There are two nice things about Ottawa drivers. The first is they rarely honk. At anything, including each other. This is in sharp contrast to Toronto. The second is that, generally, they give you a very wide berth if they can. Again, in contrast to Toronto drivers, who seem to want to use you to clean their cars by rubbing against you as they drive by.

Today I rode out to an industrial area of town to buy a used computer desk. I have to rent a truck to get it home, unfortunately, but it was an interesting ride for a couple of reasons. First is it emphasized my first two points. It's not an area you'd expect to see a bike and the roads are some of the narrower I've seen in Ottawa. Second was that, in Ottawa, buses have their own roads (or transitways) from which other traffic is barred. With the strike on, I jumped on a transit way. It was so sweet. Sort of like the Ride for the Heart in Toronto where they close the DVP and the bikes take over...

This week has heralded a major snow dump and a transit strike on Wednesday. It hasn't affected traffic volume too much, at least not on my route and commute times. Thus far, apart from goo accumulation on the Raleigh, the winter commute in Ottawa has been sort of fun. You can't beat a pristine shoulder for riding through. If only the cars would stay at home.

I took my winter beater out for a run today to see how long it would take to get to work. Turns out around fifteen minutes or so, which isn't bad. The path system is not an option - it's glare ice from all the walkers etc. and I'd need studded tires to run it. The roads itself aren't too bad although crossing the 417 is a little grisly. A few motorists weren't too sure what to do with a bike and I can see how some fool coming onto the road from the highway without looking may be a problem. Sidewalk may be an option at some point and I'm thinking side blinkies, at least on the left, are likely a good idea. There's another route to cross the 417, which I might check out for the ride home from work tomorrow. It's not too far out of the way, but less direct that the route I went today. but it would require a jog in the wrong direction.

The run today doesn't give me much indication of traffic volume either. Volume today wasn't bad, but I'm thinking it's the ride home that will be the worst.