Cycling in Gatineau Park

Enjoying the Labour Day holiday, I took advantage of the excellent weather to ride my favourite area circuit in Gatineau Park, just across the provincial boundary in Quebec.  I met up with another cyclist, Michael, on his new Devinci road bike and we proceeded to cruise up the Camp Fortune climb and then on to Champlain Lookout before turning around and heading home.  It is not quite the Alps, but the roads are excellent and at 8:30 on a holiday morning there is not much traffic to speak of.

To give you an idea of the Park, here is a brief video I made in June when I rode with my friend Barry to the Lookout.  As you can see, it is a popular training route for many cyclists around here.

October 18/19: A Fine Weekend in Ottawa

Jake and his first ride on his new bicycle

After several days of indoor workouts (including the dreaded Short Duration Power Test wherein I sprinted up to 770 W of power output for somewhat less time than Mark Cavendish), I was determined to get out on the weekend and enjoy what promised to be excellent weather, perhaps the last good weather for the year.

On Friday I accompanied my colleague Jake to a big sporting goods store in Ottawa. I had recently persuaded him to Come to the Dark Side and buy a racing bicycle. I helped him to locate a very nice and only slightly used one but we needed All the Accessories. It was like Christmas for me: I helped pick out shoes, a helmet, a floor pump, some tools, shorts, socks, gloves, cleats and so forth and he paid for it all. I was a bit jealous since his excellent Giro helmet (in yellow, to match his bike) was unfaded, unlike my precious red Eclipse, and it was a level higher in the Giro line and cost less than when I bought mine! I may have to try and smuggle another one into the house because, well, you can never have enough helmets. I think that bill came to a good proportion of what he paid for the bike, an Opus Scherzo designed and assembled in Montreal.

On Saturday we met behind the National Research Council building on Sussex Drive and as two policemen looked on from their parked cruisers I installed his pedals and then the cleats in his shoes, made a minor adjustment of the seat, put a full water bottle into the holder and directed him to ride around the parking lot. Jake has not ridden a bike for some time and this was several levels of seriousness up. He learned to shift gears and position himself comfortably on the bike. More importantly he learned to disengage the cleats from the pedals as he slowed down.

I got on the Tarmac and we rode out along Sussex Drive. We had to get up on the sidewalk to get access to the MacDonald-Cartier Bridge and here Jake came to grief for a moment, tipping over onto his side. This was his initiation into the joys of clipless pedals and I told him he would not have to do that again. We rode over the bridge and then were soon on the bikepath heading towards Gatineau Park.

Jake tearing up the hills in Gatineau Park--c'mon: relax those elbows!

The ride was excellent, although it was only about 6C--it had been -2C when I left home. We had clear skies and entering the park we found very light traffic. We rode up towards Champlain Lookout and Jake got used to the shifting. The first significant climb on the route is the one to Pinks Lake and he managed this well enough although he did note that he was already starting to feel this in his legs. We went a bit further, to the intersection that would take you left to the Lookout or straight through to the Visitors' Centre and we decided here would be a good place to turn around. Now Jake could enjoy the delights of a high-speed descent on a light, fast and responsive bicycle and I knew the effort of climbing would be forgotten.

We crossed back into Ontario and headed to Bridgehead for some celebratory coffees. We had ridden 51 kms and climbed about 500 m in all. Not too shabby for a shakedown ride. Jake thanked me for being patient and showing him some of the techniques for cycling but I have to say it was an enormous pleasure to introduce somebody to the pastime that means so much to me. Cycling is the very best sport of all and when I think of all that it has given to me, including a high level of fitness, new skills and confidence, a chance to see some many wonderful places and make a lot of great friends, it is a small effort to pass my enjoyment along.

On Sunday I returned to Gatineau Park again, this time alone, to do my favourite climbing circuit. It was quite cold but I was wearing a long-sleeved wool jersey that Pezcyclingnews.com had sent to me for my book reviews and I have to say that I am sold on this traditional material. It kept me warm and dry even though I did not have a layer above the jersey. It looks very retro-stylish as well, the only drawback being that it has to be washed by hand. But some of us know that fashion always trumps practicality.

