The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 7

3 THE GAZETTE. MONTREAL, THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1991 Cross-country excites West Trip could result in cycling trek Island bikers better bike paths Pointe Claire cracks down on illegal parking at Fainfiew ------are. -y -vi 'Jf AtJ tv vj GAZETTE. MARIE-FRANCE C0ALLIER Teacher Joanne Fafoutis (back row, centre) and Grade 6 class with models at Valois Park Elementary School. PLAYGROUND Wood chips, bottles used to construct model swings and slides AARON DERFEL THE GAZETTE It's a long way by bike from Picr-rcfonds to Richmond, B.C., but Sophie Tessier and Maria Pia Chavez wouldn't travel any other way.

For these two university students, the 5.000-kilometre cross-Canada trip is a cyclist's dream. It's also a chance for them to raise awareness about the merits of cycling and the need for a cross-Canada bike path. "I love everything about cycling being on the road and being surrounded by nature," the 20-year-old Tessier said last week in an interview. "You don't get that feeling when you're in a car." No slouch on bike Tessierand Chavez boarded their sleek racing bikes Friday and sped away from a gathering of well-wishers at Pierrefonds city hall. They expect to reach the west coast by Aug.

8 a 2'3-month trip. To do that, they'll have to pedal about 100 kilometres a day. They'll return by airplane. Tessier, a Universite de Montreal biology student, conceded that the trip will be a tough one. "I don't know if I'm in the right shape to do this," she said.

"I'm really ready for this mentally but I don't know if I'm physically OK. Tessier, who is less than five feet tall, is a powerhouse of energy. She plays touch football and last year the basketball team she plays on won the provincial CEGEP championships. Chavez, 23, of Montreal, is no slouch on a bike either. She has cycled through Europe and the Gaspe region.

Last summer, Chavez and Tessier cycled together to Vermont. Tessier said she was inspired to Hie Names Are i Mr 1 llp.fjy jmfr uhhm TtoiitoiWH vmmm OEfiJlL ANN CARROLL THE GAZETTE It's Saturday afternoon and you just want to duck into the Fairview Pointe Claire Shopping Centre for a few minutes to pick up some bagels and a birthday card. Because of the on-going construction, there's not a parking space in sight not unless you want to hike back to the mall from halfway across the parking lot. Thinking of nipping into a reserved space for the handicapped or behind that line of cars already parked in the fire lane? Forget it. "We'll tolerate no illegal parking," said Maurice Lamoureux, director of the Pointe Claire fire department.

Although parking at the mall has been disrupted by construction of a new Sears store on the south side of the shopping centre, shoppers are warned to walk a few extra feet rather than park illegally. Municipal officials will slap $10 tickets on cars parked in firelanes. And Station 1 1 police patrols are placing $30 tickets on cars parked illegally in spaces reserved for the handicapped. With 5,200 parking spaces normally available at the mall, parking shouldn't be a problem despite construction, said Fairview general manager Suzanne Duchesne. "The construction teams are working in modules so they free up parking spaces as they go," she added.

"We haven't had any complaints from our customers." Additional parking at the mall will be available when the Ultramar gas station at the west end of the parking lot closes June 30. Fairview Cinema, in the southwest corner of the lot, is expected to move to Terrarium Pointe Claire on Hymus Blvd. by March 1992. IMCTAI I Cn 5fP tually an old soap dish. The two collaborated on a model that also contains picnic tables, a fireman's pole next to the fort, a swing for six, a curved slide, monkey bars, an obstacle course with giant tires and a huge swing suspended from two Popsicle sticks.

The obstacle course is three plastic bracelets glued together. The swing contains hooks for seats. The tiny lamps around the yard are, in fact, stir-sticks. And the fireman's pole is part of a broken antenna from Williams's radio. While other builders used felt or dough for grass, Williams and Beaulieu preferred wood shavings taken from the cage of a dear departed hamster to represent the wood chips that would be used in a real playground.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE G1 search for it." One group of students remembered to include garbage cans in their model playground. The garbage pails, painted pink with "Thank-you" on one side and "Merci beaucoup" on the other, were originally tiny milk containers provided in restaurants. Only one group used the top of a wide-mouthed bottle to fashion a merry-go-round, but several favored Popsicle sticks as a building material. "We actually ate Popsicles five each," said Amanda Williams, II. "We had to because we didn't have enough for the fort and swing," said Laura Beaulieu, 12, who noted that the sandbox was ac BATH-MAGIC) ACRYLIC TUB LINERS AND BATH WALLS OWED R.

J. Laws Insurance Ltd. RESIDENTIAL AUTOMOBILE COMMERCIAL 458-2011 222 Main Rood, Hudson, Qc travel across Canada by bike after three friends did it last summer. "When the guys came back and showed us pictures, I said I just had to do it," she recalled Along the way to Richmond, Tessier and Chavez will stop off in villages and towns where they hope to collect more than 5,000 names on a petition they will send to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. The petition will urge the federal and provincial governments to establish safe and efficient cycling paths in urban areas of Canada.

It also will ask for the construction of a national cycling path adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway. "We need a national cycling path because right now there are hundreds of detours," said Tessier. "And it would be great if we had a path adjacent to the Trans-Canada on the West Island. "People drive in and out of the West Island. Why can't they take their bikes instead?" Learned bike repairs Rene Mercier, a Transport Canada spokesman, said that bicycle paths are outside the federal government's jurisdiction.

"Now, all bicycle paths are built by municipal and regional governments," he said. To avoid problems along their journey, Tessier and Chavez have learned bicycle mechanics at a Beaconsfield bike shop. The trip has cost them $2,500 each, including most of the cycling gear and the return air fare. Tessier and Chavez plan to save money by camping out during their trip. Is Tessier at all worried about roughing it in the wilderness? "Sure, that's no problem," she answered, smiling.

"We'll meet the bears." Ns mar lit HmJ Wei! Woman's hashton TV''t 1( The project required students to use recycled materials, teacher Joanne Fafoutis explained. "They were told not to buy anything they were to use items that would normally be thrown out," said Fafoutis, who dreamed up the idea of creating an environmental playground for the school. "An important aspect was to ask the kids what they want," she said, adding that her class canvassed the whole school for ideas. Each model is to be photographed by the school's environment committee. "The committee will decide what possibilities exist for making a real-life playground incorporating these ideas," Fafoutis said.

"We hope we can compare ours with thcir's when we make our playground. Since 1954 BUSINESS HOURS Mon. Tues. Wed. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

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