OttawaVeloOutaouais

Biking to Blue Skies Music Festival from Ottawa – Route #2

The Blue Skies Music Festival near Clarendon, Ontario takes place on the first weekend of August, as it has every year since the early 70’s. It’s a great big gathering where folks come for a day, or camp out over the 3 day long weekend.

This year was the third time I’ve been. Last year I biked to a friend’s cottage close by on Sharbot Lake, then rode up to the site on the following Friday morning. You can read all about that adventure here. This year I did the same, however I chose a different route, identified by the blue line on the map below.

I rode back to Ottawa on the following Monday along the red line shown on the map, similar to the route my friend François rode to get there this year, which you can read about by clicking here.

Last year’s ride took me much longer than I had anticipated, so this year I tried to streamline my route to shorten the time spent in the saddle. To get out of Ottawa I headed straight down Wellington/Richmond/Robertson Road. Now most cyclists familiar with that stretch of road might not consider it the safest option. Few sections of it are safe most hours of the day, however there is a narrow window of opportunity early in the morning before traffic starts to build. I left the house at 5:30 am. Things went smoothly, until Richmond turned in to Robertson Road, just west of Baseline. That’s where any semblance of a paved shoulder disappears and the surprising number of cars, buses & trucks that early in the day flew by at highway speeds. I was very relieved to get on the Trans-Canada Trail west of Moodie Drive.

Calm & minimal traffic along Richmond....but narrow & speedy traffic along Robertson Rd — Calm & minimal traffic along Richmond….but narrow road & speedy traffic along Robertson Rd

The Trans-Canada Trail between Bells Corners and Carleton Place is an old railway line that has been converted to a packed stone dust path, as described in a bit more detail in the middle of this post. I’ve travelled it a few times now, so in search of a little variety, and to speed things up, I rode along Abbott Street for a short stretch through Stittsville, which runs parallel to the Trans-Canada Trail. Traffic was calm, and there was a generous shoulder for most of it’s length.

Packed stone dust Trans-Can Trail....& paved shoulder along Abbott Street through Stittsville — Packed stone dust Trans-Can Trail….& paved shoulder along Abbott Street through Stittsville

Stittsville went through a growth period in the 1870’s when the railway line connecting Ottawa to Carleton Place was introduced. There are a few surviving examples of buildings from that period near the intersection of Main and Abbott Street where the train station was located, including this fixer upper sandwiched between the Trans-Canada Trail and Abbott St.

The rail-to-trail section of the path ends on the edge of Carleton Place. From there I headed south-east along a path that runs parallel to McNeely Ave to where it crosses Highway 7. At the end of McNeely there is a wonderful network of short trails called the Beckwith Trail, that meanders through a varied mix of wooded area and old farmland. I followed the McGregor Branch and the Shady Branch to get to 9th Line road.

I then headed southwest along 9th Line, a two lane road where I encountered minimal traffic. Saw some beautiful big old brick farm houses. I also road through a thunderstorm. I passed this family of bovines just as the rain let up, staring at me as if to say, ‘What the heck are you doing way out here in this weather?!’

9th Line turned into Tennyson Road which I followed for a bit before turning on to Concession Road 7. It too was a nice quiet paved two laner through farm country. On the other side of the 511 it became a very smooth white stone dust road.

White stone dust surface along Concession Line 7

Road 7 morphed into McVeigh road, which I followed to where it ended at Doran Road. Now Doran Road was the trickiest stretch along this year’s ride to Blue Skies. It narrowed down to one lane with a loose stone gravel surfacing that went up and down through the woods for quite a ways.

The road surface became smoother once it turned on to Fagan Lake Road, and then paved once more on the other side of the Elphin-Maberly Road, along Zealand Road.

I am always amazed by the cedar post fences that weave their way through this whole area. The manner in which they are stacked and arranged in a zig-zag pattern allows for great flexibility in negotiating the rough rocky terrain. Here’s an example, perched up on the edge of a stone cut along Zealand Road.

For the rest of the ride I followed Bell Line Road and the A&P trail to my friends cottage on Sharbot Lake, and then up to the festival site the following morning, as described at the tail end of last year’s post.

Et voila – ’twas another wonderful Blue Skies festival full of music galore!

