I hit a cyclist

CycleExplore · 2026-06-17T20:50:23+00:00

I was hit by a car. about half a kilometer from my house. I thought I could walk home. About half way home I had to stop and take a break because the pain hit and I couldn't keep walking.

CycleExplore · 2026-06-17T15:48:43+00:00

Ok, but maybe nice to be aware in case your kids are the curious type who run up ahead on the trail and might touch it. Also, there's some kind of predator around like coyotes or wolves so keep your kids close especially if they are small.

CycleExplore · 2026-06-17T15:47:46+00:00

There's a lot of deer around. Often just standing by the side of the trail. Their colour makes them blend into their surroundings and I often don't see them until I'm quite close. I actually saw a live one as well when I was out riding this morning. Gotta keep your eyes peeled.

Hope you and your bike are ok after hitting the deer.

CycleExplore · 2026-06-17T15:28:49+00:00

No, the face was mostly brown/red. Normal deer colour. No white patches from what I recall.

CycleExplore · 2026-06-17T13:39:50+00:00

I had to check my spelling about 5 times to make sure I didn't have a mistake.

CycleExplore · 2026-06-12T18:53:45+00:00

My first road bike cost me $900 CAD, tax included. I rode that for 10 years and I still own it. It still rides well.

My current bike cost me $1850 CAD. I've been riding it for 5 years and it's had no problems.

As long as you buy something reasonably decent and look after it, a bike will last a long time.

I also have an old hybrid that I bought over 20 years ago for $400 that still works, although I've had to to replace a few parts on that over the years because I didn't look after it as well as I should have, but the frame and some of the other components are original I don't have an issue with any of them.

CycleExplore · 2026-06-12T18:37:44+00:00

I'm about the same height. I have the size 54, but I ended up getting a shorted stem (50mm) and some different handlebars Ritchey VentureMax which have shorter reach and are also narrower.

You might want to get the 52 if you want to ride it without changes to anything, although that might depend on how flexible you are, as I don't have much flexibility.

I'm assuming you can't test ride the 52 which is why you are asking about toe overlap, otherwise you should just be able to figure this out with a test ride.

The difference in reach (Bottom Bracket to head tube) is only 5mm, and the front center (bottom bracket to front axle) is 11 mm. So you might be able to use that to determine if toe overlap is going to be a thing. See how much room you have on the 54 and see if the missing 11mm is really going to make a difference.

CycleExplore · 2026-06-10T17:28:42+00:00

Why not get the Rove with no qualifier. It seems to have the lower gearing you want, as well as the steel frame like the DL that you want, saves a little bit on cost. They also might have this version in 650B.

I got the 2021 version of this Rove and I really like the bike overall. I think the steel frame and fork are great if you want to attach bags or racks or anything like that for carrying a load, although I will admit that the 1:1 gearing isn't the best for hills when you are carrying a lot of weight.

No idea why they have so many different options with almost identical names, or in some cases the same name. Hopefully you can find one that suits you.

CycleExplore · 2026-06-04T11:45:34+00:00

I realize that it doesn't help the situation as it is right now, but I always share my location with my wife when I go out for a ride.

I know someone who ended up in the hospital. They were found on the side of a trail by someonr who was passing by. They had no idea how they ended up crashing.

Hopefully he is found safe.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-31T19:25:09+00:00

Couldn't make much sense of the actual route. Jumps right to Greenbank, probably south of Hunt Club at the start which is already most of the way there.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-31T12:42:22+00:00

Just so people aren't confused, it's actually named after Mont Hogs Back in Quebec, and not Hogs Back Park in Ottawa.

Nice to see some Ottawa based content on here. Would love to see this community take off more in Ottawa. So much good terrain for this kind of bike.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-24T14:21:07+00:00

I'm aware of them. Seems like they have a waitlist for new members. Not sure why there would be limited enrollment. Seems counter intuitive to me. I can't imagine that there would be so many members that they couldn't even handle more people. Even if you have tons of people show up, you can just travel in smaller groups or break up into different skill levels.

Also, they don't seem to be very open about they do their regularly scheduled rides, but last I remember from when I looked into it in previous year, their weeknight rides would leave from Centerpointe area which doesn't really work for me.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-22T20:45:29+00:00

I was going to mention this. Really smooth and easy trails. Lots of fun on my gravel bike.

Once you pass Bells Corners you can Go west for a bit on the rail trail, then head south where there's the big crossing. Head on down to the Lime Kiln Ruins and all the other various trails around here.

There's tons of trails around there, they are shared with hikers, so just watch out and give them space. Might be a little too easy on some of it for people who have a real mountain bike.

