under your bum.

For the price of this program, they could just give everyone an econobike who wanted one. (say for a tiny service charge)

Then there would be no bike thieves, because anyone could have a cheap bike for almost free.

And Stationnement Montreal (Parking Montreal) wouldn't be further expanding their tyrannical rule over the travelers in our wonderful city.

And to give people an incentive to follow some road safety rules, in order to get the free bike they have to get a bicycle drivers license. Oops, there we go ruining another great idea!

See photos of the actual rental bike, called Bixi here.

Ok, I admit, it's a good idea.

Gov't announces major funding for bike path infrastructure

Quebec made some excellent announcements today about new and improved bike paths and bicycling transportation infrastructure.

First is big bucks for Montreal, 4 major projects are underway that will benefit. These are:
  • la piste cyclable sur la Côte-Sainte-Catherine
  • de celle du chemin Sainte-Marie
  • de la piste du boulevard Jacques-Bizard
  • la piste cyclable De Maisonneuve.
Read the complete press release here or in legible format, here.

Next is more millions for the Route Verte. Quebec's Route Verte network of local and regional bike paths/routes is vast, because Quebec is itself huge. Even though we have done "the official grand opening," there are some many major gaps in the big picture. These projects are going to fill in some of the gaps, and create an improved and even more impressive Route Verte.

Here are some of the major paths, linkups, etc that will receive funding:

Les secteurs qui bénéficieront du Programme d'aide au développement de la Route verte sont :
  • un prolongement de l'axe numéro 1 vers l'ouest pour inclure le sentier PPJ dans le Pontiac
  • un prolongement de l'axe numéro 1 vers l'est, soit de Matane à Manche d'Epée en Gaspésie
  • un lien cyclable entre Salaberry-de-Valleyfield et Lévis, sur la rive sud du fleuve Saint-Laurent (axe numéro 3)
  • un prolongement de l'axe numéro 5 de Québec à Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré pour inclure la véloroute Marie-Hélène Prémont
  • un prolongement de l'axe numéro 5 sur la Côte-Nord, entre Tadoussac et Baie-Comeau
  • un lien cyclable entre Saguenay et Sainte-Rose-du-Nord, sur l'axe numéro 8, en complément du lien maritime initialement planifié.
These are major! A cycling axis (i.e complete route) From Valleyfield to Levis (quebec CIty) along the south shore of the St-Laurence. This would be a highly desireable development.

Quebec moves one step closer to the changing the paradigm from "drive somewhere to go cycling" to "Go somewhere on bike."

Read the whole press release here or more readible here.

Dangerous pont Jacques Cartier bridge bike path in the news!

Pont Jacques Cartier Bridge has one of the best bike paths in Montreal. Wide, separate from traffic, smooth, newish, great views, it's a paradise of bicycling infrastructure.

Then you arrive on the south shore, the bike path becomes 2/3 of the size of a safe two-way path, it has a downhill grade so some cyclists go too fast, it's hemmed in by fences with obstacles, and the road surface is bumpitybumpitybump bad.

This bike path (piste cyclable) is DANGEROUS.

The federal body that owns the bridge has plans to fix it, in 2012.

This omission to finish the PJC's bike path back all the way to street level has been a huge gap in the safe bike path network of Montreal. And it's been an obsession of Cycle Fun Montreal for a long time.

Cyclists don't just deserve, but have a right to safe cycling infrastructure.

La Presse has reported on the PJC bike path today. A man has been standing on the bike path with a petition and hundreds of people have signed it. You rock dude!

With this publicity we hope that the parties that think not making this part of the path safer (defined as wide enough for two bicycles to pass safely) get moving.

This part of the cross-bridge path is not on the bridge itself, it is back on solid ground, so there's no big engineering cost to fixing this. Let's get moving.

Here's a link to the La Presse article called Une piste étroite et dangereuse.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

summer sunshine for last days of summer

Oh the wonderfulness of summer sunshine.

Definitely the best thing you can do today is to go for a bike ride.

Get up from the computer, get on the bike, and ride somewhere. Somewhere new, someplace favorite, or maybe someplace with a view. We are doing all three. In five, four, three, two, one, Bye!

Friday, September 19, 2008

The arrival of autumn - the best season for cycling

Don't let the cooler temperatures and shorter days keep you from cycling, the country roads get more beautiful with every passing day. Well, at least until November when the infernal hell of winter starts to make its presence felt. But until then, September and October are some of the very best months for cycling.

