August 6st Mini-Gatineau Trip

[Elena]

Hiya all, 
I did a recce last weekend and the park is quite nice.  Riding the parkways comes up to a 42 KM ride with a few lookouts on the way.  The best (only) day to ride the park will be on the Sunday.  The parkways are closed on Sundays for cycling and rollerblading.   

I have info of an hotel (approx 129.00/night for two) on the Quebec side right accross the Casino which is an option with a short taxi ride across to the By Market.  I will check other Hotels/Motels and in the Ottawa and Gatineau area.   I'm at work right now and I don't have all the info with me so this is as much as I can remember.  I will get all the info and post it NLT tomorrow evening.  I plan to meet you all for the ride on Thursday and talk about it some more.

Some have expressed leaving the Friday and coming back the Sunday...I'm definitely for it.

MTF fella's

Elena   

[Hornet]

Sounds good, lets talk about it on Thursday, regarding leaving Friday rather then Saturday, it all depends if the majority can handle the added cost and time off work and family.

Lets discuss it and see 

[Shaman]

I can handle it, I think.

[Elena]

Hello,

Well, have checked other Hotels/Motels and found a reasonable one downtown Ottawa.  It's the Econo-Lodge (Motel) on Rideau St.  The Motel has free parking and it's Court Yard style.  So, it's 99.00 plus tx for two (1 X queen) or 125$ plus tx for three (2 X queen).  Not bad for a 10-15 min walk to the By Market.  Oh and so far, they have plenty of availability for the weekend of 5-6-7 Aug.  However, the sooner we book the better.   

To clarify, the Parkways in the park are only opened for vehicles on the Saturdays.  I believe I had put down Sunday....anyways. 

Unfortunately I will not be able to make the ride tonight, I have a "tatoo" appointment at 1800 hrs.  But, I can meet whomever is interested at Timmy's for 1715ish hrs, to look over the what I have and come up with a plan....

Ciao 

[Crunchmeister]

I used to live 1 block form the Econo-Lodge on Rideau. If you can handle all the hookers and the drug dealers that work out of that motel on weekends, it's OK, I guess. It may have changed in the past few years, but I can't say for sure either way.

If it hasn't cleaned up, I'd be leary of leaving anything of value (bikes with easily removable after-market parts and accessories) parked there overnight.

[Elena]

Oh really!     That would totally suck, if the place hasn't changed.  Hummmm, I have check other hotels....more expensive though!  Thanks for letting us know.

[Hornet]

Hi Elena,

Thanks for all the work, if that Hotel even remotely "appears" unsafe, I definitely do not want to park my Motorcycle there. I have to many hop-ups and modifications which I would hate to see stolen. Lets find something a little safer. I'm all in favour of "winging" it. I doubt we will have trouble finding a Motel along the way that will accommodate a few of us. I say we just check into any Motel we find whenever and where-ever we want.
Makes it more of an adventure :-)

[Crunchmeister]

Oh really!     That would totally suck, if the place hasn't changed.  Hummmm, I have check other hotels....more expensive though!  Thanks for letting us know.

I figured you guys would want to know. Like I said, I can't say for sure if it's still as bad as it used to be when I lived there. I moved to Kingsotn in 93 and I haven't been in that area of Ottawa in several years. I know that when I lived there, the Econo-Lodge was to downtown Ottawa what the Conway Inn is to Kingston, only with more drug dealers. Many of the local hookers used to rent rooms there and take their johns there for their business. It was convenient, because on the way out, they'd stop by one of several dealers for their poison of choice, back to the room to do their thing, then back to the street to pick up another john so they could afford another fix. And then there was the constant flow of junkies and crackheads in and out of the place. Those are the ones that I'd be more concerned about stealing bikes or parts.

But like I said, it could be a thing of the past now. I know they somewhat cleaned up downtown Ottawa a few years back, but I think there's only so clean you can get when you're downtown in a big(ger) city like Ottawa. You should at least be aware of a potential issue that could make the difference between a good trip, and a bad one.

And I wish I could join you guys, but I'm off on my summer vacation that weekend.