day 26

hmmm... odd day. started off really well - i had a great ride in the sun. once i got closer to montreal, i was able to start riding on a really cool bike trail. i remember some really beautiful moments on that trail... pollen whizzing past me like warm snow... the tires of my bike cutting through shadows of trees... just really cool stuff.

almost forgot... on the ride from sorel to montreal, i spotted a cyclist behind me. rarely did i see cyclists in these less-than-urban streets and so a bit of a race mentality kicked in. i was doing 23km/h before i spotted him but afterwards i began holding 28km/h. this progressed for quite a while (maybe 20 or 30 minutes) but he was slowly catching up to me. this was kind of bothering me, but i figured i had a trailer & he didn't... whatever... anyways, once he finally got within about 40 feet or so, he shouted at me. i pulled over and was curious to know what he wanted. well, this guy was in his 40's, covered in sweat and panting like crazy (which i thought was a little redeeming) and of all things he hands me my waterbottle! ya, i look back on my bike and one of my waterbottles must've popped out. i'll be damned... well, needless to say, i thanked the guy profusely and was pretty happy he was able to catch me. (i avoided mentioning the whole race thing)

ok, so that happened, then i spotted that really sweet trail, and then i had to get into montreal. my main problem getting into montreal was finding a bridge that allows cyclists. on my first attempt i start making my way towards this tunnel. *mistake*. ya, so after it being just hell trying to get to the damn thing (mental picture: me with my trailer dodging cars & huge trucks as they whip onto and out of off-ramps at full speed - think "frogger") i finally spot the tunnel. two lanes of packed, rush hour traffic disappear into this black hole with no shoulder, sidewalk, or anything for cyclists. i quickly come to the conclusion that if i go in there, i won't be coming out. with absolute certainty i can tell you that i would've died. ya, not cool...

so, i "frogger" back to safety and find a bridge. cool... this one takes cyclists. problem was that at about 100ft into the start of it, there's this locked door blocking my way. while i'm standing there kind of staring with disbelief at this sign, a car whizzes past and i hear these guy laughing & shouting something at me in french. ya, awesome. then i get some good news & bad news from this cyclist that i meet there... the good news is that there's a detour and that cyclists can still use this bridge. the bad news is that it involves going down two flights of stairs, then under the bridge, then up two flights. then, to top it off, at the end of the bridge, there's another four flights to go down. after doing all that in the sun, i can honestly tell you that trailers don't like stairs. (pic)

whine, whine, whine... i eventually get to gina's little slice of montreal. and let me tell you, it's little. but we go out for food & all's cool. but the more we talk & hang out & stuff, the more i get this vibe like... hmm... almost like i'm being treated like a business associate. ya, i definitely don't think we're connecting which is too bad - i still find her quite interesting. of the many things she has going on, her main project is the creation of this movie involving this guy who's a vampire & this girl who's suicidal. fascinating...

while gina went off to work, i watched a movie that was being shown for free outside against a big wall of a building. it was an icelandic movie with french subtitles about a guy who falls in love with his mom's lesbian lover. it was pretty difficult to understand, but it seemed pretty neat.

i bought a book on canada's environmental status & trends for one dollar. while waiting for gina to finish work (she finishes at 4am... works at a nightclub) i read it at a coffee shop. i think i was too tired to be completely depressed by it. some good info nonetheless.