Author: ottawavelo

InsulBrick is a tar coated fibreboard siding introduced in the 1930’s that was  super popular up to and throughout the 1960’s. It has a slightly embossed stone or brick pattern, enhanced with added granular material on the outer surface. It hasn’t been manufactured since the early 70’s, so what’s out there is the real McCoy. All surviving examples show signs of aging, some gracefully, others, not so much. Regardless, all suggest a rich history of protecting generations of occupants thoughout all the conditions imposed by our wildly diversified climate. 

10 years ago I posted a first bike tour of local InsulBrick covered houses. The following route re-visits the surviving examples, along with others that I have since discovered around town. There seems to be no desire by local heritage groups to preserve examples of this vanishing form of mid-century faux-wunder-cladding, so I have included photos of the buildings that have since vanished, identified as white ghost markers on the map. You can see what they looked like by clicking on their respective markers.

InsulBrick has also become a popular generic term to describe the tar impregnated exterior covering first patented in 1932 as Inselbrick and includes Inselstone, Inselwood and a few other imitations. 

First stop is this great example at the corner of Armstrong St and Hinchey Avenue in Hintonburg. Many other older houses along Armstrong have recently been torn down and replaced with boxy infills but this house survives! I spoke to the owner, a very friendly french woman, who said they have no plans to replace or cover the insulBrick surfaces. One senses a lot of tender loving care goes into maintaining this home.

Next stop is on Breezehill Ave S. which could very easily be mistaken for a brick house, but it’s InsulBrick! The clearest  indication is how the pattern does not reproduce the 2 to 1 overlapping stacked brick pattern on the corner where the walls meet. The clever use of ivy helps too.

There are two more examples in this neighbourhood two blocks over on Champagne Ave S. This first one has a faux cut stone pattern.

A few doors down you will find this more eclectic example.

Our next destination is 642 MacLaren Street, and what a beauty it is! So well preserved, one has to take a really close look to see that it is in fact InsulBrick. As mentioned at the Breezehill stop, corners are where the truth is told. To hide how Insulbrick patterns don’t correspond to real brick at corner junctions, a corner strip is often applied, as was in this case.

A few blocks over on Florence St this house has been holding its own, with the preserved carved porch detailing on the porch set in contrast to the darker InsulBrick.

Over on 446 Lisgar St the InsulBrick was poorly added to the front portion of an already existing building. This example is really showing it’s age, especially in contrast to the original brick still visible on the back portion of the building. Most of the houses visited on this tour were originally clad in Insulbrick, but it wasn’t uncommon for additions to older homes, once additions were added, that Insulbrick be used. For example the 100+ year old house we live in in Centretown, not far from this house on Lisgar, had a first and second floor addition added to the back mid-century that was clad in Insulbrick. It in turn was covered with wood siding. The penetrable nature of Insulbrick allows it to be easier to simply cover it with modern siding versus removing it. I imagine there are a great many houses throughout the city that still retain the original InsulBrick siding that is covered up.

In the Overbrook neighbourhood you will find this example with a combination of stucco and Insulbrick in a manner that avoids showing the telltale corner detailing.

Now we ride over the mighty Ottawa River and check out some InsulBrick clad homes on the Gatineau side. First stop is on the edge of the Gatineau River along Rue Jacques Cartier, a bit north of the Lady Aberdeen Bridge. It appears to be holding its own.

A bit further up-stream you will find another imitation grey-stone example.

Next it’s over to the Wrightville neighbourhood where you will find this multi-tonal brick pattern at the corner of Demontigny & Amherst. These tiles might have been made in different batches that may have matched when installed but have weathered differently over time. Other than that it looks in great shape.

Two doors down is another surviving InsulBrick house.

Further east on Rue Falardeau sits this surviving InsulBrick-er.

Over on Rue Kent sits this poor little house that’s on it’s last legs. I believe it and a number of adjacent houses are intended to be torn down by a developer.

Over on Rue de Notre-Dame-de-l’Ile this house has InsulBrick on the front and adjacent sides. On the side visible in this photo it has been covered with vinyl siding.

Our final stop brings us a block north where you will find this combo InsulBrick pattern with a stone on the first floor and brick on the top floor.

So there you have it – a tour of some of the few remaining InsulBrick covered houses in the region.

Et voila!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

The  Ottawa River timber trade was the nineteenth century production of squared timber along with other wood products. As the major industry of the historical colonies of Upper and Lower Canada, the trade was instrumental in establishing communities on both sides of the river that became Ottawa and Gatineau. This 3km ride along bike paths and multi-use pathways visits various interpretive displays along the Ottawa River that help describe the history and significance of the timber trade in the region.

Our ride begins just off the Ottawa River Pathway behind the War Museum. Here you will find an interpretive display describing the 19th century origins of the local lumber industry. You can stand on a crib, multiples of which formed a timber raft. Interpretive panels describe how in the 1800’s you would have seen giant rafts made up of cribs in the river before you. The interpretive panels also describe how these timber rafts, composed of hundreds of logs, would become temporary floating villages for the Raftsmen delivering the timber down the Ottawa River.