In spite of the cold a lot of motorists had decided to come into the park on Sunday and I did not find the ride so pleasant. I also developed a muscle spasm or something in my right side and it hurt a bit as I rode home. Still, it was an enjoyable day out (the spasm disappeared with a hot shower) and I had clocked another 71 kms and 1,000 m of climbing.

Back to Gatineau Park: Riding with Tom from Pennsylvania

Canada's House of Parliament, Ottawa River view

About two years ago, I participated in the Fat Cyclist's weight loss competition, not only defeating Fatty in the weight-loss arena but also doing well in a side bet against Tom in Pennsylvania. Tom and I have been corresponding on and off since then and I was delighted to learn that he would be coming to Ottawa to compete in a short distance duathlon at Mooney's Bay.

He arrived yesterday afternoon and picked up his race package and then we met up at his hotel and went for dinner in Ottawa's Little Italy, going to eat at the slightly schizophrenic Pub Italia, which is a kind of combination Italian restaurant and Irish pub. It has a rather kitschy decor but is a lot of fun. You can see outside or in a kind of conservatory, where we ended up. The waitresses are all quite young and, um, adorable (sorry, no photos!). But we were there for the malt-based, high-carbohydrate pre-duathlon preparation beverages and with our pasta we enjoyed two large pitchers of draught Creemore Springs lager, Tom's Serious Introduction to Canadian Beer. For dessert we had an unusual sort of lemon-meringue tart thing wrapped entirely in phyllo pastry.

A very Canadian balloon goes by...

I had the rare chance to sleep in a bit this morning, and while eating breakfast watched a number of balloons flying overhead as part of the Labour Day Weekend Gatineau Balloon Festival. The Mr. Peanut balloon was too far away to get a good picture, unfortunately. Tom completed his duathlon this morning and we got together after lunch. I gave him a brief driving tour of Ottawa before we crossed the river and found a place to leave the car near Gatineau Park. Tom was riding his Quintana Roo TeKilo time trial bike but at least he had a 12-27 cogset so I figured the hills would not be too much of a problem.

We rode up through the woods on the bike path to the park entrance. We were soon on the road inside the park, enjoying the gorgeous weather and chatting. We soon overtook an attractive Quebecoise, who was riding a hybrid bike. She asked me the directions to Champlain Lookout, and I suggested that if she turned left at the next intersection she would get there by a steep but shorter route but that if she continued along the way we were going it would be a lot longer and she would have to climb Camp Fortune Road. She decided to take the shorter route and thanked us. Tom and I continued on towards Pink Lake.

Tom comes up to Pink Lake

I was feeling pretty good and spun up the hill nicely but Tom fell back a bit. I waited at the entrance to the Pink Lake lookout parking lot but it took a while for him to appear. He said that his legs were dead and that he was pretty cooked after the duathlon, unsurprisingly. We then hatched Plan B, which was to just continue along the road until we reached Camp Fortune Road and the climb, and would turn back rather than go up to Champlain Lookout. We could then ride a bit along the Ottawa River and the flatter bikepaths there.

We soon caught up with Quebecoise again, who had missed the intersection and was continuing along our road. She had actually ridden most of this yesterday and was unconcerned, saying that she had all day. She seemed to be going quite well but I would not want to be riding a hybrid up to Champlain Lookout myself.

Tom and I swept downwards to Meech Lake Road and crossed it, rolling well. A cyclist passing in the other direction made a strange gesticulation and we figured something must be happening up ahead. Sure enough, in our lane was a great big snapping turtle, with a long spiky tail. It looked at us as we rode by and although I did not want to see it get run over, the road was not heavily travelled and it could be seen from a distance, so I was not too worried about it. Furthermore, I am aware that snapping turtles are very aggressive on land and I did not want to lose any fingers moving it to safety. It was the first turtle I have seen in Gatineau Park, so I can add this to my list of interesting creatures--red squirrels, chipmunks, woodpeckers, herons, bears--seen there.

