May 11, 2010Arundel, QC: Where Old Meets New

Mont-Tremblant recently closed its proverbial doors for the season. It is cold. What isn’t still frozen is muddy. Skiing is over, but those -2 degree mornings keep the bike in the garage. The age old of conundrum: what to do in-between seasons. Up here in Tremblant there are many options when not partaking in outdoor activities. A movie theatre on the mountain provides amusement, a delicious micro-brewery provides libations and succulent chicken burgers, Les Promenades Tremblant (that’s where we are located if you have no heard yet) provides shopping of all kinds, just to name a few. But what is a man (sic) to do athletically speaking? The beautiful shop and its beautiful Icebreaker, Arcteryx and North Face products can only keep me busy five days a week.

Then it struck me. I sell warm clothes. Maybe if I combined my two passions: cycling and outdoor technology, I could get out my bike and start riding on those chilly days. Straight to my wardrobe I went. Icebreaker 150 merino wool base layer (I like the Atlas longsleeve), Arcteryx synthetic midlayer (definitely the Atom LT) and a North Face softshell (my favourite Nimble Jacket) combine to make one warm, highly breathable happy camper (that’s me). Throw in some merino socks and beanie and I’m roaring to go. Now I just need to find 2 other people stupid enough to enjoy riding at zero degrees and I will be out the door.

Fast forward a week until the illustrious Juan Altitude arrives up North with that big grin he owns. We are standing outside of Cycles et Sport on the main street waiting for something- courage maybe, but most probably it was Ol’ Johnny (recently crowned Hybrid King). Once out his door, we throw our bikes in the van and head off in the direction of Arundel. We must have been driving approximately 15 minutes before we realized one of us had forgotten to bring his cycling shoes. A brief 30 minutes of cursing and we were back on track.

It was cold. It was early. No turning back. We got out of the car and we all thanked our respective Gods for merino wool, and windbreakers. Although my cycling kit is much less warm because I like to sometimes choose fashion over function (see photo), I can say with assurance that I looked good in my retro kit. The cows all turned their heads when I rode by. Perhaps because they had never seen a blue person before.
I’m rambling so I will get on with it. The reason we had all decided to get up early, under the crisp spring air, was to ride a stunning back-country road in Arundel. Needless to say if Juan could have felt his face, he would have put his smile there. Chemin de la Rouge, geographically speaking, will take you in the direction of Harrington, but spiritually speaking, it will take you on a journey through space and time that will fondle your very soul.

That morning we cruised through farmers fields that looked like they had not been touched since the Great Depression. The mixture of dilapidated and working farmhouses added to the mystery and wonderment of this hidden valley adventure. Around another innocuous corner we found a massive Buddhist temple showered with ornate and gigantic statues. Talk about a mixture of cultures just a few minutes from my backyard. All this while being serenaded by our studded tires as they crunched under the frosty mud and our straining breath, glistening in the morning sun. It was a delight.

Rub my belly!

What really made that day was the ability to share these moments with friends. When Jon wasn’t tearing past us on the uphills and trying to slide his back tire out like a 6 year old, he was giggling about how cool the flowing fields were. Juan who had come up all the way from Montreal, was keeping pace easily and constantly correcting me on my silly aerobic and philosophical questions. He also showed us that although physics says a body sliding along gravel should slow down quickly, it is not always the case. Apparently physics never saw Juan lay down his foot, ankle, knee and mighty body to “ease” his frame around a corner when his poor tires slid out on a patch of ice. Forward momentum is a wonderful thing.

Go find your dirt road and jump right on in. You never know what you are going to find on the other end.

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