u/ReadNo9737

Bonjour!

Sorry for the English! I’m moving to Montréal in a few weeks to join my (Québécoise) girlfriend, and I’m planning to improve my french through Francisation Québec.

I’m an active runner and would like to buy a second-hand road or gravel bike as soon as I move, mainly for cross-training, exploring the city, and travelling around Québec in general.

I’ve had very different experiences with cycling in Germany — very bike-friendly — and Italy. The latter was so traumatising I had to stop riding. Cars can be quite aggressive, bike lanes are often poorly maintained, and there can be a lot of hostility towards cyclists. Every time there’s an accident, you see people almost celebrating when the cyclist gets injured, or worse… I can't count the amount of times someone overtook too close and too fast, yelled at me, and it was making me so angry and scared that I simply gave up.

I’m not particularly concerned about the weather in Québec. I prepared for a marathon in Montréal last winter and it was definitely an experience! Coming from a temperate country, I learned a lot about wearing the right layers, protecting your hands, and choosing the right shoes.

What I haven’t experienced yet is cycling in the city. I know Montréal has plenty of bike lanes, sometimes better maintained than the roads themselves (eheh), and from what I remember from my previous summers there, they seemed to be full of cyclists.

But what about the drivers?

I try to be a very respectful cyclist: I follow the rules, traffic lights, and all the necessary safety precautions, and I obviously try not to get in anyone’s way or ride unpredictably.

Still, I’ve heard some fairly negative opinions about cyclists from my girlfriend’s family, so I’m wondering: is cycling in Montréal generally friendly and safe, especially in terms of interactions with drivers?

Hi guys, not a collector (yet!), not a native and first time posting here so please be merciful 😂

My parents recently moved to a new apartment and while moving 40 years of boxes and stuff from the old apartment, they unearthed +1000 collection cards (mostly football) from when my dad was a kid, and ~500 Pokémon cards me and my sister collected together as kids.

I will probably need another post to figure out what to do with my dad's cards (he doesn't care about them, but I'm sure I'll have to talk to him once I'll figure it out if there's any he has any emotional connections too, or others with economical values). I am a bit more familiar with the Pokémon cards and sister is giving a hand, but again not a collector and here is the question:

How should I protect them?

I know I am at the first stages, I want to protect them first and then figure out what to do. Most of them have been laying in a binder for 25 years (Pokémon), others (guess which) were completely loose in PLASTIC BAGS and, while the general conditions are not incredible, I still would like to save them.

Would normal plastic sleeves serve the purpose, or I should be aware of materials? I am not going with the cheapest/Etsy sleeves available, but it's almost 2000 cards and I don't know how much I could end up spending.

Help!