| Bike fest 2012...

The Tour de l'Ile de Montreal was a blast, especially when Meteomedia announced a rainy WE the whole week preceding the event! Today we woke up early for the Montreal bike fest, a now-classic summer event, with 50 km (~31 miles for those using the obsolete Imperial system) to ride and just an almond croissant in the belly, it seemed like an unnecessary Sunday challenge; especially when looking at Nhu's swollen eyes. However, fortune favors the brave and the sun was present all along the route with a golden smile, it was definitely warm and the closed roads were dry, not like us though!
We've upgraded some parts of the Voyageur (see the previous review) just in time and it certainly improved its overall comfort, the next step will be to replace both rims and tires. For my part i've received my new stealth BF Tikit and wouah! it is beautiful piece of engineering (complete review coming soon), Sunday was a perfect opportunity for a test ride and i was excited.

SOoo we joined the pack and it was an exhilarating moment, very easy to follow the well-defined circuit, no red lights, no stops, great organisation and kudos to all the volunteers for their support, and their cheering attitude. Our average speed was quite fast despite our small bikes and my 16" wheels (349 mm). Talking about the wheels, i have to say that it makes it for quite a rough ride, the Schwalbe Kojaks are reliable and fast but they are not forgiving, after ~2h and 38 km our butts were on fire and we were starving, so we decided to stop at the Parc Maisonneuve (relay 3) and to go back home. We had a lot to do in the afternoon to prepare for next week's camping trip and it was enough fun for the day. Now do i recommend the Tour? YES yes and yes, please come join us next summer, we'll be there again!