On a useful trial run

 What with one thing and another, I had repeatedly failed to do something I had wanted to do to test my fitness since June. Namely, ride around the Island of Montreal. That is ride from my home to Eastern and Western extremities of the Island and back. I hadn't failed to complete this ride, I'd failed to start it. Sometimes, it was going to be too hot. Other days, I simply failed to get up.

With the upcoming trip, I decided that enough was enough and I had to do it. As forecast was for Sun and cool temperatures, I set off East this morning on Victor von Fleddermoose. It was a good day, though I wish I had checked the forecast as what wind there was coming from the North East meaning I should have gone the other way around.

I reached the Eastern tip in good time and then rolled back West along Gouin Boulevard, along which I stopped to remove my tights. I later took off my relatively heavy long-sleeved jersey for a short-sleeved one. 

It was clouding over, when I got to Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue a bit after 1. I stopped at one of the waterfront restaurants for lunch. The waitress commented that cyclists tended to order what I had ordered, namely a piña colada and a Korean style chicken burger. I shrugged and said that I couldn't comment on the trend.

I set off again, and was surprised to feel a bit cold. A few minutes later, I stopped and switched to the long-sleeved jersey. Then it was the long but rather familiar run along Lakeshore Boulevard. It began to sprinkle near Lachine. As I got on the Lachine Canal bike path, my thighs started to protest. Strenuously.

I got home and made an important decision. I wasn't going to try to do the 134 kilometers of the Petit Témis Interprovincial Bicycle Path in one day. That had been my plan but if my thighs felt like they did after 127.94 km, in 5 hours, 44 minutes and 4 seconds of biking (average speed 22.3, max speed 53.5) on the lightweight Victor von Fleddermoose with no load, then trying to do 134 kilometers on a loaded Leonardo would be asking for trouble. Consequently, I set about changing some reservations. I realized that it allowed a useful change. I had been planning to ride 80 plus kilometers to Saint-Simeon through the hilly Saquenay Provincial Park in order to catch the 5:30 ferry to Rivière-du-Loup. Now, I could defer the crossing until the next morning meaning I wouldn't have to worry about making the ferry.