So, as usual our message is to get out and ride this weekend, the weather's fine!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Lance Armstrong visits Quebec

Lance says "Fix the Quebec roads!"

Tell us something we don't know, the laurentians (where he rode) has terrible roads.

In french we say "les routes du Québec sont honteusement cahoteuses."

He even told this to the Premier, Jean "Patapouf" Charest. Thanks Lance.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Please?


Sidewalks are not for bike riding. Not now, not ever.

Please, we know you love your bike, but pleeeeeeease, don't do it on the sidewalk.

The sidewalk is the only safe place to walk. Everyone wants to keep it that way.

We know you "can" ride your bike on the sidewalk. You might have learned to ride a bike on the sidewalk. But that was when you were a child. Now you, me, everyone has grown up. We have to behave like grownups, not like a 6-year old. It's a challenge, we know. But riding your bike on the sidewalk is an antisocial activity, and dangerous too. And, we repeat, it really scares the crap out of the pedestrians.

Thanks. When we see someone who stops at the corner and walks their bike on the sidewalk we actually go over and thank them. And that makes everyone feel good.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Mont Megantic September 2008


Welcome to altitudeland


Chapel on the summit of Mont St-Joseph - and blue sky!

It was gloriously sunny and warm for our Mont Megantic hike this year. Third time lucky!

We hiked to the Andromeda hut and then up the Ruisseau Fortier Trail on the back of Mont Megantic. That's the west side of the mountain. This is the trail I took last winter on snowshoes.


At the top of the Ruisseau Fortier trail.

You can compare this location with a picture from last winter snowshoe hike.


This is the same location six months earlier.

Our conclusion is that snowshoeing is much easier than hiking.

We stayed in a Teepee (Tipi), This was because of our history of rain here. We thought we'd try something different, and hopefully better this year.


Everything cleaned up after our Teepee camping experience.

This teepee slept three. Except that there were four of us. It was still an excellent way to camp out of the rain, the fireplace worked great. When we weren't sleeping it was no problem to hold the four of us.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

bike commuting - trouble comes in threes

Today was one of those days.

And we don't mean when things are so amazingly wonderful, your head explodes from happiness.

No.

We mean when things don't go quite as planned.

We got to work and found ourselves without the workplace-appropriate shoes. We had to wear our cleated mtn bike shoes all day.

Then we get outside and the rear tire is flat.

And we have no spare.

And finding the hole is hard, but we find it, and patch it, then put a big pinch-hole in the tube when putting the tire back on the rim.

So after we patch the tube the second time, get everything back together, and we're heading home, we discover that one of our shoe cleats is loose, and it's the left one: the one we normally use to pop out and put that foot on the ground. So with the loose cleat, getting out isn't a quick twist pop. No, the cleat and the pedal are going to stay together. Stop light reflexes be damned! Aieee! But we manage to remember to use our right foot to stop at lights (and yes, we stop at lights!) and we get home ok.

And now, it's starting to become one of those days when everything is so amazingly wonderful, our head might explode from happiness.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Darkness Invades Summer!


We love our small and super-bright tail light


Yes summer is winding down and this means early sunsets (enjoy) and the need to use bike lights after dark and around sunset. To make sure the CARS see you. So you can get home safe and live to ride another day.

We use these two bike lights and are generally satisfied. The aren't perfect, but they work well and the rear light we actually like a lot.

We also use reflective ankle straps, but we note with disappointment that these now cost around five dollars. Each! Ouch!

The tail light is a Planet Bike Super Flash Rear Light.

Our headlamp is the Planet Bike Beamer 5 LED Headlight. We like it in the flashing mode, people seem to see it. There are similar models. Go for bright and flashing.


A headlamp - so people see YOU (so they don't HIT you)

Buying a bike is like buying a dog

Here's a link to a nice little article on buying and being a first time urban bike rider/cyclist.

THe article is called "
How to Buy a bike in New York City
" and it takes you through the steps, the end result is that you have a new bike.

We're not link-aholics, so we really do think this is a nice little piece of work.

Here's why buying a bike is like buying a dog:
Step #4: You are going to need a lot of accessories: Buying a bike is like buying a dog. You can’t just buy the thing, you need the food, doggy bowl, leash, outfits (kidding).

More anti-theft devices

We have been looking at some anti-theft devices for our bike wheels.

It is much easier to lock up a bike if you don't have to worry about locking the wheels.

We always lock our wheels, but lately we realized that we could carry a much smaller lock if we used some sort of anti-theft devices on our wheels.

