One of the sure signs that fall is almost here is the end of the Alcatel-Lucent Sunday Bikedays on the city's NCC parkways. This occurs every year on the Labour Day weekend, but for us it always seems too soon.
To my mind, at least in the last two years, the end of bikedays has come far too early. This year July was incredibly wet and in fact set a record for the wettest month ever recorded in the city. Summer really didn't get going in earnest until early August, leaving us with just four weeks of bikedays before everything is ended at Labour Day. If it were up to me I would extend the bikedays until Thanksgiving, as this seems to be the period when the best, or at least driest, weather happens. Of course if it were up to me I would just close the Colonel By Drive to motorized traffic permanently and make it a bike-commuter route to downtown!
Today started off a bit cool. We left at 0845 when the official temperature was 11C. By the time we got home again at 1130 it was 17C. With light winds and sunshine it was actually perfect biking weather - not too hot or too cold at all.
The run went flawlessly this time. We made it to the University of Ottawa in good time, made our way through the campus, paying attention to the new "pedestrian-only" mall signs and went to the Second Cup on Laurier for morning coffee break. The university was thick with new and returning students getting ready to start classes on Tuesday. It is the one time of year when you can see fresh young faces, all carrying their favourite pillows to their new life in residence. There were a few tears too, but I am not sure if that was due to separation anxiety or due to the tuition fee increases this year.
On the Colonel By Drive itself there was not all that much bike and roller skate traffic. I think the cooler temperatures dissuaded some people from coming out early. As usual we got lots of waves and positive comments on the quadracycle. The little kids especially seem enthralled by it when we ride by - "Lookit mommy, I want one."
It is always sad to do the last bikeday, as it means that summer is coming to an end soon. Fortunately we will still have at least a couple of months of cycling here in Ottawa before the snow puts an end to the season. We will just be out quadracycling on the streets and other routes, instead of on the parkways on Sunday mornings.
Total quadracycling for 2009 so far - 304 km
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