Category: Art & Architecture

This evening I biked off towards Britannia Bay via the Voyageurs Pathway on the Gatineau side of the river.

I covered a few streets within the triangle defined by the Ottawa River Pathway, Richmond Road and Britannia Park. Many of the houses in this area were of this faux exposed timber design.

Twas a lovely evening for a ride.

The Osgoode Township Museum and Historical Society, located in the old town of Vernon (now part of Ottawa), had their Fall Harvest Festival this past Saturday. I needed to shop at The Wood Source out that way, and I really wanted to travel the last stretch of the Osgoode Trail, so early that morning I saddled up and headed off. The Wood Source is conveniently located right beside the Osgoode Trail, so after ordering my lumber (delivery included – phew!) that’s where I headed.

I followed the trail all the way to the old town of Osgoode (now part of Ottawa too), where the weathered textured surface of this house on Main Street caught my eye.

Osgoode was originally settled in 1854 as suggested by this sign I noticed on the way out. I look forward to re-visiting this old town.

There were a couple of fields along 2nd line road that were completely clear of any growth. The only thing that broke the surface were fresh hoove prints such as these, suggesting deer had recently passed through, some running, others walking.

A whole bunch of Coroplast signs along this stretch made it look like a hotly contested election campaign was under way! Upon closer inspection, I remembered these types of signs are also used to announce genetically modified crops.

Fourth Line and McDiarmid are gravel roads.

One spot along McDiarmid Road had sheep on one side, cows on the other.

On the way into Vernon this weathered house caught my eye.

The Fall Harvest Fair was very intimate. While waiting for Carla and Nick to join me by car I paid a visit to their museum, which was full of interesting artifacts. For example, this is but one of a series of hair wreaths that were on display. A popular Victorian custom, these wreaths were often made from hair of the deceased.

When Carla and Nick arrived we sat at one of the pic-nic tables and had apple cider, corn on the cob and pumpkin pie while listening to these two fine musicians on the fiddle and accordion. Lousy photo, sorry. They played a great take on Dirty Old Town. Here is The Pogues version, almost as good.

Then we headed over to the enormous hanger next to the museum that is a filled with old farming equipment. One could spend a whole day in here. Thank you Vernon, it was lots of fun.

I was about to recommend a route to a friend who is trying to figure out the safest bike commute from Island Park to Lancaster Road in the east end, until I realised I had never biked there during working hours. How good a recommendation would that have been? So at 4:30 yesterday afternoon, after driving home from Toronto, desperate to go for a bike ride, I tested out the route.

The purple line is the commute I would recommend to my friend, the red line is the additional path I took to get to the route and back.

The route starts in Fisher Park on the pathway that runs parallel to Byron, accessible from any of the adjoining streets. Follow the path as far as Island Park Drive.

It then continues along Island Park Drive to where it ends at Carling Avenue. As you can see the bike lanes on either side of the driveway aren’t overly generous in width and are a bit rough, but they are adequate. I felt safe. This is a popular road during rush hour as it leads to and from Pont Champlain across the Ottawa River, so proceed with extra caution along this stretch.

Things get a bit kooky at Carling. Continue across Carling to where it intersects Holland Avenue. A branch of the Experimental Farm Pathway starts here. Zip along until you reach a fork in the path. Bear right along the dirt path that leads into a wooded area. It weaves and floats up and down through towering trees, very magical.

Turn left once this section of path ends and continue all the way down Cow Lane, then right on Morning Side Lane. I’ve rarely seen cars on these roads.

Midway down Morningside Lane turn left. That takes you to a crosswalk across Prince of Wales Drive. Continue straight through. The road turns right towards the canal locks across from Carleton Universty. After crossing the locks and carrying your bike down a few stairs, turn right up the bike path. Now it gets a bit convoluted once the path reaches Hogs Back Road. The path goes under the road, then along Hogs Back Road over the falls, and back under before continuing down the opposite side of the Rideau River.

This path meanders along the river through Vincent Massy Park. On a warm summers evening the park is filled with families pic-nicking around the many tables and bbq’s. The design of this elegant service pavilion and canopy allow for rain water to be channeled off the roof into undergrounds cisterns, minimizing reliance on the municipal water supply.

Close by are these older pavilions designed in the modernist style popular of the late fifties and sixties.

Here’s a view further downstream where the O-train passes overhead.

Further down the path beyond Bank Street there is a trail sign directing bikers towards Pleasant Park Road. Once on this road it becomes the longest section of the route shared by bikes and cars. I am happy to report that riding along Pleasant Park Road at this time of day was… pleasant! I kid you not. The road is wide with ample room for both forms of transport and the road is in great shape.

There is an nice shortcut through Weston Park just before the eastern extremity of Pleasant Park Road. Now the messiest part of the route occurs just before reaching Lancaster Road, our final destination. That’s because St-Laurent Boulevard is a convoluted cluster at this point – a very tricky triangle to safely negotiate on a bike SO, I suggest cutting through the Elmvale Acres parking lot all the way to Smyth Road before crossing St Laurent at the intersection.

Then just a short ride down Lancaster Road to the Museum and voila! Mission accomplished. Now that I’ve travelled the route and ironed out a few bugs in the process I feel quite confident recommending this route.