Cyclists gear up for biking season
By Jake Munro
Advocacy group Citizens for Safe Cycling marked the end of winter over the weekend – perhaps prematurely — with its first event of the cycling season.
The annual “Spring.Bike.Ottawa” was held at the McNabb Community Centre on the heels of an early spring storm that brought more than 20 centimetres of snow.
“A lot of the people in the room haven’t ridden all winter,” said Felicity Borgal, an events co-ordinator for the group. “We just get people excited for spring, summer and fall riding.”
This year’s event featured a historical look at cycling in the nation’s capital through a host of antique photos, memorabilia, and restored vintage bikes that were available for sale.
Bikes have been a staple of the city’s streets since the 1880s said Dave Allston, an Ottawa historian who recently began researching the city’s biking history.
“We’re taking the past as a springboard to the future of cycling in the city,” Borgal said.
Allston found an article about the formation of the new Ottawa Bicyclers Club in 1882.
in an issue of Canadian Wheelman magazine, before the pedal-powered two-wheelers were available for sale in the capital.
“I discovered that the first store in Ottawa to deal in bikes was a shop called Joseph Boyden’s on Sussex [Drive], which advertised in 1886 selling bicycles,” Allston said in an email.
“The first to really make bikes a feature of their ads was a cool sounding shop on Sparks [Street] called The Fair,” Allston said. “The store sold books, stationary, toys, all sorts of neat stuff. The first ad I could find for The Fair selling bikes was as far back as April 11, 1888.”
The Fair was located at 137 Sparks St., just steps away from Parliament Hill, where Albert Opticians is now situated.
Boasting 900 km of cycling facilities, Ottawa is generally viewed as a bike-friendly city.
Streets such as Colonel By Drive are closed every Sunday morning from May to September, allowing cyclists to enjoy the roads without the constant worry of traffic.
Ottawa has also been home to the Capital Pathway since the early 1970s, a scenic pathway stretching 220 km that connects Ottawa to its Quebec neighbour, Gatineau, across the river.
The “Spring.Bike.Ottawa” event was attended by local politicians, including Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney and MPP Yasir Naqvi. McKenney, a cycling advocate herself, provided a mid-term update on the Ottawa Cycling Plan at the event.