Month: July 2011

The small outdoors: 10 patios on Laurier (and 2 bonus food trucks)

July 19, 2011 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 3 minutes At first glance, Laurier Ave in Ottawa might come across as a concrete jungle-like street with uninspiring buildings. But in the end, it’s the people who ‘make’ a street: there are a number of coffee places and restaurants with outdoor terraces. I went out at lunch time and found 12 places with a terrace to watch the world go by and see cyclists in particular. Watching the world go by It is quite fun to see that virtually every few minutes someone cycles by, usually very calmly. Added bonus, you can keep an eye on your bike if you are [Read more…]

Opening Laurier Bike Lane in style

July 10, 2011 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 4 minutes Approximately 150 people gathered on the hot Sunday afternoon of July 10th, 2011 to witness the opening of the Laurier Bike Lane, which runs through downtown Ottawa. This bike lane is the first one of its kind in downtown Ottawa, to accomodate cylists who are not yet comfortable sharing the road with the hectic downtown traffic. City staff and cycling advocates have been successfully joining forces over the last two years to establish the long awaited down town cycling improvement. The lane came out under budget and ahead of schedule so that it could be enjoyed in the summer. The City’s bike lane [Read more…]

The Segregated Sisters of Bike Land

July 8, 2011 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 3 minutes My wife thinks I am crazy, but I can’t resist taking bicycle pictures while on holidays (about 200 more waiting for you). To celebrate the opening of the Laurier bike lane on July 10th, 2011 in Ottawa, here are a few images of our recent trip to Holland and Sweden. Seg bike lanes come in all kinds and I thought it is neat to see how other countries deal with an increasing number of cyclists on their roads. Scandinavia has an interesting concept: they often have shared pathways right along the car lanes, but elevated. Probably a good and relatively [Read more…]