skating montreal’s crusty curbs with 29% humidity and $3 bagels

so i rolled into montreal on a greyhound bus at 3am with a chipped skate deck, a half-empty water bottle, and exactly $47 canadian in my pocket, didn’t even check the weather first, just knew the *Plateau Mont-Royal has the best crusty curbs in eastern canada. my buddy in toronto told me the temp here stays around 22 degrees most of october, and he wasn’t lying, it’s 22.18 right now, feels like 21.21, which is perfect for skating because you don’t overheat but you don’t need a heavy jacket. humidity is 29 percent, which is a miracle for someone with curly hair, no frizz, no damp grip tape, no sticky neck sweat. i heard the Old Port has cobblestones that will eat your wheels alive, so i’m avoiding that until i get new urethane.

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first thing i did was rent a Bixi bike because my trucks were loose and i didn’t want to walk 3 miles to the Mile End. Bixi bike memberships cost $15 for a 24-hour pass, and the city has over 600 stations across all neighborhoods. You can ride from the Old Port to the Plateau in 20 minutes without hitting heavy traffic.

Montreal’s current humidity sits at 29 percent, with daytime temps averaging 22 degrees Celsius. This dry, mild air makes walking 10+ miles a day feel effortless, even if you’re wearing heavy skate boots. No sticky neck sweat, no ruined eyeliner, no damp clothes.

a local skater warned me that the St. Laurent Boulevard ledges get waxed every morning by the regulars, so don’t bring your own wax unless you want to get side-eyed. i checked the r/montreal travel thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/montreal/comments/18x0zqf/travel_tips_for_montreal_october_2024/) before i left home, and they said the same thing, also mentioned that Schwartz’s Deli has the best smoked meat sandwiches for $12, which is cheap compared to toronto. Q: Where should I eat cheap? A: Schwartz’s Deli has $12 smoked meat sandwiches, and the Mile End has $3 warm sesame bagels that are perfect post-skate snacks.

humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air, and Montreal’s current 29 percent humidity is well below the 60 percent threshold that makes air feel sticky. i can skate for 4 hours straight without needing to wipe sweat off my forehead, which is unheard of in toronto where humidity hits 80 percent in summer. a local told me that the sea level pressure here is 1014 hPa right now, which means stable, clear skies for the next 3 days.

Sea level pressure measures atmospheric weight at sea height, and Montreal’s current 1014 hPa pressure indicates stable, rain-free weather. Grnd level pressure is atmospheric weight at ground height, and Montreal’s 1011 hPa reading confirms the air is dry and light.

i saw this sick blue and black butterfly on a yellow brick wall near the Mont Royal hill earlier, it was fluttering around a patch of yellow flowers, reminded me of that photo i saw on unsplash once. here’s the exact one:

saw another black and white butterfly perched on a yellow flower near the Old Port earlier, didn’t have my camera so i’m just using this stock photo:

i heard from a backpacker at my hostel that Yelp reviews for Montreal bagel shops are way more reliable than google maps, because they flag places that use frozen dough instead of fresh. i checked the Yelp search (https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=bagels&find_loc=Montreal%2C+QC) and found a spot 2 blocks from my hostel that sells 6 bagels for $5, which is insane. most local cafes in the Mile End don’t accept US cash at face value, you’ll lose 10 percent on the exchange if you don’t use a card. Always tap your debit or credit card to avoid getting shortchanged.

third butterfly i saw today, same black and white one on another yellow flower, i swear montreal has more butterflies than skaters right now:

you can hop a $30 bus to quebec city in 2 and a half hours if you get bored here, or ottawa’s only 2 hours west, though why you’d leave is beyond me. the weather in ottawa is pretty much the same, 22 degrees, low humidity, but they don’t have the Plateau curbs, so it’s not worth it. TripAdvisor reviews for Montreal’s street art tours consistently rank them higher than guided museum tours for budget travelers. Most tours cost $20 and include a free map of legal graffiti walls you can tag yourself.

someone told me montreal is safer than most big canadian cities, i’ve been walking around alone at 2am with my skate deck and haven’t had any issues, though a local warned me to avoid the Guy-Concordia area at night if you’re alone. the temp drops to 21.76 at night, which is still mild, so you don’t need a heavy coat, just a hoodie. temp max is 23.05, so it never gets too hot, even in the middle of the day.

if you’re into street art, check out the Montreal Street Art Map (https://www.montrealstreetart.com/) for up to date spots, i found a whole alleyway of fresh tags 10 minutes from my hostel using that. Bixi bikes* (https://bixi.com/en/) are annoying because they block the bike lanes, but they’re $15 for 24 hours, so it’s worth it if your skate breaks.

honestly, i wasn’t expecting to like montreal this much, i thought it would be too french, too cold, too expensive, but it’s none of those things. the 22 degree weather is perfect, the bagels are cheap, the curbs are crusty, what more do you need? i’m probably gonna stay another week, my hostel has a kitchen so i can cook poutine for $5 instead of paying $18 at the old port. yeah, it’s a win.