Shortly after this bit of excitement, a police vehicle passed and blipped its siren. It was a black SUV, followed by a Cadillac limousine and then followed by another SUV. It was the Prime Minister, probaby going up to Harrington Lake, the summer retreat. I recognized the vehicles as the same that I saw outside Willson House on Meech Lake, where I had attended a cabinet meeting last week.

We soon came to the second intersection with Meech Lake, and a few cyclists passed us, heading up towards Camp Fortune. We turned back at this point and were curious where the turtle had gotten to but there was no sign of it anymore. However, the Quebecoise came from the other direction and asked how far it was to Champlain Lookout. I told her it was about 7 kms to go and she seemed undaunted by this, or by the fact that it would be mainly uphill.

Tom and I cruised back and were overtaken by a rider wearing a polka dot King of the Mountains jersey. This was too much for Tom, who decided we had to choice KoM down and we rode more swiftly but when we got to another climb this foolishness ended rapidly.

Proof that we did our ride! Tom on the left, me on the right

After enjoying the rolling hills for a while, we stopped briefly at the entrance to the park and had out joint picture taken by a passerby before rolling quickly down through the woods. We joined up with the Voyageur bikepath and headed west, crossing the Champlain Bridge to the Ontario side and then heading east along the bikepath, pausing in front of the War Museum and then riding along the path at river level behind the Supreme Court and Parliament. The weather was glorious and a lot of people were out and about; Tom had lived in Chicago and thought that the bikepath there along Lake Michigan was used far less than what he had seen in Ottawa.

Now, I need a picture of me in front of the Mexican legislature and I have the NAFTA trifecta!

We walked our bikes over one of the locks on the Rideau Canal and made the steep climb up to the Alexandra Bridge, crossing over and then rejoining the Voyageur bikepath. We stopped behind the Museum of Civilization to look across the river at Parliament, and Tom took a picture of me in my Fat Cyclist pink lemonade jersey that I will post on Flickr, to go with the one of me in front of the US Capitol. We soon were near the entrance to Gatineau Park and the car.

I dropped Tom off at his hotel as he wanted to get back on the road to Pennsylvania, but I made sure that he was equipped with sufficient Creemore Springs malt-based, high-carbohydrate recovery beverage. It was great riding with him and I hope that we can do it again soon. Not only does he have to get to Champlain Lookout with me but he has to bring those cans back for the deposit at Brewers' Retail.

Altogether we rode 57 km and climbed about 670 m--a most enjoyable Saturday ride!

More Hill Climbing

Today's route profile

After not being able to ride yesterday due to the constant heavy rain (always on the weekend!), I was disappointed when I looked outside this morning and saw grey dark skies and the potential for even more rain. I was not planning to spend the day compensating for my missed ride by eating several portions of butter pecan ice cream again so I thought it might be time to go back to the health club for (shudder) an indoor workout. To avoid this, I schlepped around the house, doing householdy things, and by 10 o'clock it became obvious to me that, in fact, it was not going to rain after all. This delay meant that I missed the OBC Sunday group ride, which I had been considering, but then I decided that with my trip to the mountains of France coming up I would be better off doing climbing workouts anyway. So after washing the dishes and getting dressed, I got the Tarmac out and we headed off to the Eastern Parkway for a warm-up before crossing the river to get to the Park.

Sunday mornings in Ottawa in summer mean that the major parkways close to vehicular traffic. Although having four lanes of road to yourself is nice, in practice this never happens since all the skateboards and once-a-month-in-summer-cyclists come out, usually with their children, and take up the parkways. But the Eastern Parkway is furthest from population centres here so it gets the fewest people, meaning that it is easy to overtake and find a line to maintain a decent speed for a warm-up. It was a bit strange since I had the feeling that everyone else out on the parkway was moving in slow motion. There was a strong wind, as has been the wont this summer, but I still managed long stretches at 35 km/h (22mph) or so. At one point someone on a racing bike pulled onto the road just before I came by and I passed him he gave it some gas and sat on my wheel. This was pretty amusing since he looked kind of overextended just coming onto the road so I thought I would have some fun and just started accelerating gently away. I looked back when I hit 42 km/h (26 mph) to see if I should push a bit harder but he had already vanished.