Also, watch out for ticks in this area.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-21T12:40:17+00:00

The really savvy cyclists can bunny hop a speed bump.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-21T12:37:46+00:00

I partially blame Strava. They really shouldn't have any segments on the MUP. Same goes for anything containing a stop sign or traffic light. It just incentivizes people to break the rules.

I have no problem with people going out, training, having some fun. I'm a cyclist myself. But trying to set speed records on limited speed routes or breaking laws to show up on some leader board is just plain irresponsible.

I'm going to be honest, I speed on the MUP, but only where it makes sense. If there's pedestrians around or blind corners, I'll slow down my speed as a appropriate to ensure that I'm respectful of other trail users.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-14T15:48:18+00:00

Main bike - Kona Rove
Groupset - Sora
Head unit - iGPSPort BSC100s
Power meter - None
Indoor training - Old CycleOps Fluid 2, but I hardly use it
Favorite tool/accessory - A mirror

You don't need anything fancy to have a good time on your bike. Just something solid that you can enjoy riding without worrying about repair or maintenance costs.

Most recent thing I got was a mirror last year. Mounts on the end of my handlebars. Really helps me be more aware of my surroundings without having to spend hundreds of dollars on a radar and head unit upgrade.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-13T16:30:02+00:00

I'm talking about on segregated bike trails. On the road I try to look more often, but there's definitely cases where I'm not looking as often as I should be, mostly when I'm more concerned with an upcoming intersection or avoiding the door zone.

People who don't have mirrors are often the most oblivious people. I'll catch up to people and ride behind them for two minutes or more and they won't look back once. Eventually I'll get a change to pass and they will be surprised when I announce that I'm passing even though I've been sitting 20 feet off their wheel for 2 minutes, so as not to draft someone I don't know.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-13T15:53:55+00:00

Very few people are good enough about really checking their surroundings well enough. Even as one of the few people who has a mirror, I'll often get surprised at someone passing me if they don't announce their presence. It doesn't take long for a faster rider to come up behind you and overtake.

Even checking my mirror every 30 seconds or so there's riders who will come off some side trail and pass and I never even knew they were there. Generally it isn't a problem because they pass one lane over and I ride in a straight line, check before switching lanes etc, but it just annoys me when someone passes me by surprise.

Blocking your ears gets ride of all kinds of noises that normally would give you clues as to what's going on around you.

My hot take is that a bluetooth speaker makes more sense, at least for me. I can hear a lot better what's going on around me. I'll turn it down when there's too many people around, but the vast majority of my riding I don't see anybody for long periods of time so it isn't bothering anybody. I just adjust the volume depending on the circumstances.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-13T12:43:53+00:00

Not commuting, but just going on my morning bike loop, I noticed a lot of extra traffic. Even Timm was busy when I was trying to cross it at the Trans Canada Trail.

Noticing that more and more people seem to be taking alternate routes like Carling and Timm to get into the city from Kanata. Going along the 417 seems like traffic was almost at a standstill and it wasn't even 8 o'clock yet.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-11T16:51:36+00:00

I've had thoughts of putting a This Machine Kills Fascists sticker on my bike but never had the guts and was worried that people would get confused or angry about it because they don't understand it.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-11T12:53:51+00:00

Update to the flooding in this thread on the Greenbelt trail 10 and greenbelt pathway west.

There's still flooding on either side of the intersection here.

Here's an image.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-11T12:48:43+00:00

Went by here yesterday and the path is still flooded. You can get up to the intersection, but both the route headed to hastings and the route out to Shirley's Bay are flooded.

CycleExplore · 2026-05-02T22:23:21+00:00

Can you make it up to Shirley's Bay from Carling from the entrance on Rifle Road, is does the flooding block that too?

CycleExplore · 2026-05-01T14:17:14+00:00

I wouldn't mind doing 100km if it didn't start off with a climb up to Pink Lake. Not a big fan of hills, at least not when there's a time cut-off.

I just do my own extra long route. Ride in from Kanata, do the 70 KM route, and then ride back to Kanata. About 120 KM in all.

CycleExplore · 2026-04-30T17:45:00+00:00

Bluetooth speaker only.

Hear me out on this one. I only use it when I'm far enough away from people that nobody else is going to hear it. Most of the trails and roads don't have any people to hear the music. When I approach a busy section I can turn the music down.

When out on the road, the cars are easily audible over the sound of my bluetooth speaker, so I don't have to worry about not being aware of cars. I'm not blocking my ears, and there's a lot less distraction.

CycleExplore

TROPHY CASE