Garden Bikes

You didn't know that gardens & bikes go together well, did you?

I woke up this morning intending to ride but not sure where. A quick perusal of Facebook and I located a promotion for Sustainable Food Edmonton's 2014 Bike Tour of Edmonton's Community Gardens (co-hosted by Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society). Sounded interesting, Sadie was up for a trip to Edmonton, and so I signed us up.

Arriving at The Idylwylde Cheery Tomato Community Garden Sadie & I met up with about 25 other cyclists and received our rainbow tape - indicating that we were riding with the group. 

Sadie promptly installed the tape on her frame so that she could wear it forever. Sadie is partial to colors, in case you haven't noticed. She has a red frame, blue stripes on her tires, pink streamers, red, white & blue spoke beads, and rainbow tape. She's also talking about re-painting herself this winter.

We received a brief overview of the Cheery Tomato garden, checked out the plants, had a quick "bike riding safety for groups" lesson and started on our way. And... Sadie got a flat before we even rolled 10 feet down the road. I grabbed Brian - aka: Mobile Bike Shop Man - and we assured the group we would catch up at the next garden. I carry a spare tube, tire levers, & a pump at all times so was set with the items needed to replace the flat tube. With Brian's help, and the support of the sweeper car, we were done in less than 10 minutes. 

Thank you Brian!

Rejoining the group at the garden behind W. P. Wagner School, we had the opportunity to speak with a couple of the gardeners there. One of them is using a self watering system comprised of 2 terracotta pots glued together (tops together) and the bottom hole sealed up. The pot is then sunk into the ground near the plants and filled with water using the open top hole which is above ground. Over 3 days, the water leaches out of the pots and into the soil, watering the plants. A great solution for hot days when you can't make it to the garden every day! 

Next stop: Mill Woods United Church's community garden.  This one is a fantastic community project. The raised garden boxes were built by the local high-school shop class and the garden is comprised of both private and public gardening spaces filled with herbs, veggies, & flowers. 

 

Next up, a beautiful family garden in Lee Ridge. While this is not a "community garden" per se, this community gardens! 

The bikes and the bikers really enjoyed this little city lawn garden. 

Up next, the Richfield Community Garden. This was by far the biggest garden of the day, located right in the middle of a field, near a walking/biking path. 

Regrouping after the garden info session, we were off and rolling towards the starting point. Overall a good day with only 3 flat tires, 1 drop out due to mechanical reasons, some very interesting bikes - fold ups, recumbents, mountain bikes, road bikes, hybrids, and every color imaginable - and just a bit of rain and cold to make the day complete. Our route took us over 23 km around Edmonton. I highly recommend seeing the city by bike whenever possible. 

To learn more about Sadie & The Ride, visit her post here.

History by Bike

It was a beautiful (hot, very hot) sunny day as Sadie & I loaded up to head to Edmonton for an Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society event: Bicycle Tour of Edmonton's History.

You can find the EBCS calendar here.

Arriving at Bikeworks North, Sadie hopped out of the truck and turned a few donuts in the parking lot while waiting for the group to arrive. Sadie tends to be chronically early to bike events and finds that the nice thing about being a bike is that she is always ready to roll down the road whereas I tend to need to gear up - helmet, sunblock, socks, bike shoes, you get the idea... I took a few minutes to check out the shop and gear up while Sadie puttered around. I love the colors that Bikeworks (North & South) have gone with.

The tour was lead by Karly & Chris who each did a fabulous job of providing interesting historical information on the buildings we were seeing. While I can't recall everything, here is a bit of what Sadie & I saw:

Church Street - Click the link to see the church list and learn more about them.

The above image may not look like much but in a 5 block strip, starting here, there are 22 churches (one or 2 may have moved/closed) on this street.The oldest church is 1903. I'll be back to take photos soon and update. Besides, why spoil the fun of you exploring this street yourself. :)

Stops also included several "block" buildings - warning, most stuff was built around 1903-1913 on this tour so I'll save you the info on years unless it is built later.  The above is the Hecla Block. Many of these blocks are now apartments, some with stores downstairs. The nice thing is that they appear in the middle of the city, when you least expect them. Have a ride around and see what you can find! Someone referred to them as invisible history - you don't realize they are there until you go looking.

The above is on the side of the Imperial Bank of Canada building, built in the 1950's. If you do visit this building, look around for the Canada Permanent Building about 1 block down and across the street. You can't miss it and the architecture is fabulous. 

Sadie's favorite building was the St. Josaphat Cathedral - a Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral:

The tour paused briefly for coffee on 101A Ave and a quick trip around the corner to visit a 1920's Horse Chestnut tree! This tree is in the center of a back alley - see if you can find it and enjoy a sit on the bench in front of it.

Returning to Bikeworks, Sadie hopped in the truck for the ride home, eager to have a rest after her second ride of the day. As for me, I am planning a return trip in August when I have the time to stop and photograph everything, including the historical markers on each of these sites, as well as locate additional sites. Stay tuned!