Since we knew nothing about wheel locks, we searched the all-powerful google. We visited some bike shops. And we googled some more.

At local stores we found the Pinhead System at ABC and a 5-sided allen wrench model at Yeti. On the internet we found Pitlock skewers.

We haven't got any yet, but we're moving on the project. So this means we are also looking forward to carrying the smallest and lightest U-lock, which is also the most secure (when used properly). U-locks are great, but they are big and heavy!

La Presse covers the Petit Temis piste cyclable


Sid early morning lakeside, with a long way to ride until Riviere du Loup!


One of our big adventures this year was riding the 130 km Petit Temis (non-silent "s") bike path from Riviere du Loup to Edmonston New Brunswick. And back. In perfect weather.

Fast forward to today and La Presse's newspaper's Wednesday travel section features... Le Petit Temis!

Ok, we're getting paranoid. Why? Because the La Presse newspaper is following us around. First the Chateauguay Valley for cycling, and now the Petit Temis.

We're just joking. The Petit Temis is in La Presse because it is one of the best bike paths in Quebec. (Similarly the Chateauguay Valley is a "incontournable" road cycling paradise.)

We were highly satisfied with our visit to the Petit Temis last summer. We enjoyed a bike path that was well-serviced with rest facilities and scenic rest stops, forest, lake and farmland scenery, villages at reasonable intervals, gentle uphills, and best of all, a solid length of 130 km (80 miles).

If this length is too long for you, you're still going to like this path. You can ride the path as a two or three day ride. The La Presse writer rode it in three days. We rode completely south one day, and returned north the next. So the path can appeal to anyone from easy riders to hardcore - in other words, anyone who likes to ride a bicycle through the beautiful Quebec countryside.

The article has a sidebar with information on some of the local attractons and diversions on or near the trail. Useful stuff for taking breaks from riding the bike.

One highlight not to be missed is the section of trail along Lac Temiscouta. It is very scenic, away from roads. It passes by beaches, rest stops, and even a canyon or two. The town of Cabano is at the north end of the lake and Degelis at the south.

The path has a bit of hill. The uphill is limited to a easy 4 percent incline. The bike path goes uphill from Riviere du Loup for 40 km, and then descends 30 km to Cabano. Then the rest of the way south from Cabano is generally flat.

We immensely enjoyed this ride, and we liked the St-Laurence river coast around Riviere du Loup and indeed all along the tourist region of Bas St-Laurent. In fact, we liked it so much, we went back there a week later for our family vacation.

So a big thanks to La Presse for featuring this excellent destination that is NOT in the Montreal region. If you are car-dree, then you wil be pleased to learn that Via Rail passenger train service will take you and your bike to Riviere du Loup to the start of the trail.

Here's the link to our blogpost (words and photos) about our trip to the Petit Temis. We had wanted to go here for a decade, and we are really glad we finally made it there.

Here's the La Presse article:
Le Petit Témis, une balade à vélo de... 130 km

Sac au dos, la toile de tente, l'appareil photo et les deux sacoches de matériel et de nourriture harnachés au vélo, le périple est entrepris au point d'accueil Le Petit Témis, chemin Fraserville, à Rivière-du-Loup.

Sébastien Templier

Je viens de quitter le confort du siège de l'automobile, laissée sur le stationnement, pour l'espace spartiate de ma monture qui s'avérera beaucoup moins confortable.

Jour 1
En cet après-midi, le ciel est chargé, mais la pluie m'est épargnée. Après les 10 premiers kilomètres pas très attrayants, on passe de la ville à la campagne. La piste de gravier sassée, aménagée sur le tracé de l'ancien Témiscouata Railway, devient plus boisée et ombragée. Le belvédère du lac Deschênes est alors le premier arrêt. Une pause et quelques photos plus tard, me voilà de nouveau en selle. Juste le temps de faire à peine deux kilomètres. Au café de la station Saint-Modeste, je m'acquitte d'une vignette de 10 $, une contribution non obligatoire à l'entretien du sentier.

La halte de la rivière des Roches est la première sur le parcours à offrir un site de camping rustique. Très bien aménagé, l'emplacement au bord de la rivière est ce qui se fait de mieux pour ceux qui dorment sous la tente. Le site est enchanteur. Mais c'est le belvédère de la rivière Saint-François (au km 31) qui a la palme du plus beau «spot» de la journée. Le belvédère s'ouvre sur une vaste zone marécageuse au milieu de laquelle coule la rivière. Avec les quelques collines en toile de fond et le ciel menaçant, le tableau est magnifique.

