Critical Lass Edmonton: October

DIY street seating at our rendezvous point.
I'm not sure if it's that October is busy, or that people had forgotten, but our turnout was unusually low today. (Related: anyone know what Facebook did with the thing that lets you send an event reminder email? Is it gone?)

Karen and her Linus Dutchie. Love those boots.

Turned out I had dressed too warmly, based on the morning's cooler weather. I also discovered on my ride that Miss Trudy, who I only ever ride with the kids, has an issue with her higher two gears. (I brought Trudy, the '72 Phillips, today because I haven't taken Eliza for new tires yet.)

We took the newly-repaved 83rd Ave down to 97 St, then south to Ritchie Community League to take in a little of the bike polo tournament happening this weekend. When we visited, some of the guys we met at last fall's Tweed Ride were playing, along with some visitors from Calgary. I don't have a clue how the game is played but it looks FUN, and I am so impressed with the skill this takes. Must learn how to trackstand.

The rad hoodies and tshirts are for sale BTW. 
Swing by tomorrow to watch the rest of the tournament.

 

This is A. from Calgary's NiceGuys.
Check out her gorgeous Masi mixte and the team's wicked spoke protectors. 

Waiting for their game to start.

Next we headed on to the Blue Chair Cafe, just a block south of the bike polo tourney,
in time for the menu switchover from brunch to supper. 

I had the frittata. 

Karen had salad rolls.

After a lovely meal and a flurry of text messages,
we headed over to Faculte Saint-Jean, via 76th Avenue and 89th Street.

Where 76 Ave dips into Millcreek Ravine is really pretty and just steep enough to be a fun coast.

You can see my mustard sweater tights in this shot - they match the cardigan I was wearing under my coat. Bright colour and lots of layers seemed like a great idea earlier in the day when it was colder and greyer, but by the end of the ride I needed only a tshirt.

Karen outside the Cite building on Saint-Jean's small campus.

Plaque outside the Cite.

To our delight, Coreen caught up to us riding her 'new old CCM'. 
It actually took me a sec to process that she wasn't on Poplar. 
The '46 CCM is truly beautiful in person. Go read its story at the link.

We went exploring inside the Cite building briefly, then hopped back in the saddle and headed back toward the U of A via a steep shortcut through Mill Creek Ravine and the multiuse trail along Saskatchewan Drive, after which we parted ways.

This is where 87 Avenue heads down into the ravine. The photo is blurry because it's steep, fast, and in need of repaving. At the bottom there is a small off-leash dog park, which in daytime will often be in use, then a choice between a steep trail or stairs to get back out. There's a reason most people ride on Whyte Ave to cross the ravine instead - but I'm so glad we checked it out. 

The view of downtown from Saskatchewan Drive.
(Okay, I cheated and went back with my camera after the ride to get this shot.)

Many of the (elm?) trees on Saskatchewan Drive have yet to turn colour.

Back in Garneau beside the University. Many roads in Garneau are closed to cars right now due to construction (which also makes parking a bit more challenging) - but a bike can sail past all the barriers. It looks like they've knocked down a bunch of old houses that had been used as student housing and office space. I wonder what they're building?

Critical Lass Edmonton: Highlands

We had a gorgeous day for a ride yesterday, 20-ish and sunny with a crisp breeze.
Unfortunately great weather and short notice meant not many people came out. Oh well, their loss!

Karen wore a beautiful vintage pencil skirt and a summery shirt from a local boutique. 

I wore my new-to-me vintage polka-dot accordion-pleated skirt
with sailor stripes, antique bakelite bangles, and a Tibetan beeswax amber necklace.

Our route to the Highlands: across High Level Bridge and down the bike path to McEwan, then east on 106th Ave to Little Italy, then north on a side street to 112th Ave, which as it turned out was down to one lane with construction, so we rode on the sidewalk away from the frustrated motorists. The whole ride took us about an hour...

...including our stop at the Italian Centre en route for a snack and a cold drink.

 Our destination was the two-block shopping district in Highlands (112 Ave & 65th Street), an early 20th-century streetcar suburb with fantastic Arts-and-Crafts architecture and mature trees. We met Sarah and her beautiful daughter at Mandolin Books & Coffee, grabbed iced coffees and sweets (the date squares and the chocolate cookies are delish), and walked a couple of blocks to the neighborhood playground. When we got a text from Judy, we headed back, said bye to Sarah and her sweetie, then spent a happy hour browsing used books, locally-made clothing, gorgeous yarns, furniture, and flowers.

Sarah and her charming daughter. I love the yarn-bombed bicycle racks on this block.

