See the city by bicycle

   It was nice to sleep in the saunter down to the hostel breakfast at a civilized hour..  Cereal, fruit, toast, juice and coffee fortified my engine for my ride through the city.  The city museum situated in this huge modern building was a history of Montreal dating back to prehistoric times up to the present.  The building was built on top of the first permanent settlement exposed in the basement.  This settlement included a seventeenth century underground sewer system.  For three hours I traversed the entire building absorbing a very comprehensive display of Montreal, past and present.  For the next two days, I meandered around town checking out the neighborhoods both old an new and the waterfront.  A decent town particularly the bike path system throughout the city.  Thousands of bikes were everywhere including  traffic lights at eye level for us.  I have heard Quebec City is nicer but Montreal is a decent city worth seeing.  My last day I met a woman, Suzanne, in my age range, who buddied up with me for dinner and a stroll through the city.  This included taking in a huge music festival with thousands of people gathered in the closed off streets,  listening to the various musical groups displayed on stage and on huge displace screens. Finishing off the night with an ice cream, Suzanne and I headed back where we  bid farewell.  The next morning, early, I found my way to the bus station where I partially disassembled my bike, picked it in a bike box, boarded a Greyhound bus and headed for home. Thirteen hours from one town after another, “The Local” in short. Ellen picked up at the train station in New London. 511 miles, too many hills to count, five nights with Warmshowers hosts, five nights camping, one Airbnb, one hostel and three nights at New Hampton.  No breakdowns but the hills wore me down.  Next trip I need to lose about ten pounds and put on smaller tires for less drag. Where next? Vietnam?