🇨🇦 Ottawa Critical Mass Ride

This was the long anticipated Ottawa Critical Mass Ride, with the goals of a safe Wellington St and an Active Use Queen Elizabeth Driveway.

It had an amazing turnout (I'd say ~100 people? I'm bad at this), but felt like a lot, specially considering the rain. I was happy to see parents with kids reading books in their cargo bikes, and dogs in baskets. It was a family friendly event that showed the current lacking state of our cycling infrastructure.

The first half of the trip, from the Canadian War Museum to Confederation Park showed how lacking our current infrastructure is. Construction and cars everywhere, cyclists were only safe due to the mass group riding. Done individually, this ride wouldn't have been comfortable nor family friendly.

The second half highlights what's possible, with a relaxed trip along the Queen Elizabeth Driveway towards Dow's Lake, greeting tourists passing by in the boats and families cheering up. Paths used by people! All of this surrounded by the gorgeous Tulip Festival and cherry trees in full bloom! 🌷🌸

I met Art Kaplan-Myrth who shot a cool video showing the beginning of this ride: https://youtu.be/yjf90wJZ7Kg