Early morning mist rising on a farmers field near Clarendon

Biking over the Strandherd Bridge!

The long awaited opening of the Strandherd Bridge has happened. (Update Nov 2014 – now officially renamed the Vimy Memorial Bridge) Early Saturday morning I took the opportunity to bike over and test it out!

The route I followed to get to the bridge was the same as the one described in this post, as far as Leikin Drive. Mid way along Leikin I turned east and worked my way along paths and residential streets to get to the Chapman Mills Conservation Area which lies just north of the bridge. There’s a pedestrian boardwalk that meanders through the Conservation Area along the edge of the river, with lookouts and interpretive panels that describe the area’s natural environment.

Boardwalk through Conservation Area — Boardwalk through Chapman Mills Conservation Area

I walked my bike along the boardwalk to the southern edge of the Conservation Area where the path opens up onto this impressive side view of the bridge.

The path circles under the bridge, which affords some great views of it’s ribbed underbelly and massive footings.

Crossing under the bridge — It’s all under the bridge

This path leads up to the sidewalk along Strandherd Drive which runs alongside the bike lane over the bridge. I decided to video the momentous occasion, so without further ado, here is the Ottawa Velo Outaouais Peddle Powered Crossing of the new Strandherd Bridge!

Et voila!

Once on the other side of the river I cut through a residential area along paths and roads, rode along Spratt then Limebank to Leitrim Road, then along High Road beside the airport. From here on in I followed the same route described in this post.

n.b. Prince of Wales Drive is a busy street which I don’t recommend biking along at anytime other than early mornings on weekends, as described in this post. Hopefully this will be improved upon as soon as possible, because Manotick could be a great bike tourism draw if there was a safer way to get there from downtown along the west shore of the Rideau River.

First Annual Ottawa/Gatineau Microbrew Bike Tour

While sharing a pint with my friend Glenn some weeks back, he mentioned how great it would be to go on an organized bike tour of some of the microbreweries around town. Yes indeed! So I came up with the following route that includes stops at a fair number of those presently in operation. Thus was born the First Annual Ottawa/Gatineau Microbrew Bike Tour! We managed to assemble four riders including myself, Glenn, Robert and Giacomo to test it out.

All of the breweries serve small 8 oz samplers. I also brought along plastic shot glasses which gave us the opportunity to divide the samplers into four smaller portions. That way we could taste and appreciate the brewmaster’s craftsmanship, while avoiding any wibbly-wobbly riding. I was amazed at the selection and variation of brews in the region. It was great to see how the local craft is thriving and expanding.

The blue line on the following map below identifies the planned route.

And away we go! Robert, Giacomo and I started off from the Clocktower Brew Pub on Bank St. Good place to begin our adventure – nice patio, fine place for cyclists to assemble. Great service too.

For the first leg of our journey, we cut across the Glebe towards Dow’s Lake and headed up Prince-of-Wales Drive towards our second destination: Broadhead Brewing Company, located in a business park along Auriga Drive. Super friendly folks with an obvious passion for their craft – making delicious beer.

Glenn joined us at Broadhead, completing our touring foursome.
We then headed off towards our next stop – the Big Rig on Iris St. We followed the bike lane along West Hunt Club Road to a bike path that starts west of Merivale Road. The path took us to Woodroffe which we followed north until Navaho Drive where we crossed over the transit way to get on the bike path.
The short section of red line line on the map is a slight deviation we should have taken. That’s because, contrary to what Google Maps suggests, the bike lane along Woodroffe suddenly ends at Norice St. There’s a path on the west side of Woodroffe where Norice meets Woodroffe that leads to Centrepoint Drive – a much safer option.

We rode up to the Big Rig Kitchen Brewery at the end of Iris, across from the entrance to Ikea. Perfect timing, because we were all getting pretty hungry. We settled in to a table on the patio and had burger type meals to accompany our sudsy samples.

Next stop – Kichesippi Beer Co. To get there we rode east along Iris until it crossed the NCC Experimental Farm Pathway. After climbing the path behind the Carlington Heights Reservoir we cut north by riding down the old ski hill. I had recently tested out riding down the hill and knew that, although a bit steep, it is very manageable on a bike. Once arrived at the bottom of the hill, however, it was suggested that I owed replacement brake pads to my fellow tourers.

