The festival was kicked off Thursday evening by the Guiseppe Marinoni exhibit which blew most people away. The man is a very talented frame builder based just outside of Montreal and has established a reputation of being a master in his craft amongst all bike lovers.
The evening was a pleasant mix of different scenes and out of the 200+ people who showed up, all were able to stand in awe in front of their favorite bike, while chowing down on a selection of chocolate pastries. Yum.
Cyclists brought in their Marinoni's to show off and take photos with Mr Marinoni himself who was in attendance the whole night. The walls were plastered with historical photos and of humbling images of the man working in his surprisingly small workshop.
Believe it or not, this was the first and only time that someone has paid tribute in this way to such an iconic figure within the cycling world. It was a long time coming and to say that the hommage was well deserved would be the understatement of the century.
The evening continued with a show at Katacombs a couple blocks away and slowly digressed into the night as people got tuckered out from all the bike talk.
Friday night was one of those nights where you wish there was enough Red Bull to keep people awake so that it could continue all weekend.
An awesome crew of cyclists from Boston came up and put on an evening of Gold Sprints racing for us Montrealers.
In Montreal, this doesn't happen to often, so some people took advantage and went all out!
The races were on stationary bikes and had two competitors racing for 400 Meters. The race generally lasted 20-30 seconds but man did it ever drain you. The adrenaline mixed with an assortment of drinks slushing around in your stomach can definitely cause a bit of tummy discomfort. That on top of the fact that 50+ plus people are screaming your name and all kinds of encouragement. OUF!
The next day, while some rested, others attended The Scavenger Hunt and had a a great time picking up some silly things for an afternoon. Everyone walked away with some awesome prizes and I hope to repeat this type of race again. Here are some photos of the challenges people had to do.
Collect the following items: A Light Bulb,A Watermelon, A Baked Good, A Flower, A Phone Book, A Condom
-A Photo of you with bathroom graffiti
-A photo of you on a swing
A photo of a bird, (no pigeons or seaguls)
-A Photo of a flat tire
-A Photo of you under a bridge
All in all, everyone had a great time and walked away with some prizes. Kryptonite locks, messenger bags, cranks and more!
Until next year BFF!
-The Cycle Bird
