Our publicity efforts paid off on Saturday, with exposure on CBC Radio in Ottawa and in the Ottawa Citizen.
Michael Bhardwaj, the charming host of CBC Radio’s In Town and Out, interviewed Bicycle Month organizer Jeff Mills, and if this blog works the way it’s supposed to, you should be able to hear the interview by clicking here:
Meanwhile, Ottawa Citizen columnist Susan Riley, who also happens to be an avid cyclist, reported on her outing in Mississippi Mills. Here it is:
Geared up
First bicycle month is rolling along in Almonte area
If you want to keep your cycling holiday really local this year – or spend a day or two getting in shape for a longer adventure – consider nearby Mississippi Mills. People in the municipality around Almonte have declared June bicycle month. And they aren’t kidding.
BY SUSAN RILEY FOR THE OTTAWA CITIZEN
Bicycle month organizer Ruth-Ann MacKinnon pauses beside
the Mississippi River on the birders’ route.
From bicycle-inspired art and a short-story contest centred on bikes, to public lectures, free bike repairs and storefront displays celebrating two-wheel travel – not to mention a lively website, www.mmbicyclemonth.ca – the municipality is joining what is becoming an international movement towards active, green tourism.
It’s an ambitious schedule for an inaugural year: bike month has already featured “birders on bicycles,” a guided ramble along country roads that turned up 45 species; a lecture on how the bicycle is enjoying its second golden era; the launch of The Bicycle Show, an exhibit of local painting and sculpture at Almonte’s Mill Street Gallery; a bike rodeo for kids; and, last Saturday, a 65-kilometre ride to Parliament Hill, organized by the Almonte United Church as a fundraiser. (The 60 registered riders raised money for a bicycle ambulance for a town in Malawi, Africa.)
Also coming up on the agenda: a bike-related movie night, a breakfast ride to the local legion, another to the weekend farmers’ market, a session in Pakenham on family bike mechanics and a writing contest with a $250 prize. (See the website for more details.) There is also a “critical mass” ride next Friday (June 26), leaving from Baker Bob’s in downtown Almonte at 6 p.m. and travelling, as the brochure says, “who knows where?”
But bicycle month’s main draw is the 500-square-kilometre municipality’s quiet country roads, picturesque villages, informal picnic venues and meandering rivers. It is a smaller, land-bound version of Prince Edward County – only closer. At least seven different routes for visitors are detailed in a brochure. They include:
Tour de Mississippi Mills (100plus kilometres, paved): From the Old Post Office at 55 Mill St., Almonte, this trip follows side roads through hamlets, including Appleton, Blakeney, Clayton and Pakenham – with a detour to the Mill of Kintail. Passing through farmland and rolling hills, this isn’t a particularly arduous course and traffic should be light. If you like company, join the Tour de Miss Mills leaving Almonte at 9 a.m. tomorrow.
The Naismith Loop (22 kilometres; gravel and paved): This starts at the Mill of Kintail and passes through farmland and a maple forest to the hamlet of Clayton, with its welcoming General Store.
Verna’s Textbook Tour (42 kilometres, mostly paved): From the Five Arch Stone Bridge in Pakenham, this route traverses flat farmland that was once the bottom of the Champlain Sea and rocky hillsides with vistas of the Lanark Highlands and White Lake. It is named for local historian, naturalist and geologist Verna McGiffin.
Pizza Hut Ride (11 kilometres, paved): A short spin through the countryside around the town of Almonte – and past the new municipal building, known locally as Pizza Hut for its evocative red roof. You can leave your car at Almonte’s Old Town Hall, 14 Bridge St.
Reva’s Museum Tour (41 kilometres, mostly paved): Includes stops at the Mill of Kintail’s R. Tait McKenzie Museum and Dr. James Naismith Collection, the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum and the North Lanark Regional Museum.
Birders on Bicycles (18 kilometres, mostly paved): Starts at Groundz coffee shop on Mill Street in Almonte and loops along forested side roads, past wetlands and rolling pasture through Blakeney and the Mill of Kintail and back to town.
Burnt Lands Mountain Bike Trail: (18 kilometres, gravel): Leaves from the traffic circle at Appleton Side Road and Ramsay Concession 11A and runs adjacent to the Burnt Hills Alvar.
Unfortunately, the trails aren’t marked, but free maps (look for the Mississippi Mills Bicycle Month brochure) are available at most stores and restaurants in the Almonte area and, in Ottawa, at Mountain Equipment Co-op and some bike stores. If you are lost, or confused, visit the info centre at Almonte’s Old Town Hall.
Bicycle month was inspired by local resident Jeff Mills, a keen recreational cyclist, who read about similar events, including bike months in Toronto, Vancouver and several American cities, in the cycling magazine, Momentum.
“I decided we don’t have to live in Toronto to do these things,” he says.
He recruited Ruth-Ann MacKinnon, a more recent convert to the joys of cycling, and others. They approached local council, school and business representatives and got a universally positive response.
Hundreds have become involved in what amounts to a campaign to bring tourists to the area, cut carbon emissions and establish Almonte as a cycle-friendly destination (which makes it a local trendsetter).
If you live in Ottawa, it takes less than an hour to drive to another, more bucolic world. If you’re really keen (and fit) you could even ride there. Think of all the emissions you’ll be saving.
Susan Riley writes a political column for the Citizen and is an avid recreational cyclist.
