On the first trip with trailer to the Library

I made arrangements with the powers that be make an appointment to drop off two boxes of books and other items I had catalogued at the Library and to pick up another two boxes of the same. I loaded up the trailer and tried to secure upper box with orange paracord. Unfortunately, it tended to slide forward somewhat. By the time I got the delivery door of the Library it looked like this.

 Thankfully, the two boxes I picked up where of such a size they could be flipped on their sides be placed side by side in the trailer, and thus be secured with a length of old inner tube. This lead to a more relaxed ride home.

It took me about 50% longer to get to the Library than normal and made for a good leg and cardiovascular workout. I must make a note to measure the internal dimensions of the trailer for future reference.

On what this summer's bike trip might be

What with Covid-19 and other issues, I had been wondering if this summer's vacation my be a staycation. Mummy has proposed a trip with Désirée and Dominique from Trois-Rivières to Québec City including bike-based exploring of Quebec City as an intro to bike touring with my brother Philip acting as the sag wagon. The idea is that I would join them in Trois-Rivières having biked there from Montreal.

There is however a problem with this plan: how do I get back to Montreal? The intercity buses aren't running and there is currently no baggage service on Via Rail between Quebec City and Montreal. Obviously, I could bike back to Montreal using a different route but that doesn't overly appeal to me as it means more city biking.

Another possibility that has my interest would be continue on from Quebec City to Jonquière in the Saguenay and catch Via train number 602 back to Montreal as it does have a baggage car. This does have the advantage of increasing the number of Via routes I have experienced as well as the possibility of whales heightened by my recent sighting of Montreal's late, lamented humpback. On the flip side, it will mean a lot of eff-ing steep hills.

On second time lucky twice over

Thanks to this website, I was able to know in advance where Montreal's humpback was likely to be early this afternoon. In point of fact, it was hanging out in the Lemoyne Channel between Île Sainte-Hêlène and Île Notre-Dame. Very conveniently, it was between two bridges between those islands and wasn't moving around much.

 It is in this picture but it is hard to see.

The basic technique of whale watching was to wait for a spout...

...then observe the back as the huge creature sank below the waves. It was staying more or less in the same place, swimming against the current. I watched for about fifteen minutes.

I was hardly the only one there to see the whale.

I then set off to the Canadian Tire I had visited yesterday and successfully bought a bike trailer. I assembled it and rode home just as it started to rain. As I arrived home, one of my neighbours said: "Nice bike trailer!"   "Thank you. I just bought it!

On how no good deed goes unpunished

I decided to buy a bike cargo trailer today. So after work, I unlocked Justin Thyme and walked down the street to a spot where there wasn't a parked car to put the bike on the road. Unfortunately something caught my eye: a TD debit card.

I tried phoning the number on the back, but the first thing I got was a recording saying that due to Covid-19 TD has cut its call centre staff and therefore wait times will be longer. I locked Justin to a railing and went inside to see if I could report the lost card from TD's website but I had insufficent luck or patience to find the appropriate bit of the website assuming it exists.

So I decided I would hand it into the police. There was a station not too far away from my home and almost on my way. So I rode off. Unfortunately, the bike bridge across the canal I wanted to use was unexpectedly closed for no apparent reason. This meant quite a detour. Then when I got to the station, it was technically closed due to Covid-19. I went inside the first door to see if there was a drop off slot. There wasn't, but then a voice came from an intercom telling me that the station was closed. I said: "Okay, but would please you tell me what I should do with this debit card I found?" Whereupon, I was buzzed in and the woman on the intercom came out and directed to a counter. She went behind it and accepted the card and a scrap of paper on which I had written where and when I had found it.

So I set off to the Angrignon Canadian Tire. There was no line up when I pulled up outside. However, as I locked the bike, a half dozen people who seemed somewhat clueless came up to the door and were directed to go in one at time by the guard. I waited behind them. I went in. For some "clever" reason, Canadian Tire seems to have decided that the best thing to do is to make the main aisles narrower by putting a lot things in the middle of the aisle. This made social distancing rather hard, especially as many of the other patrons seemed clueless about doing so.

I found what I wanted then headed for the cash.

There was a very long line up.

And the trailer wasn't pre-assembled.

And I had supper to organize, and people to meet on Zoom later that evening.

I returned the trailer to where I had found it and left. I was startled to see a very long line-up outside. My take was that I had arrived during the afternoon rush, which I would probably have avoided had I not seen the debit card!!!

On a whale of a tail of a day

Today has seen three separate bike trips. The first was a "sweat ride" on the "usual loop", that is along the Lachine Canal to Lachine then back via River. I saw several families of Canada geese complete with goslings who didn't know better than to sit down on a bike path.

The second was an optimistic ride to Dieppe Park (near the Old Port) undertaken in the hopes of seeing the humpback whale which decided to visit Montreal. This is the first time such an event has happened in recorded history. The whale was apparently not in that bit of the St-Lawrence for the 10-15 minutes I was there. I don't entirely blame him or her as the current was substantial. From the "body language" of some boats further down the River the whale might have been off the Eastern end of Île Sainte-Hélène. However, it was further than I wanted to ride. Also, my sense of geography had incorrectly informed me that said area of Île Sainte-Hélène was occupied by La Ronde and hence or otherwise unaccessible.