Biking down the old Carlington Heights ski hill

We then rode under the Queensway along Clyde into a small industrial park where lives the Kichesippi Beer Company. We missed their 2 o’clock tour, as we were quite a bit behind schedule, but both Glenn and Giacomo had already toured the place. Suffice to say, they do give tours to those interested. They also have a custom built bike on display that can be used to serve beer on tap. Bravo!

The next section travelled between Kichesippi Beer and Beyond The Pale took us close to Glenn’s so he seized the opportunity to switch bikes, while Giaccomo unloaded a couple of growlers at his place. The map shows the route as planned, versus these slight detours, in case someone else wants to try the tour.

Beyond The Pale is located on Hamilton Ave N close to the Parkdale Market. UPDATE 2017: Beyond the Plae has moved! They are now a few blocks east in City Centre! The map up above has been updated accordingly. Started up in 2012 by a couple of friends from the neighbourhood, it’s got a great friendly atmosphere, and a nice selection of some fine brews.

We rode down Parkdale and got on the Ottawa River Pathway which took us right to our next stop, the Mill St Brew Pub. UPDATE – 2017: Mill St was bought out by Labatt’s, so not sure it qualifies as a micro-brewery anymore… Located in a 140 year old heritage building that was once a grist mill, it has a fine selection of home brews, a beautiful patio, and is easily accessible by bike, situated as it is right off the bike path.

Our final destination was Les Brasseurs du Temps on Rue Montcalm in Gatineau. It too is a brewery/restaurant located in a 19th century heritage building along the Ruisseau de la brasserie, a stream that flows from the Ottawa River towards Lac Leamy. It houses a brewing heritage museum, which we didn’t have time to visit, but I will definitely try to check out soon. It is normally accessible from the Ruisseau de la Brasserie bike path, which is presently being repaired along the stretch between the brasserie and the Voyageurs Pathway. We had our final samplings of the day on it’s recessed terrace.

So there you have it – the First Annual Ottawa/Gatineau Microbrew Bike Tour! Lots of fun had by all. Having underestimated the time we wound up spending at each brewery appreciating their craftsmanship, methinks next years tour, already in in the planning stages, will have fewer destinations. Four, maybe five. We’ll see. Cheers!

Architects on Bikes Checking Out Buildings: Episode 2 – Sarah Gelbard

For the second instalment of Architects on Bikes Checking Out Buildings I asked Sarah Gelbard to recommend buildings she admires within our region, and she accepted! Sarah is a graduate of architecture at Carleton, and is heading off to McGill to do her doctorate on Urban Planning in the Fall. She’s very active within the local design community, as evident in her YOWLAB initiative. She’s also one of this year’s organizers of Architecture Week AND she loves to cycle! My architect-sister-Sue had so much fun on our first instalment of Architects on Bikes Checking Out Buildings, she jumped at the occasion to come along for the ride.

Sarah’s first choice was The Sister’s of Notre Dame campus off Heron Road, while her second choice was The Old City Hall on Sussex Drive. We met up at Art Is In Bakery in City Centre early Saturday morning and headed off. Here’s the route we followed.

We wove our way south-east along bike paths and quiet streets until we reached the Sister’s of Notre Dame campus. This series of buildings were designed by Tim Murray of Murray and Murray Associates, and completed in 1965 for the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame. The Sisters operated it as an educational facility up until the 1970’s, at which time it was purchased by Canadian Government and renamed the Federal Study Centre. We were able to meander our way through the campus and admire the various buildings.

View across campus, bell tower to the left (photo by Sarah Gelbard) — View across campus, bell tower to the left (photo by Sarah)

Brick screen (photo by Sarah) — Layered surfaces & brick screen (photo by Sarah)

The brick work was interesting. In contrast to smooth glazed finishes popular in the ’60’s when these buildings were constructed, these bricks were roughly poured resulting in wall surfaces of richly varied textures.

We then worked our way over to Pleasant Park Road, and biked north to the Rideau River Eastern Pathway, which we followed down river all the way to our second destination: The Old City Hall on Sussex Drive. We approached the site from the back, via the Minto Bridge. The arch to the right in the photo below was designed by Moshe Safdie and added to the site along with a number of other additions when the original building was expanded upon in 1992-93.

