Excuse me while I go on a bit of a rant. We have been living in rented accommodations in downtown Ottawa for the last few weeks and overall it has been a great experience. Being able to walk everywhere and get everything we need without resorting to the car is wonderful. The only beef I have is with some of the people 'using' the bicycle and pedestrian pathways - especially those along the Rideau Canal and the Ottawa River. I cannot say the people 'sharing' the pathways because they do not share. They more or less appropriate the trail and screw anybody else who is out there.

On a normal weekday the traffic on the trails is somewhat sparse so there is not a lot of this but on weekends I can guarantee you will see at least one example of  everything below:

1. Bicyclists who believe that being able to buy a Specialized, Trek, or Cervelo bicycle automatically makes them Tour de France level athletes. Who must do their training along the canal path. They look and act like complete gits as they cut off pedestrians and other cyclists, don't signal and my favourite, zip by small children at 40 kph without the slightest thought that they are passing children who are, as a rule, unpredictable.  These guys, and they are always guys, are complete arseholes.

2. Families walking en masse who take up both sides of the pathway so that traffic in both directions is blocked. The best example of this took place a couple of weeks ago when Louise and I were cycling beside the Rideau River. There was a family having a chat in the middle of the pathway and just when it looked like a hole had opened up, a very small child wandered into the middle of the path and just stood there. While her adoring parents beamed at her approvingly. She was almost hit by two young cyclists ahead of us and when I managed to crawl by, the child walked right in front of Louise. No,she did not run her over but it was a near thing and Louise did direct a "sacrament!" at the child's parents but they remained completely oblivious. 

3. Families who insist on taking their double wide strollers on the pathways. These things are the Winnebagos of strollers. Bad enough they take up an entire lane but you will almost always find the partner of the person pushing the stroller walking beside the stroller. Both lanes now filled up. And when you sound your bell to let them know you want to pass? They inevitably become completely discombobulated and one goes left and the other goes right and you are left to take a shot a the newly opened lane with the hope they don't close up as you go through. Based on experience, it is a 50/50 chance they will start moving back together just as you get up to them. 

4. Couples who cycle side by side no matter how wide the path. Always young and reeking of hormones. They are usually going just slightly faster than the pedestrians and much slower than the cyclists. And they don't move for anyone. Why I have not yet seen a collision between the lads from number one above and these clowns is a mystery. Maybe God is saving them for a more appropriate death.

5. The stoppers. These are the folks that suddenly, for no apparent reason, stop in the middle of the path and look around. They may be pedestrians and they may be cyclists but they are always scary. Pedestrians who have been good and walking on the right and then suddenly veer out into the middle and stop are the best. Completely unpredictable and consistently terrifying.

6. People walking their dogs on a hundred metre leash. Okay, maybe not a hundred metres but long enough that the dog (or dogs) are on one side of the pathway and the owner on the other with the leash strategically situated in the middle of the trail. The message being: 'None shall pass.' Now don't get me wrong. I like dogs. A lot.  But these people. They are oblivious to everyone and everything around them with the sole exception being that because their mutt is central to their life it naturally follows that the rest of the world needs to slow down and admire their perspicacious choice in canine selection.    

Okay, I'm done. All of the above being what it is, I still love the pathways and trails. It is an amazing system. For instance on Sunday I peddled from downtown Ottawa to Kanata and only had to travel on a road for about 100 metres. The rest was on dedicated bicycle and pedestrian trails. You can't beat that. Even if you have to be on constant alert for numbers one through six above.

Mike