I did the 2 rides in Montreal Saturday. The weather was perfect, a bit warm for the locals, but perfect for me. As usual the response from the spectators was about 99.9% positive, especially when we rode down St. Catherine st in the Gay Village. I think we had even more spectators on the night ride (8:00-9:30) Both ride were a large loop back to Dorchester Square park, then a 10 min break then a small loop.
A big difference between this ride and the 4 others I did this summer was the Police. Major kudos to the Montreal Police. We had about 6 police cars and 10-12 Police officers on bikes, escorting us, and blocking traffic for us. All of the officers were great and cooperative and most of them seemed to enjoy being with us even though they were clothed. There was an incident at the stop before the second loop and at the end of the evening ride. There were a couple of punks that had an issue with us being naked in the park and despite the police explaining to them that it was a legal demonstration they kept harassing us. One of them started walking towards me and an officer stopped him just as he started to lunge towards me. I don't know why he picked me, I had not said anything or acknowledged him in any way. Maybe it was just a clear shot from where he was to where I was. The bottom line is if he attacked me I would have probably beat the shit out of him. The interesting thing is, if he did attack me It was not too smart to do it in front of a dozen Police Officers, and attack one of the more muscular guys there. I may be getting old, but am still pretty fit.
All in all, a great well organized ride. Only about 75 riders, but I am beginning to prefer the smaller rides. Don't get lost in the crowd
I rode my bike for the first time this week yesterday. I was wearing my usual nylon running shorts. I dropped a cooler on my toe when I was loading the car Saturday before the Montreal ride and by the time I got to VA Beach it was all red and swollen. I drove most of the way without shoes. By yesterday the swelling went down so I could ride my bike.