cycling in Ottawa
Record Year for Laurier Bike Lane
Reading Time: 5 minutesLaurier Bike Lane now has four full years and five fall seasons of data. We are taking a look at some of the bike counter data and try to find a trend.
Cycling
Designing the Innovative Greely Cycling Loop
Reading Time: 3 minutesLong considered Ottawa’s conservative heartland with black pick up trucks and Ottawa Sun readers, rural Ottawa is asking for bike infrastructure: “All our little neighbourhoods are separated by our big roads.”
Sharrows: the Big Leap Forward or Just an Evasive Side Step
Reading Time: 4 minutesIn which Dick van Veen ponders the good and bad of the use of sharrows as ‘infrastructure’
Seven fun mistakes in signs
Reading Time: 3 minutesI am the last one who claims my English is great. It is not my mother tongue. Spell checkers help a lot, but I tend to mix in Dutch grammar sometimes. You will often see Dutch people confusing ‘learn’ and ‘teach’ or ‘borrow’ and lend’ as the Dutch use one word for it. Prepositions Prepositions are always a challenge. Is is ‘on’ or ‘at’? Where does it go in the sentence? And it is ‘to mix in the ingredients’ and not ‘ to mix the ingredients in’. Why is is it big- bigger, but not handsome – handsomer? I still [Read more…]
Dutch Design in the Nation's Capital: Churchill Ave, Ottawa
Reading Time: 5 minutesIt must have been around 2010 when Joel Mulligan mulled over a beer at Pub Italia: “if we could only have a bit of Dutch bike infrastructure in Ottawa, so that people can experience what safe cycling is really about“. Few people around the table could envision that four years later, Churchill would be that ‘bit of Dutch bike infrastructure’. And not just five meters, but an entire avenue. Fifties design nearly put back in again For those who don’t know Churchill Ave, it was an old style 50’s era wide road, with some parking on both sides; a connector [Read more…]
The Most Beautiful Bike Path in the World is in Liguria
Reading Time: 6 minutesMention you have been to Italy, and people usually assume you have been to Rome, Venice, Tuscany and Pisa. The odd person mentions Capri, Sicily or even the Italian Alps, but few will ever ask if you have been to Liguria. Liguria Liguria is the province that stretches from the French border, past Genua towards Cinque Terre along the Mediterranean. Think Cannes, Nice, Monaco and then start from the border at Ventimiglia along that same coast eastbound. It feels like time stood still in Liguria and that is perhaps because it is mountainous (the Alpi Maritimi); perhaps that has kept [Read more…]
Nepean's Parks: a 19 km Bike Ride for Everyone
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…]
Bill 173: Amending the Highway Traffic Act for Cycling
Reading Time: 6 minutesDid you ever read Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act? I have to admit I have never gone through it with a dust comb, but I do flip through it once in a while. One of the oddities I found is that you don’t have to have a rear light (as I read it). Currently, you need to have a reflector or a red light. Indeed, you don’t need to have a rear light. Bill 173 is repairing a number of issues that society had already more or less accepted. Flashing Rear Lights Bill 173 is going to change that light issue. Or [Read more…]
Can you Bike, Skate and Walk to Work on Winter Bike to Work day?
Reading Time: 5 minutesNext week, February 14, 2014 is Winter Bike to Work Day. It is a day to celebrate winter cycling worldwide. Winter cycling is easier said than done as cycling in winter requires some preparation. If you haven’t biked in winter -and I mean serious winter, as in -20C to -30C (-4to -22F) sans wind chill, not those -2C Copenhagen ‘winters‘ extended autumns, you are likely thinking that winter cycling is a crazy thing to do. Not really. But you need a well equipped bike, a few extra layers of clothes and serious maintenance on your bike. It is not the [Read more…]
5 Gorgeous Dutch Bike and Ped Bridges + 1 Bike Garage
Reading Time: 3 minutesNetherlands’ cities have been building some fantastic bike infrastructure in 2012-2013. And not only in Amsterdam, but throughout the country. I collected some pictures from Twitter, Facebook and the web. Unfortunately, I don’t know who took the pictures, but I trust someone can let me know. Here are some pictures and a clip of a bridge in Zoetermeer (near The Hague) that is nearly finished. Plus one new bike parking garage for 1500 bikes (which is fairly small for a Dutch city). Of course, it is not always the cheapest option that is chosen, but don’t underestimate the effects of beautiful design. It puts [Read more…]