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Ottawa's recreation paths are one of our greatest resources. This path connects March Road in Kanata with the Watt's Creek path and West Greenbelt Path (near Carling) to the east. Not a long section of path but it winds its way thgouth fields and over streams -- and over train tracks too. Photo by Glen Gower.

Ottawa Bicycle Guide

Ottawa is a great city for cyclists. There are over 170 kilometres of bike paths in the city, many of them along our scenic rivers and canals. It's also easy to cycle on the roads — with many major routes featuring special bike lanes to make commuting easy.

On this page

• Cycling Maps & Bike Routes
  Links to several of Ottawa's "official" cycling maps, plus route suggestions for everything from a scenic drive to a daily commute.
• Cycling events
  Includes Alcatel Sunday Bikedays, a bike festival, a naked bike day and more.
• Essential links
  Local web sites and resources for cyclists
• Blogs
  Ottawa-based bloggers who write about cycling.
• Rentals, sales & service
  Some of Ottawa's favourite places to rent, buy or repair a bike.
• Miscellaneous
  Other useful web sites, including tips and a list of local bike clubs.

Did You know?

• According to the 2006 Census, 2.3% of employed people in Ottawa commuted to work by bike - the second highest in Canada. (Source: Statistics Canada)

Cycling Maps & Bike Routes

• Cycling map
  This bike route map from the City of Ottawa covers the entire city, showing bike lanes, bike paths, and even busy intersections. A must-have resource for any cyclist in Ottawa.
  
• The Capital Pathway
  This site from the National Capital Commission features interactive maps of Ottawa's recreational pathways.The paths are great for cycling and a whole lot of other activities, such as walking, jogging and in-line skating. Also available as a PDF file. 
  
• GoBiking.ca
  Features route suggestions and tons of info for Ottawa cyclists. These include the paths around town as well as rides to such nearby places as the Gatineau Hills and Carleton Place. Created by local cyclist Michael McGoldrick.
  
• Gatineau Park Mountain Biking
  Cycle through Gatineau Park and discover some amazing treasures: plants and animals, unique sites, crystal-clear lakes. It's all part of a shared pathway network that puts a spring in the step of hikers and a bounce in the tires of mountain bikers. Here's a PDF map of Gatineau Park cycling routes.
  
• National Capital Greenbelt
  Many of the Greenbelt trails are great for cyclists. Through forests, along streams, winding paths, wilderness -- it all makes for an interesting ride.
  
• Bikely.com: List of Ottawa bike trails
  A web site that "helps cyclists share knowledge of good bicycle routes". The web site combines Google Maps with user-submitted bike routes. Read more...
• Looking for more road maps? Check out our Maps Guide...

Cycling Events

• 41st SEASON OF ALCATEL-LUCENT SUNDAY BIKEDAYS: Every Sunday morning until Labour Day weekend, outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy more than 50 kilometres of scenic parkways in the heart of the Capital and Gatineau Park that are closed to motorized traffic and reserved for cyclists, in-line skaters, runners and walkers.
• Ottawa Critical Mass
  The last Friday of every month, the Critical Mass group leaves Confederation Park at 6:00pm.
• Commuter Challenge
  Yearly event challenging commuters to ditch the car and bike, walk or take transit to work.
• Ottawa Bicycle Festival.  Saturday June 4, 2011 at Ottawa City Hall.
  Free Bicycle Rodeo 11am-4pm with cycling products, demonstrations, educational seminars, games and prizes Tour la Nuit 7pm-11pm.  Live music with an 18km ride under the stars on closed off streets.  Registration required. Visit www.capitalvelofest.ca  for full details
• World Naked Bike Day
  An annual event, usually held in early June.

Essential Links

• Citizens for Safe Cycling
  CfSC is the voluntary association of cyclists who work for better, safer, environmentally- friendly cycling in Ottawa.
• City of Ottawa - Cycling
  From the City of Ottawa, this site offers info for all of your cycling needs in Ottawa, including where to find maps of cycling routes, a list of charity and fun rides, and even how to take your bicycle on OC Transpo buses and trains.
• Citizen Cycle
  From the Ottawa Citizen: " We think that biking in Ottawa ought to be easier, safer, and a lot more fun. Achieving that might be as simple as giving area cyclists a way to connect. CitizenCycle is here to bring cyclists together with useful information, in a way that makes it easy to share what they know."
• Cycling Vision Ottawa
  "Cycling Vision Ottawa wants to see a Capital region where more women, seniors, families, cyclists of all stripes are eager to get on their bikes and are comfortable riding city streets."
• Biking Country
  From the National Capital Commission, this page has info about cycling in Gatineau Park, Alcatel Bike Sundays, and the Capital Pathway -- the scenic network of Ottawa bike paths.
• Outaouais Cycling
  This site is aimed at tourists, but has useful info for people who live here as well.
• Cycloparc PPJ
  A trail linking the main towns in the Pontiac region of Western Quebec. There are four tours of about 18 km each.
• Vélo Plaisirs
  French site covering cycling in the Outatouais.
  

Cycling Blogs

• Bike View in Ottawa
• Cycling in Ottawa
  A local blog covering topics such as parking, mass transit, safety, activism, bike paths, and more.
• Families on Bikes
  A group blog, featuring several Ottawa contributors.
• The Spokesman (by Kris Westwood, Ottawa Sun)
• The Incidental Cyclist
• Urban Commuter
• OttawaStart Blog: Bicycles

Rentals, sales & service

• RentABike (rentals)
• Capital Bixi (rentals)

• Used Ottawa: Bicycles for sale
• Bikemobile
• Bushtukah
• CycleLogik
• Cycle Power
• The Cyclery
• Dave's Bike Dump
• Euro-Sports
• Flashback (retroreflective safety product)
• Fresh Air Experience
• Full Cycle
• Joe Mamma Urban Cycles
• Kunstadt
• McCrank's Cycles
• Mountain Equipment Co-op
• Pecco's
• Rebec & Kroes Cycle & Sport
• Re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op
• Sport Echange Outaouais
• Tall Tree Cycles
• Thompson Mobile Cycle

Miscellaneous

• Bicycles for Humanity
• Bike Up Bicycle Parking Systems
• Cyclemania.ca
• Human Powered Vehicle Operators of Ottawa
  "A loose affilation of cyclists ... [who] share a love of recumbents, folding bikes, choppers, and perhaps just about any bike that might look a bit different ."
• Mountain Bike Kanata (check out the forums)
• Ottawa's best bike-accessible beaches
  (via Apartment613)
• Ottawa Biking Problems
  Local cyclist Alex deVries explains: "After years of complaining about bad cycling facilities, it made sense to put together one site that tries to consolidate them and offers enough free-form formatting to convey the actual problem properly." See also: Biking on Carling
  
• Ottawa's Cycling Troublespots
  An interactive page from CBC, highlighting the most dangerous roads and intersections for cyclists in Ottawa.
• Rated M Biking
  Mountain bike skill programs
• They Stole My Bike (find a lost bike)

Clubs

• Almonte Bicycle Club
• Kanata Nepean Bicycle Club
• Ottawa Bicycle Club
• Ottawa BMX Association

Related Guides

• Ottawa Sports Guide
• Ottawa Maps Guide
• Ottawa Weather Guide
• Ottawa Greenbelt Guide

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