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.

Thank you, Nonna!

Hi! It's Sadie again. I want to send a thank you to my Nonna. She donated to me! She even wrote "Go Sadie!" to me!!

My Nonna lives all the way across the country (and in another country) in New Hampshire and she is the one who got Tammie her very first bike and always took her bike riding around town. This is my Nonna. She always smiles when she sees me. I love my Nonna and I am so excited that she donated to support me!

Thank you, Nonna! :D
Love,
Sadie

It's Me, Sadie!!!

Hi! Hi! Hi! It's me, Sadie! SHHHHHHHHHH, don't tell Tammie but I took over her Facebook and now I'm taking over her blog because I wanna do fund raising too! It seems like a lot of fun and she's the one pedalling down the road for miles and miles and miles (you get the picture) so I want to help her out. Oh, this is me!

 Aren't I cute? Tammie got me really pretty pink & sparkly streamers to ride with so people would recognize me and I have Spokie Dokes that play music if I go slow. But I like to go really FAST so you don't hear them unless we are walking across a crosswalk or rolling to a stop. My Spokie Dokes are red, white, & blue because I came from the United States with Tammie almost 2 years ago. I like it here in Alberta because we never did a BIG bike ride like The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer in America but this is our second time riding in this BIG, GIANT ride here in Canada.

This is the link that you should click on to make a donation.
 http://www.conquercancer.ca/goto/nhkayakgirl2014
Tammie says that we have to raise $2,500 just to ride in August and that we are almost there but I know she is hoping to raise a lot more than that and we only have a few more weeks to go. When you donate at the link, make sure you put "Go Sadie!!!" in the message field so I'll know you are donating because of me.

We've done a lot of things so far this year to let people know about The BIG GIANT Ride. Tammie let me wear my streamers and she even made me a couple of signs and we went to Bikeology Bike Fest in Edmonton. It was a little scary for me because I've never really been in a very big city before but Tammie said we were going to a park and I like parks. Here I am with my streamers, signs, & Spokie Dokes at Bike Fest.

I got to meet a lot of people on that day and it was really fun! I gave away bubbles and prizes and I told everyone that I was riding in The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer. A lot of people could hardly believe that I am riding 220 km in 2-days. They were all very nice and wished me good luck. I can't wait to tell them all about the ride after I have finished it in August!!

So maybe I should tell you a little bit about me! I'm a 23 year old Specialized Crossroads. That means that I am a hybrid bike - part street bike, part off-road bike. I'm half 4x4 at least. I keep telling Tammie that but she doesn't let me off the paved roads very much and every time I do go in the mud, she makes me take a shower and wash it all off! I went in the mud on Easter Sunday and my tires came out looking like this!

It was fun and my brakes got all gummed up and I just LOVED it! Maybe if you make a donation Tammie will let me go for a 4x4 trip around Spruce Grove! Won't you donate and put "Let Sadie go 4x4'ing" in the message? I bet if enough people do, she will let me!

Oh! One really really fun thing we did was to ride on a tour of Spruce Grove with the Mayor. I got to meet the Mayor! I actually got to ride with him twice because Tammie took me to the planning ride too. I even met the Mayor's bike! It was cool. You'd think a Mayor's bike would be stuck up and stuff but he really wasn't and the Mayor was really really nice too. He showed us his favorite parts of Spruce Grove and some new trails and brought cold drinks for everyone on the ride. This is the Mayor's bike:

I got to meet the riders from the Devon Cruisers & Shift Happens too! They came all the way out from Devon just to ride with us and see Spruce Grove. Tammie's favorite trail might be the one that goes through the forest and under Grove Drive but mine is the one that goes through The Secret Park.

Sometimes we go to other towns to ride. We've been to Stony Plain and Devon and Edmonton. Tammie let's me ride in the truck when we go far away. Sometimes I have to ride with the The Big Black Dog, Ghiry, in the truck like if we are just going to the bike shop. Most of the time I get to ride by myself though.

Ghiry doesn't go riding with us when we roll around town training because one time Tammie took him with us and he pulled both of us right over! He's so big and strong. I'm glad he likes me because I think he could bite my front wheel off in one chomp!

