Cycling in Ottawa

Dream start of 45th NCC Sunday Bike Day Season

May 18, 2015 Hansonthebike 4

Reading Time: 5 minutesIt seemed like everyone was out cycling yesterday. Sunday May 17 was the first day of the Alcatel Lucent NCC Sunday Bike Days. The weather couldn’t have been better. Sunday, sunny, low humidity (under 40%) and 24 C/75F by 5 pm. And the numbers showed it: over 5000 bike rides were counted near Canal Ritz on the Sunday before Victoria Day Monday by the underground bike counters, and many more were cycling on the road as the paths were overcrowded. It was one of those perfect days in Ottawa. The NCC (a federal agency) closes 25 km of roads in [Read more…]

Central Experimental Farm Under Threat Once Again

November 17, 2014 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 7 minutesSo another part of the Central Experimental Farm is lopped off. I thought that heritage status would have protected the Farm from further deterioration, but no, it appears that heritage status means nothing. I have been cycling over the Farm for years and it is by far the best part of my commute. The maximum speed is 30 km/h but most drivers go faster. I’d like to see that enforced better, as it is a working farm,  but five cars on a three km stretch is still a great cycling experience. But what is more important is that when you pass through [Read more…]

12 Ads with Bikes: How Bikes Sneak Into Main Stream Advertising

November 13, 2014 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 4 minutesRemember the time that cycling was associated with either racing or  enviro-types who cycled out of principle? Those bearded types in home knit sweaters and goat wool socks, with safety vests, mirrors, reflective straps, and a milk crate duct-taped to the bike? That time when banks, consultants, coffee shops and drug stores had no desire to be associated with anything that remotely resembled a bicycle or their riders? When cycling had a negative association? When people felt bad for you when you arrived by bike? But times are achanging. When even bankers start to advertise with cycling images in their [Read more…]

From Terry Fox to the Experimental Farm

July 28, 2014 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 7 minutesA description of a bike ride from Kanata to Ottawa's Nepean, south of the Experimental Farm near Baseline. Nearly the entire route goes over bike lanes (10% and Multi Use Pathways (80). IT is not the shortest route, but a very safe one. You can take a Rack and Roll bus back from Ottawa.

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Nepean's Parks: a 19 km Bike Ride for Everyone

May 20, 2014 Hansonthebike 2

Reading Time: 5 minutesI had to bring a book back to the library and we decided to make a little outing out of it. Usually I take it back to the Main branch down town during lunch hour, but today (Victoria Day) we decided to cycle to the Centrepointe branch in Nepean, even though the Emerald Plaza branch is closer. It turned into an 19 km ride, mostly on bike paths, through parks and underneath hydro poles.   With an average speed of 14 km/hour (that included checking the map and taking some pictures) it took us about an hour and 20 minutes. [Read more…]

Barrhaven Bicycling

December 11, 2013 Hansonthebike 3

Reading Time: 5 minutesThis winter, to beat the winter blues, I will post some sunny material that is still on the desk from earlier this year. Late August, we wanted to go for a shorter ride on a Sunday morning, but we didn’t feel like doing the closed loop along the Ottawa River once again, so after some staring on maps, we decided to go to Jan Harder territory. We packed out passports and cycled to Barrhaven. Barrhaven! When we were pondering buying a house in the late nineties, we took a look at Barrhaven, but we were nervous that the commute into [Read more…]

Ciclovia, Ottawa Style Since 1970

August 13, 2013 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 4 minutesSince 1970 Ottawa (or more precise, the National Capital Region) organises Ciclovias. The name Ciclovia was invented later, and originates in South America. Ottawa simply calls it Sunday Bikedays. A number of Canadian cities followed around 2011, so Ottawa really set the standard for Canada a long time ago. The NCC organises about 13 Ciclovias a year, between Victoria Day (late May) until Labour Day (early September). The principle is the same: close a bunch of roads for motorised traffic and allow people to cycle for a few hours. While ideally people cycle every day, many people prefer to cycle [Read more…]

Canada Day: Checking Out the Capital by Bike

July 2, 2013 Hansonthebike 5

Reading Time: 7 minutesWe’re not big crowd fans. We’d rather be on our own on days like Canada Day, than be with 500,000 others in down town Ottawa. There is not much attraction in seeing people with flags wrapped around their shoulders and belting out “O Canada’ at any given moment, in pubs, in buses, walking along the road or sitting in parks. But it is a day off, the weather was nice and that makes for a good bike ride. To stick to the Canada Day theme, we thought we should cycle past about 20 national treasures in the Nation’s capital. We [Read more…]

Cycling Towards Hot Air

September 4, 2012 Hansonthebike 1

Reading Time: 5 minutesGatineau is closer than you think. Mentally, Gatineau and Nepean are far apart for me. They aren’t really though. Mind you, Nepean is large, but we live just South of the Experimental Farm so although it is technically old Nepean, it is the closest area of Nepean to down town. Yesterday, we decided to cycle to the Balloon Festival in Gatineau along some scenic routes, but still fairly direct. The Experimental Farm is closed for car traffic in the weekend, and hence a great connector for people from Nepean cycling to Hintonburg, Little Italy and down town and further North. [Read more…]

Cycling with Just Food Ottawa on a Hot Summer Day

August 28, 2012 Hansonthebike 3

Reading Time: 6 minutesChecking out community gardens on excellent bike tour by Just Food Ottawa I never knew so many cyclists would be interested in food and community gardens. Gardening, food and cycling, three of my long term favourites. Last Sunday, after a failed attempt a year before, I finally made it to the Just Food community garden tour. “Just Food’s mission is to work towards a vibrant, just and sustainable food system in the Ottawa region. Just Food is a grassroots, non-profit organization that includes staff, volunteers, community partners, members and funders“, says their website. Both my grandfathers in Holland grew vegetables [Read more…]