Today was the hottest day of the ride. Not totally oppressive, but pretty warm to be on a bike all day.
Yesterday on my half day (better, Don?) I read an article about the West Toronto Railpath. This is currently a ~3 kilometer walking/biking path that runs parallel to some functioning railroad tracks, and our house is very near it. I use it all the time. The plan is for it to connect to the waterfront trail eventually, which would be excellent for the city and spectacular for me.
Two years ago it was in prime form – trees had been planted, some buildings were spray painted with nice murals and art installations were put in. Then Metrolinx clawed back several feet of the width and much of the recent upgrades were ripped out. Plus a chunk of the path in the middle closed for *one year*. Of course that deadline was missed and the path remains disjointed.
Meteolinx is the organization that manages transit in the region and exists for the sole purpose of having somewhere to point a finger for terrible decisions and obscene costs that is not the government.
Anyhow, the article was about the money recently approved by city council to extend the path by 2 km. The cost: $150,000,000. Completely absurd. I just don’t get it.
The Prescott and Russel recreational trail that I rode for 100 km today, on the other hand, appears to have cost a few grand. Even with the ludicrous amounts of money the government throws at things, maybe a few tens of thousands. It’s a scrappy trail. But it’s long!
Long and also dead flat and dead straight, mostly through farmland. I’m glad it’s there, and I’m happy I rode it, but it’s not exactly a destination. I will probably never ride across Canada primarily because I don’t think I have the mental toughness required to clear the prairies. Straight and flat farmland makes me squirrelly.
Then I cut through a corner of Ottawa. I believe I was on 3 or 4 separate cycleways including a river trail. The biking was pretty decent, but the highlight was a double scoop of peanut butter and chocolate from Baskin Robbin’s. It was hot so the ice cream melted quickly. I’m sure I looked like a 2 year old at their own birthday party with chocolate smeared all over my face. Didn’t care, it was too good. And anyway I was in a strip plaza on the outskirts of Ottawa. No need to impress anyone in that context.
40 more kms of highway riding to the park and then straight into that river. Then back into that river. Did I mention it was hot?
Sounds like you had a long, hot day. You must have been tired as you didn’t take a picture of your ice cream cone!! Hope tomorrow is cooler and more exciting. Sleep well.
A century, plus! Nice!
The rail trail extension issue here is classic Metrolinx. Please try not to think about it until you get back to town.
Lucky you had somewhere to swim! Sounds like a full day.
So lucky!
You missing a sign? No way! (where’s the laughing emoji?)
Yes, what a fiasco Metrolinx is, why is everything so damn complicated around here? Like Brian says, that can wait until you’re home. Grrr.
Gooey poutine and ice cream sounds like a dream for you. Happy riding my love!
Easy there missy 😘
Hot and uphill and loooong. Anyway, I’ll find the costs of a bike trail from Portland to Hood River- it’s in the hundreds of millions (US!). And there are a couple minor sections that required boring thru mountains and long bridges. I’m sure it’s awesome, but with everything our city is dealing with, hard to justify.
Well, at least bridges, boring and length are expensive. 75 million per km along an existing train track is bonkers