Into the (River) Valley of Death

The North Saskatchewan River looks like a sneaky slippery snake for a reason...

Early this morning I received an invite to ride the river valley. I've only ever been on the peripheral of the Edmonton River Valley - by car, on foot, but  never into The Valley and never on bike. "Sounds like a great idea", I thought, "sign me up!". I responded back, "Yup, I'm in!" - afterall, I've been doing hill training in the glory hills north of Spruce & Stony. I was sure I was ready.

HA!

The evening started with some warm up laps in a neighborhood northwest of The Valley as I awaited the arrival of my riding partner. When Keith arrived, we headed south. I was amazed by how few cars were on the streets of Edmonton at 7pm on a Tuesday evening. Of course, it was a business district and past rush hour so I suppose everyone had already left town.

When we reached the lip of The Valley, I looked down on the beautiful view but never registered just how far DOWN it went. Try it yourself - stand on the lip of The Valley, taking in the beautiful views and you'll find that you don't really think "Hmmmm, that looks like a long way down (and hence up)". And down we went. The wind blowing though my helmet, a huge grin on my face, rolling down, down, and down. It truly is a wonderful trail to ride.

Keith of RBF Cycles is a fantastic trail guide as he rides The Valley regularly and knows cycling. The route that he selected was an excellent challenge and I only felt like doing bodily harm to him once, amazingly enough! All kidding aside, you never realize just how NOT hill ready you are until you ride some real hills.

We crossed the river and rode east along the southern bank for some time (mostly uphill) before heading into the ATC for a break. Sadie took in the scenery while I thought about what I had just done (the steepest hill I'd seen in some time) and chatted with Keith about why his bike appears to fly uphill while Sadie feels like she is a sinking rock (besides my lack of practice) - Keith's bike weighs just about... oh, nothing! Must remember to take photos of Keith's bike the next time we ride.

  The trip out of The Valley and back into the city was easier and I got in some faster speeds than I have been riding and we zipped into one of my favorite stores - Italian Centre Shoppe for a drink before heading home. A huge thanks to Keith who taught me a thing or 3 (heels down, scrape dog poo, if you want to ride fast - you have to ride fast) and makes a great friend, guide, & coach. Sadie & I are delighted to have Keith & RBF Cycles as coach & sponsor for our ride. :) We couldn't ask for better.

And, I'll be back in The Valley soon. You can't keep me down, Hills!!!!

Bike Fest

Today Sadie & I took part in the Bikeology Bike Fest at Churchill Square in Edmonton.

Sadie was there to tell everyone about the bike ride that she is training for. She was so excited to go that she dressed up her front spokes in red, white, & blue Spokie Dokes (June 14th is Flag day back home), her handlebars in pink streamers, and even made herself a couple of signs to wear. My assignment was to pass out cards and tell everyone about The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer that Sadie & I are riding in August 9 & 10th.

Sadie picked out the prizes and I made up the free prize draw slips for our visitors to fill out. It was a beautiful day in the square. The fun began at 12pm with live music - powered by bikes! That's right! A whole tent full of bikes, being pedaled, to power the music. It was fabulous!
There was also a "pedal-a-smoothie" set up where you could hop on a bike and pedal to power the smoothie blender. Your reward? A tasty orange strawberry bike powered smoothie. It was a very popular item and from what I hear, available for events!

There was also a race to determine who could load their bike the quickest onto an Edmonton Transit Bus rack. Rumor has it that all transit buses will have bike racks on the front in 2015 as Edmonton is working towards becoming a bike friendly town.

Right next to me & Sadie, Bicycle Repair Man & Co. set up shop to offer free tunes ups! You may remember Bicycle Repair Man from Bike School. What fun it is to watch the bikes getting spruced up for riding. Many happy faces!

Quick shout out to Diane of Diane & Dan - who rode in the Enbridge Ride last year. And to Sarah - who also rode in The Ride last year and who hopped on her bike and rode on down to visit me. Great seeing you gals. Devon Cruisers Club - always fantastic to see you out and about! Looking forward to riding with you again soon.

And now for the part you have all been waiting for: The Prizes! Winners will receive an email with info on picking up their prize:

Bicycle Bits framed photo: Serge Dupuis

Flowers framed photo collage: Donna Power

Free Country - book signed by author George Mahood: Barry Bartlett

Bike Sleeves: Alex Youn

Bike Sleeves: Leah Higham

Bike Sleeves: Cadence Cardinal

Congratulations to all and I hope to see a few of you at Spruce Grove Canada Day in Jubilee Park where Sadie & I will be set up on July 1.

See you on the roads soon & if you haven't already, please make a donation to sponsor me in the 2014 Alberta Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer!

Food & Wine

The Rocky Mountain Food & Wine Festival: An Adventure in OM NOM NOM!

I was perusing the interwebs one day this week when I stumbled upon a notice for The Rocky Mountain Food & Wine Festival in Edmonton. "Hmmmm", I thought to myself, "this sounds like it could be interesting!". A quick Google search brought up the website (above) and after a bit of reading, I was in! Now, who could I get to go with me? Culinary adventures such as these should not be experienced alone, after all.

