Easing Into a Bike Commute

Spring is here, gas prices are rising along with the temperature and the number of people driving downtown is likely to keep increasing with RTO mandates and an increasingly unreliable transit system. Some of you may be tempted to try a bike commute. I personally resumed my bike commute recently after a very long winter, and I noticed that I had to rely a bit more on my ebike motor than I did in the fall. I have been thinking about how the ride downtown can be daunting for those who are not used to much physical activity.

My first recommendation is to consider an ebike. An ebike gives you options on how much work you want to put into your commute and can also help reduce travel times to something more manageable. My travel time from Convent Glen to City Hall (17.6 km) is pretty consistently around 40 minutes. I generally use a fairly high level of pedal assist because this is transport, not sport. My goal is to get downtown in a reasonable time without being too tired to work all day and be a dad in the evening, rather than training for a competitive ride. If you do consider an ebike, I recommend not going cheap; go to a reputable local bike store or bike brand. This will avoid a lot of headaches with performance, maintenance and repairs.

If you do want to ease yourself into a bike commute, there are great opportunities to adjust the number of kms you travel by using a bimodal commute (two modes of transportation). The new trail by the LRT provides a good opportunity to ride to Montréal Rd (once it opens) or Blair Stations. The ride to Montréal Rd station from Fairwinds is low-stress when you use the Ottawa River Pathway or Sir Georges Étienne Cartier Parkway and take the trail along Green’s Creek towards the path along the LRT.

From there, you can also easily continue along that path to get to Blair Station. This would give you a relatively short ride (less than 10 km) to help build your fitness. From there, you can hop on the LRT and get downtown easily. You can also hop off the LRT at Tremblay, Hurdman, or UOttawa and use the better bike infrastructure to reach your destination. Somerset is a fairly low-stress bike route that will ease you into riding your bike in an urban setting.

The second bimodal commute is a car-bike commute. There are many parking lots along the Sir George Étienne Cartier Parkway where you can easily access the trail along the river. By driving to one of those parking lots with your bike, you can easily adjust the distance that you want to ride, avoid paying for parking downtown, save a bit on gas, and avoid the bulk of the traffic downtown. Of course, this doesn’t eliminate the significant cost of buying and maintaining a personal vehicle, but it helps mitigate those costs.

Any reduction in car use will help you save money. Any increase in the amount of physical activity will help improve your mental and physical health. Don’t let perfect get in the way of good enough. Try different things and figure out what works for you.