Ice Canoe Races 2020

    On Sunday, Feb 1, 2020, the Montreal Bicycle Club ventured out to watch the canoe races at the old port.

  Tibbs and A.T. rode their bikes to the Pizzeria at the corner of de la Commune and Jacques Cartier Square. They met Kirkpatrick Macmillan and Daisy Bell there, with Susan B. Antony coming by later.  Daisy Greville came for the races only.

After eating a delicious pizza, the group walked over to the river near the clock tower to watch the races. The weather was good, not freezing and no wind. There were many people watching the races. There were canoes of women only, men only and mixed. As they came along the edge of the river where we stood we could hear the canoeist in the stern calling un, deux, trois… We could see pieces of ice floating in the river and hear the scrunching sound of the canoes as they hit or rode over them. The river seemed very fast and the canoes appeared to be flying on their way back down the river. We observed the arrival of the winners as they came up out of the water, jumped completely or partially out of the canoes and raced them along the snow to the finish line. They must be in tremendous shape.

Tibbs gave us anecdotes on the port area such as how the song Suzanne by Leonard Cohen came to be written and where Dickens stayed when he was in Montreal at the Rasco Hotel.

It was a worthwhile trip down to the old port!

Minutes by: Susan B. Antony