Après presque 40 km, la tente est finalement plantée sous les arbres, aux abords du ruisseau Beaulieu. Une pause pour la nuit qui est la bienvenue, le dénivelé progressif de 300 mètres s'est un peu fait sentir dans les jambes. Message aux sportifs de salon: attendez-vous à souffrir un peu en fin de journée.

Jour 2
Parcourir le Petit Témis, c'est découvrir la faune et la flore de la vallée du Témiscouata. Si la halte de la rivière Bleue baigne dans une ambiance bucolique ensoleillée, celle de Vauban permet d'observer l'impressionnant travail des castors.

Le sentier descend ensuite sur Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! Autrement dit: Hexcuewaska en amérindien, «quelque chose d'inattendu». Inattendu est pour moi le golf du Témis que la piste traverse entre les verts. Cabano est alors à quelques kilomètres de plus. En chemin, un crochet de 600 mètres conduit au fort Ingall, pour une visite de cette fortification britannique du XIXe siècle.

La gare de Cabano est un excellent relais pour manger et dormir. Convertie en auberge, elle sera ma halte du midi.

Entre Rivière-du-Loup et Cabano, le parcours est jalonné successivement de terres agricoles, de lacs et de rivières. Mais en descendant ensuite vers le parc Donald Fraser, le paysage se modifie et à partir de là, je ne quitte plus des yeux le lac Témiscouata pendant 25 km, de Cabano à Dégelis. En longeant le lac, on apprécie la plage de Notre-Dame-du-Lac, on découvre de belles maisons, on voit les uns faire une pause en bordure de l'eau alors que les autres n'hésitent pas à se baigner. À l'approche de la marina de Dégelis, je roule au fond d'un petit canyon verdoyant avant d'emprunter trois ponts sur chevalets qui surplombent le lac le long du rivage. Une portion idyllique.

En cette fin de journée, il me faut faire un crochet de 6 km pour rejoindre le Centre de plein air Le Montagnais, lieu de mon deuxième campement, sur la rive nord du lac. Après avoir traversé le barrage, à la jonction de la rivière Madawaska, et le site d'interprétation, la montée vers le centre - à 8 % de dénivellation par endroits - sera abrupte et pénible. Mais l'emplacement et le coucher de soleil sur le lac en valent la peine. Foi de cycliste.

Jour 3
Au petit matin, sous le soleil, un bon Samaritain me ramène sur la rive sud du lac Témiscouata, à bord d'un bateau à moteur. Sur le territoire de la municipalité de Dégelis, le sentier est asphalté, ce qui soulage quelque peu le fessier.

Je repasse à la hauteur de ce barrage, qui régule le niveau des eaux du lac, avant de m'arrêter à la gare de l'Héritage, au coeur de Dégelis. Restaurée, elle a conservé ses boiseries d'origine et fait office de relais. Je pédale ensuite en direction de la frontière du Nouveau-Brunswick.

Seize kilomètres plus loin, une arche en billots de bois signale que l'on vient de passer dans la «République du Madawaska», terre de ces Canadiens français et Acadiens qui se sont installés ici à la fin du XVIIIe siècle. Notre entrée au Nouveau-Brunswick est marquée par la présence d'un bombardier de la Deuxième Guerre qui fait office de monument...

Les derniers coups de pédales nous font longer la rivière Madawaska jusqu'à Edmunston. Sur la route, le jardin botanique du Nouveau-Brunswick, à Saint-Jacques, retient mon attention. Il représente une très belle halte avant de fournir un dernier effort. Les jambes sont dures et les fesses sont de la marmelade. Trois jours, deux nuits et quelque 130 km plus loin, les vallées du Témiscouata et du Haut-Saint-Jean n'ont plus de secrets.

Le Petit Témis en une semaine
Première piste cyclable interprovinciale au pays, le Petit Témis peut être parcouru tranquillement durant une semaine, le temps de découvrir et d'apprécier pleinement les activités et les attraits touristiques le long du tracé. Voici une liste de lieux où mettre le pied à terre entre Rivière-du-Loup et Edmunston :

• Saint-Modeste
L'Éveil à la forêt : Centre d'interprétation de la pépinière forestière. Entrée sur réservation pour les groupes à l'automne.

• Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!
Aster : la station de vulgarisation et de loisirs scientifiques du Bas-Saint-Laurent est un site d'interprétation voué à l'astronomie. Entrée sur réservation à l'automne.

