Grand Prix of Canada 2006

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Yesterday, I attended for the first time of my life a Formula One Race!

Each year, the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit is the venue for the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal!


Boy I must say these vehicles are very powerful and very LOUD!!!! After seeing the BMW race, i figured i wouldn't need ear plugs....boy was I wrong. My ears are still ringin' from the race!

All in all, it was great to be able to attend and experience the race in person. Although, i wouldn't personally pay to see the race because, firstly, it's quite expensive. Secondly, there's wayyyy too many people! And last but not least....the seats are not comfy at all! You'll get butt cramps! Arghh! :)

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec

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Last weekend I continued my summer biking adventure with my pal Ekram and headed further down Chambly, Quebec . We pedaled just about 20 kilometers more south of Chambly and reached our destination: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

The day started bright and early at 6 am. We have planned to meet each other at Pont Victoria at 7 am at the South Shore exit. However, they allow pedestrians or cyclists on this bridge! In addition, the access to Ile-Notre-Dame was closed off due to the Formula One Grand Prix preparations.

We had to make an unexpected detour and we decided to meet up at Jacques Cartier Bridge. I met my friend 3/4 of the way and had the time to take a couple of snapshots while i was waiting.



After meeting up, we headed to my house and got ready for our long journey. We left around 9:50am and reached the Chambly Canal by 11:10am. We made excellent time and we continued our bike ride towards St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. We reached our objective just after noon and stopped to releax and eat. It was scorching hot and humid. It was undoubtedly the warmest day of the summer where the temperature was hovering around 31 C / 88 F! After a quick stop, we continued another hour of biking in St-Jean. The scenery was nice, especially biking besides the canal and rapids. It really felt we were in the countryside. :)

If you are interested in taking bike rides around this area, the Monteregie region or in Quebec in general, check out these bike maps!

Detailed bike trail map of the Chambly Canal

Detailed bike trails for the Montérégie region

and, Réseau cyclable en Montérégie


TTOW!

Cute kitten cleans your screen

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Cute kitten cleans your screen


I spent most of this weekend cleaning up...did i miss a spot???

Le Tour de l'Ile de Montreal 2006!

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That's right, I'm crazy! This weekend I did Le Tour de l'Ile de Montreal for the first time of my life. It was fun!

Once a year on a Sunday unlike any other, the city of Montreal is ALLLLL ours to celebrate with our bicycles! That's right! Over 30 000 to 40 000 of cyclists participates to this event each year. Many busy streets of Montreal are closed off for the better part of the day to let cyclist tour the Island!

The ride was killer, there was so many things to discover!

This years course was 48 KM long and the first departure time was set at 9:15 am at Parc Laurier, near boul Saint-Jospeh.

Here's some information about all the pit-stops present on the track.

Les petits « plus » du Tour de l'Île

• 1er relais : collations santé distribuées par ING Assurance
• 2e relais : dégustation Fromages d?ici
• 3e relais : échantillons remis aux kiosques Dial et Jean Coutu

À l?arrivée

• contenants de lait Natrel offerts par La Fédération des producteurs de lait du Québec
• conseils de prévention contre le vol de vélo ING Assurance
• échantillons remis au kiosque Purex
• soutien mécanique Shimano
• kiosque Vélo Québec (Association, Vélo Mag, Voyages, Défis de l'été)

I left the house at about 8:30AM and arrived at the park around 9:20 am. I think I started the tour at 10 AM! There was so many people at the starting line!



The weather was decent, we did not have much sun and it was, sometimes, very windy which made it very hard for some cyclists. For me it wasn't that much of a problem until i passed the last relay, my knees were tiring out.

I finally finished the tour at 1 PM. All in all it was a fun ride! However, I'm not sure i'll be doing this again, for sure not alone, It wasn't worth the money. It probably would helped if I actually did stop at the relays...hehe!

The distance between the park and home is about 10-12 KMs! Basically, today I did well over 70KM of biking! Ouch, my god!! My legs are drained and going numb right now! ;)

TTOW!