Another Hilairious Louis and G.T. Road Movie

 There being no other takers on this beautiful summer afternoon, Louis Rubenstein and G.T. Bishop met at the Gare Centrale to embark on the 12h30 EXO train (the first one of the day!) to Mont Saint-Hilaire. Louis decided to test the limits of the new fare structure by seeing if his Metro ticket that he used to get to the station would pass on the EXO train. G.T., who has already been burned by the EXO inspectors in the past, paid full fare. Fortunately, for Louis, his experiment was never put to the test as no inspectors were encountered on the train journey.

As the two laboured down the stairs to the train platform (another black mark for EXO on accessibility), other kind passengers held the doors for them and they finally secured their bikes in the second car after Louis chased a poor lady away who was sitting in the bike parking section.

A pleasant 45 minutes later, after passing part of the REM line going into the Gare Centrale that looked very close to completion, the members shouldered their bikes down onto the platform at Mont Saint-Hilaire.

Louis and G.T. started right off on the bike path that passes along the station platform heading for the bridge that would take them across the Richelieu river.

All of four kilometers later, the members were ready for lunch in Beloeil at the Brasseurs du Moulin microbrewery with a lovely terrace right along the river.

They had a massive drinks selection with a small, but adequate, food menu and the members settled down for a pleasant, mostly liquid, lunch. Louis chose a Blanche that tasted ok but looked somewhat like a glass of the Fraser river and G.T. went for a more summery brew called Mademoiselle Mathilde that had a pleasant cassis flavour. Toasting the day, Louis and G.T. remembered and were missing Birdie Munger, their Salt Spring compatriot from that rainy afternoon at Moby's Pub.

The only differences this day were the weather and the fact that there was no vehicle to rescue the members from the ride home so, tempting as it was to while away the afternoon on the terrace, Louis and G.T. set off along the river road towards Chambly accompanied, part of the way, by an amiable lady on a fancy e-bike who turned towards St-Basile-le-Grand.

The members continued on the river road with speeding vehicles hurrying home under the late afternoon sun until they could take a quieter road through dreamy suburban housing for the final section in to Chambly. By this time, Louis was itching to get homeward bound and the loop around the sights of Chambly was abandoned. 

Passing construction of a mammoth arena-like structure, the members turned onto the path leading towards Longueil. Once over the pedestrian bridge, they came upon an obstruction to the bike path with a detour that was, thankfully, not as arduous as the once at the dam at Deux Montagnes.

For some reason, they have created a new bike path just parallel to the old one that runs for three or so kilometers before re-connecting to the existing path although there is still a section not completed on the Chambly side.

The sun was now pretty much is the rider's faces for the ride to Longueil and a break was called for at Parc de la Cité where Louis distanced himself from the mellow tunes of Black Sabbath wafting from a fellow cyclist's boom box to contemplate other voyages future and past.

Refreshed, the members continued on towards the St. Lawrence and discussed the various options for crossing the river. Finally, Louis decided that taking the Metro suited him best and the members parted ways at the start of the Jacques Cartier bridge. G.T. took the bridge as the quickest route home though it is much less pleasant than the Champlain.

Total distance for the ride was 50K plus whatever distance travelled to get to the Gare Centrale.

G.T. Bishop