1-5 Brochure

Jan. 17, 2012

In December I created a brochure about what I do, for printing and mail box distribution. It occurred to me I didn't only want to let people know I repair bicycles, I wanted to let people know about how enjoyable riding can be where we live, and how often a bicycle ride can more enjoyably do the same job as driving a car. The contents of this brochure are presented here.

Dave the bike mechanic

Bulletin December 2011

Riding around the living room

Leaving the car at home in Smiths Falls

Upstream along the river the white path runs from Old Sly's locks and the Heritage House museum to the corner of Ryan Street and Riverdale Avenue. There it passes you off to a regular brown path at the shoreline all the way up to the Combined Locks. Toward its end this path crosses a short foot bridge where if you stop and be quiet you may notice beavers or muskrats in the water below. The path continues underneath the Beckwith Street bridge. Shifting down to go up a hill you emerge in Victoria Park with its wading pool and boat docks. From there the bicycling loop closes by riding down the sedate Lavinia, Alfred and Abbott Streets back to Ferguson Drive.

At Victoria Park you can bike across the Combined Locks foot bridges to Centennial Park and the Rideau Canal museum. At the far end of Centennial Park past Park Avenue and across three more foot bridges to Abbott Street are the Detached locks plus the old Bascule train bridge and the open Swale beyond. That's where the best sunsets can be had. Or, from Park Avenue you can ride four blocks up tranquil James Street to the Eastern Ontario Railway museum and a little further to Smiths Falls shiny new skating arena. Find a place to lock your bike and walk across Cornelia Street for some excellent ice cream at the Feed and Seed store.

There's no place in Smiths Falls you can't pedal to on quiet streets. So often are we strapped into car seats its easy to conclude mobility is entrapment. But you don't have to fire up an engine to run an errand around here and that can make a refreshing change of pace.

The next season now upon us is when most people put their bicycles to bed. That's actually the best time to have it serviced or repaired, since you won't be needing it for a while. Where a house call and pick-up is necessary I have found yet another use of pedal power to replace the car, tested and proven in the worst of conditions Ottawa could throw at me.

Winter bicycling is a growing sport around the world and even has its own internet website called Icebike. I've been at it for 22 years. Thousands of people in Ottawa commute by bike throughout winter or ride for recreation. It has special challenges, like clothing as with

skating and skiing, the extra mechanical impact of corrosion and freezing and of course avoiding physical impacts by  using high-grip or studded tires.

A winter bike doesn't have to be expensive. Practitioners opt for treating their rides as either disposable or durable, the latter with higher quality corrosion-resistant parts. We're not talking crazy people here, either. More like Ottawa Police staff sergeant Graydon Patterson or CBC Ottawa Morning's Stu Mills, two avid winter cyclists for years. Many use studded tires for winter traction which, although durable, can get pricey.