My heart rate profile today

Leaving the Parkway I rode westwards along Sussex Drive and crossed the Alexandra Bridge, turning left and following the usual horrible Blvd. Alexander-Tache to the park entrance. There were a lot of cyclists finishing up already (it was close to 12:45) but the weather, wind aside, looked really nice. I played tag with one rider but he could not keep up to me on the climb and then turned left towards the MacKenzie King Estate so I had the road to myself. A little group passed me on a slight climb but I easily caught back up on the descent. Two younger riders soon turned off but the remaining cyclist, who looked like he had legs made of iron, was too strong for me and I let him go ahead on the climb past Camp Fortune.

There was the usual big group of people at Champlain Lookout, and I took a break for Gatorade and a snack since I was a bit tired from the wind, more than the climbing. I chatted with one rider with a Sampson bike and then he recognized me from the OBC group ride we had done that he had led earlier this year, when my rear tire went flat. Don and I had a nice talk and then headed back towards Ottawa together. He was on his second loop of the park, which is pretty impressive, and although I was considering doing it the sky to the west was very dark and we were worried that a thunderstorm was imminent.

When we left Gatineau Park, Don took me through Hull in a way that would let me avoid the potholes of my usual route. We passed the Bisson Centre, where the Foreign Service has its school and where I might go for language training, and it was good to see that it was directly on a bike path. We took a somewhat roundabout way to get back to the Alexandra Bridge but I hope to try it again on Tuesday, which is the Canada Day holiday, so that I can remember the landmarks.

When I got home I saw that I had 86 kms (53.5 miles) on the computer, with just under 1000 meters (3280 feet) of climbing. I was thinking of doing the extra 14 but the sky was really looking bad so instead I put the bike away, had a shower and got the barbecue going. In the end I just managed to cook some veggie hot dogs before the rain fell yet again. But the ride was excellent and I can say that I had fun.

Heading for the hills

My favourite training loop

After several weeks of either boring flat farmland riding or sitting at home watching the rain come down, I was delighted when I woke up at 6 am this morning to see the weather was perfect for riding: sunny, no wind to speak of and just the right temperature. After a leisurely breakfast, including feeding the semi-domesticated female chipmunk who wanders into the living room looking for peanuts, I pumped up the tires on the Tarmac and headed to the Eastern Parkway to do some interval training, as suggested by the Coach of Cruelty.

In this I was thwarted as the road was closed for a women's 5 km running race, and it would not be open until 9:30 am. Rather than lose the time, I did a loop back along the bike path running alongside the Ottawa River to Rockcliffe Park, and then rode into the Byward Market and across the Alexandra Bridge to Hull. It was going to be a Gatineau Park day!

As I rode through the woods on the bike path at the entrance to the Park, a large rabbit hopped out onto the path. He did not dart off to the side when he saw me, but just kept on loping along the path in front of me. I had to shout several times to get him out of the way as I did not want to run him over. He did not seem very disturbed by my presence.

The same could not be said for the lady cycling near the Lemelin entrance to the Park. I was on the bikepath and heading north, while she wanted to get onto the path from the west, needing to do a 90 degree right turn. This seemed beyond her biking handling skills as when she tried to follow her male companion she got very slow, wobbled into the turn and then fell over as I pulled up to the stop sign. She seemed okay; perhaps she was learning how to use clipless pedals.

