Posted by Les Faber in Yesterday was questionable weather-wise. No matter! At 5 PM, Helen was chomping at the bit. “Come on, let’s go!”. We decided that we would ride from our house instead of putting the bikes on the car and going to a more bike-friendly locale.Off we went.
I won’t bore you with the details. The map below shows our entire route.
The thing about cycling with someone else is that you sometimes have different views of where you are going to go. Helen and I hadn’t really fixed a destination. We simply agreed that we would go cycling “somewhere”.
Before we knew it, we were at the Ottawa River Parkway and had a decision to make: East (downtown) or West (Andrew Haydon Park). Helen had a strong preference for “East”. Which way did we go you ask? Ummmm… ahhhh…… More on that in a minute.
Anyways, as we rode towards the center of the City (downtown), we realized what an absolutely beautiful city Ottawa is. Especially on a stellar Summer evening. For all the “pooh poohing” myself and others do about the City’s infrastructure for cyclists being lack luster in some quarters, the pathways run by the NCC are pretty darn good.
As you drive towards downtown (and Helen’s coveted chip wagon), you will come upon a beautiful spot along the Ottawa River where each year John Ceprano constructs a collection of Rock Art. I say each year as his work is destroyed every Winter by the River’s ice.
The entire length of the Parkway has views as you see above.
Note to Self: Heading West, look right. Heading Easy look left.
Our ride Downtown was relatively uneventful after this stop.
We stopped at the corner of Wellington & Metcalfe (Helen’s Chip Wagon). We stopped here for a break and some “nourishment”. Hey, we cycled quite a bit. Junk food is okay!
As we were leaving, I spotted a couple of bikes laden with camping gear etc…. Being the shy person I am, I approached the owners of the bikes and asked them where they were headed….. “St. John’s Newfoundland.”, replied one. “Where are you coming from?”. “Vancouver”, replied the other. Wow, simply amazing!
I gave them my e-mail address with the hope that one of the two would send me an e-mail and maybe blog a bit about their amazing journey from sea-to sea.
Note to Self: The longest day of Summer has passed. You have no idea when the sun will set. It is 7 PM and you are still in downtown Ottawa.
The imminent decent of the sun, necessitated a more direct route home.
We stopped for one photo opp.
The saga ends with Helen and I booting it home along some sketchy stretches of local roadway in order to pull into our driveway shortly after sunset.
We deserved the Corona!
Wow, fabulous ride! I’m envious of those guys riding coast-to-coast, what an adventure. I hope you hear from them.
How do you like your bike? I have the WSD of the Trek FX 7.5. I think my gears need some adjusting (again).
I wish we had the kind of bike paths you have. Although Portland, OR is touted as a bicycle-friendly city, I don’t know of any dedicated bike paths like that. (Of course I’m out in the suburbs where there is nothing remotely like that). There are some in the city (kind of on the outskirts) but nothing that goes through the city like that.
Hi Maureen,
It was so odd just running into those guys. Seems like it was meant to be.
Ottawa (the Nation’s Capital) has some awesome bike paths. Unfortunately we are a bit behind when it comes to road riding – getting there.
Look back on the site and Search for “ncc”. You’ll see all posts related to the National Cap[ital Commission trails.
Helen & I both have Treks. We love them. They also have disk brakes – loved by some, hated by others. We love ours.
I’ll be doing a tutorial this Winter on adjusting derailleurs. The Trek is easy as you can just turn the knob up by the shifter (once you have the cable adjusted).
There will also be some BLOG posts by Nadine & Mark who just came back from a trip to the Maritimes.
Funniest thing EVER. I saw a girl who obviously just got her fixie go down one of the hills here in San Francisco and smash the ground (she didn’t get hurt).