2/2 #yegbike complaining continued: These icy bits were rideable for me to a mechanical disaster last week. The ice bike winter beater had the chain snap on me going up Scona Hill. I turns out I had threaded the chain through the derailleur improperly. As I wait for more parts on order, I had […]

Some weekend errands by #yegbike this weekend. Most MUPS are okay with icy snowpack, but anywhere and everywhere, the intersectoins with cross streets can be thick rutted ice valleys. The Streetcar MUP through Old Stratchona gets the mention of shame this time! From the Granite Curling Club […]

#yegbike commute: on the cold side at -9°C with slight northwest breeze. Surfaces are even more icy, in my observations. Old Strathcona is just an icy rutted mess, both paths and roads. River Valley not too bad. 96th street MUP quite icy, the cleared roads aren’t too bad. Took the ice bike today […]

#yegbike commute: the temperature is above zero, with a brutal northwest gusty wind. Surfaces are just an icy nightmare. I will say my neighborhood of Old Strathcona on the 87th Ave MUP is particularly bad. Unless you have full studded tires, I would recommend not biking todsy. I can’t even say […]

#yegbike commute: pretty much the same as yesterday. Temp now slightly below zero, slight wind from the southwest. Road mush still an issue, same crossroad intersections. Mindfulness required for the icy paths in the river valley, serenity possible on the flats. Now the #earworm is ‘Sweet City […]

#yegbike commute; comfortably warm at +5°C with light southwest breeze. Paths slippery (not quite icy) on the River Valley Paths, others good snowpack. Intersection mush softer and more manageable this morning for a substantially better and faster ride. It’s still a sloppy mess, but rideable at […]

I don’t know who these last few followers are from pixelfeed, but they have followers, 0 posts, and no similar interests. Followers like that I do not need.

There was a #yegbike commute this morning, but was unable to type it up earlier. It was comfortable just a little above 0°C, with light southwest breeze. I was hoping that a four-day weekend of slightly warm temperatures would have made more of a difference, or that some street plowing would […]

#yegbike winter report (Delton - Alberta Avenue - Dutch Delicious - Italian Centre): residential streets not getting better with the thaw. 96 St in McCauley finally done. They started clearing 96 St in Delton, did the first block north of 119 Ave and abandoned it working on the block north of […]

Thoughts on being a passenger in a car on the QEII heading north into Edmonton. I have driven an underpowered camper van with poor sight lines on the Autobahn in Germany, through Austria on secondary highways, and the AutoStrada through Italy. I would rather being doing that than this North […]

Today was more skiing during the day. Then a sauna and polar plunge into a dugout before supper. https://www.hiddensprings.ca/

The groomed cross-country ski trails at the Hidden Springs Guesthouse/Chalet are just fantastic. Also come with a guide dog! The chalet is right on the trail so you can just pop into your fully featured suite if you need a rest or to reconfigure. Maybe 10-15km of […] [Original post on mstdn.ca]

The Cabin in the Woods. Hidden Springs Resort southwest of Pigeon Lake. Went for a birthday supper at Chef’N at The Village At Pigeon Lake. Good grill Pub. Now by a very hot airtight fireplace. All is good. Looking at the hills to get here that we have previously biked. Yikes!

This #yegbike commute is taking a long weekend off to a cabin in the woods. Luckily in these last very rough 4 weeks, many other people have brought their observations from other parts of the city - I hope this keeps up, it's great having a little fedi-network of text based biking information […]

#yegbike commute, pm update. And of course our lovely snowpack softens right up. Road mush increases. Most MUPS are done at this point. 96th Street from 118th Ave has been attempted to be cleared, and it's almost rideable, on a fatbike. At some points it looks like the clearing machine failed or […]

#yegbike commute: mildly cold at -13°C with slight southwest breeze. 96th Street MUP from Jasper to 118th Ave still not done, quite the slow slog for that part. Most other MUPS are done by now, still brown snow mush on minor streets and main ones, for sections. Others good snowpack. It’s still […]

Winter #yegbike report, Delton - Victoria Park: bike lanes cleared along 119 Ave around 92 St and downtown grid except 107 St between 100 Ave and 99 Ave. 96 St in Delton and McCauley still not done. Most residential streets are now packed down and rideable, with just the occasional snirtpool […]

