Wednesday August 1st.

Today was a rest day to see the city so there was no concern about the MapMyRide application failing miserably as it has had a tendency to do since leaving Toronto. Yes I am going to slag them until I get some actual support for the product.

I decided to ride into the city since I was able to leave my bike at city hall with Georgie and I thought I might bike around the city after seeing parliament. Hindsight is definitely 20/20 since the city has a decent bus system and I had all sorts of problems deciding what to do with certain time constraints but my guardian angel Natasha saved the day. More on that later but riding on an off day just feels strange because you are not in destination mode where you knock back a lot of kilometers but you are still on a bit of a time constraint and need to lock up your bike way more often. On that note part, 7 or 8 kilometers in the ride I decided to take the bus. I stayed on until I got to Mountain Equipment Coop where I had the bike guys look at my front and rear rims to determine in they were true. It turns out that it was the tire itself that was not seated properly but the procedure involved a little time to over inflate them and then hope it solved the problem. I decided it wasn’t worth the effort and there was a crack in the complete circumference of the rear (probably because I had folded it) that was at risk of bursting during this procedure. After a quick brake adjustment I was happy and left the store with more chamois cream – for the arse!

When the next bus came it didn’t have a bike rack so I just rode the remaining 4 kilometers rather than wait for the next one. Pulling into Ottawa was fun and though a somewhat busy city I didn’t feel the urgency in the traffic like Toronto or Vancouver where it seems people are fighting for every in of pavement. The first major sight I came upon was the Surpreme court of Canada which is having renovations on the grounds in front of the building. From the road it looks all fenced off but once you go into to the parking lot you can ride right on up to the building. Unlike Washington DC there is one police car in front and no barricades of any kind protecting the building. Of course I know this is probably not the case when the court is in session and I am sure there is a tonne of security that you can not see. I didn’t look around because I wanted to get to City Hall before I started going in out of buildings since I didn’t bring my bike lock which was another hindsight thing. It is so frustratingly apparent sometimes when you have poor planning. Normally this would not bother me but today would have been so much easier if I just bused in. Okay enough about that!

I then rode up to the eternal flame outside the Parliament building and took a few pictures before heading to city hall which was all very easy to find. Georgie unfortunately was called away to handle a crisis somewhere which is to be expected working for the city. I often forget that while I am travelling around enjoying a trip of a lifetime other people are slaving away at their jobs. Looking back at my complaints though I felt strongly about the time I need to suck it up sometimes and remember I am doing things many won’t or think they won’t have an opportunity to do. On the flip side I want to motivate people to leave their jobs and follow their dreams. To many of us think things are impossible but just look at me and others whom I have mentioned who are cycling across the country. Though Georgie was not there I was very fortunate to meet Brad who is an assistant to the mayor. Brad was very gracious in taking me around and introducing me to councillors, staff and the deputy major. He even got me into the Mayors office where I took a picture of me in his chair smoking a cigar with my feet up – totally kidding but woudn’t that have been great? Everyone was very friendly and had lots of questions and even some gifts which in the case of the t-shirt I had to decline as it is more weight to carry 🙁

Brad is a triathlete of some series calibre and competes in some nationwide events at the Olympic distance. It is always easier explaining the trip to an athlete because they understand exactly what you are saying when you get into discussion around big distances and the trials and tribulations of cycling 4,000 plus kilometers through the most beautiful country on earth.

I left my bike in Georgie’s office and walked over to Parliament to get a free tour. Here is where I had a little confusion. The ladies handing out the tickets suggested the tour could be anywhere from one hour to one and half hours. It was about quarter to 3pm and people at City Hall are typically done their day at 4pm. I asked if I could leave my bicycle with them but they couldn’t watch it and instead suggested I speak with the RCMP. The RCMP officer was very nice and suggested I talk to the Parliament security working close by. I spoke to the man there who said he could only watch my bicycle until 4pm but also mentioned the tour is usually 40 minutes. Did I mention it is a hot but beautiful day with streams of people walking in and out of the Parliament building and even people doing yoga on the lawn in front of Parliament. It is a very relaxed and tranquil environment which is how it should be at a nations capitol. While security was present, in typical Canadian fashion they act more like tour guides than up tight pissy security detail which you see in the country to our South. Parliament being out of session could be part of the reason but still it was a good atmosphere. I called back Georgie and she informed me that her co-worker Natasha was going to stay later for me. What an angel!

