Ottawa

Ottawa commuter

Opening Laurier Bike Lane in style

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

Reading Time: 4 minutesApproximately 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…]

Capital Velo Fest Ottawa a Relaxed Affair

June 4, 2011 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 3 minutesToday was a gorgeous day for Capital Velo Fest, the first bicycle festival in Ottawa. The weather was cooperating, the 60% change of showers never came and the twenty or so booths of companies and organisations like Envirocentre, Citizens for Safe Cycling and the Ottawa Bicycle Club attracted enough people to make it a nice social outing. Although most visitors were cyclists already, there was new stuff to see for them too. Especially the two cargo bikes, brought in by Tall Tree Bicycles, attracted a lot of attention, as did the recumbent bikes of Ergo Cycles in Ottawa. Everyone agreed [Read more…]

Successful Hintonburg Kids Ride

May 28, 2011 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 2 minutesThere is hope. A new generation of cyclists is taking to the roads. Kathleen Wilker organised a kids ride on May 28th from the Hintonburg Community Centre to the Parkdale Market and Arts Fair. Despite a somewhat gray morning, a few dozen kids and their parents came out for the ride of less than one kilometer. Kathleen gets it. No need for grants, no large advertising campaigns, just roll up the sleeves and organise a neighbourhood event. A very simple ride for the kids and T-shirts for the best decorated bikes made this a nice community event that doesn’t cost [Read more…]

NCC study on winter pathway usage

May 11, 2011 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe NCC commissoned a study on the usage of their pathways in wintertime. Although some claim that the winters in Ottawa are ‘cold and dark’ the numbers might stun you. Here are some results: Close to four in ten (36%) Canada’s Capital Region residents aged 16 and older (some 196,000 individuals) have used a recreational pathway during the winter months. An additional two in ten residents (21%, some 114,000 individuals) say there are winter activities they would do on the pathways if they were better maintained. Winter pathway users tend to be younger, and have higher incomes than do non-users [Read more…]

cars on bike lane in Ottawa

Cars in bike lanes at Dow’s Lake

August 10, 2010 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: < 1 minute. A few weeks ago, during the Tulip Festival or so, lots of cars where leaving the parking at Dow’s Lake. Rather than waiting, many of them used the bike lane to pass the left turning lane. When I pulled out my camera, they stopped doing it but I bet these are the same people who complain that bikes cycle on sidewalks. In autumn and spring, when traffic is busy, it happens all the time. Just before I took this picture I actually saw a girl sandwiched between two cars on the bike lane, as car-cyclist-car. Truly unbelievable.

Bike Sign Ottawa

Bike lane ends

May 9, 2010 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: < 1 minuteSo I am cycling home this week. Turned from Preston into Prince of Wales and all of a sudden there is this sign in the middle of the road. No alternative, no temporary bike lane. I often see the same for pedestrians:”please use other side” it would say. But sometimes there is no other side, or you have to jay walk. (Update on August 10, 2010: Citizens for Safe Cycling wrote to the NCC and the Ottawa Citizen. Both NCC and the City of Ottawa reacted swiftly and brought signs out to inform about detours in other areas in the [Read more…]