Exploring the Sharrows in Millwoods

We've been wanting for awhile to do a ride where we go explore the roads with the new sharrows in Southeast Edmonton, which have been installed painted this year as part of the implementation of the City of Edmonton's Bicycle Transportation Plan. Weddings and illnesses have intervened, but we finally got a chance this weekend, while turkey was in the oven and warm sunshine tempered the autumn winds.

We rode from Angel's place to her son's elementary school, followed the sharrows partway along the Millwoods Road loop in light traffic, then ducked down 66th Street (which is busier and has no markings) to warm up with coffee at Millwoods Town Centre. I definitely felt like the drivers on 66th were more impatient than those we encountered on the marked section of our route.

Angel has fantastic new slouchy suede boots and shiny teal tights.

The idea is that you ride square down the middle of each sharrow marking, 

but that makes it trickier to photograph them.

(When you ride over these fresh ones, unlike the older ones around the U of A,

you feel a gentle bumpity-bumpity-bump under your tires from how thick the paint is.)

A better view of an entire sharrow marking, taken with the camera at handlebar level.

Most of the way along Millwoods Road, the markings are in the middle of the lane, as seen here. 

However, there are also a couple of sections where they were placed (like a bike lane) closer to the curb,

and then cars had parked over top of them (which makes them considerably less helpful). 

The roads with sharrows also have signs like this one, reminding drivers to expect bicyclists in the lane.

Coffee was lovely. I had chai and a poppyseed roll, mmm.

Since the chain cafe where we stopped had no bicycle parking (shame!), 

we sat outside in the sunshine at a table beside our bicycles. 

The cafe could definitely use a rack, since there were three other bicycles parked beside ours.

Our next stop was Millwoods Park. We took some portraits:

Angel and Daisy

Angel complained that the wind was trying to flip up the hem of her stretchy jersey dress while she rode,

but she looked so comfy and colorful. Not to mention badass, in this shot.

Deborah and Mary Poppins

Vintage herringbone wool shift dress, herringbone patterned tights, and vintage Naturalizer pumps.

I like to imagine that the pumps were nurses' shoes in their previous life. 

I think in the future I'll wear this dress with leggings instead, 

since it had a tendancy to ride up as I pedalled, 

but the wool was the perfect weight for 13C with a cool breeze.

After Millwoods Park we swung down 26th Ave to peer through the window of an LBS I had noticed.

Then it was back via the road past Grey Nuns Hospital, and a residential street with great Hallowe'en decorations already being put up, to Angel's to chill out.