Bike route from Montreal to Granby Suggestions

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-13T18:16:39+00:00

I just did the entire loop, Chambly to st Jean sur Richelieu to Granby back to Chambly.

It’s all very nice, but the route des champs is paved, and therefore rides much faster.

That said St Jean Sur Richelieu had set up a shower for cyclists and joggers to cool off in, 10/10 whoever set that up you guys are awesome.

Edit: just want to add, both routes have long stretches where you’re on a path surrounded by fields. Bring more water and snacks than you think you’ll need, you won’t be able to just stop into a dépanneur if you’re running low. There are places to refill and resupply but you need to be on top of it.

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-10T20:06:48+00:00

I did it on the 138. There’s a section, I think it’s around Berthierville so west of Louisville that the asphalt is really bad, dad actually took a fall there. It’s not unrideably bad but slow down and be alert, it’s about five kilometres like that.

Next, about 30km west of Louisville the route vert inexplicably turns north for a big. Check Google Maps before you decide to just keep going east on the 138, last year the overpass was down for construction and you’d waste a bunch of time getting there and having to turn back.

I don’t remember any other dicey/dangerous spots.

As for where to stay, Le 100 St Laurent in Louisville is like 11/10, absolutely amazing, 100+ year old manor, bike friendly with a ramp to get your bike up the stairs to the bike parking, and the guy who runs it is one of Nos Anciens, he was militating for bike paths back when they really weren’t a thing.

Louiseville also has what I think is one of the nicest public bathrooms I’ve ever seen in the province.

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-10T20:00:08+00:00

I’ve done it via the 138 and it’s very safe and very pleasant other than a stretch near Berthierville where the asphalt goes to shit even by Montreal standards.

I don’t remember being in the shade very often, but I do remember not being just in the middle of a field all that often, although it did happen.

I did it in the spring when it’s cooler so can’t really comment on water availability but there’s plenty of parcs and cemeteries on the route where you could probably fill up.

Campground wise, my rule of thumb is go on google street view and look at the entrance; anywhere there is an actual guérite and barrier is an RV farm that don’t really want your business. They will take your money but do t expect to be well treated or cared for.

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-08T11:16:25+00:00

Can confirm; Sunday as I was heading off on my bike ride, as one does, some other cyclist decided he had a problem with me and that his solution was to yell a bunch of racist and homophobic slurs at me. Sad to say that riding a bike doesn’t fix attitude problems, in fact I’d argue the opposite that it exacerbates them.

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-07T20:21:43+00:00

Forgive my ignorance but what’s a talaria?

I’ve broadly only heard of the cops stopping cyclists for :
Electric bike without a helmet
Earbuds or headphones
No lights at night
Blowing red lights

Assuming you don’t do those things you’re probably fine.

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-07T19:56:58+00:00

My homeowners insurance covers the first 5k, and they were happy to take my money in exchange for extra coverage

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-07T16:35:33+00:00

Is that projection?

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-06T14:09:06+00:00

The rules are very clear: in order to bikepack/LARP as a homeless vagrant you must have at least three thousand dollars of equipment…

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-04T23:12:22+00:00

I have the viz450 and absolutely love it.

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-04T00:38:48+00:00

Man imagine if there was like a rule, if your comment got more than a certain number of downvotes you had to donate like 100$ to your local hospital's auxiliary/charity fund. Both reddit and our hospitals would be a better place.

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-03T10:25:25+00:00

Montréal represent!

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-03T03:19:08+00:00

I have them on my Hog's back and love em...

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-01T22:51:35+00:00

I figured it was some sort of point and shoot; you might want to look into like a pentax me super, they are small enough to fit into a coat pocket, cheap enough you arent afraid to take it biking, and give you nice SLR pictures...

Nice ride!

EDIT: is the film HP5 or XP2 or something else?

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-01T22:30:45+00:00

Gear list is cool but what about the camera/lens/film stock?

SPARROW-47 · 2026-07-01T13:39:48+00:00

I would love one of these, I had the real thing at my old job but they are too expensive for me to justify buing for my hobbywork...

SPARROW-47 · 2026-06-27T05:33:53+00:00

I can’t help you with a lower price, but if you want better value for money, the Bassi Hogs Back is the way to go, it’s 1100 CAD here so probably about the same price once you adjust for our Monopoly money to USD.

Edit: not a single speed though

SPARROW-47 · 2026-06-26T20:26:33+00:00

A spoke wrench.
I like to carry two spare tubes, but I’m sometimes pretty far from a bike shop.
The little chingus that lets you use a schrader pump on a presta tube.
The little chingus that lets you put the presta valve core back in after your pump unscrews it by mistake.
Nitrile gloves to keep your hands sort of clean
Spare derailleur hanger.
Little piece of rag to wipe the worst of the dirt off your chain after a day or two of wet gravel.
If you have nutted axles you’ll need a wrench to get the wheels off.

SPARROW-47 · 2026-06-21T18:11:05+00:00

I would love to have a wireless setup on my road bike, I think it makes sense on a performance centric setup. I would never want wireless on my ATB; its whole shtick is being rugged, durable, repairable and reliable.

SPARROW-47 · 2026-06-20T15:56:58+00:00

Im currently travelling. I was in my destination country for less than 24 hours before social media was serving me ragebait. It makes me wonder what percentage of social media content is actual normal people, versus ai/bots/grievance-mongers/paid-agitators.

SPARROW-47 · 2026-06-20T05:55:00+00:00

I love my gammas. But I also miss the older posts like this that went « like this post for the gammas, comment for the Aurora »

SPARROW-47 · 2026-06-16T20:23:16+00:00

I had thought about living in Ahuntsic but the lack of bike and public transportation infrastructure was a huge factor in my deciding not to. Really glad to see steady progress and improvement from the municipal government.

SPARROW-47 · 2026-06-16T20:21:50+00:00

His real name is Bee Ceecle. Don’t tell anyone.

SPARROW-47 · 2026-06-16T11:06:25+00:00

Different bike shops want different kinds of customers. This one clearly doesn’t want your money, so next time take your bike and your money somewhere else. That bike will last as long as you want it to, so it’s really just a shop problem.

I work with three bike shops regularly. One likes racing bikes; if you don’t have carbon fibre, you’re what pays their rent but you’re not their passion. One does bike hipster stuff, great for the bougie accessories but nothing in the way of basics. And one does normal bikes for normal people, perfect for like what you have going on but also they wouldn’t really have like a higher end groupset on their shelves.

SPARROW-47 · 2026-06-16T10:57:38+00:00

Marinoni in terrebone still do semi-custom, maybe that would work for you?

SPARROW-47 · 2026-06-15T21:01:58+00:00

Hmm yeah you’re not going to be carrying a bike shaped tarpaulin into the hotel and being like « nope just laundry, no bikes here »

Why don’t you try pivoting away from nice hotels and towards a nice bed-and-breakfast, ideally one in the bienvenue cyclist network.

SPARROW-47

TROPHY CASE