Minto Bridges & Old City Hall Arch (photo by Sarah)

To get to the front of the building on Sussex we rode along the contour of these additions on the northern perimeter of the building, also introduced by Safdie, that bulge out into the Rideau River. I love how they appear to float on the river’s surface.

Sarah mentioned being particularly fond of the original building,designed by John Bland of the office of Rother, Bland and Trudeau, 1955-58, as seen in this shot she took of the front facade. She also mentioned a great Urbsite Post that includes original photos of the original building designed in the International Style in 1958, which you can check out by clicking here.

Front of the original Old City Hall (photo by Sarah)

We then rode along a path on the south side of the building. There are many wonderful nooks and architectural details to be discovered throughout this site – definitely worth a visit.

Architectural exploration complete, we rode back across town for well a deserved break at Raw Sugar Cafe. UPDATE 2017: Hélas, Raw Sugar closed down a couple of years ago.

Architects on Bikes Checking out Buildings: Episode 1 – Susan Smith

Jerry Seinfeld has a popular online series called Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee whereby he invites other famous comedians to ride around town (mostly L.A.) in a fancy automobile très à propos for his guest. Then they stop and have coffee. While this region does have it’s fair share of fine comedians, we also have a great collection of architects with an appreciation for various buildings within our metropolis, so I came up with this mini series called Architects on Bikes Checking out Buildings. I will be asking various members of the profession to choose three edifices within the region that they admire, then I’ll plot a safe bike route to each one and go check them out.

My first guest is Susan Smith Architect, who designed our third floor studio addition. Not only is she a fine architect, she has also spent her entire career in Ottawa sans automobile(!), using her bike and public transportation since graduating from Carleton University School of Architecture many moons ago. She’s also a stellar older sister. We headed off early Saturday morning and checked out her picks.

First stop: 30 Sims Avenue in Hintonburg, where sits this new house. Sue noticed it while biking to her office nearby on Gladstone. She appreciates it’s elegant simplicity and detailing.

After admiring this little gem of a dwelling, we bicycled over to Dows Lake and along the Rideau Canal Western Pathway, then cut across the Golden Triangle to get to Sue’s second choice: The elliptical Public Service Alliance of Canada Building, completed in 1968 and designed by architect Paul Schoeler. In 2000 the Royal Architectural Institute chose it as one of the top 500 buildings built in Canada over the last millennium. The curved forms of the outer walls are so seemingly perfect that we double checked with a folded piece of paper to make sure the brown bricks were actually flat – and they are.

Public Service Alliance of Canada Building

We then rode through Sandy Hill and crossed the Rideau River over the old train bridge before heading towards our final building, the Ottawa Train Station. Designed by John P Parkin & Associates in 1966, it too was chosen by the Royal Architectural Institute as one of the top 500 buildings built in Canada over the last millennium. Sue likes how the dominanting truss roof structure extends right through the building, allowing for a great open space inside, as well as an extended covering at the entrance and at the opposite end between the terminal and the trains.

So there you go – a fine first architect inspired bike adventure!

Biking along the Sawmill Creek Pathway

The Sawmill Creek Pathway extension is completed and it’s fantastic! It now connects to the Brookfield Path at it’s northern end and runs south as far as Hunt Club Road. I’ve hi-lited the pathway in green. The blue line is the route I followed to get to and from Centretown.

Here’s where the Sawmill Creek Pathway begins along the Overbrook Path, just east of the train tracks.

Northern end of the Sawmill Creek Pathway

Below are a few images of the pathway.

Alongside Airport Parkway for a short spell.

Under Walkley beside the Transitway Station, where the pathway used to end. — Under Walkley beside the Transitway Station, which was the northern end of the path before the extension.

The path runs through the Sawmill Creek Constructed Wetland, described extensively on this Quadracycling in Ottawa blog page

The path ends at Hunt Club. Unfortunately the transition from here to anywhere else is pretty rough.

On a previous occasion I turned east on Hunt Club to get to South Keys mall. To do so I stayed on the sidewalk for a short distance before cutting left through the parking lot just beyond the train bridge.

