We wandered over to the Old Port area, which has been developed into a family entertainment venue. It was a great spot to sit on a bench for a little while, have a snack and people watch. At the end of one of the piers was a talk construction crane used for bungee jumping and we watched a guy dive about 50 feet towards the water before springing back up (no thank you!). We also spied a curious scene, particularly because it was rather cool and windy this day, involving a pleasure craft pulling a queen size air mattress through the water with a passenger laying on it, wrapped in a blanket.
A few weeks ago, I had mentioned our plans to attend a mass at Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal, but not because we’re religious. Besides the fact it was going to be a unique (to us) French-spoken service, it would have otherwise cost $12 each for the tour!
Renovation was being done to the exterior, so scaffolding obscured a large portion of the structure. The interior was spectacular, especially because traditional gothic churches have grayish walls. Here the surfaces were green, and the columns were dark red and gold.
Having been raised Catholic, I was very familiar with the mass, even if I didn’t understand very much of what was being said. We had not intended to stay the full hour-ish duration, and I wasn’t sure if Sue was thinking of the comparatively short Episcopal service to which she was familiar, or if she was just lost in the spectacle. I gently nudged her and whispered, “Are we leaving?”, to which she replied, “It’s almost over.” I shook my head back at her, ”No it’s not!” We left before the collection baskets came out – are you really surprised?
Early evening had sent in, and the crowds had long dispersed from the race course area when we reached Jeanne Mance Park. I was looking forward to having dinner nearby at Roll’V, a Vietnamese restaurant chain. I had a pork bánh mì sandwich (called a thịt) on one of the best gluten-free rolls I’ve ever had, as well as a couple of shrimp spring rolls, which are wrapped in rice paper.
When we arrived back in Laval, I watched highlights of the pro women’s race. One may wonder why we didn’t also attend that event - it’s not that I’m not interested in women’s cycling, it’s just that I watch so much men’s cycling already, I try to limit the amount of time I sit in front of the computer watching European streams. Seeing how packed the main climb was with fans cheering on the women, I rethought the time we needed to arrive in the morning. I figured that being there an hour or so before the men were due to reach the city circuit would be our best bet.
The next day, we claimed a spot a few hundred meters up the Voie Camillien-Houde climb on Mount Royal. We were next to a really nice bunch of Quebecois. They even turned their phones our direction a couple of times so that we could see the live coverage of what was happening on other parts of the race course. One of the women told us she was from Shawinigan, and she was a bit stunned when the Font of Useless Information (me) asked, “Your junior team is les Cataractes?” (in the past, I religiously read The Hockey News front to back).
She also asked if there was anyone we were rooting for, and Sue explained, “We’re from Philadelphia, so we root against people – as long as Tom Pidcock or Quinn Simmons don’t win, we’re fine!” Several folks there were simply casual fans of cycling, and they turned to us occasionally to help identify riders or clarify facts. For their sake, I tried to keep a lid on my enthusiasm, and they remained near us, so perhaps that was a good sign that I was succeeding…and my wife knows her shit, so it took some of the responsibility away from me! Note: if you didn’t know why we root against Pidcock, read THIS blog entry; in 2020 Simmons was suspended by his (then) Trek-Segafredo team, following controversial social media posts supporting Donald Trump, and we can’t tolerate people like him at all.
We also met an enthusiastic group of Canadians, who had stopped to peer from behind us as the peloton went by on one of the early laps. They from towns in Ontario and must have heard us speaking in English, so they asked where we were from. I don’t recall exactly how the conversation later unfolded, but one of the men mentioned something about vintage bicycles, and I explained that I build them in my home shop. He took all of my contact information after revealing that he had a cousin from our area who was into cycling.
The race was unfolding wonderfully for the American team, who managed to get three riders into the break, and the favorites, as could have been predicted, were caught looking at each other to react when, perhaps one of lesser-stars, Arizonan Brendan McNulty, jumped off the front with 32 kilometers to go. Sue and I moved down towards the Fan Zone set up along the finish straight on Avenue du Parc to watch the last couple of laps on one of the big video screens. We were hoping McNulty could hang on, and with two of his two teammates behind covering every move, the American came away with the biggest win of his career.
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| McNulty nears the finish line, clutching his head in disbelief |
It was somewhat humorous to see pro cyclists just riding their bicycles slowly out of the course along the finish line, which now had barriers removed to aid access to the podium celebration. Fans were politely clapping as young French star Paul Seixas weaved through, since he gave a valiant effort in the decisive final group, before cramping badly on the final lap.
Tom Pidcock pedaled by, and some British fan yelled lamely, “Good try, Tom.” Sue was glad I held back from saying, “Stick with mountain biking, you overrated also-ran!”
Current stars Remco Evenepoel, Primož Roglič, Ben Healy, João Almeida and Guilio Ciccone, who for years I have mistakenly called “Enrico”. I told Sue I had been mixing up the name of the Italian cyclist with that of a journeyman NHL enforcer, Enrico Ciccone, who is now a politician currently representing the Marquette district of Montreal. Sue and I saw signs promoting him for the upcoming election, which certainly has not helped me to stop confusing the names of the two VERY different athletes!
I also saw Thibault Nys again, but this time in street clothes, as well as recently-retired Elia Viviani. Despite the fact that he has been a member of the hated Sky/Ineos team, the gifted road sprinter was a personal favorite, because he is Italian and also excelled on the track. Elia won gold in the velodrome during the Omnium event at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and after winning his third World Championship in my favorite track event, the eliminator, at last year’s event in Santiago, Chile, he officially brought a close to his career.
I enjoyed my Vietnamese thit so much the other night, and since the restaurant was so close to the finish line, we strolled over to Roll’V again. We were stunned, and terribly disappointed to find out that they had run out of rolls for the sandwiches (I suppose a hungry race crowd cleared them out), so we decided to come back the next night.
