Closing out summer at the races

Been a little behind in my posts on trips to the woods so I’ll pump out a couple of quick ones to catch up. Closed out the summer attending a couple of races in Montreal. Not as a participant mind you but merely as a spectator. Both races were interesting in their diametric differences as well as their similarities. Both took place in Montreal which – as one of Canada’s largest cities at 1.6 million people – has some incredibly large green spaces for such a large city (thus qualifying these trips to be written about in this blog).


Checking out the cars in the paddocks
First off was the Nationwide Series races at Ille Notre Dame. I’ve been to the Cup races a number of times and hadn’t really put it on the agenda for a repeat visit this year. I had however been bugging Pete for a number of years to come check out a race and he finally decided that the “stars had aligned” and he was ready to take in the spectacle that is NASCAR. Fair enough, so off we headed to the island in the St Lawrence to see the show. As always the racing was first rate but Race weekend at a Cup race is more than just the racing. Taking some time to walk the paddocks and see the cars close up is a rare chance to see raw horsepower (or shattered sheet metal). Add to that the commercial onslaught from every angle and Cup racing is Americana to the extreme - truly a weekend of high visual and auditory stimulation. While we shared the island with some 70-80,000 fans it seldom felt overwhelming as he park setting offers enough chances to escape the frenetic pace and noise before re-emerging into the flow. Pete was certainly taken by the spectacle and I’ll probably get him to another race in the future with much less “convincing” next time.


Parked by the rowing basin on a hot summer day
A couple of weeks later I headed back to Montreal - this time to the mountain itself in the heart of the city – to check out a more Eurocentric form of racing. Back after almost 20 years the UCI pro cycling tour held two races in Quebec this year. The first was in Quebec City while the second was a couple of days later in Montreal. It was another impressive show bringing some of the best riders in the world to take on a grueling 12k circuit over the mountain - 15 laps in all! The course actually has some significant cycling history as it is in principle the course that Eddy Merckx won the World Championships in ’74 and also hosted the Olympics in ’76.


A frenetic pace as the riders climb the mountain
Again the location is amazing as for the most part the mountain, University of Montreal and Outremont neighbourhoods display few clues that a major urban population of 1.6 million people live around them. Instead the forests and parks (and a pretty big cemetery) surround the course. Watching a pro bike race is a little different than the Cup cars but the fan support was equally strong as thousands lined the streets to cheer on their favourites. Interesting to note that even the non-contenders who dropped away early got great support whether struggling to climb the hills and catch the pack or simply cruising back to the hotel for an early shower. Even the bike mounted Police officers got encouragement on the big climbs!


The "Big Wheels" launch up the climb one last time
The race played out with an early breakaway holding off the main field for 10 of the 15 laps before the racing got serious. Then the peleton absorbed the break, formed a new break, reabsorbed them and a solo flier took off for the big win. A very entertaining race to watch and unlike the cup races much more physical as I got to walk the whole circuit catching the riders as they passed me at different parts of the course. I took an inordinate number of pictures and a selection can be found here. So two weekends in Montreal, two different races and both qualified as a trip to the woods - in the heart of the city.


Montreal - two worthwhile trips to the island