I just cannot believe that I am old enough to say "I can remember when" but I can. Billings is central and close. Raods access is great. Streets and "car free" compared to when "I was young".
I started riding as a week teen with a bunch of old guys/(younger) girls in Toronto on Tuesday and Thursday night. The meeting place was 10 miles (yes miles) from home and we then traveled 60 miles on Tuesday and 80 miles on Thursday nights farther away from home. Same route every weak. I think it is now called the donut ride. We picked up people along the way. The double pace line was sometimes 20-40 people long sometimes much longer. This is great if you like to suck wheels and chat. It also gives you great power over cars. No one is going to get out and get mad if there are 40 people on the other team. Round trip of these rides became 80 and 100 miles. I slept well, often in my shorts. I was so tired I dropped out of gym. On weekends a few of us 20-30 would go for shorter rides in town, 40 miles of stop lights,double parked cars, six lane left hand turns. This is a great way to learn bike skills, and to some degree I loved it. When I moved to Ottawa in 1983 Billings Bridge was the meeting place. People often complained about how far they had to ride to get to Billings and how far they had to ride to get out of town. I just laughed. We should be thankfull that we choose to live in a town with 2-4 lane roads where the park and country are so close. The only down side is the lack of traffic skills that we have. My skills suck in comparison to when I lived in TO. I no longer feel comfortable hitting my elbows on the hydro poles located on the edge of Bank Street south of Sunnyside. This use to be great fun But, I am getting old. Ross D. Knight Wondering if Kevin N has lost his edge since moving here. > ---------- > From: > [EMAIL PROTECTED][SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Reply To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 4:59 PM > To: obc > Subject: RE: [obc] Day tour starting place suggestions. > > To get back to the original topic, I am saddened by the way that > quality of life is now taking second place to urban sprawl in the city of > Ottawa. When I first started with a cycling club, I lived in London, > England. To avoid riding through endless suburbs, my club used three > different starting points for destinations west, north and south. The club > issued an anuual handbook detailing the destinations, so as long as you > didn't lose it, you knew where to meet. From where I lived, no destination > was more than 8 miles distant from home, half an hour's riding at most. > > The idea could work in Ottawa, but those living in the west might > think twice about riding to a start point in Orleans, and vice versa. A > single, more southerly start point also makes a lot of sense, however. > > > > ------ > Club Office: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (613) 230-1064 > Web/mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb > Newsletter: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb/Newsletter > > ------ Club Office: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (613) 230-1064 Web/mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb Newsletter: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb/Newsletter ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aVxiDo.a2i8p1 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