Further east along the Ottawa River Pathway you will happen upon Mill Street Brew Pub located in an old grist mill built in 1842. On the east side of the building, looking out across the river, you will see a timber slide. This is where the aforementioned cribs would float down to avoid the Chaudière Falls. In 1972 the V shaped slide visible from this spot replaced the wider square shaped slide that originally accomodated the width of the cribs. More on the history of the slide can be found here.

Ride under the Portage Bridge and follow the paths that circle up and onto the bridge. Take the segregated bike lane across the bridge to the Gatineau side of the river, then turn down to the right along the Voyageurs Pathway that runs along the waters edge.

Along this pathway you will happen upon this interpretive panel describing the history of this shoreline, providing context to when the lumber trade was dominant.

A short distance further along the path you will find this vertical display celebrating log drivers whose job was to break up piles of logs to avoid log jams.

Continue along the Voyageurs Pathway under the Alexandra Bridge into Jacques Cartier Park. A short distance into the park you will find a display of three interpretive panels, one of which hi-lites the story of Big Joe Mufferaw, a legendary lumberman from the era of the timber trade.

Further along the pathway beside a small heritage house called Maison Charon you will find another display of three panels, one of which describes Philemon Wright the first settler who started up the local lumber trade. Included in this display is a scale reproduction of a broad axe. This important tool was used to square logs so that they may be assembled into crips and rafts before floating down river.

For those who would like to read more about the era of the Ottawa River timber trade I recommend checking out this link.

Et voila! Happy trails.

It’s been 10 years since I began this blog. It started out as a fun efort to share bits about biking around the area. A few years prior I had set out on a mission to ride all the streets in the region at least once. After happening upon so many amazing discoveries, I wanted to share a few right here. All good and fun, and I got better, spurred on by positive feedback. Then the big epiphany hit. While attending a Bike Ottawa annual general meeting, a German academic doing research in some American university made a presentation on bike stats from cities around the world. Amongst a dazzling array of anecdotal tid-bits, the ultimate stat he spouted was, the safest cities to bike in have the most per-capita cyclists. i.e. strength in numbers. So now I had a mission – to try to help boost the number of local riders! And save the planet, but I digress. So I decided to post more detailed safe cycling routes for locals and tourists alike, and I also tossed in ‘Hey, need a safe route? send me your start & finish & I’ll figure it out!‘, for which people were extremely appreciative.

Well, much has changed over time. For example, Bike Ottawa has developed an amazing tool that allows you to plot out the safest route from A to B, based on your comfort level. There are also other extremely passionate local cycling advocates like this guy who are doing a fantastic job keeping us informed about changes and needs required to our local cycling infrastructure.

So, my posts will mostly go back to ressembling its origins, i.e., shorter, a bit more anecdotal, and spontaneous. I’ll still post longer routes when inspiration hits, and offer suggestions on routes when requested. I hope pertinent stuff still comes of it.

Cycle on!

The very first bike route posted on Ottawa Velo Outaouais was to a little known ship wreck in Gatineau. Time to re-visit the ride to see how they, (both the route and the wreck), have survived the vagaries of time. Although the last few years have been rough on the route, with Jacques Cartier Park being closed off to recooperate from that wacky topiary festival a few years back, and the boardwalk along the river blocked for repairs, I am pleased to announce that all is clear. Here we go!

Our ride begins in Centretown, beside the Chinatown arch. Head north along Cambridge St N which eventually veers right to become Laurier Ave before arriving at Bronson Avenue. The rest of this ride is entirely along bike lanes or paths. Follow the route indicated on the map to get across the Ottawa River over the Portage Bridge.

Once across the bridge, turn right along the Voyageurs Pathway where you will experience the most picturesque view of Parliament Hill as you ride down towards the waters edge.

Continue along the Voyageurs Pathway through Jacques Cartier Park, and then along the aforementioned boardwalk that floats above the shoreline.

Continue along Voyageurs that weaves it’s way for a nice stretch until you happen upon a gravel path leading off to the right. Turn onto this gravel path. If you pass the big green NCC sign, you’ve gone too far.

There are two right turns off this gravel path, the first of which leads to a very nice lookout across the river. Definitely worth visiting if you have the time, but you want the next exit that’ll get you to where we wanna go, which runs along the Lac Leamy discharge into the Ottawa River. Further along this path, closer to the Ottawa River you will discover THE SHIPWRECK!

According to this source, this ship was originally launched in 1959. In the 70’s it was converted into a a disco-casino pleasure cruise, then in 1976 into a floating cottage. It caught fire in the 80’s and waspulled to this location. So, thar she lies…. for the rest of us to enjoy!

This summer someone has been using the wreck to moore a sad little white power boat, conveniently blocked by shrubbery in the above photo.

Et voila!

Heading back to Ottawa, one may retrace the route that got you to the wreck, or you can continue north via the blue line on the above map. If you choose to take this route, which is really great and follows paths the entire way, I highly reccomend downloading the above map and checking your progress via GPS as you will encounter many merges and turns with minimal directional signage.

Happy trails!