We had another rainy Saturday yesterday. Man it has been raining a lot all through May and June. The city is really very green now, but we could use a break from the rain!
Today Sunday morning, we woke up to a hazy, misty morning, 20C with a dew-point also of 20C. The forecast predicted rain showers and thundershowers for the afternoon, but that the morning would be rain-free. We didn't need any more encouraging and decided to take the Colonel By Drive into the city and back. We planed to be back before all the moisture turned into showers again.
We hadn't even pedalled out of our street when a local guy rollerblading and pushing two kids in a baby carriage stopped to chat about our Rhoades Car. He said that as a result of the high price of gas he had decided to scrap his car recently. He indicted that it wasn't much of a sacrifice as he bikes to work anyway.
So, after that conversation, we followed the usual route down Hunt Club and McCarthy through to Hog's back and the south end of the Colonel By Drive, arriving just as it closed to cars at 0900. The ride itself was pretty fast, not much traffic that early on the road. With a couple of breaks we ended up at the north end in exactly an hour from starting from home, averaging 15 km/hr, including stops, which is pretty good.
This is at the Canada Day weekend and in Ottawa that is a busy time, with the airshow on, the parties and celebrations happening and of course most of it is all downtown at Parliament Hill. The Rideau Canal was lined with boats all moored for the weekend in town.
Our trip back was into a light breeze, as the day warmed up and the humidity increased from the evaporation from all the puddles from yesterday's rain. As we always do, we got may shouts of support from motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. The little kids all stare at the quadracycle; "Mommy, lookit that!" It is great fun.
We made it home at 1100, having covered the 30 km in 2.5 hours, including about a half an hour's worth of breaks.
Once in the driveway I cleaned and lubed the Rhoades Car. I particularly wanted to inspect the rear Sun Race dérailleurs since they were recently replaced. They look fine, with no signs of the cracks that the previous ones had. That is good news, but I will keep checking them closely!
All in all it was a great morning to get some exercise, at least before it rains again!
Price of gas locally today $1.343
Total quadracycling for 2008 so far - 184.6 km
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