Day: May 4, 2009

Went out with Mike for a quick jaunt before sundown.  Old Montreal Rd has some killer incline.

Vero wanted to see how long it would take her to bike to work so we headed out from Vanier on a windy yet sunny day to see how we would manage.  I ended up buying a bike rack for my car so I could bring my bike over to Vero’s (or vice versa) because there have been multiple times when we want to bike together but I must admit biking twenty kilometers to her place and then continuing on is sometimes not ideal.

The bike rack is pretty neat.  It did scratch my trunk the first time putting it on in the Canadian Tire parking lot so I promptly bought some foam pieces to use as a buffer.  It’s definitely going to come in handy around Ottawa.

We started out from Vanier and headed down along the Riverside path.  You can see the river in various spots but for the most part, you are going alongside a forest.  There were a few hills that we had to tackle and we had to stop to think about where the path would lead us as we had not brought our cycling map.  By the way, the Ottawa cycling map (thanks Eric!) is quite amazing.  Not only does it show what routes there are throughout Ottawa, but suggests routes that avoid traffic areas.  This will help me plan out my trek from Orleans to work.

As I mentioned before, it was quite windy and it didn’t help any when we got off the path at Prince of Wales and cycled along the shoulder.  It was quite hard to bike against the wind and when we hit Collonade it was in full force.  What a pain in the ass.

We ended up at Vero’s work within an hour of leaving.  She was impressed by the timing and is planning to bike as often as she can now that she knows it’s doable.  Plus, I would hope that most days would not have much wind so I’m sure she can shave off 10-15 minutes off her ride considering she now knows the route.

We took a break on the lawn and then headed to Tim Horton’s to get a bite to eat.  We had these new ‘wrap snacks’ where they are miniature chicken ranch wraps.  I commented that I didn’t see why they claimed they were miniature…my own sandwiches that I make for my lunch are the same size!  Then we realized that you definitely get a bigger portion wherever you eat outside of your own home.

After a break, we hit the road again and headed back towards Hogs Back but instead of taking the Riverside path back, we figured we would try the Colonel By path along the Rideau Canal.  This path gave me the excitement of cycling.  The wind was at our backs, the view along the Canal is beautiful, people were out jogging, cycling, playing…it was a grand day!  I couldn’t get over how beautiful the city was.  I commented to Vero about how little I have seen of the city core along the Canal and thought about how much I would use it if I could bike along it every day.

With the wind at our backs, we made super, super time and ended back at Vero’s place within 45 minutes.  The one thing I like about biking is trying to determine the most optimum path to where I want to go.  This may not always mean the quickest…I also take in aestetics as well.  I introduced Eric to the paths along the Ottawa River and even though it’s a little longer trip for him, he said he really appreciated biking through the forest and seeing deer once in awhile.  It beats the heck out of watching cars zoom by you.

My ass was definitely sore after biking for two hours and my legs were stiffening up after the ride, but it was well worth it.  We had a great time out there.  I question how much cardio exercise is does produce as I feel that I rarely breathed heavily and I never really broke a sweat, whereas when I jog, I’m done for in approximately 3.4 minutes!

Soon, I shall start biking to work.  I bought another bike rack which attaches to the back of my bicycle (unlike the one for my car, which Mom thought I was talking about and couldn’t understand how the bike rack went over my rear tire) which I can definitely strap my backpack to instead of having it on my back.  I checked out some panniers (or as I like to call them, saddle bags) and I think I shall invest in them later on in the summer.

If I haven’t made it public knowledge here yet, my ultimate goal for this summer is to bike to Montreal from Ottawa.  I have spoken with Uncle Gerry and it sounds quite feasible.  I don’t know if I have the endurance to bike long distances yet (4+ hours?) but I will try and reach those goals and I want to see if I enjoy it.  This plan originated party from Uncle Gerry’s love to cycle (and reading about his grand adventures) as well as the realization that see more of an area while biking.  Vero and I have spoken about going to France to visit Uncle Gerry and Aunt Shoko at some point and I said if we did, I would like to cycle around France instead of going by public transportation.  So the trip to Montreal is a test to see if I would like to cycle on a long trip.  We’ll see…if I don’t like it, so be it.  I still love cycling and do enjoy biking across the city.  If I do end up loving it, that opens up an entire world of adventures.