You're too kind, Andre. There's a strong Celtic heritage here, though, guys -- come visit, you'd feel right at home. The winter can be tough, it's true, but you can count on three months or so for working on winter bike projects. (Less if you live west of the Rockies, where they have daffodils in Feb., as you'll know from the photos posted by Ron & Dave, in Vancouver.) (Mind you, Brazilian friends make a little jeu do mot with that word, calling it "Vanchuver", "chuver" being the Portuguese verb for "to rain".)
What most people don't know, 'cos winter gets all the attention, is that summer in these parts is glorious. There are bugs, of course, and most people feel that the summer is too short, but I usually manage about 9 months of cycling, more in a good year.
Just back from a 3-hour there-and-back across the river & into the hills: sunny, high temp of 11, brisk northerly breeze, but again,
no cars on the parkways in the Gatineau, just cyclists, walkers, skiers-in-training. The woods are stark now, no foliage at all, except on the evergreens, so the woods are full of the afternoon sunshine, which reflects off a carpet of leave about 6" deep. This happens every year, of course, but it always seems to come as a surprise, like something we're seeing for the first time. Then, after about 30 minutes, you realize, "Well, duh, yeah, this is how it is."
Have attached some landscapes you might enjoy. These were not, strictly speaking, taken during bicycle rides. They
were taken on trips where we talked about cycling, however, and I got there on 2 wheels. The first two are from a trip I made in late September to visit Jim K (and his Nomad) in Kingston-on-Hudson, north of NYC. The first is a photograph taken high above the Hudson, from the old railway bridge across the river, which has been converted into a walkway and cycle path -- fabulous spot. (New York is becoming justly famous for this sort of thing -- have a look at NYC's Highline Park, here:
http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/the-high-line The second is a photo of Jim, at home in his neighbourhood, on Castle Point, the turnaround spot in our hike in the Shawangunks, a range of low mountains connected to the Catskills, which is famous for its rock-climbing faces. The third is a photo taken in late August from Lake-on-the-Mountain park in Prince Edward County, in the NE corner of Lake Ontario. This looks N & E up the Bay of Quinte; the left-side shore is the north shore of Lake Ontario.
