Hacker Bike Ride
I was up in Ottawa for about a week recently. I went there to attend the Ottawa Linux Symposium, do some work at the Ottawa office, hang out with my brother's family, and catch up with some of my Ottawa friends.
Of course, no Linux Symposium is complete without the annual Hacker Bike Ride. This ride has been happening for several years on the Sunday after the Symposium. Basically, a whole bunch of Linux geeks gather up some bicycles and take a ride around the city. It's an excellent social event, and the locals love to show off Ottawa's fantastic cycling and scenery to all the visitors from out of town.
This year's ride started from the usual Col By Dr. meeting place, and went straight up Sussex Dr. towards the Ottawa River. We followed Sussex Dr. past the Prime Minister's and Governor General's residences, and further east along the Rockliffe parkway. We looped back down the Aviation Parkway and along Hemlock to the Rideau River. Then we followed the Rideau River multi-use trail all the way up to Vincent Massey Park (near Hog's Back and Carleton University) for the annual "Linux in the Wild" BBQ hosted by the Ottawa Canada Linux Users Group.
After hanging out in the park for a while, eating lots of BBQ food, etc., the hacker Bike Ride continued over Hog's Back Falls to the Rideau Canal, and back downtown to where we started.
The evening continued with more bike geek goodness. Of course, it was the usual weekly HPVOoO gathering at the Vietnam Noodle House, followed by some bike swapping and a gelato run on Elgin St. There was a huge turnout, especially with a few of the OLS people that came by as well.
It's always fun to spend a day riding my bike around Ottawa. I'm also very happy with the Bike Friday folding bike I bought earlier this year. I love being able to take it with me whenever I travel.
Here are my photos from Sunday.