Karen, Judy, and me after a little shopping and a lot of visiting. The plan (at Sarah's suggestion) was to take Ada Boulevard, then head back to downtown to meet some friends at What The Truck for supper.

A horse-drawn carriage passing us on Ada Boulevard.

The view to the east of Refinery Row.

Highlands Golf Course and the view across the river valley from the spot where we pulled off to snap some photos.

Judy always looks effortlessly chic. Today she was wearing khaki skinnies with pointy-toed flats.

The highway and bridge behind Karen are Wayne Gretzky Drive and Capilano Bridge.

Can anyone tell me what the paper flags on the lawn at Concordia campus were about? 

The view of downtown where Ada Boulevard turns, with a bit of lens flare.

As I had been riding, I had noticed that my egg crate seemed even more rattley than usual, and my kickstand kept needing to be adjusted because it wouldn't stay put. Just after I took the photo above, a lovely fellow stopped us and told me my rear tire was flat. Oh, so that was the problem! I quickly realized I'd been flat since before our arrival in Highlands. The tube wouldn't hold any air at all, so we ended our ride with a walk to the nearest LRT station (along a pretty residential route with a nice tree canopy that the same gent had suggested we take). 

The LRT had to stop for a few minutes on the bridge over the North Saskatchewan River and wait for the track to clear, so I was able to get a shot of the streetcar on top of the neighboring High Level Bridge.

The view upriver through the LRT car's door.

The offending tire, flat as a pancake. When I got home I took a careful look at it, and it seems I picked up a sliver of glass  - probably on 106th Street on our way to Highlands. Amazingly, the rim doesn't seem any worse for wear, at least to my untrained eye. Steel is amazing stuff.

My spoils from the day's adventures: flowers from Sugar Blossoms, a reference book from Mandolin Books & Coffee, silk yarn from Wool Revival, and a top with lace sleeves from Sabrina Butterfly.
After Eliza's repairs I guess that list will also include new tubes and,
since they'll have to take the wheel off anyway, new tires to replace the 70s-era originals. 

Critical Lass 7: New Southern Bike Lanes

In summary, the new bike lanes are pretty sweet...
and we're really excited that they connect up all the bits of
previously-disconnected bike infrastructure on the south side of Edmonton...
but you'd like to see some photos, right?

We first attempted this ride on the last Sunday of August,

but too few people were able to make it, so we rescheduled for yesterday.

Laura and Angel

We waited for about 25 minutes at Century Park,

L-R: Laura, Angel, Emma

then we were off.

There were shiny shoes

(mine)

and fabulous lace tutus.

Karen and Robert

We crossed the LRT tracks,

admired a cool tandem while we waited for the lights,

(sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet)

and started counterclockwise around the loop,

opting for the road instead of the under-the-power-lines multi-user path for the first bit,

and stopping only so our littlest attendee could be given more crackers.

The section of the route south of 23rd Ave has just been repaved to fix the potholes, 

and is still awaiting paint.

The city has put these awesome signs up all along the loop.

Millwoods' sharrows could use signage like this, too.

Several sections, like this one, could potentially put you in the door zone of parked cars, so stay alert!

The area has a couple of big parks with playgrounds in them, several schools, 

and a mix of single-family housing and apartment-style condominiums 

(in addition to the big transit-oriented complex at Century Park),

and a fire station! Sadly, the brave uniformed guys had other things to do than flirt with us.

Our route circumnavigated the area of strip-mall shopping and grocery stores, 

but we did see evidence of it. 

It was cool to still see all the ghost marks in place that precede application of reflective paint.

The bike lane turns the corner at a three-way stop at the southern end of 106th Street, so, so did we.

We had to veer around a curb repair. We were really glad for the barriers.

Then we took the multi-user path beside 34th Ave back to 111th Street,

By this time the wind had really picked up and we wondered where the sun had gone.

So we were glad to wrap things up (for those of us who could stay)
with brunch and fancy coffees at Bistecca.

There was Italian Eggs Benedict,

and Southern French Toast,

with a side of cutie pie

Robert's always a charmer.

and lots of great conversation.

I want a wrist tattoo like Laura's.

We were so glad Judy caught up with us.

We emerged from brunch to rain and wind,

but it didn't stop us from admiring all our sweet sweet rides, 
before we fled to the warmth of the LRT or our vehicles.

PS: Since our tentative date of Oct 9th is Thanksgiving weekend, we need your help rescheduling the next Critical Lass ride: please participate in our Doodle poll to see when works for the most people! We'll announce the date and create a Facebook event page within the week.