Showing posts with label Montreal bridges. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Montreal bridges. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Mercier bridge


Today I paused to enjoy a banana breakfast in the Lachine Canal park. I had never been to the park before. I always thought that it was just a marina.

The park is on a long spit that juts into Lake St-Louis at the mouth of the Lachine Canal. It turns out that the marina is on a similar spit just a little to the north of the park. The two spits are like spindly fingers reaching out into the lake. I stopped at the very end of the parking lot and perched on a large boulder to sip my hot tea and take in the view.

This vantage point offered a distant view of the Mercier bridge. The Mercier is the westernmost of the major bridges linking Montreal to the south shore of the St-Lawrence river. The Mercier bridge is the larger bridge in the background. The bridge in the foreground is a separate railway bridge. The commute home last night was accompanied by threatening weather and very strong winds. It took me an extra 10 or fifteen minutes to get into my rain suit before leaving but the effort was well worth while, even though I only had to ride through light occasional rain. The extra protection of the rain suit made the ride much more comfortable given the wind and a good drop in the temperature.

The Vespa LX150 performed very well in the stiff headwind. I had to open the throttle a little more to pace the traffic, but had no trouble keeping up my speed with power to spare.

The wind felt like a massive wall pressing against my upper body. I had never experienced anything quite like it. If I had to ride in strong wind conditions very often, a large windscreen would be a definite addition to my wish list.

In spite of the pressures, the Vespa felt very solid. It really is an excellent bike.

You will see that I added a Modern Vespa "MV" sticker to the topcase. I only joined the forum in October of last year. In that short time, I have learned that the forum provides a wealth of information, support and humor for anyone who owns a scooter, and Vespa owners in particular. The sticker is a small way to show my support and appreciation.
The copyright in all text and photographs, except as noted, belongs to David Masse.