Heading north on the main road I was soon joined by another cyclist, a New Zealander named Mike. We chatted for a while and then he turned left towards the King Estate and Champlain Lookout while I kept going straight to go the longer way. I noticed a deer on the side of the road up ahead and was watching very carefully as they can be unpredictable and get in front of you but this one stood gawping at me until I was about three feet away. Then she suddenly realized that I was of the same species as Elmer Fudd and thus to be avoided, so she ran off back along the verge and into the woods.

When I passed Meech Lake Road and began to climb towards the Camp Fortune ski area I was amazed at how relaxed I felt, and how my speed was not falling very much on the climb. On the profile above you can see the climb at the 31 km mark. It is fairly steep and long but steady and I held a constant 13-15 km/h (8-9.5 mph) almost all the way to the top. Then I turned right to go towards Champlain Lookout and the New Zealander waved as he headed downhill in the other direction. I felt so good when I reached the Lookout that I just did the loop and kept riding instead of stopping as usual.

All this training has had some kind of result as I rocketed back downhill to retrace my course, hitting 64 km/h (nearly 40 mph) along the way. There were a lot of cyclists riding uphill and it was such a beautiful day that everyone looked happy and we all waved to each other.

I was in a bit of a hurry to get home since I had an 11 am appointment so I pushed it a bit all the way back, ending up with an average speed of 26.13 km/h (16.3 mph) which is pretty good as I climbed around 860 m (2800 feet) in only 70 kms (43.6 miles).

It was a bittersweet appointment. A few years ago, I was a very enthusiastic home brewer but after living in Germany and the US I realized that I preferred to spend my time drinking the beer instead of making it. So I put an ad on Craigslist and sold my four carboys, primary fermenter, 80x 1 litre bottles and all the tools and other stuff--enough to make something like 140 litres (37 gallons) of delicious, all-natural beer--to a nice gentleman from Quebec. I wish him much joy of it; at least I now have more space in the basement for yet more bike stuff.

Hill Sprints in Gatineau Park

The weather was gorgeous today and I went back to Gatineau Park to do a set of five hill sprints, which are basically going uphill has fast as you can for around 30 seconds. By the second or third time my breakfast wanted to escape but I just kept at it and soon the instructions of the Coach of Cruelty were carried out.

The route was a variation on my usual Gatineau Park route, going to Champlain Lookout but then returning the same way I came instead of going back the direct way. This gave me around 1000 m of climbing today, and 74 km in distance. I felt very good and even chased down a few people just for fun.

The ride out to the Park was a bit scary. First of all a truck full of roofing supplies almost pushed me off the road near my house. Then on Beechwood Drive, as I got onto the bicycle lane and began to cross the bridge, a woman in a car behind me started honking her horn. I looked back to see that she was driving on the bike lane! I guess it would never have occurred to her to just wait until the traffic was clear and get back onto the roadway but this marked my first sprint of the day.

In the Park itself I saw more wildlife than before. A groundhog sitting up next to the road watched me with great interest as I rolled by him, perhaps two feet away. A red-tailed hawk swooped over the road and landed in a tree on a low branch on one of the big climbs but best of all was as I came up to two women cyclists and a big black bear loped across the road. He looked much better-fed that the bear I had seen on Skyline Drive once so I was not too concerned. I asked the women what kind of dog it was that had crossed, which they found highly amusing.

It was quite windy, which is usually not so much fun but the road was generally sheltered and the wind kept the blackflies away. When I stopped briefly on Champlain Lookout they began to swarm, which encouraged me to just keep riding. But on a beautiful sunny day with comfortable temperatures who would not want to keep riding? And the beer at the end of the ride just makes it so much more worthwhile.

And thanks to the assistance of Chill the Computer Genius, I have actually been able to do a map of today's ride!

Back to Gatineau Park

Spring must truly be here because today I did my first ride of the season to Champlain Lookout in Gatineau Park.

The weather was foreboding when I left home just after 8:20 am and headed north. I was dressed properly for once, with a long-sleeved jersey, long-fingered gloves and leggings under my shorts. It was 6C but the wind was not too bad so it was not uncomfortable. The forecast was for sun later in the day and temperatures going up to 18C.

