Riding my bike 150km around the circumference of Montreal Island

I circumnavigated Montreal Island 150km by bike on Saturday September 4th 2021. I've recently moved here and thought this would be a great way to get to know the city.
I started in Griffintown and rode north-east along the St Lawrence River to Parc du Bout-de-l'Île, then sotuth-west along the Prairies River to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, before returning to Griffintown via the St Lawrence.
You can see my Strava route here: / strava

[@Nick-mu9nx]

I have cycled many parts of that trip, but never in one sitting. Impressive work. Inspirational.

[@DanSchaumann]

Thanks Nick, hope you get to do the whole trip one day, it’s well worth it

[@devdroid9606]

"Reeve Bwoisay" and "Eel Bizarre". I grew up in that area.

[@daveyboy_]

I biked from LaSalle to the eastern most tip in Pointe Aux Trembles and back when i was 16- Sherbrooke ST. all theway this was in the 80's kinda scary. I kept reminding myself " you're still on the island ' lol

[@Nicefoolkilla]

I'd like to live in Montreal. It is actually a dream of mine. Good ride!

[@pgprog]

Very nice ❤ I did most of your route but n’ont in one shot! 150 klm is close to my all time record. I did 120 back in 2020 since then I have been on the pause side of things due to medication but! I’m back free from that 🤬 and heading to Boucherville I think. Have a nice day keep up the good work!

[@BigBrothersEnd]

Bravo, inspirant! J'ai toujours vécu à Montréal. Montreal's construction is a nerver ending problem, it's a shame!

[@rickdeckard9810]

One ride I enjoy is from Atwater Market to parc Rene Levesque in Lachine it's against the wind but when you head back from Rene Levesque back take the LaSalle path, you got the wind on your back pushing you all the way and it's some of the nicest river side views, same path you took with the surfing, lots of pic nic areas and beach volleyball, outdoor exercise, verdun beach etc.

[@DanSchaumann]

I've done this ride a few times and it's magnificent! I love the trail along the Lachine

[@daveyboy_]

In the evening I'd time the lights and fly down Atwater hill . Still kinda crazy when u think about it

[@michaelriley3707]

Great video Dan. Love your biking videos. I recently did a 101km trip from Pickering to Burlington on a mountain bike and well, could not imagine doing 50 more KMS. Keep these videos coming!!

[@DanSchaumann]

Thanks Michael! Pickering to Burlington would be a fantastic ride, I haven't done that exact route but I've done all parts of the trail between them. I was hoping to do a 3-day thing this past weekend but it was too rainy so I stuck to the 1-day. Hopefully I'll get at least 1 more biking video in before it gets too cold.

[@Claude1Rochon]

thank you man ! you are my hero. i've tried to do this route but failed to garner enough energy to finish. you're one tough cookie !!

[@DanSchaumann]

Cheers Claude, thanks for watching, I hope you're able to do it one day!

[@mariospenard5125]

Sweet ride! ❤

[@ChristopherRayMiller]

Yeah, stretches of Gouin between Cartierville and Sunnybrooke can be awful! I was hoping to see a glance at least of the cable ferry between Île Bizard and Laval that takes you to the bike route leading up to where I live in Two Mountains on the North Shore.

[@randyc7351]

You got me motivated to do this ride this summer. On my single speed road bike nonetheless!!! Wish me luck 🤞

[@DanSchaumann]

Awesome!! Enjoy! It's a great ride. Actually the other week I did the same in Laval (kzbin.info/www/bejne/d16tmauPf9ZmfrM) - Montreal is for sure the more exciting option :)

[@alainbellemare2168]

A nice way to do it is in two days using the metro

[@aaronvincent9827]

Great video. I live in Lachine and bike daily in and about. I don't know if you've been back to Ile Bizard, but the other half of the circumference that you missed going though the nature park is quite spectacular, complete with stone walls and farms. I used to jog that route (17km) regularly when I lived near there. Anyway, great video. There's also a ferry that can bring you to Laval -Sur-Le-Lac and access to Laval island, which is a lot of fun too. I'll have to do your trip this summer.

[@DanSchaumann]

Hey thanks Aaron, I was pretty curious about the other half of the island while I was there; you’ve sold me on a return visit. I’ll get back there at some stage this summer to see more. I did the circumference of Laval a month or two ago and noticed the turnoff to the ferry, it’d be nice to do the trip from Ile Bizard to Laval. Cheers and hope you do get out to ride the Montreal ring this year

[@tatiana5447]

Wow awesome video 👍 really liked all the animal friends you made along the way!

[@DanSchaumann]

Thanks Tatiana! Yeah so much wildlife on this one :)

[@oscarjetson128]

My hometown! Looks like you had a great day to do this! Well done!

[@DanSchaumann]

Thank you! Yeah, it was a wonderful day for cycling

[@PromenadeMTL]

Impressive route.

