Montreal Day 2

June 28, 2010 Le Bar Mont Royal 10:53 am

It’s already been a very busy day. I started tossing and turning about 6. I guess I needed the sleep pretty badly. I had been up for almost 48 hours. I even managed to sleep through the ceiling fan clicking all night. It would have been pretty miserable trying to sleep without it. No AC in the room (or in the whole hostel).

Apparently, it rained overnight. However, since I’ve been up and out this morning, nothing. It’s still pretty grey, but really only damp and muggy.

I originally went out to get some breakfast, but I really didn’t find anywhere that was serving anything to my liking. So, I just wandered around Rue Mont Royal. I headed down to where Maison de Cyclists was located. Apparently, they don’t do any type of bicycle service. Just a rest stop for the cyclists in the city. I was told that they could GIVE me a box, but not that I could get a bike put back together from INSIDE a box. But the man behind the counter did point me down the street to a place that COULD put it back together for me. That’s where the bike is right now. It’s going to cost me $35. Not bad. When the guys in the shop opened the box (to make sure all the components were still in there, one of them said, “Wow. This is a really nice bike.” I had to agree. I said, “Yes. It is. A REALLY nice bike.” So, I’ll pick it up tomorrow (TUESDAY) morning. Coming out of the bike shop after first inquiring about their putting it back together, I was lucky to walk around the corner and find a taxi station wagon. I made arrangements to meet him back at the Hostel in 45 minutes. He was there a little early, and we had no trouble making it back to the bike shop. $10 for the ride and his help getting the bike in and out of the car. Not too bad.

For a bicycle holiday, I might not have been able to pick a better city in North America to start in. There seems to be a HUGE bicycle culture in Montreal. Bike shops all over the place. Lots of places to lock it up. Great stuff.

I bought a map in La Maison de Cyclists of the Quebec region. I think I have a pretty good plan for getting from the Hostel in Montreal to my hotel for the night of July 1. The map also gives me a pretty good idea about how to get from Quebec City to the border and beyond. Jackman is the first town I’ll be staying in in Maine. It’s on the map. I wonder what the border crossing will be like. I remember a couple of border crossings on previous trips. I would line up with everyone else. Before the toll booth, the line would look something like this: car, car, truck, car, bicycle. Pretty funny stuff.

Back in a bit.