Share that path
TIRES UP, FAVOURITE JERSEY ON, WARM AND SUNNY OUTSIDE. BIKE TIME!
BY KATHLEEN WILKER Along the Ottawa River and then
up to Gatineau Park, but just before the Champlain Bridge, a snag. Up ahead, mom’s on her rollerblades, dad’s pulling a bike trailer and a little dude on training wheels is swerving erratically. What to do? Zoom past them in the passing
lane, yelling out “Control your kids!” Bad idea. Don’t do it. Instead, slow
down, ring your warning bell and wait until the parents can corral their child before you pass. And a quick shoulder check for cyclists behind you is a good idea too before you pass slower recreational path users like these. Be nice. Say “sweet ride, buddy” to the little dude. And if you’re a bit grumpy because not all cyclists are created equal, take the road the next time you ride up the Gatineau, so you won’t be delayed. Or, put up with the delay and remember that little dudes on training wheels are tomorrow’s cycling advocates and Lance Armstrongs. Remember too that we’re a nation struggling with childhood obesity, and a family out on bikes is a healthy choice in action. Recreational pathways are designed for everybody, not just seasoned cyclists and everyone has to flex. For the moms and dads out there, if you’re on rollerblades or hauling a bike trailer, stay to the left of your learning-to-bike child so the kid doesn’t wander over the yellow line. Little kids learning to ride have
20 ottawaoutdoors
Derek Heffernan and Anna Sierra Heffernan-Wilker (age 6) demonstrating safe cycling on the shared path. Derek’s staying to the left of Anna Sierra so that she doesn’t accidentally wander across the yellow line.
a lot to think about, and crossing the yellow line puts them into oncoming traffic and surprises traffic behind them. Encourage your child to turn onto the grass to stop instead of braking suddenly – dangerous move – in the middle of the pathway. As a serious cyclist and a mother
of two mini-cyclists, I know both sides of this share-the-path issue. When I’m out on a training ride, I slow down near parks or a beaches. I’m a bell-abuser almost, knowing that children will wander into my path. I ring it way in advance of joggers or walkers so they don’t startle when I pass. And I go slow over the lunch hour behind Parliament Hill or the Museum of Civilization or Tunney’s Pasture where government workers are out for fresh air and a walk before returning to cubicle prison.
I love riding herd on my biking chil-
dren but I avoid recreational pathways during commuting hours to make way for work- or home-bound cyclists who have been crowded off the roads by cars.
And if it’s a big day at the beach or a
long tiring ride, I cut the risk to my kids and to other pathway users and take a trail-a-bike or our family tandem.
NEED MORE ROOM TO SHARE THE PATH? Alcatel-Lucent Sunday Family
Bikedays run from to Sept. 5. More than 50 kilometres of roads are closed to traffic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Volunteers reinforce barricades so the following routes are car-free: The westbound lane of the Ottawa
River Parkway from the War Museum to Carling; Colonel By Drive from Laurier to Hogs Back; and Rockcliffe
www.ottawaoutdoors.ca
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