#yegbike commute: pretty much the same as yesterday, only slightly warmer at -15°C with the wind now slightly from the south. Still a slog of a ride outside of the downtown core. Maybe things will improve? #earworm ‘Yours Is No Disgrace’, Yes

#yegbike report based on Delton - Sherbrooke: things are still hard but improving. Residential streets still all brown sugar in Westwood but getting more packed elsewhere. Still better on the sidewalk; those all clear now. Most bike lanes & MUPs done (Kingsway, Blatchford - NAIT MUP that's not […]

#yegbike commute: cold enough at -20°C with slight northeast breeze. Downtown & River Valley MUPS nice snowpack, everything else not done well at all. Minor roads heavy road mush or rutted valleys. Quite the slog. #earworm ‘Just My Imagination’, The Temptations.

I a currently playing with my new audio setup. JBL Studio Monitors from the MacBook, while streaming to the Apple TV connected to a Denon Mini HiFi system in the living room. Using some streaming radio of 80's Album Rock (Soma FM Left Coast 70's) for peak Dad Rock […] [Original post on mstdn.ca]

The #ytegbike experience today was only in the Old Strathcona area. Sconabahn along 83rd Ave the only thing cleared, and quite nicely at that. As of noon on Jan 2nd, nothing else cleared. 87th Ave and Streetcar MUIP quite difficulty. 106th Street not done at all. Intersections quite full of […]

#yegbike report from Delton - Constable Ezio Faraone Park and back: residential streets very, very difficult with heaps of slush. Sidewalks mostly slowly rideable but you have to walk the bike when crossing intersections. MUPs and bike lanes outside downtown core were not cleared. I vehicular […]

#yegbike commute, pm update: Again, some parts of cleared to snowpack paths were fantastic - The rail-to-trail through Calder/Rossyln, and Mill Creek. The as-yet-uncleared 96th Street from 118th Ave south still unrideable, now with freezing rain! Mostly the freezing rain is on textured surfaces […]

#yegbike commute; a return to chilly at -8°C with light southeastern winds. The cold means a return to icy, but mostly textured for reasonable traction. Road mush is now solid, and still makes conditions frustrating. At least traffic was light, and only a few other people about. #earworm ‘Doctor […]

#yegbike commute, pm micro-update: As before, 90% good riding, but that other 10% is brutal. 129th Ave around 97th Street is supposedly a bike route, but it's heavy mush. Likewise 96th Street from 118th Ave down to Jasper Ave. And 'The Armature' that section of 96th Street from 104th Ave down to […]

#yegbike commute; quick summary: same paths as yesterday not done yet, weather about the same. 90% of the riding is great, the other 10% makes up for that with horrible road mush. #earworm ‘Jealous Guy’, John Lennon

#yegbike commute, pm update. The 87th Ave MUP from End of Steel Park to Millcreek has been semi-cleared, and is quite rideable. MillCreek path is in beautiful shape. Tawatinå Bridge and up the cliff to Grierson Hill MUP good snowpack. 96th Street from Jasper to 111th Ave still unrideable sludge.

#yegbike commute: perfectly neutral temperature of 0°C with slight southwest wind. Main MUPS are done, but easier to say which ones aren’t - Saskatchewan Drive, top of Scona Hill, 96th Street through Boyle up to 118th Ave. Barely rideable. Minor roads are reasonably snow packed, although bumpy […]

Some #yegfood items that had holiday connections. Kidlet and her mom made fresh pasta for a Christmas project, and I used this shared gift for a quick delicious pasta sauce. It's based on a pastagrammaer recipe, but I replaced the chickpeas with pork loin […] [Original post on mstdn.ca]

#yegbike report: 96 St in Delton, 119 Ave in Alberta Avenue, 96 St in McCauley, LRT trail and downtown grid all clear. Somebody's been working hard there on Christmas Day! They seem to realize that clearing to the hard surface underneath wasn't working where the hard surface is ice. They leave […]

Walked around Strathcona to the shops this morning. For me not to #yegbike is highly unusual. No bike paths and not many sidewalks were done at all. Deep drifts got snow into my snow boots. Luckily I was using the electric socks and new electric gloves - and using those for a neighborhood walk […]

Interesting story. Background - I have been using electrically heated socks and gloves this winter for the #yegbike commute. The gloves have been from a Calgary Bike Shop, Power In Motion. Got them a long time ago (10 years?) from when the bike store first developed […] [Original post on mstdn.ca]

