Today was our next attempt to complete the 30 km round trip downtown on an Alcatel-Lucent Bike Day. Our two previous attempts this year had been thwarted by breakdowns and we lost a number of other Sundays to bad weather or just deciding to go and do something else. Last Sunday we went hiking in Gatineau Park instead.
But I am pleased to report that today's foray went without a hitch. Following the uncharacteristic (for July) passage of a cold front we were left with a cool and clear morning, with a starting temperature of 14C. We set off at 0830 and passed the southern gate at the Colonel by Drive exactly at 0900 to the second. That was mostly good luck as you can't time that with any degree of accuracy, given the traffic lights and such.
The run on the Colonel By Drive was quite quick as there was surprisingly little traffic. There were lots of joggers, but mostly on the pathway and not the road and we saw few cyclists until later on in the day. The skaters were out in force, however. Ruth voted for coffee at the Second Cup on Laurier and so we made our way through the University of Ottawa and along Copernicus Street (no kidding) and found a parking spot right on Laurier. The morning was still a bit cool at only 18C by then, but we were warm from having completed 15 km quite quickly at that point so we had our cold drinks outside on their patio.
The forecast winds hadn't appeared and what little wind there was, by that time of day, was behind us, so we set out for home. The Colonel By Drive was getting a bit busier, mostly with parents and younger kids on bikes, but it was still not very busy, even at 1030, which is often a the peak time there most years. Maybe the wet weather has caused people to give up on the bike days? Nevertheless the tailwind and light traffic made for a quick run back to the south end of the Colonel By Drive and we exited onto Hog's Back and quickly made our way home, with only a short stop at the Metro on McCarthy to pick up some groceries for lunch.
The run was quick enough that, even with the dawdling for coffee and groceries, we were home before 1130. With the quadracycle parked in the driveway, it seemed like a good opportunity to also move the bikes and some other items out and give the garage a good sweep and vacuum out, before putting everything away. I had wanted to do that on Saturday, but the torrential rain convinced me to wait for a nicer day to complete that task.
The last thing to do before lunch was to oil the quadracycle's chains, steering rod and axle and check it over. The inspection revealed everything working just fine, no problems at all. So the Rhoades Car is now locked away awaiting our next opportunity to get it out for a grocery trip or just a fun ride. Hopefully the weather will stay dry for a bit now.
Total quadracycling for 2009 so far - 178 km
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