Climbing the top of a mountain on New Year’s day is a tradition since I started snobiking a decade ago.
About 50 years ago, the mayor had the underbrush cut so that people couldn’t have sex there. But this caused mudslides.
It’s – 10 degrees on New Year’s Day of 2010, and there’s no one having sex on the mountain except maybe in the parking lot at Beaver Lake. Maybe that immoral parking lot needs to be removed by the next mayor?
Takes about two hours in total – an hour and a half to get to the top (from Maisonneuve), and 25 minutes to ride back down. You start at the Maisonneuve bike path on the corner of University.
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The route follows the red glitch in the clump of natural vegetation in the downtown core.
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Maisonneuve bike path
Maisonneuve bike path, January 1, 2010. The city is currently reconfiguring the area around Place des Arts. For now, it’s a mess of construction equipment and blocked traffic, making it fairly safe for biking as long as you keep your eyes open for holes and scattered plywood.
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North on University
Turn north (uphill) on University street, the latest (2010) piece of the downtown median-protected bike network.
Biking on crushed snow – it’s like having the mountain come to you via unplowed bike lanes. Practice sliding before proceeding on new surfaces.
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University near F.A.C.E.
Here, you bike in front of the F.A.C.E. alternative high school.
Some parents – real or fake – protested that this bike lane would make it harder to pick up their children in a car.
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Right on Milton
The University segment was added to link the Maisonneuve path to the McGill ghetto network. Here, you are turning onto Milton, the main drag of that ghetto. Since McGill is an ivy league school, the word ghetto is ironic socio-demographic, and not actual socio-economic.
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Milton, in the McGill ghetto
A counterflow bike lane for crossing the ghetto.
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Left on Hutchison
The final leg of the urban part of the tour.
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Hutchison, approaching Mount Royal Park
Another counterflow lane at the approach to the park.
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The Pine/Parc interchange
This used to be a spaghetti highway junction that was dangerous, ugly and hard to cross. We’re gonna follow the bike lane right across Parc Avenue and then uphill on the bike lane on the east side of it.
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Monument, base of mountain
This is where you cross back over onto the west side of Parc Avenue, and then turn right onto the beginning of the trail. You can download this monument for SimCity4. This area often smells like teen spirit and often sounds like Bob Marley.
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Toboggan run off Parc Avenue
Toboggan run before the first curve.
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Third curve
No noise or visual pollution for the next 45 minutes of easy climbing.
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Beaver Lake
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The summitt…
The chalet
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The following year, just before New Years 2012, with nephew
snobike 