I got on the next tour which was only a five minute wait and we walked into Parliament. There was a security screening which for the poor man with the baby carriage meant he had to take off absolutely everything on the buggy and send it through x-ray. This took a good ten minutes and I think from this perspective they should just manually check strollers so the guest doesn’t have to completely unload and reload the stroller. I feel behind the group because of this but caught up to them who were being asked by our guide questions about how Canadian governments are formed and the role of the Prime Minister and how he is selected (technically). These were all known by me so I stayed quiet but there were quite a few tourists who knew some of the answers which was cool.

For those that do not know (I have foreign followers on this blog), Canada has a parliamentary system like England and most Common Wealth nations where you have a Lower House consisting of elective representatives and an upper house of appointed Senators (Austrailia did away with the upper house and many Canadians feel we should do the same). The Prime Minster is technically just a Member of Parliament (MP)) who is chosen by the other Members to be the Prime Minister. There is a little more to it but I am just painting a picture here. In reality the Party Leader is running to be elected as Prime Minister so the leader of the party with the most seats is the Prime Minister and many people vote for a particular party leader rather than the local MP representing them. This is why we end up with a lot of riff raff in Parliament who have no business being there. But it is democracy and anyone of any stature and ideals or political views can be elected and it is not reserved for the highly educated or the privileged. So I guess I accept the riff raff.

We saw the Lower House first with its lush green carpet and beautiful wood work and MP benches. There are five four meter high stained glass windows on the two walls above the MPs. Each window represents a different province through that provinces flower. There is also a media and public viewing on the far wall above the speakers chair. I wish there was more time to admire it but the next group is right behind you on these tours and they keep you moving. Next we saw the upper house with its lush red carpet. This is a much smaller room and there is no public viewing or cameras for that matter which is why most Canadians are convinced the Senators are smoking pot all day, even the Conservatives. The Senate will consist of some highly qualified people along with the Prime Ministers buddies past and present which includes people who worked on their campaigns and even TV news personalities. Because of the nut bar patsies that get elected to the lower house and basically vote however their party tells them to vote the upper house is still very important. However they are not accountable to the voter which is a problem along with the previously mentioned appointment process.

Finally we saw a committee chamber and the room representing French as a distinct culture in Canada. There are ones for aboriginal and English but we did not view those. The tour guide was pretty good and it is good to see young people teaching others about our country. The Peace Tower was a self guided portion where you can get a pretty good view of the surrounding area and there is a memorial for soldiers who lost their lives in the wars Canada has participated in. They have a large book for each conflict where the names are hand written. Sadly there is one book where they are still entering names of our boys and girls. Each day they turn the page so family can plan when to visit and see their loved ones name. I always get a little emotional when I visit places like this. Everyone knows I am bleeding heart but the world can be a big bad place sometimes and if we still need military than I couldn’t think of a better representation of character than the Canadians I have met or read about in the armed forces. I realize many nations may feel the same way for their own armed forces but I can speak only of what I know. Many of the armed forces are not young either and some join later when they have a better comprehension of what they are getting into. All that said I just wanted say a big thank you for what you do, you makes us proud and I hope all of you get home from Afghanistan soon!

I got back to City Hall around 5pm so Natasha stayed way later than normal and tried to brush it off by saying she got some extra work done. All I can say is I really appreciated it and hope to return the favour some day. I took my bike down to around Laurier street where there is a walking street closed to traffic with restaurants and stores. It is a very nice part of town and only blocks from Parliament. After a few beers I took a bus most of the way home but had to ride a few kilometers to get back the Hamer’s. They were out walking the dog but a dinner was waiting for me so ate that along with a few glasses of wine. When they got back we had a few drinks and talked about my adventures in the city before calling it a night.