Another thing I got to go to was Canada Day in Jubilee Park. I got new handlebar grips because mine were ripping apart and I haven't had new ones ever. They are pretty cool and my streamers stick in them really well. We must have met like 200 people at least. I got to tell everyone all about my training in Spruce Grove and Tammie got to pass out a lot of information about The Enbridge Ride. We did a prize draw and gave away some really neat bike stuff. I liked the green water bottle but Tammie says I don't need one because she wears a Camelbak. Green is a nice color though. Maybe if I get a new paint job I'll be green. Or maybe yellow. I like yellow too.

I went to bike school last month or maybe it was in May. I lose track of the months sometimes because I don't do much other than ride around and think about riding around. I don't watch TV or listen to the radio because I can't turn it on by myself. Tammie says that bikes don't need radios anyway, we have great imaginations. I don't know what she means. Bike school was fun though. Tammie learned how to fix my gears and then she even got me a sister and took her to bike school too. My sister's name is Veronica. Tammie calls her a Back Alley Special and we hang out and visit during the day, talking about all the places we want to ride together.

I want to show Veronica all of the places in Edmonton. I saw some really cool buildings there last weekend and met some new friends. I think Veronica would like this church because it is really pretty.

Tammie says that she can't ride both of us at the same time though so I'll have to stay home when Veronica goes to Edmonton but I don't mind. I want her to go with us on The Ride too but Tammie can only ride one bike at a time so Veronica has to stay home. I'm kind of sad about that but maybe Veronica isn't ready yet because she hasn't been training at all yet. She only just got her new tires and wheels from Keith.

Oh! You have GOT to meet Keith! He is really nice. He is my riding coach. Well, okay, he is Tammie's riding coach but he is my Bike Mechanic. He is sponsoring me in The Enbridge Ride and said he will fix me if I get broken. He is a good bike fixer so that is very nice of him. I went riding with him and Tammie last week and we went on very very big hills. Keith is teaching Tammie how to ride on hills better and how to ride faster. He says she has to wipe dog poo off the bottom of her shoes. I'm not sure she ever gets dog poo on her shoes but he must know what he is talking about because he is really really fast. This is Keith:

Phew, that was a lot of typing for a bike to do. Now that you know some more about me, won't you sponsor me with a donation for The Enbridge Ride? I would really appreciate it and Tammie can't ride if you don't. Please? I'm making great big bike eyes! :) Who can resist a bike like me? :D

Donate here: http://www.conquercancer.ca/goto/nhkayakgirl2014

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!!!!

Canada Day Celebration

July 1, 2014 - Canada Day

The alarm was set for 5am but never rang. Fortunately the phone did and I realized that I had set the "weekend" alarm but Canada Day was on a Tuesday this year. It was 6:55 and I was due at Jubilee Park for set up at 7am. With a quick text message to Kerri, Sadie & I were out the door. Arriving at 7:30, we were directed to the Exhibitors Tent on the west side of Jubilee Park. I'd seen it during my ride-by the evening before.

I unloaded the table, trainer stand, and prizes into my space in the tent and headed back up the hill to park. Sadie had offered me a ride back to the tent if I let her ride up the hill in the truck. It was a deal!

Arriving back at the tent, I set Sadie up on the trainer stand and arranged my display of prizes and posters. Ready for visitors by 8 but not officially open until 11, I left the Exhibitors Tent in search of breakfast. There is an excellent pancake breakfast - a steal at only $3 and with Bradley Tucker serenading us with Diesel, Diesel, Diesel, who could ask for more?

 

After breakfast I headed back to the tent to find Sadie - dressed up in her new handlebar grips and streamers - ready for her signs. As I affixed her signs, Sadie talked about how excited she was to meet new people and tell them all about The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer and how she is going to ride 220 km over 2 days in August to raise funds for The Alberta Cancer Foundation. She can hardly wait!

It was a busy day, meeting new people, greeting friends, signing people up for the prize draw (read on for the winners), and handing out bubbles to the kids. I especially liked hearing the children talk about their bikes and biking adventures. I enjoyed hearing the stories from everyone who had ridden The Ride before, those would would like to ride, and those who are interested in biking in general. Although we weren't open until 11, folks were strolling through as early as 9 and we were busy all day. 11 hours, 200+ informational cards, & 75 bottles of bubbles later, it was time to pack up. Driving home, I couldn't help but think about what a fantastic city Spruce Grove is and how many wonderful people there are here in town. I hope to see you all out on the trails soon! Watch for me & Sadie as we continue to train on the trails and streets of Spruce Grove!

