Discussion: Fri. May 11: final reg. deadline (today)

Two weeks until registration for O-Fest 2012 closes!

5 days until registration closes! Don't miss out!

3 days left!

How many days now?

A day and a half?

Thanks for the reminder - wouldn't want to miss this!
See you next week...

Wil, when I kept not seeing your name on the registration list I was trying to figure out what we had done wrong that meant you weren't interested in coming this year... Good to hear you're coming.

Canadian (love the new AP nickname by the way), just so you know there hasn't been anything that OOC did wrong for why the WaddSquad won't be coming this year. It is a weekend that we have had other plans for for quite some time (May 2-4 weekend is tough for a couple of people). We thought of ways to try to do both but my work sked didn't make that possible. The new lidar edition of that Gats map looks great and we're looking forward to the next Ottawa O-Fest. As I mentioned to your mother last weekend in WP, we were so torn about not being able to go that I was considering racing down this weekend to volunteer to vet since that map looks so awesome.

You can't get everyone all the time. We've had comments from a variety of different people that the May long weekend doesn't work for them for different reasons, one being that it's cottage opening weekend. We'll likely move away from that weekend again next year.

Looking forward to coming to Ottawa next weekend! Just to stir up the pot, we are only making the long trip because it's a long weekend. :) On the other hand, I've almost never raced in an Ontario Championship because Thanksgiving weekend is usually devoted to family plans, so I know it goes both ways.

Hi. A quick question here for residents of Ottawa. Are any of the bridges accross the river are toll roads? Just want to know if I should have local currency on my hands when I will be driving across the river for the long course on Sunday. Thanks.

Nope, no tolls around here.

Though you can never quite be sure when crossing over into that strange foreign land on the other side of the river.....

Beaver pelts and maple syrup also work as local currency.

any accommodation link ( deals ) from event page, or still being sorted out ?

Sorry Nick, no deals this year. I will post some options with the meet guide this weekend / early next week.

There may not be any tolls crossing the river in Ottawa but you may well need toll money to get across the St. Lawrence river at or near the US border. Those bridges are Canadian (or private?), owned but they usually accept US Currency which I think is roughly par.

The only toll bridges I've ever crossed the St. Laurence on accept either Canadian or American currency.

The Thousand Island Bridge is $2.50 in either currency in either direction. I think the other two bridges - Cornwall/ Massena and Prescott/ Ogdensburg are about the same cost.
Most importantly fill up your car's gas tank before entering Canada. Canadian gas prices are about 25% higher than the US average.
Other than bridges I think US currency is stil accepted in most stores and at Tim Horton's (a coffee/donut chain similar to Dunkin Donut that has created a Canadian national addiction to something called a double-double).

While not one of the double-double crowd, I was surprised to learn that Tim Horton's will accept only cash or MasterCard but not VISA.

I encountered the opposite (Visa, no MC) many years ago in Ontario. Hard to believe it still exists.

Then again, I find it hard to believe that I still couldn't get unsweeted iced tea in Canada just 2 years ago (with a few VERY limited exceptions).

I can sympathize... It wasn't that long ago that we couldn't get decent coffee or beer in the U.S. ;)

>I think US currency is stil accepted in most stores.

Every few months you will hear "what's that cost in REAL money?" in stores here. about a year ago I overheard an American complaining that it didn't make sense that it cost the same in "real money" as in Canadian money because it didn't the last time they visited. !

so Z-man no prize money like in 2003 to use as spending money? allergic to bank machines? scared that our money has coloUrs other than green? ;-) Warning! our money now is 'see through' and polymer now too...and soon no pennies either!

Canadian currency makes so much more sense than US currency, apparently because the US Treasury and Mint don't have the backbone to do what's right in the face of opposition from people who are resistant to change.

US currency is no longer only green -- though the non-green is fairly subtle.

I preferred Australian currency when I lived there - different bill sizes as well as colours.

@ Hummer. That '03 sprint brings a lot of good memories, as is the sprint series finale in '05 in N.H. Would be nice if such events evolved into a tradition. I don't think anyone would gripe about the color of prize money they won :) I know I didn't.