After a two-year hiatus following an accident that sidelined him for weeks, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is ready to ride again.
On Sunday, Watson joined snowmobilers with the Osgoode Carleton Snowmobile Club for a leisurely ride around the property. Trials in the area are closed, but that didn't seem to bother the mayor.
"I feel good, but a little nervous," he said.
Watson revved the engine on his snowmobile almost two years to the date since breaking his pelvis. In February 2015, Watson was out for a ride with the same club and several councillors when he mistakenly pressed the gas instead of the break and was thrown into a fellow councillor's snowmobile.
Today, there was little chance of that happening, though emergency responders were there just in case.
"Second time. Let's hope it is better than last time," he said.
"I had great plans to go on a long ride and stop at a nice restaurant," he said. "But that didn't happen so we are here breaking the curse of the Jim Watson Snowmobile incident."
Councillor George Darouze and other club members labelled the gas and the break, limited the snowmobile's speed and for jokes, bubbled wrapped the front of Watson's ride.
Watson said he set his expectations low for today's ride: Don't get hurt, don't run into anyone else's snowmobile and don't tip. He succeeded on all fronts.
"This is good because I've got over the fear of getting back on the machine and hopefully George will invite me back next year to some of the great trails here in Osgoode," he said.
Darouze said he hopes Watson will come out again next year to explore the area's nearly 200 kilometers of trails. He said it was important to invite Watson out for a ride so he could develop a fuller understanding of what snowmobiling means to rural communities.