| July 1, 2006had thoroughly enjoyed my guided | | | | bottle of water is included in every tour. |
| bicycle tour with Ça Roule and Bruno, a | | | | His customers come from all over the world |
| licensed city guide from Guidatour, really | | | | including the USA, the rest of Canada and a wide |
| introduced Montreal up close to us. And my own | | | | variety of European countries. Even Australian, |
| independent explorations of the bicyle trail along | | | | Korean and Japanese travelers rent |
| the Lachine Canal introduced me to a side of | | | | muscle-powered equipment from him and many |
| Montreal I had never been exposed to. After | | | | of his clients are referred by hotels and the |
| returning my bike after a full day of exercise I | | | | Montreal Tourist Office. In addition he also offers |
| wanted to find out a bit more about who is | | | | bicycle repairs and some of his repair clients are |
| behind this operation, Ça Roule, or Montreal | | | | part of the 3500 permanent residents that now |
| on Wheels, as it is known in English. | | | | live in Old Montreal, or employees that work in Old |
| Montreal, by the way, is a fabulous city to explore | | | | Montreal and commute there by bicycle. |
| by bicycle. The Old Port area, the bicycle path | | | | Ça Rule has six staff members: two bicycle |
| network along the Lachine Canal and alongside the | | | | repair technicians and four tour leaders. Recently |
| St. Lawrence River, as well as the islands of Ile | | | | he has started to collaborate with Guidatour and |
| St. Hélène and Parc Jean Drapeau in the | | | | both companies combined have developed an |
| St. Lawrence are eminently bikeable. Of course | | | | Official City Tour By Bike that is led by a licensed |
| the trail network on Mont Royal also adds some | | | | tour guide. This morning I participated in this |
| interesting terrain for cycling enthusiasts and | | | | official city tour and in my opinion exploring a city |
| many of Montreal's quaint neighbourhoods lend | | | | by bike has to be one of the best ways of |
| themselves perfectly to be discovered en | | | | discovering a new place. |
| vélo. Montreal was actually voted the | | | | In any northern country, the bicycling business is |
| number 1 city for bicyclists in 1999 by Bicycling | | | | seasonal, and the high season at Ça Roule |
| magazine. | | | | goes from May to October, sometimes stretching |
| Ça Roule is a Bicycle Rental and Touring | | | | into November, depending on the weather. During |
| Shop located on the harbourfront boulevard at 27 | | | | the winter André works on updating the |
| De La Commune Est. André Giroux, the | | | | website and preparing the strategies for the next |
| owner, created this company 12 years ago. He | | | | business years and last year he had a chance to |
| originally studied law and spent 7 years as a | | | | go to Florida for 3 weeks. During the summer the |
| lawyer, specialized in litigation and legal consulting | | | | shop is very busy and André and his staff |
| for large real estate developers. As an avid sports | | | | members work very had, but he tries to go out |
| person, André plays hockey and tennis and | | | | bicycling himself in the evenings between 7 and 8 |
| he really enjoys cycling and in 1994 he decided to | | | | pm. He loves to cycle over to Montreal's islands: |
| open a small rental store that initially focused on | | | | Ile St. Hélène and Jean Drapeau Park. |
| renting roller blades, a big craze in the mid 1990s. | | | | André also pointed out that Ça Roule |
| His original stable of equipment also included 12 | | | | is able to offer customized bicycle tours. One time |
| bicycles. In the meantime his fleet has grown to | | | | a group of people asked to start a tour on top of |
| more than 70 bicycles which include touring bikes, | | | | Mont Royal. So he rented a cargo van and carted |
| tandems, trail bikes, electric bikes and electric | | | | several bikes up to the top of the mountain so |
| scooters. His store also rents kids trailers and child | | | | the tour group could start their ride at their |
| carriers. | | | | intended starting point. All sorts of special |
| I asked him what the name "Ça Roule" | | | | assignments can be done, they might just require |
| actually means and he explained that this French | | | | a bit of notice to organize. |
| phrase literally means "it's rolling", but is generally | | | | With all this exercise I was ready for a very solid |
| understood as "it's going well", "it's running well". He | | | | dinner, so I thanked André for his time and |
| explained that his store specializes in customer | | | | for putting on the Official Guide City Tour, one of |
| service, his staff is knowledgeable, and they are | | | | the best ways of getting to know the city and |
| available to provide advice on all sorts of biking | | | | continued my explorations of Montreal on this |
| activities in and around Montreal. Everyone gets | | | | Canada Day. |
| outfitted with a city-wide cycling map and a free | | | | |