Without any snow or ice on the roads, time to take the bike out for a subzero ride. While some may shy away from biking in this sort of cold, I embrace this sort of weather, and enjoy the rare occasion of being able to have bike lanes and trails all to myself on a Sunday morning.
Keys to remaining warm for cycling in cold weather:
1) A good base layer of fleece works wonders for me when ice fishing, even more so when cycling at a steady pace.
2) Warm out layers and a windproof windbreaker with fleece lining. I can hit hit windchills below -30 when riding down Mount Royal's slopes, yet manage to stay warm.
3) Light winter boots, heavy toque, and ultra warm mittens complete my outfit.
While a ski mask may help avoid freezing my face off when riding downhill, I prefer to give up that luxury to have better peripheral vision, with all Montreal's crazy, unobservant drivers.
For this particular ride, I decided to mix in a bit of uphill/downhill riding, along with a mainly flat run. The ride to St Helen's island from my house is perfectly suited, yielding a good 28 to 30 km, depending on the end route. In this case, I made an exploratory detour, thinking I'd be able to cut across from Pointe St Charles, but ended up being a dead end. Added a good 5+ km to my ride, but I got to explore part of Montreal that I've never been to in 46 years living here.
Found a small lookout named "Observatoire de la Pointe St Charles.
Eventually made my way back to the Peel basin, then down my usual route by the port of Montreal, Habitat 67, and onto Pont de la Concorde.
Moving along, I was curious to see if Lac Des Cygnes had any ice cover yet. Turned out to be fully covered, though the middle looked sort of sketchy. Not that we're allowed to fish there, but it's a decent indicator for what other smaller waterways in the region may look like.
Heading home, I crossed over the Lachine canal. Seems to be frozen pretty solid, after having been mostly drained in mid October.
Hoping the get in some more cold weather rides before we get dumped on by our next snowstorm.
