07-19-2018, 03:41 PM
Quote:A fairly large portion of that trip can be handled by the Iron Horse/Laurel/Forwell trails. Maybe not the most direct, but it is pretty fast.
This is especially precious, but I simply don't enjoy riding on the Iron Horse trail through the cores. I'm the sort of cyclist who is easily frustrated by ambling pedestrians and I believe that cyclists shouldn't ride at top speed along the trails because it's unsafe for the other users. And for the past couple of summers as an infrequent user it's always been a crap shoot as to whether or not a stretch will be under construction. I'll go a block or two out of my way to navigate side streets over the Iron Horse, and I assume that the Spur Line is similar.
Quote:And to avoid the Ottawa/H-W intersection one could head over to Westmount and then take the trail through Concordia & Lakeside parks
During construction of the roundabouts I took exactly that detour, though I took it to Stirling not to the Iron Horse. The routes through the parks were wonderful, but Ottawa's asphalt is garbage along that stretch and Westmount is one of the streets I consider far too unsafe to ride on (along with Weber and Homer Watson and most of King). Coming back along that route is especially unpleasant, crossing to the proper side of Westmount at the trail head at 5:30ish is very difficult, and turning left onto Ottawa immediately after increases the complexity. Now that the roundabout construction has settled I feel much safer crossing at Homer Watson and Ottawa and either taking HW up to Stirling, or continuing along Ottawa to Mill.
I appreciate both suggestions, thank you.