Cycling with Daniel: What might have been

July 11, 2016

Monday morning, and finally, after all these years, Daniel and I were going to go on a bicycle tour together. Granted, a three day ride from Montreal to Quebec City was hardly the ride around the world we’d originally planned, but it would surely be enough to give an intriguing glimpse into just how very different things might have been. Daniel emerged from his bedroom into the living room where I’d been sleeping somewhat bleary-eyed. Understandable really, he’d been working until late the night before in the restaurant. “I’m sorry” he said, “but against all the odds I’ve been scheduled to work Tuesday. I’m never usually, but someone else is off this week and there’s no way around it.”

So our three day tour together had been cut, thanks to those sort of annoying responsibilities that come with real life, down to a single day ride.

“I’m really sorry about that,” Daniel repeated.

“That’s okay,” I said, “I learnt a long time ago what a promise from you means!”

We resolved to make the most of it and fortunately it was a bright, clear morning as I loaded up my bike again outside Daniel’s apartment. It was quite exciting to clip on my bright red new Arkel panniers that I’d had delivered to me here. I was pretty pleased with them already. The system by which they clipped onto the racks seemed superior to Ortliebs - more secure, and less likely to snap. I also liked the system by which they opened and closed. I had clearly got myself a top quality product now. And no, I’m not just saying those things because I got them for free. I was very happy.

Daniel was not so lucky. Not only did he not have brand new bright red Arkel panniers, he did not even have a bike. This was something of a handicap, even on a one-day bike tour. So our long-awaited ride together began with us walking to a citi-bike station, from which he was able to make a short term rental of a citi-bike. I thought that would do fine for a day ride, but apparently they aren’t supposed to be taken out of the city, and you can’t rent them for more than half an hour. Given Daniel’s track record of bailing out of things, I thought that still might be enough, but he insisted he was 100% committed this time, at least for the next seven or eight hours, and so we went to a bike rental shop downtown where he got a slightly better model.

Daniel and LucyRelax Lucy, I'm only taking him for a few hours, promise

3. Proud man with his very own bicycle. (Rented for 24 hours)

We asked a man who might or might not have been homeless to take a photo of the two of us together, and then we were off. We rode through the city streets on fairly decent cycle lanes and then over a huge bridge, which offered us good views back over Montreal. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were both in high spirits about the day ahead.

Architectural contrasts on the way through Montreal

Beyond the bridge we linked up with ‘La route verte #1’ - these so-called green routes are the network of cycle paths that make Quebec by far the best province in Canada for cycling. At the start of it we were slightly unsure of where to turn and as we stopped momentarily to check our direction an old man on a road bike coming the other way stopped to talk. He had an Italian background I think, and a white beard, which was cool. He asked a few questions about where we were going, the usual stuff, and then said he’d done a fair bit of touring himself, though he hadn’t made use of the hospitality sites I told him about. “But what is this warm-showers thing all about? Do you just get a shower, or what?”

As we cycled away from the slightly eccentric old fellow I prepared to think nothing more of it. That was the kind of encounter that happened all the time. But Daniel burst out with “WHOA! What a crazy character!!! Amazing!” and I realised that for him all this was new and exciting, and he was able to see things from a different perspective. He showed a similar level of enthusiasm for the incredible bicycle paths that we found ourselves on all day. He’d been living in Montreal for two years and he’d never cycled out here on them before. I couldn’t believe it.

We would have made a great team, I'm sure

A brief meeting with some Swiss cycle tourists

A break in a park - lots of people were out enjoying the fine weather

We were now clear of the city, and country paths guided us east to the small town of Chambly. Daniel had been going on about wanting to find a place to enjoy a swim, an excellent idea given the hot weather, and we were in luck as we crossed a bridge on our way into town. On one side was a river, on the other it opened up into a big lake. I suggested we go for a swim in the lake if we could, but Daniel turned his nose up and said “I don’t think it is a lake, it’s just where the river gets wider.” And I laughed at him, and asked what he thought a lake was.

We found a beach and I dived in. Daniel did not join in, declaring the water to be too dirty. He was also too busy making phone calls about renting apartments and all that real life stuff he had to deal with, all that stuff he was going to be going right back to very soon.

It could have all been so different, Daniel

We continued on, revelling in the fantastic bike paths. Daniel was amazed by them, and by this landscape - he seemed to have no idea this existed within a few hours easy ride of his own front door. He was excited by everything - “I have to say, I do enjoy the smell of manure!” was a particularly enjoyable quote of his that summed this point up. I began to think that it was actually alright he hadn’t tried to cycle around the world, it may have been too much for him.

That's very impressive Daniel, but try doing it on a loaded bike

I wasn't sure I liked the look of this sign

We never found anywhere else to swim, so Daniel took a shower in a playground instead

Then Daniel got a flat tyre. He had literally no idea how to go about fixing it. He didn’t even know how to get the tyre off the rim. Of course I did it for him. We didn’t have much time to spare, as he had to make it to Granby in time to catch an 8:30 p.m. bus back to the city. He was much more capable of going fast than me, what with him carrying practically no baggage, and me carrying everything that I owned. With him beginning to panic about making it on time for the bus I told him he should just go on ahead and he said that he thought he’d better. We fist-pumped goodbye without pausing from cycling and then that was it, he went on ahead, gradually disappearing into the distance. Our cycle together had been a very, very brief but very enjoyable ride and it ended, perhaps fittingly, with him rushing to get back to real life, and me, plodding slowly along all by myself, just like I’d been doing for the last three years.

Today's ride: 95 km (59 miles)
Total: 54,267 km (33,700 miles)

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