Sunnyside

I’d normally reserve the weekend for longer rides, but Ottawa is in mid-heat wave so I scaled my ambitions back a wee bit. After supper on Saturday, I filled up my largest water bottle and headed east to Old Ottawa South.

There were lots of families out and about at the Central Experimental Farm. With the wide roads that are off-limits to traffic, it is an ideal spot for some exercise and safe physical distancing. I crossed the canal at the lock station near Carleton University and turned onto the Rideau Canal Eastern Pathway to head toward Bank Street.

I turned off the pathway just before the Bank Street bridge. There’s a slightly discontinuous connection between the multi-use path and Echo Drive, which does not have a bike lane and joins up with Bank Street close to the bridge. No time to complain for long, though, because Sunnyside branch was at the top of the hill!

From the library, I headed south on Bank Street past the Mayfair Theatre and several long line-ups at both Stella Luna Gelato and Dairy Queen.

I turned off Bank Street at Riverside Drive to join the Rideau River Eastern Pathway for a nice ride home during sunset. Along the path I stopped as a pack of Canada Geese crossed in front of me on their own time, seemingly unconcerned about the humans waiting for them to do so.

I continued along the path past Carleton and through Vincent Massey Park, where many families were out enjoying the cooler evening weather and wrapping up their picnic dinners. From there I headed for Hog’s Back and enjoyed a nice view of the falls on one side and Mooney’s Bay on the other.

After crossing the temporary paths and bridges at Hog’s Back, I continued north along Prince of Wales Drive, then along Dynes Road to Fisher Avenue, one of my preferred routings to avoid Baseline Road. Once I reached the farm, I was nearly home.

And now for some exciting news! When I told my friend Mary last week about this biking/blogging project, she mentioned that her friend (and retired librarian) Jane is also on a mission to cycle to each Ottawa Public Library branch! Jane reached out to me, and offered to match my donation to Twice Upon a Time at the end of the project. I’ll be sharing Jane’s adventures on this blog too. As for me:

Nine branches down, 24 to go.