After meeting Fred at the Gamelin Gate, we headed onto our usual loop, taking us around Kingsmere and the Camp Fortune ski area before doing the serious climb up to Champlain Lookout. There were a lot of cyclists out and about, even with the cold overcast day.

We both were rolling well and completed the circuit in good time. Then we headed to the very trendy Westboro strip and enjoyed an excellent lunch in a vegetarian buffet restaurant, the Table, on Wellington Street. Then we stopped in at Mountain Equipment Co-op, which ias always a fun place to visit, and I bought a new blinkie light for BlackAdder as the previous one had gotten killed by rain. It was fun riding back along Wellington Street and looking at all the interesting stores en route.

After saying goodbye to Fred, I rode along the bikepath on the Ottawa River, passing the Tulip Festival at Major's Hill Park, and I added a circuit of the Eastern Parkway to bring my ride up to 100 kms (and 1000 vertical meters) for the day. And as I came home the sun began to shine brightly.

Me vs. Winter: 0-1

As it appears that it will never stop snowing in Ottawa--I had to shovel the driveway yet again today--I thought that I would get serious about trying to do something outdoors. Yesterday I went with my friend Peter, who is an excellent skier, to Gatineau Park for some cross-country skiing. We rented me some nice skis in Old Chelsea and then drove to Camp Fortune, the downhill ski area, and parked the car.

The weather was quite nice, hovering around the freezing mark, and in spite of having been off skis for a decade (and being not so good even then) I did fairly well. The concept of the snowplough turn appears still to be somewhat beyond my grasp and on a number of trails I found the most effective to stop and/or turn was to, well, fall down. This became more regular as we came back and as I got tired my already-marginal ski handling skills degraded. But there was lots of fresh air and nice scenery. I saw many red squirrels and even stood close to a woodpecker near one of the chalets where we stopped for a snack.

Gatineau Park must be one of the finest placed to do x-country in North America. The trails were beautifully-groomed and quite challenging.

As for myself, I have a sore left wrist today but I would like to try again and perhaps get more serious about figuring out how to do those turns.

Happy New Year to everyone!

My Ride with Fred

Fred V. and his Miyata

One of the nice things about returning to Ottawa is renewing old friendships. Today I returned to Gatineau Park to ride with my old cycling buddy, Fred V. We rode together in Europe, doing a multi-day tour along the Taubertal and the Altmuehltal in southern Germany, as well as some riding in Brandenburg, including a disastrous ride near Pritzwalk in freezing rain that I had more or less forgotten about until he mentioned it today.

We met at the Visitors' Centre near Rue Gamelin. Fred had his black carbon Miyata bike, which he has recently modified by switching to straight bars and installing a new Shimano 8-speed Alfine internal hub system. The bike has a single chainring, which he thought was a 38 tooth. The Alfine is the newest high-end system from Shimano. I rented a bike in Switzerland once with a 7-speed Shimano Nexave, which was quite nice but probably pretty heavy.

Intrepid Cyclists at Champlain Lookout

Fred is retired and has lots of time to ride up and down the Gatineau Hills. We rode up towards Champlain Lookout, electing to do the direct route as it was fairly cold (2C?). We were joined by a rider on a white Moser who asked to join us rather than ride alone. He and I went ahead on the hills as we were a bit faster than Fred but Fred rocketed by us on the downhills quite nicely. The Moser rider rode a number of climbs in the Pyrenees this summer and we talked about riding in Europe. After I pulled away from him easily on a big uphill, he remarked that I had a rider's physique, something nobody has ever suggested before. At least that weight loss effort this year yielded results. And Fred was very happy with the ride as he managed to knock off no less than six minutes from his previous best time on the climb.

Fred and I chatted at Champlain Lookout for a while and then headed back towards Ottawa. It was much colder in this direction, plus we had the windchill factor from descending. My hands were getting pretty cold but I felt very good on the bike, as if I could chase down anyone I wanted at will.

