My bicycle is almost as old as my oldest child. It’s been to the grocery store and back, and occasionally a little further afield. While it’s a comfortable ride, there is no way I’d be riding this bad boy to Montréal, QC. True, there are cyclists for whom the over-500-km (311-mi) ride from Toronto, ON, would be just another outing, but I’m not one of them; which is why Justin Lafontaine’s determination to find us all another way to experience Montréal by bike is so enticing. 

Lafontaine, an environmentalist at heart and a cyclist by nature, first brought the concept of the “Bike Train” —equipping a baggage car on the national VIA Rail line with racks to carry bicycles—to Ontario in 2007. The Montréal route launched this summer.

It’s about $110 one way for both you and your bike (only slightly higher than leaving it at home) and you can choose to leave it at the baggage counter or walk your baby right to the platform.

There are other routes to love, too: Toronto-to-Niagara, ON, offers a new way to see wine country and Toronto-to-North Bay, ON, gives “cottagers” another option. A route west to Windsor, ON, is expected for summer 2010.

For now, the focus is on the east. (The Montréal Bike Train pilot project wrapped Oct. 8; the group will assess and review the program for next season.)

Until then, make the most of it by relaxing in your seat, sipping a glass of wine, studying the trail route options, watching the cyclists outside your window madly pedalling, and feeling free to point and laugh. You’re so going to kick their butt when you get to Montréal.

www.bonjourquebec.com
www.ontariotravel.net/