I sent off a couple of texts to invite a few people along and got a response back from Sarah. I'd met Sarah on the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer back in August. A fellow rider with a great attitude! I was looking forward to seeing her again. A few detail texts back and forth and we were set to meet at her place in Edmonton. A neighbor of her's would join us as well as provide transportation from Sarah's house to Canada Place, where the event was being held. Whoo Hoo! It was going to be a fun night.

Arriving at Sarah's just before 7, we hopped in the car with Ron and drove over to Canada Place debating parking options. The Library Lot or under the Pink Building. I am still not quite sure what the Pink Building is and I should have paid better attention to where we parked. I can tell you it was connected to Canada Place and you didn't have to walk outside to get into the building. Canada Place is something else. A large complex of offices, open spaces filled with plants & fountains, shops, restaurants, and conference halls. The festival was being held in Exhibit Halls A, B, & C.

We purchased our food/wine tickets and proceeded into the hall. On the way in you receive a hand stamp and a clean wine glass. We were ready to roll! Opening the floor map brochure, we were overwhelmed with the number of vendors and offerings. Wine, Beer, Spirits, Liquors, as far as the eye could see. Where to start? As Mark put it, "with the wine, of course. What are you thinking?" And with the wine, we did start!

First up, a Moldova wine booth. The name escapes me but I'll have it later when I look it up (It was a Bastardo wine by Bostavan - I found the name!). :) Not a bad red table wine! Next, on to Tussock Jumper Wines. Cute animals in cute red jumpers. We sampled the Tempranillo & Carmenere and then set off to find some food to taste with the wine.

Wandering along the back wall of the show floor, we noticed that the vendors were about 90% alcohol, 10% food. On offer for food were, Chips & Artichoke Dip, Moroccan Spiced Lamb Burger shooters. Chili, Crepes, Cheeses, Soups, Grilled Sandwiches, Rice Dishes, Vegetarian Fare, Deserts, and of course, Chocolate (to name a few options). We spied the Moroccan Lamb Burgers early on and after a quick peek around, decided that would go best with the red wines we had in hand.

Delicious! Prepared by the Ramada Edmonton Hotel & Conference Center, these slider sized burgers were garnished with caramelized onions, tomato, and what tasted like a cilantro lime pesto. They are served on a Portuguese Sweet Roll bun. OM NOM NOM! There was a lot of OM NOM NOMing going on this night, let me tell you!  :D

Next up, Noorish Conscious Eatery for Sarah. She sampled the Laughing Buddha Belly Bowl. While it looked good, I was saving room for the Salmon and Brie Crepe from Sunterra Market. Not only was it a super tasty treat, the crepe making was a show in itself.

Topped with grainy mustard, red onions, dill, and capers. It was fantastic! There was a slight sweetness in the crepe that the spicy mustard accented wonderfully and the salmon & brie inside was both melty and tasty! 

Next up, dessert and dessert wine! We'd passed a booth offering Therapy wine and hoped that perhaps there was a sweet, dessert type wine available. No such luck so I moved down the row a bit to Giusti to sample the Prosecco extra dry. With wine in hand, I now needed a dessert to go with the wine. I recalled a Creme Brulee back at the Ramada booth but was curious as to what else might be on offer. I'm glad I looked! Tucked away at the far edge of the hall was papa chocolat!

I've not yet had the joy of tasting what has been described to me as the best chocolate EVER, made here in Canada at Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut. But now Bernard has opened a new company, papa chocolat, and I enjoyed it VERY much! Earl Grey & Salted Caramel chocolates that simply melt in your mouth (along with many other flavors)! :D

After lingering over the lovely chocolates, Sarah & I still had tickets to burn on food & drink and so off we went once again to see what would tempt us.

I've only had the opportunity to try Earl's twice since coming to Canada. When the restaurant was first recommended to me, I thought that it was unique to Vancouver, BC. I've since learned that it is a chain but they do it well. And someone in the kitchen at Earl's Tin Palace in Edmonton is pretty creative (not to mention, a ham!)! The cinnamon buns were good but weren't quite what we were looking for and so, onward in search of dessert!

We hadn't yet perused the right hand end wall of the show and so headed that way. Many of the venders on this end were spirits and liqueurs. I was delighted to find St. Germain (watch for a recipe coming soon) and figured it would go pretty well with anything sweet. Meanwhile Sarah was trying out a 12 year old whiskey (I think). This truly is a global event when it comes to drinks and I'm planning to attend next year to try some new things.

Wandering back to where we started the evening, in the back right hand corner of the room, we found Sunshine Mountain Lodge offering exactly what we were looking for: Desserts! Cheesecake, Carrot Cake, and Key Lime Pie. A great finish to the evening and even enough tickets left over for creme brulee too! Hey, everyone needs 2 desserts to eat with their dessert drink! :) I had the Key Lime Pie, Sarah had the Carrot Cake.

It was a fantastic evening that I am looking forward to repeating next year!