[@dylanyoung9230]

Cool vid

[@jeanbolduc5818]

Impressive man !! You also sound very smart ... thanks for your video and comments

[@DanSchaumann]

Hey thanks a lot Jean, glad you liked the video, I really enjoyed making it!

[@misunderstudios]

So you HAVE gone through Lasalle! LOL Great video Dan! :)

[@DanSchaumann]

Yeah and I've been through there before too, I just never realized it was Lasalle! Thanks man!

[@t2av159]

Nice!

[@memosfet]

Great video, I enjoyed watching it, I'm getting my new bike and I'm excited of someday try a long route like this in Montrea, btw I live also in Griffintown!

[@DanSchaumann]

Great to hear! Yeah you should try this for sure. Even if you don't want to tackle the full route to begin with, it's worth heading down to Dorval / Beaconsfield / St Anne-de-Bellevue or up to Montreal Eat / Parc du Bout-de-l'Île along the riverside. I only have a few weeks left in Griffintown and then moving to CDN

[@PaulUsypchuk]

Great ride and never far from home.. (that is, if you live in Montreal) I do it multiple times every season.

[@stockey]

If you had an Ebike you wouldn't get tired lol, i do spend quite a bit of energy with mine, but never get tired.

[@5144210552]

Dude the timing of this video was perfect, i was literally planning something like this to do with my girlfriend. Welcome to Montreal, WhatYulLove is my friends restaurant, ill let him know you enjoyed it. Thank for the insight on the ride around Montreal. I live right before you end your trip (Dorval). EDIT: if ever you wanted to try ile blizard i highly recommend it. Super fun and roads are mostly perfect.

[@DanSchaumann]

Hey thanks Philip, I'm glad you saw the video! Yeah you should totally do the loop, it's a great adventure. Ha, crazy that you know the WhatYuLove owner, yes please go ahead and tell him it was great. There's a jerk chicken place I went to regularly in Toronto which I miss but these guys are a top quality replacement. I do want to get back and see more of Ile Bizard, especially the nature park. I was very impressed.

[@randyc7351]

Hi Dan I did this ride last weekend inspired by your video. Really fun route. The south West side was so much nicer then the Nord east side of the island lol. At least I had some good Haitian food in MTL Nord. Merci

[@DanSchaumann]

Hey Randy, thanks for letting me know, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the circuit! Yeah, the south-west is spectacular, isn't I? Especially around Senneville

[@AlexDilemTV]

"Whould I do it again? Absolutely not!" 🤣🤣🤣

[@MaxLeGrand33]

I did the same trip 20-25 years ago. The island of Montréal is surprisingly varied. I used to live there and have since moved to the country, but your video reminded me of that. Are you familiar with Mont-Tremblant, 1 1/2 hour north of Montreal? People come from all over the world to visit this place. It's gorgeous. I believe you can bike here all the way from Montreal.

[@DanSchaumann]

It's a great ride, isn't it? I do know of Mont-Tremblant and the bike path that takes you there but I haven't ridden it myself - it's on my to-do list for next summer

[@carold.7907]

Can I ask if the cycling route you took around the whole island fairly flat?

[@RobsRedHotSpot]

10:27 I wonder why the flag was at half-mast that day??

[@doctorgonzo207]

Thanks for your time and the video you created, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Might I suggest tough that you tighten your helmet; if you already chose to wear one. It should be treated a bit like motorcycle helmet and adjusted every time you put it on.

[@H.Richard]

hey! I have also wanted to bike the circumference of montreal but feel like my legs will give out wayy before i finish Dx

[@109109109109109]

Poor old italian guy. Article one of the chart of Montréal: Montréal is a french speaking city.

[@KayOSweaver]

I'm planning on doing the same trip, probably next summer (an injury ate up a lot of this summer). It's nice to see this quick summary so I have some idea what it's like but still have plenty to discover. Any tips/things you would do differently? P.S.: Go in drains! C⚡C

[@DanSchaumann]

You're right, I should have gone in the drain! I'm pretty happy with the route I took but in hindsight I should have done the full loop of L'Île-Bizard instead of just cutting through the centre. I've since been back there and it's incredibly cyclable, it deserves its place in the circumnavigation. Hope you manage to do it next year!

[@archietuttle2682]

Great video! I've ridden up to Montreal three times from Burlington, VT, but haven't ridden much around Montreal itself, other than the Lachine canal. Do you use paper bike maps at all to navigate around Montreal? I'm really directionally challenged, and find when I bike that I like to have an actual paper bike map that I can spread out and consult, in addition to a digital map on my phone that I can then look at for more detail. If you do use paper maps, where did you get them? Incidentally, if you haven't ridden the 20 km Chambly canal path that links Chambly with Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu SE of Montreal, that's definitely worth you checking out. (I ride that as part of my route from Vermont to Montreal).