Prize Winners:

Irises framed photograph - Tina Boissonnault

Bike Gears framed photograph - Michael Anthony

Bike Water  Bottle - Caitlyn Darcy

Bike Bell - Valerie Rose

Bike Sleeves - Monica Choong

Bike Sleeves - Liz Manuel

70 km Training Ride

It was a beautiful morning when Sadie & I left the house at 6am. The plan was an 80 km ride - the longest training ride to date. I mixed up a bag of hydration/nutrition, geared up, fired up the Map My Ride app, checked Sadie's tires, and away we went, west to the forest trails under a blue sky sunrise.

Hill climbing rides include the roads north of Spruce Grove via either Century Rd. or Campsite. This morning's ride plan was to ride out to Campsite, north to the Villeneuve Highway, West to 779 and then see where we go from there. I enjoy the Campsite road north as it is 8 km from the point I cross the Yellowhead until I reach the Villeneuve - all up hill. Call me crazy but I like to challenge myself to stay on the bike for long hills. So far the 3 rides up this hill have been a success in that regard.

The day began to warm up a bit as I traveled west along the Villenueve. Stopping for a distance break at the corner of Villenueve & 779 though, the clouds started rolling in. Looking back east, sunny blue skies. Looking west, deep grey clouds. Hmmmm, what to do? 25 Km into the ride, watched by the Cows on the Hill, I decided to head south on 779 and pick up one of the west heading roads towards Chickakoo Recreation Area. I remembered that one or 2 of the Bullseye Bike Shop Sunday rides last year took us around this area so why not!

Turning west on Township Road 540, I let Sadie take the lead as we headed towards the purple grey sky. The road travels several rolling hills, a good challenge but nothing too difficult and seeing a sign for Chickakoo, Sadie decided we'd head south again and see where we come out. I'm guessing she was dreaming of 4x4'ing again as the road turned to dirt for about 2km and our pace slowed to a crawl as Sadie hummed along and I concentrated on not skidding out or tipping over. I'm going to have to have a talk with that bike of mine!

Reaching Range Road 13, I realized we were at the entrance to Chickakoo and a left would take us back out to 779. My vote won out and we left the dirt road for pavement again just as Mother Nature decided that Sadie & I must be thirsty flowers and began watering us. We were heading southeast and I could see that the skies to the east were still bright. Reaching 779, I checked my ride distance - 30ish km - that wasn't right. Hmmmm, could I have lost some tracking in the roads west of 779?  I considered riding down to the Yellowhead and heading east on the access road from here or heading straight south into Stony Plain to make a big loop out and around Stony & Spruce but the weather had other plans for me.

As I rode across the Yellowhead overpass, it started to rain again - harder this time. The wind picked up, the sky turned fairly black, and as I reached Wood Ave to Boulder Blvd, the clouds unzipped and drenched me. How much rain was falling, you ask? As I rode along Boulder Blvd, there was a 3 ft wide "river" of water running along the gutter from the curb into the road. THAT much water. And I was soaked from head to toe. There was so much water that not only was it flying up my back off the back tire but also flying off the front tire, hitting the underside of Sadie's frame, and soaking my feet. And, there was a nice little water wing going off the front of the tire as well. It was WET!

I made it safely to the office at the other end of Boulder and stopped for a quick break before heading back out in the rain (although it was now raining much less) to cross 16a, turn south again and take 44th ave over to Boundary Road. Something I would not recommend is riding south on Boundary Road. Yup, dirt again... Sadie really had it in for me today though I think Mother Nature was apologizing here:

I made it out to 79th and headed east towards Spruce Grove, turning north on Golden Spike to cross 16A once again into Spruce Grove. I checked the ride mapper - 40 something km - something still wasn't quite right, I had to have ridden further than that.  I decided to take the forest trail west from Calahoo to the north branch off (MFT) that heads under Grove Drive and out to Grove on the other end. I figured I still had a way to go though I'd been riding for over 3 hours already. Heading east once more, I rode down to Jubilee Park to check out the preparations for Canada Day. Sadie and I will have a table set up to hand out info -  make sure to stop by and visit us!

Looping through Jubilee and back out to Grove, we headed home to clean up, dry off, and figure out how far we had gone (tracking done in the Durango after breakfast).

Ride time: 4.5 hours
Ride Distance: 70.36 km

The map that I created after driving the ride in the Durango:

Riding for 60

It was a fabulous day for a training ride - the sun was out, the birds were singing, the wind was somewhat behaving...

