Carp

| Sarah Simpkin

[ This is part one of a three-part tour to Carp, Fitzroy Harbour and Constance Bay branches. ]

When this project started back in June, I was curious but apprehensive about the Carp-Fitzroy Harbour-Constance Bay loop. Pros: Camping! Carp! Cons: Hills! I fretted and fretted, worried that I’d bitten off more than I could chew by proposing to haul all of my gear up and down the rolling hills of West Carleton. Then I met Barb and Kevin.

Barb and Kevin are e-bike enthusiasts. The gears started to turn in my head. Could I make this trip more bearable using the magic power of “E”?

I rented a shiny new Cube e-bike from Escape Bicycle Tours and Rentals on Sparks Street for this tour. It took me a few tries to master the step-through frame (I’ve been used to a clumsy “arabesque over the panniers” move, this frame eliminated that altogether).

Once I’d determined that 1. my blog, my rules, and 2. yes, I really did want to try this, I made a 24 hour reservation at Escape Bicycle Tours and Rentals on Sparks Street. They have a fleet of bikes, both e- and not, for rent and we were able to find a good one for my needs.

Once the bike piece was in place, I then turned my mind to the logistics of getting downtown to the rental place. This fretting was out loud to my friend Mary, who graciously offered to be my driver and motivator this weekend. It takes a village, as they say.

Heading westward along the SJAM Parkway on an unusually quiet morning, then passing The Beachconers Micro-Creamery in Britannia, where crowds were already gathering for an ice cream.

I cruised out of town on the SJAM parkway, tentatively futzing with the bike’s various levels of “assist”. I was full of energy, and had enough steam to keep it on “off” and “eco” for most of the ride to Carp, hoping to save the battery for later in the tour.

Biking along the path network through the Greenbelt into Kanata. But for a quick ride along Carling (where there was a wide paved shoulder), most of the ride to Kanata was completely separated from traffic. Once in Kanata, I rode along Terry Fox Drive through a very quiet business park.

I emerged from the trail network in a very quiet Kanata business park (COVID + Saturday will do that, I suppose). The occasional car passed by, ruining the ghost town illusion.

The hydro corridor pathway through Morgan’s Grant was a nice find. The road to Carp became a bit dodgier after that, with unpaved shoulders and a few twists and turns. I was glad to roll into town.

I proceeded through Kanata, enjoying paved pathways and quiet roads. Once in the country again, the roads were more hit-or-miss, but generally fairly quiet, with the occasional cyclist passing by. I rolled into town on Donald B. Munro Drive, passing the Ridge Rock Brewery, and then gleefully rode up the Carp Road hill on “turbo” mode. Good call to go with this electric bicycle, I’d say.

Scenes from Carp, including a mural on the fair building and the Diefenbunker entrance.

I stopped for a late lunch at the Alice’s Village Café walk-up window, then sat down and ate on their back gazebo. As I saw later on Twitter, it turns out I wasn’t the only cyclist enjoying a day in Carp.

Carp branch, possibly the only one behind a barbed wire fence? And most certainly the one I’d choose in a nuclear disaster.

One of my go-to places to bring out-of-town guests is the Diefenbunker Museum (what can I say, my guests are usually history buffs who enjoy a good meal at Alice’s). The four-storey Cold War era bunker, built in Carp between 1959-1961, was operational until 1994 and designed to keep 535 key government and military personnel safe for 30 days in the event of a nuclear attack. The museum opened in 1997.

The library is located in a former Canadian Forces building near the entrance to the bunker. I’m not sure if the big windows were later additions, but together with the well-kept gardens it all looked quite charming. Carp branch is another with a sculpture of two people sitting on a bench enjoying a book (I’ll really need to make a special gallery of those).

Twenty two branches down, 11 to go.