[@DanSchaumann]

Hey Archie, thanks for your message. I don’t use paper bike maps but I recently got a Quadlock which attaches to the handlebars and holds my phone for easy google maps usage. I did the Chambly - Saint-Jean canal last year with a friend, we went down to VT via Rouses Point and looped back up through Venise-en-Quebec. The canal was one of the highlights of that ride. I’d love to cycle down to Burlington, I’ve been a couple of times (not by bike) and also to Montpelier, which is my all-time favourite US city. Vermont is awesome!

[@JoelWende]

Awesome video Dan! Looks like such a great environment to be! What bike are you on?…it seems pretty handy on all surfaces!

[@DanSchaumann]

Cheers Joel! Apologies for the Wanderers shirt again haha. I have a Marin Nicasio 2, it's a gravel bike, shaped like a road bike but steel frame & well suited for gravel trails

[@JoelWende]

@@DanSchaumann Haha, I’ll forgive it until the start of the A-league season! Looks like an awesome bike! I need a new one myself! I’ve also become addicted to GeoGuessr after scrolling through a few of your other videos!

[@DanSchaumann]

@@JoelWende awesome!! GeoGuessr has been a lifesaver over the past 1.5 years of lockdowns. Check out some KZbinrs like GeoPeter and GeoWizard, they're masters at the game, I prefer watching the pros play it than playing it myself!

[@JoelWende]

@@DanSchaumann Awesome!! Will check them out for sure!

[@mileendstatic]

Nice video, Dan! I’ll be visiting the city in early August - is there a bike route in or near Montreal you’d recommend for beauty and/or charming places to stop? I don’t have 150km in me, but I could comfortably do 50km as long as there aren’t too many climbs. Thanks!

[@DanSchaumann]

Hey thanks a lot for watching and for your comment! There are some great bike routes around town. I recommend Petite Voie du Fleuve. Take the Cartier Bridge from downtown over to St Helens Island, head across to Île Notre-Dame for a lap of the Formula 1 track and you can join PVdF from there. It's a 14km trail dedicated to cyclists & pedestrians which takes you along the St Lawrence to the RecreoPark. If I recall correctly, it's mostly sealed although there may be some gravel sections, also beware of annoying bugs getting all over your face, but it's a superb ride. For somewhere closer to town, you can't go wrong with the Lachine Canal or the trail up Mont Royal beginning at the Sir George-Étienne Cartier Monument (shorter but more challenging). Enjoy your trip!

[@sammiethewierdo4022]

Im gonna do it in a few weeks

[@DanSchaumann]

Do it! It's a great experience

[@khunopie9159]

Good onya mate. That was fair dinkum I reckon. Now go skull a tinny of Fosters.

[@Kevin_geekgineering]

montreal is bike friendly city, if you don't know what friendly means

[@anuraggupta9425]

what's the application name ? where you tracked your cycling ?

[@DanSchaumann]

Hey, I use Strava for the cycle tracking, been using it for years and it’s great

[@randyc7351]

What camera did you use for the MTL circuit?

[@DanSchaumann]

Hey it was my iPhone 12, it's a great camera for this kind of thing

[@jeffreykaufmann2867]

Is that a Carbon Bike?

[@DanSchaumann]

Hey, no it’s a Chromoly. Not as light/fast as a carbon bike but still does a great job

[@jeffreykaufmann2867]

@@DanSchaumann i did half the Circumference of Montreal last Summer. If the bikepaths were as nice as the ones in the Netherlands I'd be circling the whole Island every Summer.

[@dvsir911]

If you go back to that area in Dorval where you stopped and took a break, there’s a great restaurant called Natalino. You should check it out 👍

[@eremyjay]

I lived in Montreal back in 2010 and moved back home Sydney 2015. If i were to move back in Canada it wll be quebec city. Im surprised you dont live in the english suburbs of Montreal, Westmount! I use to live near the Stadium and botanical gardens. Have you visited The botanical gardens ? When i return for visit i really want to cycle to NYC from MTL. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5PPZXuZZdSEoa8

[@DanSchaumann]

Things have certainly changed a bit here since 2015. Actually last year I moved to Cote des Neiges, I prefer it over Griffintown and it’s got a good mix of EN+FR. I’ve been to the botanical gardens twice but it was many years ago, I haven’t been out there recently. When I go biking it’s normally out west or along the south shore, Chateauguay is a great place to ride to on a weekend. Hope you can get back here!

[@gregorystiller975]

Nice one Dan, I did the loop about 10 years ago but spent the night in West Island. I think my first day was around 80 85 km. Keep riding!

[@DanSchaumann]

Cheers Gregory, thanks for watching. It's a worthwhile ride, isn't it? That's a great idea to have stayed on the West Island to break the trip up, in hindsight I certainly could have taken a good meal and a few beers by the time I got out there.