Golf du Témis : pourquoi ne pas frapper quelques coups encore en cette saison ?

• Cabano
Fort Ingall : reconstruction fidèle d'une fortification britannique du XIXe siècle. Est ouvert du lundi au vendredi, de 10 h à 16 h.

Les cartons d'Artémis : atelier d'art de l'artiste Rock Belzile. Entrée sur réservation à l'automne.

Galerie d'art Auberge du chemin faisant : galerie regroupant les oeuvres du peintre Claude Théberge. Ouvert jusqu'au 11 octobre, de 12 h à 18 h.

• Notre-Dame-du-Lac
Pour les moins frileux, sa plage, non surveillée à cette époque de l'année.

Musée du Témiscouata : musée d'histoire de la région. Entrée sur réservation à l'automne.

Jardin de la Petite École : même s'il est fermé à cette époque de l'année, ce jardin privé, «l'un des plus beaux du Québec», mérite d'être signalé pour l'été prochain.

• Dégelis
Sa plage, non surveillée à cette époque de l'année.

Centre de plein air Le Montagnais : pour des randonnées automnales et la nuit en chalet ou en camping. Ouvert jusqu'à la fin du mois d'octobre.

• Saint-Jacques
Jardin botanique du Nouveau-Brunswick. Ouvert jusqu'au 30 septembre.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Bike upgrades to France's Vélib' program



After a year in operation, the urban bike rental program Vélib' in France has recently announced Version 2.0 of the bicycle used in the program.

First, how is the program going? well, the Vélib's bikes were rented 31 million times!

And with that amount of usage, the designers learned some things about the bikes. Things that resulted in 4 specific upgrades to the bikes.

One of the upgrades is the safety sticker. It no longer lists general bike safety rules. Now it identifies the most common bike accident cause: riding the bike in the car drivers' blind spot. Car drivers are generally trying to drive safely, but if they can't see you because you are in their blind spot, then you are at a hugely increased risk of an accident. (key message: don't ride your bike in the car driver's blind spot: click here for more info on this "death zone."

Here is the link to the article, we found it very interesting (in french).


Aieee! Riding in the blind spot can really ruin your day.

Ride safe or...

We recently visited the hospital and met some bike accident victims.

Speaking to the medical staff, they told us that people who don't have bike helmets often have fractured skulls and brain injuries. When we asked about the long-term effects of a brain injury, we were left with a profound sense of "we are glad we always wear our helmets-and we will always wear one!"

Besides brain injuries, did you know you can also lose part or all of your hearing? You can have double-vision for week or months? You might not even be able to recognize the people you know and love? And the headaches, oh, the headaches! You won't believe the headaches.

It's not just a question of helmets, it's really all about riding safe: sidewalk riding, not stopping at intersections, and busy bike paths are all great sources of bike accidents.

In 2008 we have made a strong effort to stop at red lights. We have made an even stronger effort to wait until the green lights. It's really only a few seconds, and life, as they say, is worth it.

Montreal Exploration bike ride - the Mile End stream

With a busy life it can be hard to get out of the city to explore new places and things, but don't fret: Montreal has plenty of good exploration-themes to keep you excited about life.

Having fun exploring Montreal is one of the principle reasons we started this blog: to give you ideas, themes and places to ride. The other is to bitchbitchbitch! Hopefully we balance the two with an overall positive result.

Today's theme is the Mile End Stream. We want you to explore, so there will be no map.

The Mile-end stream is an above-ground stream, or babbling brook if you prefer, that descends Mount Royal through upper Outremont (i.e. above Cote Saint-Catherine road). Upper Outremont is a compact area and includes the scenically-amazing Mount Royal Cemetery. The cemetery is where the mile end stream starts, happily in the beautiful park-like setting of the cemetery (note: no dogs permitted here).

After the cemetery, the stream descends through through upper Outremont in three locations, then crosses Cote-Saint-Catherine road and descends through the three Outremont hillside parks, and finishes (we decided) at the pond at Parc Viateur beside Bernard street. In the lower Outremont area, some amount of human imagination is required for the connection of the streams through the different parks, but the Outremont parks are very worthy and pleasant parks with an extensive amount of naturalistic streams and waterfalls that we always enjoy visiting (and this gives us an opportunity to enjoy the most-excellent lifestyle of our Outremont-dwelling Quebec elite!).

In most cities, and Montreal is no exception, natural streams are buried as development destroys the natural landscape. So we think it is simply amazing that the mile end stream remains above ground in upper Outremont.

