Sunday 15th September 2013 was the day 164 international professional cyclists came to Montreal to compete in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, a grueling 17 laps around a circuit that climbed up, over and around the mont Royal in the heart of Montreal. Lucky for me, we live about 15 minutes' walk from the mont so this was one event I wasn't going to miss!
Every year, the big names in international cycling compete in two road races, one in Quebec city and the other in Montreal. The races are part of the UCI world tour calendar and for spectators it is a chance to see some great riders in action close up.
Every year, the big names in international cycling compete in two road races, one in Quebec city and the other in Montreal. The races are part of the UCI world tour calendar and for spectators it is a chance to see some great riders in action close up.
The race started at 11am and would take about 4.5 hours to so we decided to take a picnic and have a wander in the forest on the mont during the race. Austin scootered while we walked to the Start/Finish line and checked out the village offerings. We liked the view of the riders going past down to the hairpin at the bottom of the hill and back past again as they started back up the climb to the top of the mont. Austin liked watching them on the screen and was amazed that he could see the riders in real life as well as on the screen!
After our picnic lunch, accompanied again by a friendly but annoying wasp, we split up, Austin and Michael going for a forest walk (Austin not being that interested in standing around waiting for riders to cycle past!), and I to walk along the race track. The route had been cordoned off with fences all the way to the top of the mont and then the downhill was out of bounds for spectators. I decided to wander up to the top and along the way stopped to watch and cheer the racers along when I heard the sirens of the leading police motorcycles.
There weren't that many people so it was really pleasant to be able to move around and see the racers up close from different parts of the course. I remember when we were in France in 2003 and 2004 and we followed the Tour de France around like crazy people trying to find roads that weren't blocked off so that we could catch a glimpse as the riders zoomed past. Once they'd gone and the commercial cars had passed, it was all over for the day. (You can read about our first crazy experience trying to follow the Tour in my blog post Tourers de France on my old and long dead blog called French Routes, a collection of edited emails I sent home at the time about living in France. Go easy, I was young and mental back then!)
After our picnic lunch, accompanied again by a friendly but annoying wasp, we split up, Austin and Michael going for a forest walk (Austin not being that interested in standing around waiting for riders to cycle past!), and I to walk along the race track. The route had been cordoned off with fences all the way to the top of the mont and then the downhill was out of bounds for spectators. I decided to wander up to the top and along the way stopped to watch and cheer the racers along when I heard the sirens of the leading police motorcycles.
There weren't that many people so it was really pleasant to be able to move around and see the racers up close from different parts of the course. I remember when we were in France in 2003 and 2004 and we followed the Tour de France around like crazy people trying to find roads that weren't blocked off so that we could catch a glimpse as the riders zoomed past. Once they'd gone and the commercial cars had passed, it was all over for the day. (You can read about our first crazy experience trying to follow the Tour in my blog post Tourers de France on my old and long dead blog called French Routes, a collection of edited emails I sent home at the time about living in France. Go easy, I was young and mental back then!)
Here in Montreal, the cyclists went past 17 times so if you missed them one time it didn't matter because you knew they'd be back! At one point though, I think I might have been a little ambitious taking photos of the riders as they took a sharp turn at the foot of the hill. Looking at the photos I took, I can see how close my elbow was to getting smashed by the riders closest to the fence! Note to self: don't be one of those annoying spectators that gets in the way and causes an accident or a rider to fall.
I didn't, however, do what others were doing on the climb where there was no fence; run alongside the riders and cheer them on in their ear and push their seats thinking it would help them up the hill. I saw one rider nearly fall because of a crazy drunk dude doing that.
I didn't, however, do what others were doing on the climb where there was no fence; run alongside the riders and cheer them on in their ear and push their seats thinking it would help them up the hill. I saw one rider nearly fall because of a crazy drunk dude doing that.
I had a great day cheering on the Aussie rider in the breakaway, and Cadel Evans in the main field. I accidentally got a photo of him on the climb (#111) and I'm sure he did better in the race because he heard me screaming like a crazy woman from the sidelines, "GO CADEL GO GO GO!!!". I would definitely recommend a day at the Grands Prix Cyclistes if you're ever in Montreal at the right time of year and want a mini-Tour de France taste!
How to get there
Details of the race can be found on their website: http://gpcqm.ca/en/home/