I left the house at 9am, intent on making 60 km today. The longest ride so far had been 50 with quite a few 30-40 km rides in between And, I was doing hills today as most of my rides had been on only mild hills within the confines of Spruce Grove - the city - rather than north into the real hills. With only 48 days until THE RIDE, hills are becoming more important.

I headed west towards the forest of Spruce Grove, zooming through the trees and enjoying the cool of the woods. Perpetually damp, the forest always smells of pine and rotting wood - I love it! I popped out on McLeod Ave and turned north, aiming for the hills of Campsite Rd. As I crossed 16 (The Yellowhead), I had already made 8 km and now the hills began. I was planning a stop at a friend's house for a quick hello along the way. The thing I love about MapMyRide.com is the km counter on the map and the verbal announcement of time & distance traveled. When I look back, I can see that from the distance from 16 to Lorraine's road is 8 km - 8 KM OF HILL! That's right, up, up, up, all the way for 8km. riding it didn't feel that far when I think about it and I had to do the translation to miles to understand it - 5 MILES. I rode 5 miles uphill all the way. Back in the old days it was uphill both ways but these days, if you go uphill, you get to come back down hill if you turn around.

A brief stop-in at Lorraine's house to say "Hi, I've ridden 15 km and I've got 45 more to go", a hug (and a caring "Ho-lee"), and I was out the door, on my way again. I continued west until I found Range Road 275. The plan had been to head south and then west again to 779 and Chickakoo so I'm not sure what possessed me to turn north until I reached the Villeneuve Highway. At the stop, I contemplated what was ahead of me - a hill, a dirt road hill. But, it was the top of the world. I could see that it was the top. I wanted to go to the top!! And so I kicked Sadie into 4x4 and off we went, up the hill.

There is something about being on top of the world with nowhere to go but down on either side. And I suppose I suffer a bit from curiosity - I needed to know what was up there & to say, "I made it to the top". I'm glad that I did as I found that at the top there were fantastic views and an eroded bank with a large birds nest built into the side. Something different that I'd not seen yet on any of my rides around Spruce & Stony.

Now, as enjoyable as an downhill dirt 4x4 ride can be, I opted to turn around and head back to paved ground. Arriving at the Villeneuve Highway once again, I turned east. I've never ridden to Villeneuve before and I knew that The Melan Heads (another Enbridge team) was riding that way today so I was hoping to either catch up with them or see them coming the other way. Off I went past fields, and fields, and cows, and fields. The road is rolling hills all the way down into Villeneuve and although I passed a bike group heading the other way, it was not The Melan Heads. It may have been Target the Tour - a group that trians for Le Tour D'Alberta (something I'm considering for next year).

And along came the second interesting site of the day: An airplane in the middle of a field...

First thought? "Uh, what happened here? Did it have a forced landing or something? Is everything okay? Oh, gosh, I hope nothing bad happened.". Being from a more populous area of the world before moving to Alberta, I've never seen an airplane parked in the middle of a field ON PURPOSE! I soon discovered this was the Villeneuve Airport and I can only guess that the plane lives in the field. Weird.

Arriving at Villeneuve proper, I noticed that there was construction ahead and decided that a turn around before the traffic circle was in order. I made note of the sign that said St. Albert is only another 8 km east of Villenueve and have already planned to ride there next weekend. That should get me up to 80 km with the additional 16km round trip and I'm sure I can find 4km more in Spruce Grove to ride before heading out that way.

Riding uphill west towards Spruce Grove & Campsite Road, I again passed the mystery group of cyclists and then another 15 minutes later, The Melan Heads rolled my way! I waved. hooted, and hollered, receiving a couple hollers back as we passed in opposite directions. Such fun to have amazing bikey energy on a ride!

Rolling south down Campsite road, I enjoyed a much needed break by coasting a good deal of the way as I knew I'd have another 10-15 km to go once I returned to Spruce Grove proper. As the day was getting quite warm, I opted for a ride back the way I had come, through the coolness of the forest but turning north on MFT to swoop under the bridge and check out the new wooden bridge that will one day connect Jesperdale to the forest trails. I dismounted and walked across as this section is still incomplete - perhaps by fall...

