Posted by Les Faber in Life is full of good things. Yesterday morning Helen & I were discussing our planned cycling excursion for this Holiday Monday (we didn’t take it). Instead Helen suggested that we head into the city and cycle along the Nation’s Capital’s beautiful bike paths. Her suggestion panned out into a lovely jaunt with various stops throughout our hometown.We began by parking our car and disembarked at Hog’s Back Park. From there we took Colonel By into the city, and crossed into the market where we just wandered around and looked here and there.
We did buy some potatoes & tomatoes for our BBQ later on.
Author’s Note: I bought 4 tomatoes. Helen absconded with one prior to my arrival home.
We also discovered that Ottawa does indeed have secure bike parking. For a nominal fee, one can leave their precious ride in the hands of a Summer Student in a secure area (Rideau & William). I never knew about this and have blogged previously saying that we need some of these it Ottawa.
We then went over to the Governor General’s Residence for a ride through the spectacular property.
Below: I tried my best to get the kid to talk. No go! They are well-trained. And it was frikkin’ hot & humid to boot!
Then it was off to the Prime Minister’s Residence for tea. Unfortunately I thought Helen was RSVPing and she thought I was. The predictable end result was that Mr. & Mrs. Harper were not home when we called (I thought I saw him peek out a window… Must have been my imagination.).
From there we zoomed over to Rockliffe Park where we had a short break.
Then back towards downtown where Helen took me down a little known access road to the Ottawa Rowing Club. Unless you know it is there, you will ride down Sussex Drive oblivious to its existence. The views from the dock are amazing. I must go back early one morning to capture some images of the rowers!
And then to the National Gallery where Helen snapped some more photos.
From here it was past the Chateau Laurier across the road to the NAC (National Art Center) and down the bike path along Queen Elizabeth Drive to Dow’s Lake. We stopped and chatted with a very nice lady who was promoting Bicycles for Humanity. We loved what she had to say and agreed to discuss ways we could support their goals. I’ll do a complete set of Blog posts on them and their mission if she contacts me as promised.
And then back to Hog’s Back and our contributor to the Earth’s carbon footprint (our car). Helen loaded up her bike. Me? I got a “brainwave”. Darn, I still had energy! I’d cycle home. It was only 15 kilometers or so. I should have gone with Helen. No sooner had I left that the skies opened up. I was drenched.
When I got home Helen (who had already showered etc…) told me that it was good practice for our cycling trip to Holland in September.
All in all, a great and invigorating (yet patriotic) cycling day for Helen & Les!
Looks like you had a great day out!
I am not sure I will ever need to visit Ottawa as it seems you have covered and described many of the sites here.
Sometimes I find that bike paths can be more trouble than they are worth – too fiddly, too many corners and too focussed on taking you away from traffic.
What are the bike paths like in Canada?
That looks and sounds like you had a great ride. I love those days were I just roam the city, preferably with Alberto and a few friends, explore and enjoy riding the bike and stop for coffee somewhere. It\’s the same feeling I used to have as a child riding my bike and feeling the freedom.
Thanks for sharing the pictures. Love seeing other parts of the world.
@ CyclePig: Thanks. It was truly a great day. As the Nation’s Capital, Ottawa is blessed with some awesome Cycling Paths (shared with walkers etc…). Unfortunately the city’s roads are a different story with a hodge podge of routes available to cyclists. Some of which even I am wary to ride on.
@ Groover: “Roam” is right! Helen & I kept on changing our minds and direction (maybe it was me!). That is one of the great things about cycling. You can just go in any direction. Your “child” comment brought me back to my days as a youth – looking for any reason to get on my bike!
Use Gravatars —- your image will appear in my our BLOG posts (Do I want a pink pig on our site?
I LOVE those secure biking parking areas! I\’m going to have to figure out who to suggest that to here.
DD: Did you read this post: http://www.cyclemania.ca/2008/07/cycling-amsterdam-ottawa-pay/.
Apparently people take the trains in from the outskirts of Amsterdam and pick up their bikes (mostly beaters) for the trip to their workplace. Ours (Ottawa’s) is a humble affair.
How to get one? Lobby? Send your local representative a link to my post!
Hi Les,
First chance I’ve had to get back here. I’m going to check with our local cycling advocacy group, Bicycle Transportation Alliance, and see if they can get something going for the bike parking. They probably know better than I who to contact for these things. Hopefully they will be eager to adopt something that can reduce bicycle theft.