UPDATE, Summer 2015 – The Airport Parkway Bridge opposite South Key Mall opened in 2014. See this post for more. An access to South Keys Mall has been created via a short pedestrian tunnel under the O-Train tracks a bit south of the pedestrian bridge. Signs are confusing but I checked with OC Transpo – bikes are allowed through the tunnel but walked, not ridden.

On this occasion, I chose to head west along Hunt Club. the transition across the transit way and Aviation Parkway off ramps was rough. Once beyond these spots there is a bike lane, however it doesn’t start for a few hundred yards. All very complex, so I prepared this little video to help explain. The video starts where the Sawmill Creek Pathway ends.

So apart from this nasty little section, the extension of the Sawmill Creek Pathway and the bike lane further along Hunt Club allows for a fine link over to Uplands Drive and areas south of the city.

Sculptures of Canines in the Capital – A Bike Tour!

There are a number of fine sculptures throughout the national capital region that incorporate members of the canid genus, so I came up with this bike tour that visits their various locations.

Our tour begins in Confederation Park across from City Hall where there is not one, but two pieces to discover. The first is a wolf incorporated into the monument commemorating aboriginal veterans, sculpted by Noel Lloyd Pinay.

The second sculpture is part of the Animals in War Dedication that includes a bronze sculpture of a medical service dog. It is located at the base of the memorial to soldiers from Ottawa who died in the Boer War.

The next piece is located in Gatineau outside the Canadian Museum of History. This forlorn fellow is supposed to be sitting in a copper boat surrounded by water. It’s a sculpture called ‘Namaxsala (To Travel in a Boat Together) by sculptor Anne Barkhouse. The piece is based on a story of the artist’s grandfather bringing a wolf across a treacherous river in his boat, as described on this CMH web page. I’m guessing the boat’s being repaired for leaks, so hopefully our friend won’t be landlocked for too long.

The next sculpture, titled Boat Sight by artist John McEwen, is located up river along the Voyageurs Pathway. The wolf silhouettes are cut from thick steel plate. According to the accompanying interpretive plaque, the animals represent nature reacting with fear and curiosity to the presence of a large, minimalist boat frame, representing culture.

Riding along the Voyageurs Pathway reminded me of one outing last year when I took this photo of a fox trotting towards me along the path, before it nonchalantly turned and wandered into the woods.

The last stop on the tour is in Westboro, where there’s a painting of a dalmation included in a mural commemorating fire fighting.

There are a couple of other works located further afield that incorporate canines. Both are by artist Erin Robertson in collaboration with Anna Williams. One is located at the Bellwether Longfields Transit Station, which I visited and describe in this post. Another titled Chase includes foxes, installed at the Richcraft Recreation Complex in Kanata, that I hope to ride out to visit very soon.

Et voila! Happy trails….

Biking from Hintonburg to Merivale Road

Evan enquired about a safe bike route he could take from the corner of Hamilton Ave North & Spencer Street in Hintonburg, to Merivale Road & Capilano Drive. No problemo! Here’s how.

UPDATE – July 2015: Pink line is a more direct shortcut behind the Food Basics to Capilano Drive, as described at the bottom of the post.

Headed east on Spencer — And away we go….

I rode east on Spencer, crossed Holland at the lights, then turned left on Caroline and headed up the hill towards Wellington. There are lights across to Harmer, which doesn’t line up precisely with Caroline, so I walked my bike 10 feet or so along the sidewalk to the lights.

Slight jog to the lights across Wellington to Harmer Ave

I rode up Harmer to this pedestrian bridge over the Queensway. No stairs.

UPDATE July 29, 2018: The Harmer pedestrian bridge is no more! They ripped it down this weekend and are building a new one that won’t be ready for 2 years. The city has installed a very controversial detour along Holland that will be fixed before the school year starts. I have adjusted the route on the above map accordingly.

Path up & over the Queensway — Path up & over…

Continued along Harmer and turned left onto Island Park Drive, which has bike lanes, and followed it to the lights across Carling.

Lights at Island Park Drive & Carling Ave

I was pleased as punch to discover the path continue on the other side of Carling. I believe this link between Carling and Holland is recent. Last time I rode across I had to contend with sharing this mini-off-ramp with cars.

