Exploro number 5

https://www.strava.com/routes/2804935543534275816​
Approximate Distance: 41km
Approximate Moving Time: 1:30
Area Covered: Loop Experimental Farm, Westboro (Ice Cream), Hull/Gatineau/Lac Leamy, City Centre (Beer)

We had a group of 5-7 ride this route (people added and dropped along the way) and we did it on a Wednesday evening in September 2019 when the world was normal and days were getting shorter. 

This route starts with some mixed surface (gravel, packed dirt, etc.) and gives way to more bike paths as it goes. A couple of people rode CX bikes, a couple of people were on road bikes, and I was on Frankenbike. Fun was had by all. Lights were in order given the time of year and I have to say that riding the bike paths at night is super fun.

We met at Dow's Lake, headed up short paved pathway that zig zags up from Queen Juliana Park to an abandoned building in the Central Experimental Farm. There's a fair amount of green space and gravel in this area in general, so definitely consider spending an hour or so in the vicinity sometime if you haven't already. 

We headed through the Farm and from there we crossed Carling and wound our way down to Hampton Park. First of all, if you download the route files from Strava or the GPX from below, don't take the route we took. There's probably a better way to get to Hampton Park. The Baron and I did a different ride in 2020 where we dropped down to Hampton Park from Carlington that I think was better and had less time on roads. But anyway.....

Hampton Park is pretty cool and there's a couple of loops to explore, including some short, dirt paths in the woods, but it's pretty busy on the main gravel trails so I would say that if you are in a group that it's an area you want to pass through cautiously. 

From here we picked up a hydro road that runs south-north down to the path along Byron (Strava Segment: Shreddy in Ottawa). From there we went down the metal stairs at Danforth behind MEC- all great Urban-Cross courses have stairs. It's how you convince people to buy dirt-specific shoes with traction.

At this point we stopped at La Diperie for Ice Cream. I'm rooting for La Diperie as they always seem so excited anytime I stop in. I live 500m from Dairy Queen, but they don't have maple dip and I'm highly patriotic. La Diperie has mini cones, so you can try a bunch of different dips, of which they have many (go figure). Anyway, I was little heavy in 2019, this is one or a myriad of reasons why. 

From there we took a right hand turn off of Richmond, just after Maple Lawn Gardens across a field (Segment: Single Track Patch), which connected us to the Ottawa River Pathway system. We crossed directly across the road when we hit the Western Parkway. That was dangerous and stupid. It would make more sense to go to Island Park on the south side of the parkway and cross at the lights.

We crossed the bridge at Island Park, did a lap of Bate Island and then turned right onto the Voyageurs Pathway. We threw in a small gravel section that starts just in behind the University of Quebec. We climbed a steep hill that backs onto the campus and then rode up to Tache and into Saint James Cemetery, where we did a quiet, very slow lap. 

After the cemetery we headed down to the Ruisseau de la Brasserie, which runs parallel to Montcalm. The Ruisseau de la Brasserie pathway runs all the way to Lac Leamy. For sure there will be a lot of commuters who know this path system, but if you haven't ridden it, it's worth a ride simply to discover all of the options it provides for getting around. 

We then headed over to old Gatineau and waterfront there, where there is some nice new "Quai" infrastructure that has been built, which is some boardwalk and pathway network. La Baie Park is right there as well, which seems to offer some good riding potential, but we had to head home after a quick look. By this point the sun was setting so it was lights on for the way home. 

We snaked our way back to Eddy Street and ultimately Beyond the Pale at City Centre, by following the bike path system starting at the bridge at Boulevard Fournier. Along the way there are little dirt paths you can shoot off on, and the path itself is plenty amusing, given that you pass through parks, the boardwalk leading to Jacques-Cartier park and the museums you pass by. 

An interesting (maybe) geography footnote here is that Rouseau de la Brasserie runs between Montcalm near Eddy and the end of Rue Laurier at the eastern most part of Jacques-Cartier Park. So you cross it twice on this ride, so I suppose the Quebec portion of the ride could be the Brasserie loop for a beer inspired theme.

Beer is what was up next for us as we ended the official ride at Beyond the Pale before taking the Trillium Pathway, parallel to Preston back to our starting point. I'm a huge fan of Beyond the Pale in general- I had my first Pink Fuzz after the Ride of the Damned a few years ago, so I always associate them with having fun on a bike. 

At the end of the day did people prefer the ice cream or the beer? I'd have to say the beer won out, but no one complained about me buying them ice cream either.