Doug Firby

Doug Firby is a lifelong journalist, with experience in print and electronic media. He has also been cycling his whole life, and enjoys the outdoor experiences in western Canada.

This Ottawa family is all-in on the car-free, cycling lifestyle

When Richard Briggs was in his early 20s, he offered to buy his father’s Ford Fairmont which his father had decided to get rid of. But his father refused to sell it to his son, Briggs recalls, “Because you don’t need a car.” A decade later, when his father offered to sell Richard his used …

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Scaring away a middle-of-the-night invader

The ConnecTour team had the opportunity of being hosted by a Warmshowers couple in the heart of Ottawa’s Centre-Ville district, beside the Ottawa River. But the overnight campout in the backyard was filled with drama. In the middle of the night, Lynn Marshall was awaken by someone sneaking into the back yard. Fearing the person …

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Amish follow a humble path to a simpler way of life

Canada’s secondary roads are not only more peaceful and scenic to ride, but they also often lead to the serendipity that adds to the richness of our experience. We were on one such road, Maple Ridge Road, in northern Ontario, about an hour’s bicycle ride east of Thessalon (near the head of Lake Huron) when …

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Wawa’s loyal support keeps country store going strong

Anita Young feels a lot of loyalty to the people of Wawa. And for good reason, because the people of Wawa have been there for her and her late husband, Bill, when they most needed a hand. Bill Young founded what has become Wawa’s most famous landmark, Young’s General Store, way back in 1971 and …

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You can fix the road, but who can fix reckless drivers?

There are dozens of highway memorials along the roads we have taken across Canada, fading memories to those who have died in crashes along the way. In some cases, the locations of these mishaps seem so benign, the tragedies are inexplicable. One often wonders, how could someone lose control at this place? Bicyclists are given …

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A private fantasy world, rich in local and family history

Sheri Turner is ebullient and energetic as she welcomes strangers to the fascinating world she’s built for herself near the tiny community of Shebandowan, about a day’s bicycle ride – or an hour’s drive – west of Thunder Bay. Her immaculate property, called The Settlement, is a house and panoply of outbuildings, mostly painted grey …

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Hanging on by a thin fishing line

Jake Trinkner was just 13 years old when his father bought a small fishing lodge on Crow Lake, just south of Kenora, Ont., moved the family from Minnesota, and set out to pursue a dream of hosting anglers. As his mom and dad, Paul and Christine Tinkner, began to step back from the business, Jake …

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A bicycle clinic that started with a bang

As we are about to set up our bicycle clinic on the legislative grounds in the heart of downtown Winnipeg, we hear a loud bang, coming from the vicinity of where Donald Street crosses the Assiniboine River. Kevin Celestino, a member of our event partner – The Wrench – quickly realizes a bicycle tire has …

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Warmshowers hosts have an equally warm spirit

Ross and Brenda Bond live on a small farm they bought in 1975 about an hour’s drive west of Winnipeg near the hamlet of Poplar Point. It’s an idyllic piece of tree-lined property located about a kilometre south of the highway. With all the green cover, passersby would never even know it was there. The …

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Cheap rural living enables brewery dream to become a reality

Jeff Allport isn’t into false flattery, so when he’s asked, he tells you straight out he started his craft brewery in Nokomis, Sask., simply because it was cheap to locate there. He didn’t move there for the small-town charm, or the clever strategy of being centrally located between Regina and Saskatoon in a province underserved …

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