We will return to the water theme in the future with some more of our favorite Montreal ponds, fountains and water sculptures. Stay tuned!

TPDs (Theft Prevention Devices)

We bought some new TPD (Theft Prevention Devices) for our bikes. We have been satisfied with the Kryptonite Evolution 4 series, and now have 3 of the latest-and-best design.

You might think that $60 (and up) is expensive for a bike lock but it is a LOT less expensive than a new bike.

We call them TPDs but they are really TDDs: Theft Deterent Devices. They should prevent the casual thief from stealing the bike. We also only lock up old bikes outside!

We never rely on any sort of cable device, they are freakily easy to cut in less than the time it took to write this sentence.

Bike gone!

Step one is a proper lock, step two is proper bike-locking procedure.

For the record, we even lock our bikes inside the car and inside the home.

If you bike commute, We think it's highly useful to leave a lock at the bike rack at work. Just don't forget the key!

If you have any sense, don't be like us: so don't leave you bike unlocked or poorly locked and loose not one, not two, but two and a half bikes! (one was a unicycle--our favorite 24 inch Semcycle with a custom red seat)

Most thieves don't carry a complete arsenal of bike theft devices, so using multiple devices, like a Evolution lock and a serious bike chain combo is good as long as you don't have to carry it with you! But in fixed locations, like at work or as we do for the decent but old bikes (like Old Blue, our sturdy road warrior) which we keep locked outside at home, we do use both a u-lock and a chain. (repeat: we keep good bikes locked inside).

Friday, September 05, 2008

montreal streets - complete chaos

With pedestrians, cyclists, skateboarders and roller bladers all following their own rules (as in NO RULES) the situation on Montreal city streets and intersections can only be described as complete anarchy. Chaos. There are large numbers of people doing suicidal things.

We are riding our bikes, through the intersection around dark, with the green light and with flashing high-visibility bike lights, and still young male idiots are stepping out right in front of us! We stopped at the next corner at the light and the male started to harass us. for his jaywalking ready-to-die behaviour.

Montreal police need to do more than their habitual springtime bike and pedestrian safety crackdown/publicity spectacle. Safety at Montreal intersections is completely absent. Get out of your cars, men and women of the Montreal police force, and let us see you do your job: protecting the public safety.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

It's summer sunset time - best time to ride ever

The trip our planet takes around the sun every year has arrived at the point when Montreal sunsets are between 7 and 8 pm in the evening.

It is time when we can easily have our day improved by watching a sunset.

Sunsets are enjoyable, satisfying, ethereal things, each one different, each one eventually finishing (with or without applause).

But we have to make the time to get outside to enjoy the sunset show. Do it.

(Bike survival tip: early sunsets mean early darkness, ride safe with good bike lights. Now's a good time to change the battery in your front and rear bike light. You don't have a front and rear bike light? Visit your local bike shop today!)

Sunset tip: the best place to see a sunset in Montreal is Saint-Joseph Oratory, at the top. Either at the top section of the stairs, or the top parking lot on the west side (reachable by bike via the new road).

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

selling the ecovelo bike

sold! thanks craigslist.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Safe cycling quiz

Here's a short safe cycling quiz:

Where does safe cycling begin?
  1. With strict and enforced regulations
  2. With good parenting
  3. I don't understand the question
We vote for number 2 - Safe cycling begins with good parenting.

We went for a ride in busybikepathland on Monday afternoon. We were almost killed by a variety of riders doing a variety of crazy and dangerous manoeuvres, but we noticed one particular situation occurring again and again.

A family with a bunch of kids. The kids were riding everywhere - on their side on the path, on our side of the path, and on the road beside the bike path.

Now before you start throwing rocks our way, let me explain.

There were many families exhibiting excellent bike path behaviour. The parent riding in front and a neat line of children following them. Or, a neat line of children with a parent at the rear.

The key concept here that the parents set a correct example, and made sure the children followed it!

And we say.. Hurray!

And then there were the other people, which we compare to a swarm of angry bees. That we ride into. With a bitchy queen who wants us to get out of her way, even though there is nowhere to go, since her little nest of demons is on, as we said above, their side of the path, our side of the path, and the adjacent roadway. And if we dare to say lookout (!), we get a lot of swearing aimed our way!

So, we believe that safe cycling begins with good parenting. It really makes a difference.

If you need some advice on how to achieve this goal, both Transport Quebec and Velo Quebec have programs to help you teach bicycle safety to your children. And we rcommend that you do, before it's too late.