AndrewP

In the Laurentian Hills north of Montreal there are two rails-to-trails, the better known is Le Petit Train du Nord which start about 50 km from Montreal and runs for 200 km. Yesterday I went for a fabulous bike ride along the other one which starts at Morin Heights, about 80 km N of Montreal and runs 59 km West. The route is a lot more hilly than Le Petit Train du Nord and the surface is rougher, so it is a lot less crowded. As it is an ex railway none of the hills are steeper than 5%, but they can go on for 3 km at that gradient. There were pretty lakes and streams cascading over rocks, and it ran alongside the rapids in the Rouge river where they do whitewater rafting. Because of the trail conditions I rode slower than usual, and I was getting very tired on the way back, then 12 km from Morin Heights I got a puncture and had to change the tube. I was getting worried that it would be dark before I got back. However the last 9 km was a gentle downhill, so I was able to keep a good speed without having to put any effort into the pedals - excellent recovery and I was totally refreshed by the time I got back to the car at 8 p.m. Towards the end of the ride, as evening approached, I saw lots of animals - 2 deer, a beaver, a heron and lots of chipmunks.

RonH

Here are a few pictures I took last week of my regular ride. I ride from home to the "world famous" Stone Mountain Park. It's not as scenic as some of the places some of you have shown but some of the intersections on the bike path can be scary and challenging.

This is the first quiet street and the first hill I get to. It's about a mile from my house.

RonH

This is one of the many sections of the path. It starts and stops at several places in town. I guess it's not finished (all sections connected) because of a lack of funds.
I'm riding in the street. The path starts again at the end of the street. Notice the three striped poles to keep cars out.

RonH

I try to keep my speed under 25 mph on the section of road.

RonH

This is the first tricky crossing. Notice the path ends at the bottom on the picture (pink area) and starts again at the top. The local path planners were on drugs when they did this one.
The RR tracks are fun too. Had my last flat tire crossing them.

RonH

If you need to take a break or think about the crossing shown above, you can sit here and rest for a minute. Notice the drinking fountain for pets at the base of the "people" drinking fountain.

RonH

I usually ride on a side street that's one block over to avoid this section of the path. Notice all of the driveways and side streets (pink areas).

RonH

This is the next tricky crossing. Let's see, do I cross when the light is green for the north-south traffic or when the light is gree for the east-west traffic? :confused:

RonH

Ok, I made it across the street to this section of the path. Gee, this section looks like an obstacle course. I guess the planners didn't want anyone sleeping while riding.

RonH

Ok, we are finally at "world famous" Stone Mountain Park. It's sort of like a giant granite boulder (for lack of a better term) sticking up out of the ground about 1100 feet.
It's not far away but notice the wonderful haze (air pollution) we enjoy in Atlanta.

RonH

It's very quiet and peaceful during the week. Lots of flowers, trees, and a very nice lake (coming up).

RonH

And very little traffic.

RonH

There is a cable car that will take you to the top of the mountain.
I don't know where that graffiti at the base of the mountain came from (three men on horseback)

RonH

Here's a shot of the lake I mentioned earlier. It goes over half way around the mountain.

RonH

And now we're on Mars.

I don't know why the mountain is red/pink. I guess it's the air pollution playing tricks on us.

Notice the bike lane symbol painted on the road. Cars are restricted to one way on half of the park's main road. The lane next to the double yellow lines is reserved for cyclists. The inside lane is reserved for runners/joggers/walkers.

RonH

Whew! Glad I made it up the hill. It's almost like climbing out of a hole. Looks like it too from this angle.

RonH

Well that's it. One or two more loops around the mountain and I'll be heading home.


You can read more about Stone Mountain Park (if you're interested ) at
https://www.stonemountainpark.org/ and https://www.stonemountainpark.com/.

Inkwolf

Cool pics, Ron! (And that's some pretty impressive graffiti on the mountain!)

khuon

Wow... it's been years (over ten now) since I last hiked around Stone Mountain while on spring break with some college friends. Thanks for bringing back the memories.

ngateguy

Great pics beutiful ride!

But you call that a mountain we have bumps in the pavement bigger than that

now this is a mountain

RonH

Now you're making "homesick".
I'm an Army brat and went to high school in Olympia. I used to see Mount Ranier every day while walking to school.
Saw it again when I visited there in 1996.
I sure do miss it!!

khuon

The view of Rainier from 20,000 feet...

khuon

The Seattle Parks and Recreations sponsors Bicycle Saturdays and Sundays whereby they close off Lake Washington Blvd. from 10AM to 6PM to motor vehicles and allow only pedestrians and cyclists. I normally don't take advantage of them because the route is a bit short (only 6 miles end to end + 2.5 miles around Seward Park) but today marks the last day for the season. Of course I have ridden the route when motor vehicle traffic is present and it's no big deal (speed limit low, wide street) and it's a favourite route for many cyclists regardless of the day. The route is included as part of the STP as well.

More pictures can be found in my Gallery page but here are some appetizers.

Reminders such as this are placed all over the area in case some errant motorist forgets.



This is the view facing northwest from the path running around the base of Seward Park. You can see the tops of some downtown Seattle highrises and the west span of the I-90 floating bridge.



Mt. Rainier was in "full bloom" today. This is the view from Seward Park facing south. You can see Boeing Field (BFI) at the end of the lake.



Here's a view facing east of the western landing of the I-90 bridge from a lookout point just where the bikepath begins.



Here's a view of the city of Bellevue on the east side of the lake.



Here's another view of Bellevue from I-90 as I'm leaving Seattle.



An over-the-shoulder parting shot from I-90 as I'm crossing eastbound heading towards Mercer Island.



The weather was very nice today... low-to-mid 70s and the sky was clear. The ride was pretty short though (only an hour) but it was enjoyable nevertheless. I only took Lake Washington Blvd. partway on the way back from Seward Park opting instead to cut up through the hillside neighborhood of Columbia. This gave me a chance to pick up some pretty steep hillclimbs which totally kicked my butt. I guess I was just having a bad day or something or maybe it's because I haven't been riding much in the past couple of weeks due to a high amount of out-of-town business trips.

Lake Washington Blvd. is one of my favourite routes in the city and I usually take it as part of the greater Lake Washington Loop. There are also bike races at Seward Park held every thursday night. Seattle offers some really great inner-city cycling.

redjoe

Thanks for calling up the memory banks. 15 years since stone mountian view.. and trip back for overseas a lifetime ago......... for the Mountians in Washington State.

slotibartfast

Khuon, those pics are great. I'll be over your way next weekend. Golf at Newcastle on Friday followed by the Mariners game. Boys weekend out. I'm bringing my bike and my brother, who's in Issaquah, is taking me out for a ride Saturday morning before I head back to Spokane. I'm just hoping he doesn't take me up the hill to Cougar Ridge, which he rides 3 times a week. The weather's supposed to me as good as this weekend - keep your fingers crossed. I hope to see the same vistas you did today. It was real nice weather over here today as well. My ride was about an hour and a half. Couldn't ask for a better day.