30 bikes are now ready to be shipped to Togo.

 From 9 00 am until just after noon members of the cycling group from Glen Cairn United (The Wheels of Fortune) met at our house to fix up the 30 bikes that I had collected. These will be shipped along with lots of other material to Togo in West Africa in the new year.

 Each bike had minor repairs done as necessary, mostly fixing flat tires, Then the pedals were removed and tied to the frame, the seat was lowered, and the handlebars turned through 90 degrees. These steps made the storage of them so much easier.

 Test driving.

Thirty bikes do fit into my garden shed quite easily. Without the steps takes to make them less bulky, I could hardly fit half of them into it.

Readying the bikes for Togo.

 Over the last few weeks, I have purchased  or been given 26 bikes ranging in size from toddlers, through children's and youths to adult size. These purchases were made as part of Glen Cairn United Church's support of Abdou Amidou's campaign to take children's materials to the impoverished villages in his native Togo in West Africa. Two members of the Church donated $500.00 towards the purchase of these bikes. Most came from the six Value Village stores located in the Ottawa area. This will be the third year of the Church's support for that campaign.

In the photograph above, there is a small cluster of bikes by the railing. These were the bikes that did not have flat tires. The larger cluster in the foreground had, on an initial inspection, no serious defects other than flat tires. A friend, Robert Tate, and I spent 90 minutes last night sorting out the bikes for obvious defects and pumping up flat tires. By Saturday, the date of a work party to fix and repair the bikes, we will know which bikes retained their air  and which have become flat once more.

 This cluster of bikes had some more obvious problems. In one a brake was jammed. In another, a brake lever was broken. In other tires and inner tubes needed to be replaced. Today, I will vista a local bike shop for tire and tube replacements and other needed items.

This last bike has tires and tubes that do not appear to match the wheel size. I will take it to the bike shop and find the right sizes there.

The Saturday work shop will be a chance for members of "The Wheels of Fortune" to make use of their bike fixing skills. That group is the recreational cycling group of Glen Cairn United Church that since spring has gone on recreational cycling trips most Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings. This will be the last formal  Saturday gathering this season, with a wrap-up excursion planned for after church on Sunday for a picnic at a local park (Andrew Haydon) on the shores of the Ottawa River.

More bikes for Togo

 Today I visited Value Village stores across Ottawa from Orleans in the East to Kanata in the West. I purchased eleven bikes to add to the eleven in my shed. These will be shipped by Abdou Amidou to Togo, West Africa, in the new year. The photo above appears to show only one of the bikes I bought today.

 The opened rear door shows a glimpse of the eight stacked inside there.

 The additional two were on the front passenger seat.

Today's collection is now in my back yard. I will contact Abdou later this week to see if he has found access to storage.

This is the third year that Glen Cairn United Church has supported Abdou in helping him fill a forty foot container with goods and clothing and school supplies for the children of Togo. A couple from the congregation donated $500.00 towards the 2012/3 campaign, specifically for the purchase of children's bikes. I volunteered to be the purchaser and collector of the bikes. I have spent almost half of that $500 so far and have twenty-two bikes on hand.

Biking in Ottawa

 Ottawa is a great city for recreational biking. The photo above shows some of the members of "The Wheels of Fortune", the cycling group from our church, Glen Cairn United Church. Since the weather improved in the spring, this group has met regularly every Wednesday evening at the church for a bike ride. We also meet every Saturday morning at various sites in the city where bike trails are to be found. Most times there are between nine and a dozen riders in the group, with seventeen participants having been with the group on at least one occasion. The ages of the participants range from trrnagers to those approaching their eighth decade.

 On other occasions, Anne and I ride on our own. This was an early season bike ride along the Ottawa River Parkway (now renamed the John A. MacDonald Parkway) to see the tulip displays of the Tulip festival.

The gathering place here was Maman, the giant spider in front of the National Gallery of Canada.

The nearby Trans-Canada trail.

Anne and I are lucky to live within a short distance of the Trans-Canada Trail, a bicycling, walking and jogging trail that crosses Canada from coast to coast.
As I recuperate from my heart attack, we are slowly getting back to using that trail. Today, we got our our bikes and readied for a little longer trip.






Anne is posed in front of some of our perennials.








For some strange reason, my picture always seems to include my Basketry Studio sign.







Today's destination, a return distance of just under six miles, was the park in Stittsville at the site of the old railway station. From here you can ride to the East as far as Bell's Corners and then access other trails and ride as far as the Parliament buildings in Downtown Ottawa. Ottawa has a good network of trails.




Going to the west, we have explored the trail as far as Carleton Place, some 20 kms away. Sometime next year we hope to be able to take that trip again as well as riding to Parliament. For the latter journey, we would book a stay at a hotel downtown (e.g. The Westin) and return the next day.




The local sections of the Trans-Canada Trail follow the path of an abandoned railroad. We are either riding up a long, gentle uphill grade or speeding down a long, gentle downhill grade on such trails. The National Capital Commission Trails are a little more varied.