Along the Ottawa River

We left the Park and after riding along the bikepath on the northern shore of the Ottawa River crossed at the Champlain Bridge. We turned towards the east and were soon at the Bridgehead coffee shop on Wellington Street, where Fred treated me to an excellent late and a peanut butter cookie.




The River Highway

We parted ways soon afterwards and I rode along the Ottawa River bikepath past the new War Museum. There was a plaque explaining the geology of the region and how, a million years ago, the Gatineau Hills were mountains nearly as high as Mt. Everest. The area where I was cycling was part of the Champlain Sea, and would have been 250 feet under water only 10,000 years ago. There was also a plaque describing the Ottawa River as "the river highway," with some very nice metalwork calling the mind the front and back of a cargo canoe, with voyageurs at the paddle. I could not resist taking a photo with the Tarmac in between.

Parliament Hill

The path took me past the War Museum, the Supreme Court of Canada and Parliament Hill. Unfortunately, the Rideau Canal had been drained so I could not cross over one of the locks and instead had to ride up behind the National Arts Centre and then ride through the Byward Market.



Today's ride

Considering we are in the first week of November, I was very satisfied to get in a nice 75 km ride, with almost 1,000 m of climbing and some nice socializing.

The Ride of the Falling Leaves

More Ups and Downs in Gatineau Park

Yesterday I returned to Gatineau Park after a week's absence due to the rain last weekend. I expected the colours to be past their peak but in fact a lot of leaves were still on the trees. Unfortunately the weather was a bit grim: overcast, cool and an ever-present threat of rain. But my coach wanted me to do a three hour ride, so off I went. I felt surprisingly good (maybe it is because I did not have to go and lift weights as usual) and when the forecast for today was sunny sunny sunny and 21C, well, you could not hold me back with wild horses.

After doing some of the shopping necessary to sustain what passes for normal life--and I got some nice McIntosh apples for 39 cents a pound!--I rode through the Byward Market, across the Alexandra Bridge and eventually to the park entrance. The weather was excellent, although a strong wind from the southwest was not so much fun, but no matter: I was just thankful to be able to ride at the end of October in Canada.

Ian on his new Tarmac

As I was climbing I heard someone behind me and soon after another rider on a Specialized Tarmac passed me. This is the first Tarmac besides mine that I have seen in Ottawa and I caught up with him and we began talking about the bikes and cycling in general. Ian lives in Westboro so his trip to the park is a bit shorter than mine. He was a runner who has gotten into triathlons and we talked about that for a while. He has had the Tarmac, an all-carbon one, for only a few weeks and it looked great in its red and white colour scheme.

Typical Gatineau scenery, with Tarmac Guy

We rode together to Meech Lake Road and then continued on the Gatineau Parkway until we began the climb up Camp Fortune Road past the ski area. Ian was stronger than me on the climbs but I could make up time on the descents. The Camp Fortune climb is a really excellent one but all good things come to an end. We soon came to Champlain Lookout and then headed back towards Ottawa.


Although the weather was gorgeous, the auto traffic was non-stop as all the non-athletes came to look at the Fall colours. We could not ride side-by-side very much as the cars came endlessly but the descents were fun, as always. At one point I was passed by a big BMW motorcycle and had no trouble matching his speed downhill.

After we left the park, I rode eastwards and went to Orleans to drop in on some friends. The wind on the Rockcliffe Parkway was terrible but at the moment I got to the worst part, a huge guy on a Cannondale passed me and I pulled in right behind him. Working together, we were hitting speeds of 42 km/h or so into the wind. It was fun but since my coach wanted me to keep my heart rate below 75 per cent of maximum today I had to back off a bit. At St. Joseph Blvd. we stopped to chat a bit and then I continued to Orleans. The ride back was brutally hard as I ended up taking the full force of the headwind. But still, 101 kms ridden, with 1100 vertical m of climbing. I doubt if there will be many more days like this before winter comes.

Gateau Gatineau: Another Slice for Me!

