I watched the mayoral debate on CBC television Tuesday evening, and soon realized that we have an anti-bike candidate running to be Ottawa’s next mayor. His name is Mark Sutcliffe. During the debate, Mark Sutcliffe made a point of repeatedly attacking and ridiculing Catherine McKenney’s plan to make “Ottawa a world-class city for cycling” by spending $250 million on cycling infrastructure over the next four years. In recent weeks Mark Sutcliffe has made his attacks on McKenney’s cycling plan a major theme of his campaign. This is significant because Mark Sutcliffe and Catherine McKenney are th ..read more

There have been reports circulating on American media that there could be a serious gasoline shortage in the States this summer (and I’m assuming that what happens in the US could also happen here in Canada). It doesn’t take a lot of brain power to realize that as Covid restrictions are gradually lifted, there’s going to be a rush to make up for lost time. Countless people will be making extensive plans for travel and get away trips. Inevitably, much of this travel will be by car, which means there could be an unprecedented demand for gasoline this summer. Apparently, there should be enough ga ..read more

Ever since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Trudeau has been announcing multi-billion dollar programs as if there’s no tomorrow. There is one for seniors, students, farmers, laid off employees, and businesses, both big and small. A few days ago he announced $19 billion for the “ safe restart” of the economy. All this is well and good, but it is also time for Trudeau to announce a billion dollar national cycling strategy. Many people might be tempted to ask: Seriously, money for cycling in the middle of a pandemic? Yes, SERIOUSLY. From the earliest days of the pandemic, cy ..read more

Last week the NCC announced that it would be reopening the Gatineau Park to pedestrians and cyclists on Saturday, May 9, 2020. The park had been closed since March 23 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Initial media reports quoted the NCC as saying that the park would be reopened for “users who can access the park on foot or by bike.” Simple enough; if you’re on a bike, you can go in. As an added bonus, the park’s road were going to be car free. All this was great news for the huge number of local cyclist who like to use the Gatineau Park for training rides. But it’s not going to be that simple. Wi ..read more

First, the good news. Many public health officials have said that cycling is a good way to get some badly needed exercise as people stay home and practice social distancing (now called physical distancing). This includes statements by the head of Ottawa Public Health. In the States, New York City has actually opened up emergency bike lanes in anticipation of more people getting on their bicycles. At the state level, the Governor identified bike shops as an essential service that will be allowed to stay open. (It should be remembered that NY currently has some of the strictest stay-at-home rule ..read more

Spring is here, but so is the coronavirus. What does all this mean for cycling? If what’s happening in New York City is any indication, it means that it’s time to start cycling. The New York Times is reporting that in order to avoid exposure to the coronavirus on crowed buses and subway cars, New Yorkers are jumping on their bikes in record numbers. Use of New York’s bike share programs has increased by 67% in the first part of March. Bicycle crossings on a busy bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn has also gone up by 52%. There are reports of a similar surge in cycling in Chicago, and app ..read more

The election is finally over. While it wasn’t the cliff hanger I thought it would be, it did produce a minority government. The good news in all of this is that there’s still hope for a “National Cycling Strategy”. With a minority government, it is becoming rather obvious that the Liberals are going to have to rely on the NDP for support to move ahead with much of their legislative agenda. This is where things can get interesting. Although the NDP didn’t say much about it in their platform or during the election campaign, in the past, they have made some fairly strong statements in favour of a ..read more

A federal election is underway, Greta Thunberg lambasted political leaders at the UN for inaction on global warming, youth staged massive climate strikes across Canada last Friday, and all of Canada’s national parties duly toted out their plans for fighting climate change. But after the election, is anything really going to change? I don’t think so. There is one really simple test to see how serious any of Canada’s national political parties are about tackling climate change. Check to see if they have a well thought out cycling plan for the country. I’m not talking about the usual platitudes o ..read more

The next time you’re getting a little hot riding your bicycle, think of what it would be like to cycle through a lake. Well, in Belgium, it’s possible. They built a bike path that cuts right through a small lake in the De Wijers nature reserve near Bokrijk. Riding through it looks like it would be a lot of fun. The path provide cyclists with an interesting perspective of the surrounding water as well as an eye-level view of any wildlife on the lake. The bike path has won at least two awards for landscape architecture. This Youtube video will give you a good idea of what it’s like to cycle thro ..read more

Lots of people don’t feel safe cycling with traffic on busy roads. One solution to this problem is bike lanes, or better still, protected bike lanes, to help keep cyclists separated from motorized traffic. However, when cars start invading bike lanes, even protected bike lanes, you know the problem is starting to get serious. CBC is reporting that motorists are mistakenly using the protected bike lanes that were recently installed at the intersection of Donald Street and St. Laurent Boulevard. These are short bike lanes that exist where these two roads meet, and are designed to make it safer f ..read more