Montreal is kicking our collective butt in general bicycle awesomeness.
I was able to ride between three different parks in Montreal on a bike without ever leaving the confines of a dedicated bike lane which, I might add was as large as a full car lane.
When you had to cross an intersection there was no way that the cars would not know you were coming.
Even the crossing lights had little bike lights along with the walky person light. You gotta love that.
I saw literally hundreds of bikes while I was in the city. Mountain bikes, commuter bikes, fixies, cross bikes, recumbents, department store bikes and high end race bikes. There were velo themed restaurants and bars along the bike paths and city sponsored racks to lock your bike to everywhere you looked.
Even when you did ride on the actual streets next to the cars people respected you as a vehicle with a right to be on the road. It was both fun and challenging to ride alongside the cars and weave in and out around the obstacles and open car doors.
Starting and stopping at the intersections was also good fun. I got pretty good at trying to balance the bike and not put my foot down while waiting for the light to change and being first off the brakes.
I won't lie though... I did get completely smoked by an old lady on a recumbent bike. She said something in French as she rode by me, but I'm not sure what it was. I'll have to look up "manger mon croissant!" I like to think it was something encouraging.
1 comment:
i think that has to do with eating croissants.
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