New bike path link from between Carling and Holland Ave

The path continues along the National Capital Commission Scenic Driveway on the other side of Holland. There’s a split in the path just as the Scenic Driveway veers east. I turned to the right which took me along a path through the patch of woods beside Fisher Avenue.

The woodsy section of path ends where it intersects the Experimental Farm Pathway. I turned right.

Turn right onto the Experimental Farm Pathway

The path follows along Fisher for a bit before coming to lights across Fisher. Things get a little convoluted here. The continuation of the Experimental Pathway on the other side of Fisher is a short distance north along Fisher. It’s barely noticeable from the lights.

White arrow shows where the path continues on the other side of Fisher

I continued along the Experimental Farm Pathway and took the left exit just before the path veers right a short distance beyond Merivale, like so.

Left tine off the Experimental Farm Pathway

The path crosses Whtestone Drive right through to Madison Park.

Once the path reaches Central park Drive it does a dipsy-do over to Celebration Park, like so.

Path link from Madison park to Celebration Park

I stayed right on the path through Celebration Park which brought me to the other side of Central Park Drive. I then turned on to Scout Street and followed it to a path that cuts through to the Supercentre mall parking lot.

This path eventually merges into the mall entrance street that I followed to the traffic lights across Baseline.

Riding along mall entrance towards traffic lights across Baseline

Immediately across the intersection on the north side of Baseline, there’s a short ‘desire line’ path that links to the Loblaws mall parking lot.

Well trodden desire line path to the Loblaw's parking lot. — Well trodden desire line path to the Loblaw’s parking lot.

I followed a lane that goes behind the Loblaws to avoid having to ride amongst folks frantically parking their cars. This brought me around to the lights at Merivale. Once through the lights there’s a path just a short distance along that turns off to the left.

This path took me to Eleanor Drive. I then worked my way up Leaver Ave to the turn off through Gilbey Park.

I turned left onto Gilbey Drive on the other side of Gilbey Park which brought me to Capilano Drive. Right on Cailano brought me to Merivale. Don’t know why, but my camera switched to an old-photo filter for this shot of our final destination, the corner of Merivale and Capilano.

UPDATE – July 2015: There’s a more direct shortcut from behind the Food Basics to Capilano Drive, that was recommended by a cyclist who regularly rides through the neighbourhood. I’ve hi-lited it in pink on the above map.

Et voila!

Biking from Gatineau Park to Ottawa

Alexandre wrote, “Just moved into Gattawa from Montreal and biking routes will be a challenge. For one thing, what’s the best way to safely bike from Gatineau Park to Ottawa? Or to Aylmer?”.

Thanks for asking! Here’s a safe route from the park to Ottawa.

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Our adventure begins at the P3 parking lot along the Gatineau Parkway, also referred to as the Gatineau Park Welcome Area. There one can find a big interpretive map panel showing paths that lead into the rest of the park. There is also an interpretive kiosk with helpful information officers. I joined the Gatineau Park Pathway just to the left of these very well designed interpretive panels.

A hundred yards or so further along, the path crosses another path that runs east-west (it used to be Rue Gamelin). I continued south.

Gatineau Park Pathway continuing along Gatineau Park Driveway — Gatineau Park Pathway continuing along Boulevard du Parc de la Gatineau

The path follows the road for a bit before dipping left through a beautiful wooded area.

It The path continues alongside the road over Boulevard des Allumetières before heading back through the woods.

Heading over Boulevard des Allumettières

The path ends at the southernmost tip of the park, at Boulevard Alexandre-Taché. I continued across the intersection down quiet Rue Belleau.

At the end of Belleau there’s a path that turns off to the left.

A bit further on there’s a fork in the road. This is the Voyageurs Pathway. By turning right you’d be heading west, which will take you all the way to Aylmer. It’s a great ride, described in more detail in this post.

I turned left and headed towards Ottawa.

Sign a the intersection of the Voyageurs Pathway

The path eventually meets up with Boulevard Alexandre Taché once again, just beyond some train tracks, and turns right alongside Boulevard Alexandre Taché.

