Bike ride
Yesterday we went out on our longest yet tandem ride. It was "bike path Sunday" where the NCC closes several parkways to cars and people walking, on bike or roller blades or any people-powered equipment can have the road to themselves. It's very popular. I decided to take the camera along because I've become used to the back seat on the tandem and have relaxed my grip-of-death enough to be able to take photos. Most of the photos are here at Flickr and you can view them as a slide show. Also, Peter took several of what I am calling the "Blythe Spirits" and he'll be organizing those at his Flickr Site later.
Here is my view from the back of the bike. In fact, I can easily turn my head and see fine except for dead ahead so I have no complaints. People have asked me why I don't ride up front. It takes more physical strength to steer and balance the bike up there and Peter is just bigger and stronger than I am. And frankly, even as a feminist, I don't have to be in command all the time and I am happy to let him "be the man" when it works for both of us.
Pedal just a few minutes past the bus (transit) station and it looks like you are in the country, although you can still hear some city noises here and there.
We are fortunate to be able to live in a very green city with rivers and a canal running through it. Over Peter's left shoulder is the downtown area - the left-most pointy tower is the Peace Tower on the Parliament buildings and left of it, the shiny thing that looks like a dome is the Parliamentary Library, newly restored. You can see a tiny bit of the river on the left.
This scene isn't typical of the downtown business core but it is part of Ottawa. It's Sussex Drive where many of the embassies are, as well as the Prime Minister's residence and that of the Governor General (the GG to us). It is pleasant to look at and they have finally painted a bike path along it.
Pretending we were tourists, we got another tourist to take our picture in front of one of the GG's Footguards.
We biked from home to downtown and then south along Colonel By to Hog's Back and then back downtown again. From there we headed East to the Aviation Parkway and along the way, noticed that they had just let the horses out for a run at the RCMP Musical Ride training facilities.
After 50 kms (31 miles) we decided to pack it in and have a late lunch. Not too many beer were allowed as we still had 15 kms to go before we got home. We ate at the Empire Grill in the Market. Good food and nice location. And fancy Flash web site!
On the way home, we stopped by Parliament Hill ("the Hill") where they still allow foot and bike traffic but no vehicles for security reasons. We didn't have much gear on the bike but it was heavy to pick up the back end, even so.
Along the bike path along the river, we passed several interpretive spots that educated us about our predecessors, the lumbermen and the explorers who used the river. Here I am, putting my back into paddling that canoe.
Finally, at the spot on the river about 12 kms from home, where an artist puts up rock sculptures each Spring after the ice melts, we came across an interpretive "street" performance. We neglected to go look at the signs they had posted so I'm not sure what it was but it was quite entertaining, with the women dressed in red and moving in slow motion, sometimes completely immersed in the water. Someone had been playing a cello which stood down on the rocks but it was quiet when we got there. We watched for a while and Peter took several photos which he will put up on his Flickr site later. Someone Peter works with came by walking her dog and we chatted for a while. There were many passersby who stopped with their kids and dogs and such and it made for a nice break in the getting home. By the time we did get home, it was close to 6 pm and we had spent 67 kms out on the road. Not as much as we are planning to do each day on our bike trip Down East but a good start.
Update! Peter has posted the rest of the Blythe Spirits! He has such an eye.
Here is my view from the back of the bike. In fact, I can easily turn my head and see fine except for dead ahead so I have no complaints. People have asked me why I don't ride up front. It takes more physical strength to steer and balance the bike up there and Peter is just bigger and stronger than I am. And frankly, even as a feminist, I don't have to be in command all the time and I am happy to let him "be the man" when it works for both of us.
Pedal just a few minutes past the bus (transit) station and it looks like you are in the country, although you can still hear some city noises here and there.
We are fortunate to be able to live in a very green city with rivers and a canal running through it. Over Peter's left shoulder is the downtown area - the left-most pointy tower is the Peace Tower on the Parliament buildings and left of it, the shiny thing that looks like a dome is the Parliamentary Library, newly restored. You can see a tiny bit of the river on the left.
This scene isn't typical of the downtown business core but it is part of Ottawa. It's Sussex Drive where many of the embassies are, as well as the Prime Minister's residence and that of the Governor General (the GG to us). It is pleasant to look at and they have finally painted a bike path along it.
Pretending we were tourists, we got another tourist to take our picture in front of one of the GG's Footguards.
We biked from home to downtown and then south along Colonel By to Hog's Back and then back downtown again. From there we headed East to the Aviation Parkway and along the way, noticed that they had just let the horses out for a run at the RCMP Musical Ride training facilities.
After 50 kms (31 miles) we decided to pack it in and have a late lunch. Not too many beer were allowed as we still had 15 kms to go before we got home. We ate at the Empire Grill in the Market. Good food and nice location. And fancy Flash web site!
On the way home, we stopped by Parliament Hill ("the Hill") where they still allow foot and bike traffic but no vehicles for security reasons. We didn't have much gear on the bike but it was heavy to pick up the back end, even so.
Along the bike path along the river, we passed several interpretive spots that educated us about our predecessors, the lumbermen and the explorers who used the river. Here I am, putting my back into paddling that canoe.
Finally, at the spot on the river about 12 kms from home, where an artist puts up rock sculptures each Spring after the ice melts, we came across an interpretive "street" performance. We neglected to go look at the signs they had posted so I'm not sure what it was but it was quite entertaining, with the women dressed in red and moving in slow motion, sometimes completely immersed in the water. Someone had been playing a cello which stood down on the rocks but it was quiet when we got there. We watched for a while and Peter took several photos which he will put up on his Flickr site later. Someone Peter works with came by walking her dog and we chatted for a while. There were many passersby who stopped with their kids and dogs and such and it made for a nice break in the getting home. By the time we did get home, it was close to 6 pm and we had spent 67 kms out on the road. Not as much as we are planning to do each day on our bike trip Down East but a good start.
Update! Peter has posted the rest of the Blythe Spirits! He has such an eye.
Labels: bikes
posted by JuliaR | 7/23/2007 12:55:00 p.m.
5 Comments:
Wow, good for you. I'm impressed. Are you planning to ride the tandem bike out east?
Yes indeedy! That's why we're racking up the miles here -- so we will be prepared to bike 100 km or so each day there. But the trip Down East is a shake-down for the BIG trip to Europe, all of which will be blogged as or after they happen.
Now I'm even more impressed!
WOW! What energy! The modern tandem bikes must be a lot easier to ride. Many years ago, a partner & I rented one & for each of us, it was like pumping a bike with an extra rider! Heavy.
Zoom and Granny J, if you want real tandeming adventures go to Ray Jardine's site where he and his wife crossed the U.S. and then went back again in one trip! Plus they do lots of other stuff like hiking thousands of miles.
Granny J, I think you can still get heavy tandems but the modern ones with lightweight components and lots of gears are much more of a pleasure to ride. Ours isn't one of the really expensive racing tandems you can find at Da Vinci (they can cost upwards of $6000) but it only weighs about 40 pounds with some bags on it and it does come apart to travel so that's its main advantage. There is no racing in our future! However, if you ask my husband, he says pedalling at the front is just like pumping the bike with an extra passenger (me!).
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