Last year people asked about the Welsh Rarebit. I have to stress that this is NOT an old family recipe. When my family came here 4 generations ago, keeping your Welsh culture was not a thing. My Grandpa was 6 when coming to Didsbury, and I don't remember him having […] [Original post on mstdn.ca]

So every year my daughter and her partner get a custom-made doggie sweater for their little doggo. This year they realized that the doggie sweater is made from all the leftovers of all the other projects from years past! (my wife is the knitter, I have nothing to do […] [Original post on mstdn.ca]

The Christmas Brunch production is coming along like clockwork. The wife on starches - scones for us, gluten-free muffins for my mom - and me on proteins consisting of a Welsh rarebit cheese sauce and K&K sausages and bacon is coming along like clockwork. Also fruit […] [Original post on mstdn.ca]

So reserving a CommunAuto is a waste of time - it requires the car be returned on time, which didn't happen. So wander around in the cold and snowfall and eventually pick a new car the regular way. This car had a chunk of the back bumper missing, with the wheelwell liner dragging on the tire. So […]

This is the time of year where in the morning, after a full restful sleep, and before I've drunk any beer, my wrapping skills would easily be surpassed by a special needs arts & crafts class.

There was a #yegbike commute this morning. It was cold at somewhere less than -20°, and my fingers found that cold. There was a slight southeast breeze. The MUPS had all been cleared down to good snowpack, or bare pavement. The minor roads had the previously good snowpack pressed to slippery […]

#yegbike commute: good and cold at -17°C with ight northward wind. Most MUPS were cleared to good snowpack, even 96th Street through Boyle Street up to 118th ave. Not much ice, probably could have taken the gravel bike, but not sorry with the fatbike. Some road mush still, and drifts. Traffic […]

The #yegbike report this evening: biking is marginally faster than walking in Delton; around Pleasantview it is not. This is probably because the higher density and narrower streets in Delton make the snow get packed faster. Also, the bluegrass jam that had […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

There was a #yegbike commute this morning, but I just got into work on time. It was medium cold at -20°C with light southeast wind. Pretty slow slogging overall - SconaBahn was still not done as of 5:30am! Oddly, the streetcar MUP through to 109th was. Took the LRT to Belvedere- the new 132nd […]

#yegbike commute micro pm update: As of 4:30 (16:30 Dec 17th) Sconabahn NOT cleared! And skittery and a slog on a fat bike - wiped out in front of the tram barns!

#yegbike commute, pm update. What a fool believes. I can’t talk about it! But I can type. Maybe the 20cm in the forecast? Around there, anyway. Riding a tire track on the minor roads is quite nice - connecting all the nice bits together is the issue. Drifts defeat even the Pugsley. Paths are […]

This. I ran errands today, partly on protected infrastructure -which wasn't exactly safe b/c snow clearing was bungled- and on sidewalks the rest of the way -b/c I did not want to get killed by a car driver. #bikesky #winterbike #yegbike #urbanism+

#yegbike commute: cold at -13°C with gusty northeast wind. Slight snow over mostly cleared paths. Not icy. Roads minor mush - good day for the fatbike. Still dog walkers about, and pedestrians. Street life around bonfires. Traffic medium, not too annoying. Rideable for now. #earworm ‘What A Fool […]

#yegbike commute: medium cold at -15°C, but at least only negligible wind. About an inch or 2 of snow overnight covering all surfaces. Main roads trodden down okay, medium roads fairly snow mushy. I took the wrong bike - I was prepared for ice, but that wasn’t the issue. The fatbike would have […]

#yegbike commute, pm update. This above zero stint is de-icing the MUPS quite nicely. Grierson Hill, Scona Hill, 100th Street north of Sask Drive quite nice for the pm commute. Hopefully the surfaces will dry up some before a new coat of potential freezing rain descends, hopefully to be covered […]

#yegbike commute: at least this report is easy - all surfaces icy! Not too cold at -9°C with light southerly wind. Studded tire day, and sloppy at that. Inexplicably, #earworm is ‘Ventura Highway’, America Not much time for a detailed report, ride was very slow and I’m late

The Shirley Collins deep dive is entirely due to Bridget Christie's series 'The Change'. It's a 2 season series from the UK's Channel 4. Available on one of the free streamers you get with an Edmonton Public Library account. The show is about a lady of a certain age who decides to give up her […]