The only spooky bit along this route is at the corner of Boulevard Alexandre-Taché and Rue Eddy. I keep further back and closer to the wall while waiting for the light to change than these fine cyclists ahead of me because I’ve witnessed cars and trucks clip the corner of the sidewalk in their rush to turn onto Eddy and over into Ottawa. I’ve also seen cyclists turn on to Eddy, which I would never have the guts to do as that bridge is very narrow with afore mentioned impatient car & truck drivers. Instead I cross through the intersection and continue along the path on the opposite side.

The path continues east, eventually going under the Portage Bridge before popping out in front of this sculpture by Phyllis Kurtz Fine. Turning left takes you behind the Museum of History and the opportunity to cross over to Ottawa on the Alexandra Bridge. I turned right and made my way along the bike path over the Portage Bridge.

Alexandra Bridge towards the left..... Portage Bridge to the right. — Alexandra Bridge towards the left….. Portage Bridge to the right.

Once on the other side of the bridge there are a myriad of options, depending on your final destination. I went left, just like this guy, and headed west along the Ottawa River Pathway. Et voila!

In search of a safe north-south bike route across Carling, the Queensway and Baseline

This week I learnt that finding a safe route across the three busy east-west arteries of Carling Avenue, the Queensway and Baseline Road, anywhere between Prince of Wales Drive and Pinecrest Road is a tricky endeavour.

My search was spurred on by a request for suggestions on biking from Notre Dame High School in Highland Park over to Parkwood Hills. The blue line on the map below is a route with some rough spots I am comfortable biking through, however the request also needed to accommodate three travellers: one adult, one child passenger, and another child on their own bike. With two kids of my own, I would not recommend this route with bambinos in tow. But, that’s a judgement call, so I’ve included it below, with a description of the tricky spots. It’s identified by the blue line on the map. I’d suggest an adult solo dry run first.

I also tried a much safer route that I would feel comfortable taking my kids, however it’s more circuitous. See red line on map below.

And away we go.

Starting point – Notre Dame High School on Broadview.

There is a crosswalk at Broadview and Carling. One major artery down.

The area east of Broadview between Carling and the Queensway appears to be zoned as light industrial. The streets I followed through this area (Kerr, Boyd and Dobbie) didn’t have a lot of traffic, but there are trucks and big potholes that go with them. This is the first zone I would hesitate to ride through with my kids.

Things get a little scarier passing under the Queensway along Clyde Avenue as it is a funnel through to another industrial zone on the other side. No designated shoulder and more trucks. The sidewalk might be an option to consider.

I then cut through Carlington Park by riding along the stone dust path that goes around the perimeter of the baseball field.

path around Carlington park baseball field

The area east of Calington Park is mostly residential with a few small industries hugging the edge of the park. Edgecliffe Avenue is a gradual climb up to Morisset Avenue. There is a link to the Experimental Farm Pathway halfway down Morisset.

I turned left onto the Experimental Farm Pathway and followed it for a short distance through a wooded area before taking a right along a path link that goes into a residential area called Central Park.

Left turn onto the Experimental Farm Pathway...... then a right turn off of the Experimental Farm Pathway — Left turn onto the Experimental Farm Pathway…… then a right turn off of the Experimental Farm Pathway

There is a bike path that cuts through from Whitestone Drive to Central park Drive, and then through Celebration Park to Central Park drive which loops around. One could also just stay on Central Park Drive. I then turned on to Scout Street and followed it to a path that cuts through to the Supercentre mall parking lot.

This path eventually merges into the mall entrance street that I followed to the traffic lights across Baseline. This is another area I would hesitate riding through with my kids, as drivers tend to be much less predictable in mall parking lots.

Immediately across the intersection on the north side of Baseline, there’s a short ‘desire line’ path that links to the Loblaws mall parking lot.

This path took me to Eleanor Drive. I then worked my way up Leaver Ave and Beaver Ridge. The request was from Notre Dame High School to Parkwood Hills, which I’ve taken the liberty to mean Parkwood Hills Public School. At the top of Beaver Ridge just beyond Capilano there’s a dirt path through to the small streets around Huron Towers. I followed this to avoid having to ride along Meadowlands Drive, a busy street that’s always felt dangerous to ride along, especially while it’s presently under construction.

Path off Beaver Ridge towards Huron Towers

The path came to the entrance lane to the Huron Towers. I followed it to Meadowlands where there is a cross signal to Tiverton Drive, and our destination, Parkwood Hills School.

Et voila!