Pink Lake, which is green

Determined to take advantage of the superb weather, I headed back out to Gatineau Park at 8:30 this morning. After 25 km, I found myself at the parking lot on Meech Lake Road, waiting for the others. The roads were closed, but only until 10 am but a huge number of cross-country skiers were out enjoying the asphalt on their wheeled skis. Some of them came downhill impressively fast.

Skiers in September

Bob and Daryl from the Oakville Bicycle Club soon arrived and we set off along the Gatineau Parkway, turning right onto Camp Fortune Road and enjoying a nice steady climb. A powerful-looking woman rode past us and we were debating reeling her in but she looked pretty serious and was probably not even trying very hard, so we just cruised at our own speed. Although the roads were now open to traffic, there was not much of it at this end of the park. However, I noticed that as we headed south, many of the small parking lots were filled to overflowing and we actually came upon some cars. An NSX passed us, swerving by without enough room, and then he immediately had to sit on the bumper of a slower car ahead.

Me, Daryl and Bob at the Champlain Lookout

A right turn at the top and we rode the brief interval to Champlain Lookout, and then turned around to enjoy the downhill recovery stage as we headed back to the parking lot. Lap 2 was turning left towards Camp Fortune itself and although we were happy that the road was paved, the ski resort was only a short distance up the road. So back up towards Champlain Lookout we went, but turning left onto the Gatineau Parkway.

At this point I bid adieu to Bob and Daryl and with some soreness in my legs I headed back downhill towards Hull and once more across the Alexandra Bridge, with its excellent view of the Houses of Parliament, the Chateau Laurier Hotel and the impressive series of locks that mark the end (or beginning) of the Rideau Canal. Once I arrived at home, I took my trainer's advice and went running for ten minutes. It was pretty painful and I will definitely have some work to do before the duathlon in ensuring fast transitions.

So today was a good day: good company, a great ride, superb weather. 1504 vertical meters in 91.4 kms of riding.

Cycling in Canada!

Not so flat around here...

Taking advantage of the beautiful Autumn weather, I made my first long ride today. I had planned to join a group from the Oakville Bicycle Club riding in Ottawa with a club member who had recently moved, but I was just too involved with things at home for an early start. I finally got the Tarmac out at noon and headed through the Byward Market and then across the wooden slats of the Alexandra Bridge to Hull, Quebec. A left turn and soon I was "enjoying" the brutal potholes of La Tache Boulevard. It is clearly not election year in Quebec as the road was in terrible condition and I was worried about my lovely Shimano wheels. But after riding 5 kms or so, I saw the entrance to Gatineau Park, and turned right. At this point the road becomes as smooth as glass and you know that you are in the Pride and Joy of the National Capital Region.

The park is only fifteen minutes from downtown Ottawa but is a beautiful wild area of some 360 square kms, encompassing a number of lakes and some nice hills. There is an interesting collection of Canadian wildlife, and in July a cougar was sighted in the Park.

It is a popular place to ride and I was there to ride up to Champlain Lookout, the highest point in the park. The weather was exceptional, although it was a bit windy, and I made good time. I rode by Pink Lake, where I had my one triathlon experience, and continued along the parkway. The road continually rises and descends and I enjoyed the challenging little climbs and the trees, which are just beginning to change colour. I passed the summer estate of former Prime Minister Mackenzie King, which is open to the public and where tea is served, before I made the left hand turn as the road pitched up to Champlain Lookout, 12 kms ahead.

When I reached the Lookout, I stopped to admire the view and discovered the group from the Oakville Bicycle Club was there. We will ride tomorrow since a number of the roads in Gatineau Park are closed to cars on Sunday. They headed back towards Chelsea while I rolled back down the hill and went to a meeting with the coach who will give me some advice about my upcoming duathlon.

My actual ride time was a relaxed 2 1/2 hours, and I covered 62 kms, with a surprising altitude gain of nearly 1000 m, with the steepest grade 13.5 per cent. Tomorrow I will bring my camera so that I can capture the first of the Fall colours.