16 July 2011

Critical Lass July plans

Reminder: Sunday July 24th will be the next Edmonton Critical Lass ride!


So you can check out A Taste of Edmonton before the ride, if you like, we'll meet at 1:30pm in front of the Winspear Centre and depart at 2pm. We'll ride via 95th Street (and Chinatown and Little Italy) to Alberta Avenue, so we can see for ourselves its' revitalization from a neighborhood that a decade ago was best known for pawn shops and drug-related crime problems, now that the infrastructure changes from the Streetscape Improvements program and storefront facade renovations are mostly completed. We'll likely make stops at The Carrot, Bedouin Beats, and Handy Bakery, and have our supper at Habesha (Ethiopian, and we hear they're vegetarian and vegan friendly!).

Originally, our plan was to ride all the way to Northlands, grab a group photo with Gretsky, then take our bikes on the LRT - but since Capital Ex is on, we expect Coliseum Station to be a bit too crowded for bikes. So, now we think we'll loop back to downtown before going our separate ways.

Any feedback on the route, ladies?

20 July UPDATED PROPOSED ROUTE: So. After discussion with Angel, I did a screencap of the bike map then highlighted our new route idea:

We'll be starting about where the blue oval marked 3 is (that's the AGA), taking the on-road bike path on 102 Ave (that's Harbin Road, just north of Canada Place, which stands where the original Chinatown was established 100 years ago) through Chinatown South to Jasper Ave, and take that along the upper edge of Dawson Park (it's not clear whether we can actually enter the park from the top - if we can we can stop and take photos here) to where it turns north and becomes 82nd Street. Where 82nd crosses the LRT tracks at 113th Ave, we can get on the MUP (red) then take the on-street path (green) north on 81st Street (past another wee park) to 118th Ave. This brings us out close enough to Northlands to hear the ruckus and smell the mini-donuts from Capital Ex, close to the eastern end of the section of Alberta Ave that's had infrastructure upgrades. Then we'll ride west on 118th, check out some places, and stop for supper. Afterward we'll take 96th Street south and pick up the on-street path (green) that skirts north of downtown to head to 109th Street, then south via the MUP (red) and across the High Level Bridge to Bicycle Bottleneck. When they reopen for the day I'll call Habesha and ask them about the timing - whether they want a group to show up for the 4pm coffee ritual, or want us to make reservations for later, will determine whether we move our start time a bit later. Our reservation is for 4pm at Habesha. Sound OK?

10 comments:

  1. The group could ride down 109 street afterwards. It's quite wide until Jasper Avenue, but then there's the multi-path from Grandin across the High Level bridge!
    I can't attend next Sunday, ladies. The Penner clan from B.C. is staying with us for the weekend only, so I should be with them, since we only see them once or twice a year.
    Hope to be around for the August CL!

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  2. Do we have a set time for the dinner? 2pm sounds like an early start time for a ride that's effectively got dinner as a mid-point and 118th is closer to downtown than you might think.

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  3. Sounds lovely! And Habesha is so yummy! Folks do smoke sheesha there, though, so I really hope that won't be a problem for any of us lasses (personally, I'm really sensitive to second hand tobacco smoke but sheesha doesn't bother me, and there will probably be less of it earlier in the day)

    One suggestion: if you want a route that is nice and wide and quiet, take 96st. It's not that I'm opposed to taking the busier streets, but I know not everyone is as comfortable in traffic.

    Cheers!
    -Coreen

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  4. Damn. Too bad we're going to miss this one since we'll be taking a bit longer to get through Banff/Jasper/Icefields than I thought. We get into Edmonton on Thursday the 28. Sunday we'll be in Jasper. Any chance y'all can ride up the Yellowhead and meet us there? ;-)

    We should be around for the whole weekend, most likely.

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  5. @Judy - next time for sure!

    @tricotmiss - Habesha have a 4pm free Ethiopian coffee demonstration, so I was aiming for that and thinking we'd stop in Little Italy en route - but maybe we should move it later. See the Updated Route with map in the post.

    @breakingchainstakinglanes - smart! Let's try that for the updated return route (see the post).

    @adventure! - I am so looking forward to meeting you both. Let's plan a ride for sure - email me at the (new!) email address in the About sidebar box and we'll figure something out!!

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  6. Deborah-Will do! Or you can email me at urbanadventureleague@gmail.com That might be easier since I'm in Banff and don't always have time for this stuff.

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  7. Is this open to all girls with bikes? I have a '75 Raleigh Twenty who enjoys a good ride now and then. :)

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  8. Looks good to me! I'm excited to try Habesha.

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  9. Anon: definitely any girl with ANY bike!! Come and see all our bikes and (occasionally) try other bikes! So much fun!!

    I am so excited for tomorrow, it feels like I've kicked my cold in the butt so tomorrow will be a doable experience!!

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  10. I have my fingers crossed that my cold will have receded enough - and my kids and husband will be well enough - that I won't have to bail, because this ride is going to be so. damn. cool.

    Our reservation for Habesha is for (tentatively) 12 people at 4pm - and we'll give them a call from our starting point tomorrow to confirm our numbers.

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