I quickly learned to be wary of certain riders in front of me. There were the wobblers (they're slow and not sure if they want to go left or right), there were family units that rode four abreast and wouldn't let anyone between them, there were infants in trailers (oh jeeze!), there were 2-seater bikes with a little kid on the back but the worse ones were the little 1-wheeled kiddy bikes being towed by a big adult bike, and then there were the sleek-looking racers (whoosh, they punched through like a jet), but the major offenders were the folks who without any warning just STOPPED on the "main course" without hauling themselves up on the 4-inch sidewalk curb to get safely out of the riptide of riders. And this scenery of various kinds of riders changed every half minute or so. On 90-degree corners at intersections, I'd ride wide outside, away from the wobblers, away from the family units, but sometimes getting lucky by following a pacer who rode just like me! and then on a straight-away, find a hole somewhere in anticipation of positioning myself to ride wide at the next intersection. It was like being a jockey on a racehorse, looking for an opportunity to put those slow unpredictable riders behind me. But wait! This wasn't suppose to be a race, it's suppose to be a TOUR, a fun ride! On the sidelines, residents were partying with drinks and costumes and musical instruments, cheering us on, "go, go, go!" like we were in a race. Hey folks, this isn't a race, it's a TOUR!
Some reports say 25,000 bicyclists rode in the Tour of Montreal Island this year. I don't know if there's an accurate number because kids could ride for free but there were ALOT of bicyclists ranging in age from 80 something to several months old infants in trailers.
There were a tremendous number of parents with their kids. The Friday evening ride and Sunday's official tour ride were both very much family affairs - unlike Kansas City's mega-ride which I had planned to join last summer. At that ride, I noticed most riders were between ages 20 and 50 years and many began the ride with an alcoholic beverage. I chickened-out of that one at the last minute. Montreal's mega-ride is definitely pro-family, pro-seniors, and non-alcoholic.
My almost four hours of riding the tour seemed like one hour. If time goes by fast when you're having fun, I guess this was fun. And although my bicycle has an electric motor (pedal-assist), the power setting was at the lowest end so my speed averaged about nine mph. Maybe it wasn't technically a race, but from the get-go I found myself hurrying to get to the END of this maddening tour. There was some interesting scenery; I remember two worrisome scenes which involved EMS personnel, ambulances and a couple of downed riders receiving first-aid. And my butt remembers Montreal's many potholes, uneven surfaces and bad pothole repairs.
Here's a few more photos my sister and I managed to take when we weren't racing, oops, I mean touring . . .
And lots of entertainers too . . .
Would I do it again? I admit it was dangerously fun flying through city streets for four hours straight and not having to stop for traffic lights, traffic signs and pedestrians. I didn't even stop to take a snack or bathroom break; too intent on wanting to see that "50 KM fini" cardboard poster sign. Yeah, I probably will do another mega-ride. Isn't it classic though how our triumphs cause those formerly huge annoyances to become minor ones?
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