Trying something I've always wanted to do: going to a cottage 140 km north of #Montreal without using a car. (Aka #biketothedock) First step: board the métro... 
You can take a bike on to the first wagon of the metro... #biketothedock
Looks like I'm not alone... #biketothedock
Next step: the Exo (#Montreal commuter train) north to St. Jerome. Bikes are allowed in the cars... #biketothedock
The end of the Exo line in St-Jerome. Which is also the beginning of... #biketothedock
...le P'tit Train du Nord, a former train line, now cross-country ski path, bike path, that takes you 200 km north to Mont Laurier. I'm doing the first 50 km... #biketothedock
Many of the former train stations along the P'tit Train du Nord have been converted to cafés, galleries...they offer cold water, e-bike charging stations. I picked up a portobello mushroom grilled cheese and a fantastic espresso...
Stop for lunch—that portobello/provolone grilled cheese—near stretch of whitewater on the Rivière du Nord. Takes me back to my food breaks on the Camino de Santiago... #biketothedock via P'tit Train du Nord
Here's one of the route maps. They're posted at every kilometer marker. Here's crazy thing about P'tit Train du Nord: it used to run from my very urban 'hood (MIle-End) all the way to cottage country in the Laurentians—also for winter skiing. 200 km route. #biketothedock
As much as I love the bike route—wow, it would have been amazing to ride a train from the heart of #Montreal to cottage/ski country. This is how things were done before car dependency became widespread. (And how things could be again...) #biketothedock
Piedmont, one of little train stations on P'tit Train du Nord; there's an outdoor gym and a gallery next to it. Train route is beyond charming—intimate meander into the mountains. What a nightmare Autoroute 15 is in comparison—ugly + stress-inducing. #biketothedock
Seen along the way: red foxes; guys in Speedos taking selfies on the rocks at what is locally known as the "Gay Falls"; lots of hawks and vultures; chickens on the loose and beaver dams. #biketothedock via P'tit Train du Nord
Here's where my ride along P'tit Train du Nord ends (the bike route goes on for another 150 km into the mountains—I fully intend to explore it later!)—at the old Queen Anne style station at Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, the gateway to the Laurentians. #biketothedock
"Underneath nostalgia about glamorous 1930s passenger trains, lonesome steam whistles, & Lionel Toy trains rumbles something vastly more important: landscape people created around railroad [was] better than the sprawl the automobile engenders."
—John Stilgoe
True!
#biketothedock
—John Stilgoe
True!
#biketothedock
Last 20 km of #biketothedock are not-so-fun part. Left behind the rail-to-trail of the P'tit Train du Nord, paradise for bike riders (lots of folks in 60s/70s on e-bikes, pedal-assist). On Highway 329. Logging trucks + Audi etc drivers getting way too close. Nerve-wracking.
Funny—I think riding P'tit Train du Nord made me fall in love with #Québec again. Reminded me that highways are a force that homogenize + degrade landscapes. When a place can be accessed by bike, walking, train, its true beauties tend to emerge. #biketothedock
I made it! From my #Montreal front door to cottage dock at [location redacted] without a car. 60 km by metro + train, 76 km by bicycle, most via wonderful P'tit Train du Nord. Full disclosure: wife + kids preceded me, brought food and supplies. Now into the lake! #biketothedock