On the way home, I stopped at the Verdun Canadian Tire to get new CO2 cannister for my SodaStream. While today was cold for May (the high was 12 degrees C), the previous week had been extremely hot with highs in the 30s! This resulted in a lot of soda water being drunk. I keep three bottles of the stuff in my fridge. I checked my contact diary just now, and it was little more than two weeks ago that I last bought a CO2 cannister.

Once the new CO2 cannister was installed, I set off to James' for my weekly social chat at 2m or more distance. Given the relatively cold weather, he joked that he should have given me a hot rum toddy instead of a beer as a social beverage.

On progress of a sort

There was a long sunny spell last week with only minimal heat. As well, there was an Easterly wind which I used to explore more the Eastern end of the Island. On Saturday, I biked out to Montreal East along Notre-Dame, then headed inland and over to Blvd Henri-Bourassa. There was an amusingly named commerce along the way.

I headed West along that artery which was largely clear of cyclists who don't know how to ride in traffic. Together with long blocks, traffic lights with useful synchronisation and a tailwind, I was able get in some very nice "whee-ing". Interestingly, the most frequented businesses seemed to be garden centres though later on, there was a slightly disturbingly popular business. I was passing through what I believe was Montreal-Nord which is the COVID-19 hotspot of Canada. There was a line up outside one business in a mini-mall, namely a check-cashing business. To the best of my recollection, I have used cash maybe once since getting back from Vancouver. I do my banking online, and I have automatic deposit for my pay-check. It was sobering to think that a large number of people don't have access to such services that I take for granted for one reason or another. I couldn't help wondering if cash transactions are possibly one infection vector for COVID-19.

My goal was the Montreal branch of MEC where I was hoping to get a few bike related bits and pieces. I wasn't certain if this was possible. The website was giving slightly contradictory information. On the one hand, it said it was closed. On the other, it said it was open for bike repairs and bike sales. Strictly speaking, none of the things I wanted fell into those categories. However, I was looking for tire levers, bike tires and a bike bell could be glossed into bike repairs. I didn't need to worry, as in reality, the whole lower floor of the store was open for business, with a few caveats about washing your hands, no returns and of course keeping your distance. The signage on the latter was quite amusing:

Unfortunately, the store was out of the particular size of tire I was after. However, I stumbled upon a relatively large seat bag for Victor.

Today marked the first day that non-essential stores in certain categories may be open in Montreal. After work, I headed off to Archambault on Berri to buy a DVD. As I rode Justin downtown, I carried on with a notion that I had been working on for about a week. All in all, I think I was lucky and smart to buy Justin when I did as the MEC 1971 is no longer available. As well, it has been useful to have a true city bike. It seems I bought it just in time. I repeated that thought in my head: "Just in time." My commuting bike now has a last name. The full name is now: Justin Thyme. When I get the chance, I will have to get a sticker with a clock or a watch on it.

On a mixed bag of activities

After my last post, Mummy did a google map search about getting to and from the South shore by bike. She found the odd result that depending on the direction you entered, i.e. from the Island to the South Shore or the opposite, Google maps put you on very different routes.

She sent me these screen shots to prove it.

In the last month, I have been using Victor von Fleddermoose considerably more than Justin as most of my biking as been for exercise rather than for transportation. I have discovered a new route in the area, viz along the aqueduct. It is less well used than either the Lachine Canal or along Lakeshore Boulevard.

I saw another snow goose near the Saint-Lawrence. This one seemed have a damaged wing.

Last weekend, I was biking over to my friend James' for a chat at more than 2m away. As I was crossing Décarie Boulevard, I passed a family of cyclists. A boy of about twelve or so commented quite loudly, "Un maillot jaune nous dépasse!", or "A yellow jersey is passing us!"  This referred to my bright jacket and to the "maillot jaune" of the Tour de France.

This long weekend has been for all intents and purposes, the first weekend of spring, with sunny skies and warm weather. I have been out for exercise rides on all three days. As the Lachine Canal route is now quite busy, yesterday, I opted to head to Île-Notre-Dame in hopes of using the Circuit Gille-Villeneuve.

 

As I was crossing the Charlevoix Bridge, I was behind another cyclist who had a surfboard attached to the side of his bike. (It may surprise some of my readers, but there are a fair number of people who surf in the rapids of the St-Lawrence.)

I saw the M/T Sarah Desgagnés backing into a berth with the assistance of tug. Alas, Île-Notre-Dame is currently closed to the public.

Coming back, I stopped to photograph a pair of floating cranes, viz the Hercules owned by the Saint-Lawrence Seaway authority and the Grasse River which is owned by the Americans.

The wind was out of the North East today, so I rode nominally East along Notre-Dame for about 20 kms before turning to go home with the wind at my back.

I got to see another member of the Desgagnés fleet, M/T Gaïa Desgagnés.

Coming up to a stoplight, my mobile rang. I fished it out of my fanny pack. It was my Father who first asked me where I was. I looked up at the street sign, to see I was at Notre-Dame and de Lormier, which amused him somewhat by the literalness of my comment. After pleasantries, he told me that his sister Caroline had died this morning of a suspected heart attack. I believe she was 81 and not in the best of health. Sad news.