Rockcliffe Park

| Sarah Simpkin

Another day working in my spare room = hardly any steps logged on my smartwatch. I closed up my laptop for the day, switched off the fan and hopped on my bike for a little pre-supper pedal eastward to Rockcliffe.

Cruising across the farm, then down the Prince of Wales hill.

My route to Rockcliffe started in much the same way as my route to Main: Across the farm to the Prince of Wales Drive roundabout, then north down the hill to the Trillium Pathway and through Little Italy and Chinatown before turning onto the bike path on Laurier Avenue.

The two-way bike lane on Preston Street is really nice until… it ends abruptly and turns away from the commercial area. Hmm.
Riding downtown on the Laurier Avenue bike lane, then another visit past Main with some curbside drop-off boxes out front.

I continued along Laurier, passed the University of Ottawa (still there, still a ghost-town), then cycled through Sandy Hill on Wilbrod Street and Chapel Street before crossing Rideau Street into Lowertown.

Riding down Cobourg Street, then across the St. Patrick Street bridge to Beechwood Avenue.

I crossed the St. Patrick Street bridge and rode the bike lane into Beechwood. Then it was a quick left turn onto Springfield Road to climb the hill toward Rockcliffe Park.

This hill on Springfield was unpleasant.
Non-standard pre-amalgamation signage! Lovely sculpture.

You’d think I’d have an innate sense of “library nearby” radar by now, but I nearly cycled past the library without noticing it. It is co-located with the community hall and didn’t have the usual signage out front. I spent a quiet moment in the garden outside admiring the artwork, then hopped back on the bike to take a slightly different route home.

Tranquil scenes from Rockcliffe, then the entrance to the Rideau River Eastern Pathway near Beechwood Avenue.

From Beechwood Avenue, I turned south onto the Rideau River Eastern Pathway and cycled along the river before taking the Adàwe Crossing back to Sandy Hill.

Views of the Rideau River.

I cycled through Sandy Hill (more like Sandy Hills, am I right?), then followed the bike path from uOttawa under the O-Train station to the canal.

There was a little construction happening along the Rideau Canal Eastern Pathway, so I followed the detour along Echo Drive before rejoining the path.
Black Lives Matter chalk art under the Pretoria Bridge, then a very blue sky and canal.

I continued along the canal past Dow’s Lake, then crossed over at Carleton University and headed home through the farm.

Dow’s Lake, Hartwell’s Locks, and a return journey across the Central Experimental Farm.

10 branches down, 23 to go.