Ride Director: John Stephenson
Ride Co-Director: Elizabeth Buckingham
Report by: Charles Feerick
As Canada’s capital, Ottawa overflows with history, culture, and people that are unsurpassed in authenticity and exuberance. This incredibly vibrant city offers a plethora of opportunity for everyone who enjoys the outdoors, including cyclists, runners, walkers, kayakers, and during the winter skaters and cross-country skiers. And after a vigorous day outdoors, there is no shortage of open-air markets and cozy pubs to help replenish one’s strength. As this was a fixed-base ride, it afforded ample time to really explore the intricacies of this beautiful city.
Eighteen riders plus ride directors John Stephenson and Elizabeth Buckingham gathered at the Cartier Place Suites Hotel for our initial social hour/meet-and-greet. One of the questions John posed to each rider (in addition to their Zodiac sign) was to name their favorite BAC ride. The extensive array of responses to this question highlighted the incredible diversity of wonderful rides that you, the members of the BAC, help organize and run year after year. Afterwards we all gathered at North & Navy for a delightful family style group dinner. The appetizers e.g. goat cheese ravioli made with beet juice, plat principals (quail and porter house steak), and dessert tray were out of this world delicious. Well done John!
Our first day of cycling took us east of the city along the Ottawa River. On the way out of town we passed by Rideau Hall, the très grande résidence of Canada's Governor General (the Governor General exercises the powers of the head of state on behalf of Queen Elizabeth). After stopping at the Black Walnut Bakery for a short respite, we boarded the ferry at Cumberland which took us across the river to Masson-Angers in Quebec. After coming off the ferry we passed an enormous structure, a greenhouse actually, that must have run a full kilometer along the road. Afterwards John clued us in that this recently constructed greenhouse was for growing marijuana in an attempt to meet the exploding demand for CBD/THC products. That evening several of us walked to Parliament Hill where we witnessed the most amazing light show; a history of Canada projected onto the face of the Parliament and the Peace Tower. This is a definite “must see” for anyone visiting Ottawa!
Day 2 took as west of the city, out to the village of Carp. As we passed through the city, John showed us a very unusual water course that is in fact a training run for Olympic caliber kayakers. This is one of only a small handful of such courses in the world to be located in the center of a city. It was a truly remarkable setup. Upon reaching Carp we had a lovely stop to refuel at Alice’s Village Café. Several of the group went a bit further up the road and toured the Diefenbunker, Canada’s Cold War Museum. The Diefenbunker was designed and built in secrecy during the height of the Cold War. This 100,000-square-foot bunker was meant to provide a safe haven for Canada’s government if nuclear war were to break out. It is now open to the public as a museum and National Historic Site.
The ride the following day north to Quebec’s Gatineau Park with its ~3000 feet of climbing was clearly the most challenging of the trip. With its heavily forested and lightly traveled roads and majestic views from the Champlain Lookout, the ride was also the crown jewel of the week. On the way towards the summit we pulled off at an overlook of Pink Lake. The lake is a very rare example of a meromictic type, meaning that it remains thermally stratified, i.e. it does not “turn over” in the spring and fall like most other lakes. On the way out of the Park, several of us stopped for tea and ice cream the Mackenzie King Estate, a national historic gem and former summer residence built ~1930 by Canada's 10th (and longest serving) Prime Minister.
In lieu of the long ascent to the Lookout, several of the group took the optional route and road to the town of Old Chelsea, in part to check out its renowned Nordik Spa. Apparently the designated loop road out of town was under construction and closed (due to several large excavations in the middle of the road), but that did not deter several riders from “negotiating” with the French speaking construction workers (yes there was a language barrier) to go around the barriers and use the road. At the exit of the construction zone some ways down the road they were stopped by the construction foreman who, in very good English, yelled “Who let you past the barricades? You are not supposed to be on this road!” But I digress …
Through this point in the trip the weather had been perfect. In the evening a front began to move through and the next day’s ride was rained out. However, this did not bother anybody as it afforded a day to recover and also to further explore the city. Several of us visited the Royal Canadian Mint. They no longer mint coins for common circulation at this location, as that is now done in Winnipeg. Rather, they mint gold and silver bullion for investment, as well as unique and artistic collectible commemorative gold and silver coins.
The next day’s ride was a loop south of the city out to the town of Manotick. The weather was stunning and most of the ride was along lightly traveled farm roads. For lunch we congregated at The Miller's Oven, a bustling local eatery operated by a group of senior volunteers. We felt right at home.
The 5th ride of the trip was a loop that began with a gorgeous 12 mile stretch along the north shore of the Ottawa River, which featured a whirling churning stretch called the Déschene Rapids. We then rode up into Gatineau Park but this time kept to the bike paths before returning back into the city. It was a stunning ride.
Our last ride was titled “Bicycle Bridges and Bike Paths of Ottawa”. It was a truly charming ride and yes we crossed a lot of bridges … the consensus of those who kept count (Joan and Don) was 24 bridges in total. That evening we all gathered for our final group dinner, another family style event at a Lebanese restaurant called Fairouz. It was delicious and gave several of us an opportunity to try some Lebanese wine … and it was quite good! After dinner we went back to the hotel where John and Elizabeth surprised us all with a beautiful chocolate cake in celebration of Pam’s birthday and Joan’s and Mary’s very recent retirements. This was a thoughtful and heart-felt way to bring to a close a wonderful week of touring.
Thank you John and Elizabeth for all of your efforts, and in particular your patience in helping us all navigate the many bike paths, bridges, canals, rivers, roads, and construction zones of your beautiful city. And thanks to all of our old and new BAC friends who helped make this ride so much fun and memorable.
Joyeux vélo et amour à tous!
(Happy biking and love to all!)
Bicycle Adventure Club
PO BOX 23998 San Diego, CA 92193
Telephone (858) 715-9510 office@bicycleadventureclub.org