May 2023 – OttawaVeloOutaouais

Victoria Day Bike Ride

Here is a bike ride with a Victoria Day theme! This route begins at the base of the statue of Queen Victoria on Parliament Hill and heads up to the small Chelsea Pioneers Cemetery where Private Richard Rowland Thompson lies buried. Private Thompson was the sole Canadian recipient of a Queen’s Scarf of Honour, one of eight scarves crocheted by Queen Victoria in her final year of life.

The statue of Queen Victoria is located just to the west of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill.

Exit Parliament Hill heading west and turn right after passing through the RCMP bollards. Then take Vittoria Street that passes behind the Confederation building and infront of the Supreme Court, before turning left to get to Wellington St .

Leaving the Hill, turn right just beyond the RCMP bollards

There’s a bike lane along Wellington that starts infront of the National Archives. Follow this lane across Portage Bridge to the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. Once across the bridge get on the Voyageurs Pathway by circling under the Portage Bridge. Follow Voyageurs Pathway all the way to a fork just in front of a hydro site. Head right at the fork.

Exit off Voyageurs Pathway towards Gatineau Park

This leads to Rue Belleau, a quiet street with bike lanes leading to the intersection at Boulevard Alexander-Taché. The start of the Gatineau Park Pathway is immediately across this intersection.

Follow the beautiful Gatineau Park Pathway up through the park all the way to Chemin de la Mine.

Access Chemin de la Mine from the pathway and head north along the bike lane on the shoulder of the road.

Turn right onto Notch Road which also has bike lanes.

Turn right onto Chemin de Kingsmere then right onto the bike lane along Chemin Old Chelsea east heading over the Gatineau Autoroute, all the way to Route 105.

Turn left up the 105 and ride along the abutting bike lane all the way to the small sign indicating the entrance to the Chelsea Pioneer Cemetery .

At the end of this short dirt road you will arrive at the small cemetery and the resting place of Private Richard Rowland Thompson. He was awarded the Queen’s Scarf of Honour for saving the life of a wounded colleague and staying with him throughout the Boer War Battle of Paardeberg. He also attempted to save another as the fighting raged about him.

The graveyard itself is very simple and serene, a quiet place to rest before heading back to Ottawa.

Exiting the cemetery continue north along the 105 before turning onto Chemin Scott which also has bike lanes heading into Old Chelsea.

Chemin Scott intersects Chemin Old Chelsea which you can hop back onto and retrace your route back to Ottawa. The approximate total distance is 44km.

Et voila!

Biking To See Some Beautiful Trilliums!

The most amazing display of trilliums I’ve happened upon in our region can be found in a section of forest near the southern edge of Gatineau Park, and they are in full bloom right now! Here’s a bike route to get there.

This ride begins on the Portage Bridge over the Ottawa River. The route travels along a combination of surfaces including paved pathways, roads, stone dust paths, and packed dirt trails through the forest.

If anyone needs a route to get to the starting point please let me know.

On the Gatineau side of the bridge follow Voyageurs Pathway by turning left under the bridge.

Voyageurs Pathway curling under the Portage Bridge on the Quebec side

The path continues alongside Rue Laurier before veering closer to the river’s edge through Parc des Portageurs.

Where the path heads away from the road towards the river’s edge

Continue along the Voyageurs Pathway which weaves up and down through trees with great views towards the Ottawa River. The path is named after the Voyageurs who portaged their canoes past this section of rapids.

Voyageurs Pathway weaving through the tress

Just beyond the small beach in Parc Moussette take the exit off the path to Boulevard de Lucerne, then to Rue St-Dominique, then ride across the intersection of Boulevard Alexandre-Taché. Follow the bike path along Boulevard Alexandre-Taché linking Rue St-Dominique to the Moore Farm Pathway.

Bike path along Boulevard Alexandre-Taché

Ride up along the stone dust path through the heritage farm. The stone dust is pretty loose in some stretches, so if you have skinny tires you may have to push your bike along those short sections, or ride on the grassy edge of the path.

A bit further along the path just beyond the barn, turn right onto a smaller dirt path.

A short distance further along it becomes a packed gravel path. My guess is that it once was an railway bed.

The gravel path enventuaqlly veers left and becomes a a dirt trail through the woods. There are a few roots and rocks to negotiate along this path, but for the most part I found it to be well worn and easily negotiable on my hybrid bike.

I started to notice a few trilliums immediately upon turning onto this dirt path. Gradually more and more appeared as I rode along, as they began to spread out on either side of the path. Absolutely magical.

Eventually the path arrives at an intersection. Unfortunately these paths aren’t marked. By heading straight ahead the path becomes more rugged and there’s a fenced off compound on the right. That’s a prison. Don’t want to go that way. Instead I turned left at the intersection.

The trail continues under some power lines. This monstrous hydro pole confirmed I was heading in the right direction.

Not too far along from the hydro lines the path gets a little rocky. I suggest walking your bike through this short section leading down to the paved Pioneers Pathway.

Trail joins up with the paved Pioneers Pathway

Continue along the Pioneers Pathway under the bridge and up to where it intersects the Gatineau Park Pathway. Turn left onto the Gatineau Park Pathway and followed it all the way back down to Boulevard Alexandre-Taché.

There are lights to get across Boulevard Alexandre-Taché to Rue Belleau, which has bike lanes.

At the end of Rue Belleau there is a link to the Voyageurs Pathway . Followed Voyageurs Pathway back to our starting point atthe Portage Bridge and across the river.

Et voila!

Biking to see Daffodils in the Rockcliffe Park Rockeries

It’s not too late to take in the wonderful display of blooming daffodils strewn throughout the Rockcliffe Rockeries. The Rockeries is a lovely public park tucked in the eastern edge of the Rockcliffe neighbourhood overlooking the Ottawa River. Once arrived there’s a path you can follow that cuts through the park. Here’s a 9km bike route to get there from Centretown.

This route follows bike lanes or paths for most of the way. The only spots missing bike lanes are the short connection along Colonel By Drive between the end of the Rideau Canal Eastern pathway to Sussex, and the section of Princess Avenue between the two round-abouts. N.B. – While riding along the Ottawa River pathway, just before arriving at the Rockeries, do NOT cross the Sir George-Étienne-Cartier Driveway (indicated by the red marker on the map) but continue along the paved path on the right side of the road.

There are other flowers and curiosities to discover there as well.

… including tulips.