An evening of firsts. First time this year in the Gatineau Park hills. First time riding in shorts and a short sleeve jersey. First flat tire. And all in I’ve put 660km on my bike this season. I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to make my 1000km goal by the
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reeves report: Kathleen Wynne’s environmental ups and downs
Feature image: Ontario Rangers youth gather at Queen’s Park in January, 2013 to protest cuts to a Ministry of Natural Resources program many former participants claim changed their lives. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has called an election for June 12, and as the parties gear up their campaign platforms, it’s
Continue readingcmkl: 300km and counting
Yesterday I rode a 130km look to Winchester and back. I must say I’m loving the Ottawa Bicycle Club. Even if you don’t do the group rides there’s years of wisdom in their route maps. These last two rides have been inspired by routes I’ve found on their site. The
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Clara Hughes’ Mental Health Tour
h/t CAAWS Our school had the honour of hosting a visit from Clara Hughes yesterday – six time Olympic winner for cycling and speed skating. She’s biking around Canada – ALL around Canada – talking about mental health. She biked through a snow storm in Woodstock on her way to
Continue readingthe reeves report: Cyclist safety bill passes second reading at Queen’s Park
Crowd riding north on Church Street to ‘Save Jarvis’ Ontario’s efforts to expand cycling infrastructure across the province may have taken a subtle but significant step forward on Dec. 12 with the second reading passage of legislation that would require paving one metre wide shoulders on all provincial, non-400 series
Continue readingcmkl: The bike shed
And so here it is. The bike shed. Not quite what we were thinking of but certainly working well and put in place for much much less than contemplated.
Continue readingBlevkog: It’s getting dark out there
Fellow cyclists of the world, I implore you to start putting lights on your bikes. Around these parts, the sun doesn’t rise until about 7:30 or so at this time of year. Expect that depressing darkness to continue until March. If you are biking on the road prior to this
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: If You Build It, They Will Come – Really!
Photo Cred: Harrogate Cycling Group In today’s Record, Jeff Outhit comes very close to suggesting that if we bike in K-W, we should expect to get hit by a car. It’s not safe out there: “…riding a bicycle to work is dangerous and counter to common sense.” Counter to common
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On the On-Going, Never-Ending Regional Bike/Car Conflict
On Friday, I had a conversation in class about cyclists being hit so much in the region because of our culture around cycling here relative to other cities, and then I saw Luisa D’Amato’s article in The Record suggesting cyclists should be licensed to be on the road. First, on
Continue readingcmkl: Where to put the bikes – my quest for a proper bike shed
We don’t have a garage. We have a bunch of bikes. We’ve been locking them up on the porch but that’s hard on the porch. So what to do. Well a shed. Of course. But what manner of shed for bikes? To ask the question is to answer it, nay?
Continue readingcmkl: What a different world – bikes first in Holland
Bike streets. Cars are guests. The bike is right. This BBC News item makes me sigh: Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?. Of course, the bicycle is the primary mode of transport for 31 per cent of Netherlanders (compared with 48.5 who use cars first) but still the
Continue readingcmkl: Rideau Lakes: home again home again jiggedy jog
I remember the first time I did the Rideau Lakes Cycle tour in 2001. When I got home my hands were so stiff from holding the handle bars it took both of them to turn the key in my apartment building’s lock. I’m doing much better now.
Continue readingcmkl: A long bike ride, then another one
That’s all it is. So why am I always so nervous before doing the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour? Well – just think about all the stuff that can break on a bike. Spokes. Inner tubes. Derailleur cables. And my road bike is no spring chicken, let me tell you.
Continue readingcmkl: Chesterville via South Mountain 161km
My longest ride to date, bringing me to 963km of training. If I do the parkway loop again this week I’ll make the Ottawa Bicycle Club-prescribed 1000km training kilometrage, despite the late start.
Continue readingcmkl: Gatineau Parkway Loop, 59km
Hot, humid evening. My friend K and I had been talking about riding up to Champlain for a while and this time we actually did it. It was her first time in quite a while but she made it up and back without so much as a little bit of
Continue readingcmkl: Almonte 114km
There is such a thing as hill karma. It’s just an immutable fact. If you’re coming back to where you started, every metre of ascent will be returned unto you in equal part. But with wind, there is only the Murphy’s law codicil: “always against you.” Even if you’re just
Continue readingcmkl: Kemptville, 113km
At 25C and irrepressibly sunny, today was truly summer-like. I drained 2.25 litres of water on this out-and-back trip punctuated by a delicious if excessive for biking lunch at my father in-law’s. There’s a fine line between burping and barfing. At least I didn’t have beer with lunch.
Continue readingcmkl: Champlain, 56km
What a glorious evening for a bike ride. Temperature in the mid 20s, sunny. Gentle wind. There were gajillions of cyclists out on the Gatineau Parkway (it opens to cars this weekend I think), taking advantage of the relatively clear road and warm weather. There was still a arborist crew
Continue readingcmkl: Dalmeny – 101km
Perfect day for a bike ride. Sunny, cloudless, a wind that seemed mostly to chase me everywhere I went. This is not a bad route. I had planned to come back along Leitrim Road to the Airport, but for some reason, the GPS decided I should take Russell back instead.
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