Perfect day!

I rambled on about my bike a few posts ago. Well, yesterday Jean-François and I went for a 24 km ride! I am not often proud of myself but for this feat I am! The ride was mostly on Montreal's impressive system of bike paths, but we were also on the street and there I was pretending like I knew what I was doing. I guess I kinda know what I'm doing.

This first photo is on the path along Boulevard Gouin, so pretty! Quaint little clapboard houses alongside century old stone houses, with a smattering of pillared mansions (a tad tacky for my taste) and St-Leonard style (Montrealers will know what I mean) duplexes. An odd blend, but makes for great ride-by scenery. This is down by one of the dams, very low water level as you can see.

Riding back home we went through the Miron Quarry which is now home to Montreal's recycling plant. You can read more about the quarry and the bike path surrounding it at this blog who did a great job writing about it!

The path around the quarry also passes right around the Cirque du Soleil's headquarters, which is home to the org's administration, training centres and costume makers. It's almost like a little village. Arashi Daiko, the Japanese drum group I'm a member of, has been hired on several occasions by the Cirque, to perform at their parties, and even once in this building at the training centre, as a send-off performance for the troupe leaving to tour Japan. Very exciting for us!

This large circle of land in their "back yard" must be used for outdoor training and we've even seen their tents set up on it. Maybe it's for testing equipment too. An ideal spot for an inexperienced rider to practice!

After our ride we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things. JF waited outside since he doesn't have a lock for his bike so I charged around Maxi grabbing a lot of heavy stuff since I had a knapsack and my bike basket. WELL...having never ridden with a full and heavy bike basket it was a pretty funny ride home. JF wore the very full knapsack, but my bike was rather difficult to steer with a watermelon, 2 litres of OJ, 2 tubs of yogurt, and a couple pounds each of apples, nectarines and grapes. I was laughing nervously all the way home, luckily only a few blocks away.

It was a perfect day! Great weather, the best company and my two wheels :)