Along a Bike Route: the Royal Canadian Navy Monument in Ottawa

Reading Time: 4 minutesIn March, I posted a picture of our new Royal Canadian Navy Monument here in Ottawa. I have noticed a lot of traffic to my blog from people who were looking for pictures of the monument. Last week, we were out for a bike ride with our friend André, who for the first time in five years, took his bike down from the attic of his garage and started cycling again. And to make the news even better, he also commutes to work again (for the insiders, he lives in Westboro and loves the bike lanes on Scott). It took [Read more…]

Visiting Charleston, South Carolina

Reading Time: 5 minutesApril is not a great month in Ottawa, so my wife and I had planned a trip to South Carolina and Georgia’s low country along the coast. The coast line resembles very much the Dutch coast line of about a thousand years ago before the Dutch closed the gaps between the sand banks. That in it self doesn’t make it a holiday destination, unless you are a geography buff, but the lush green and warm weather definitely do. Ottawa’s ski season is over in April, the weather is usually not something to write home about, the trees are still bare [Read more…]

Video: “Summer Cycling in the City of Ottawa”

Reading Time: 2 minutesTwo nights ago, I gave a presentation in Kitchener Waterloo about cycling in the Netherlands and Ottawa. Talking about another country is one thing, but feels sometimes somewhat remote.  I find it much more useful to add some of the work that we do in Canada. My latest presentations saw therefore some time allocated to Ottawa too. People seem to really appreciate the stories (and some great pics) about Ottawa’s growing interest in cycling as a means to get around. Over the years, we have had our share of foreign speakers but I think Ottawa is now at a point with [Read more…]

Capital Velo Fest 2012 Fashion Show “A Model Event”

Reading Time: 5 minutesLast year in 2011, we had our first Capital Velo Fest at the front lawn of City Hall, better known as Marion Dewar Plaza. Ms. Dewar was a former mayor of Ottawa and mother of current MP for Ottawa Centre, Paul Dewar. The sun was out most of the day and hundreds of people dropped by. At the second edition of Velo Fest, the weather was unfortunately not very cooperative. This has obviously an effect on the numbers, as most of the day it was very quiet. There were a number of bike retailers, the MS Society, Envirocentre, Ottawa Bicycle [Read more…]