As I rode down Longview Drive and again turned south, I hit the park on the north side of Grove Drive just west of King Street and the unthinkable happened... CRAMPS! My inner thighs have a bad habit of holding cramp fests during particularly difficult or long rides. It took 10 minutes of riding gingerly, extending the right leg whenever possible and dropping down to a very low gear to get the cramping to stop enough to continue my ride. I had 5 km to go, afterall!!! And I was determined to complete it! I took a quick spin through The Secret Park, looped over to Century Drive and up Ghiry's favorite Wiggly Trail before I had enough km's on the tracker. It was an amazing ride!

Stay tuned for 80 km this coming weekend.

Up To Date

The ride: Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer

Distance: 220 km over 2 days - August 9 & 10, 2014

Location: Calgary, AB to Okotoks, AB and back again!  

Overnight Accommodations:  A tent village in a field in Okotokes.

The Goal: $25,000

Raised to date: $2,342 - Thank you to all of my current donors!

Days left for fundrasing: 49

The Bike: Sadie the 1991 Specialized Crossroads Hybrid

The Request: Please donate today to sponsor me on this ride.

 

The next event where you can meet me and learn more about my ride: 

 

Canada Day Celebrations - July 1 - Spruce Grove - Jubilee Park - 8am - 11pm

A few events and rides I have participated in on my journey to The Ride:

I organized La Tour De Spruce - May 25, 2014

 

I rode with Critical Lass in Edmonton on Mother's Day 2014

I exhibited at Bikeology Bike Fest - June 14, 2014

Sadie & I went to bike school - May 30, 2014

I had my first 50 km training ride of the year

 

I visited Stony Plain for a training ride  -  Email me if you would like me to visit your town

I will do (almost) anything for a donation - try it and see!

Stay tuned for more to come!

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!

Fundraising Update

The ride: Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer

Distance: 220 km over 2 days

Location: Calgary, AB to Okotoks, AB and back again! 

The Goal: $25,000

Raised to date: $1,915 - Thank you to all of my current donors!

Days left for fundrasing: 59

Why I rode last year: Why I Ride Blog Post

Why I ride this year: 

I ride for those who have been touched by cancer. 

For those who survived, for those who did not, for those who are still fighting, 

and for those who love them. 

I ride for me as well. 

I ride to be a part of something bigger than myself. 

I ride to make a difference.

Events I am participating in: 

Bikeology Festival Day - June 14th - Edmonton - Churchill Square - 12 - 4pm

Canada Day Celebrations - July 1 - Spruce Grove - Jubilee Park - 8am - 11pm

I'll be attending both events as an exhibitor - providing information on The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer. I'll also have a couple of free prize draws (no purchase necessary) at both events. Come out to learn more about the ride, enter the draw, and say hello!

No one has taken advantage of my offer to do (almost) anything for a donation yet. Will you be the first?

UPDATE: an additional donation has come in bringing the total to date to $2015 - THANK YOU!

UPDATE UPDATE: another donation! Total is now $2065 - THANKS!!!

Bike School

Apparently Sadie amuses herself online while I am at work. How do I know? 2 days ago she phoned to let me know that she had found a course that she wanted to sign up for:  Bike Repair 201: Shifting, Gearing, Chains & Derailleurs - held at Bikeworks South in Edmonton.

"Oooookay... why?", I asked her.

Sadie informed me that she had gone for the past 23 years not understanding the workings of her own gears, shifters, chain, AND derailleurs and that she felt it was high time she learned.

"Great!", I said and signed us up. Fortunately there was a special 2 for 1 special - the human is $20, the bike is free.

Arriving at Bikeworks South (my second visit here), we were greeted by Keith - our instructor - and 5 other students. If you ever want to take a bike repair course, these are the ones to take. They are affordable, in depth, and the instructor is fantastic.

Sadie quickly hopped onto a bike stand while the humans made introductions.

This was a 3 hour course complete with front & rear derailleur history & functional repair information. Keith (alter ego: Bicycle Repair Man) of Raving Bike Fiend is insanely knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful (except when he is busy breaking your bike!).

After the history lesson on derailleurs was done, we moved on to "How to Tune Your Derailleurs" with a splash of "Cable House Replacement" thrown in when it was determined that the derailleur cable, on the mountain bike we were learning on, was worn and preventing proper shifting.

 

Next up: Bicycle Repair Man breaks our bikes! I think that is known as "repairs in reverse"  The point being to take a functioning derailleur and cause it not to function properly so that it could be fixed - how fun! Keith went from bike to bike, loosening cables, adjusting derailleurs, etc so that we could tune our own bikes. Sadie giggled as her rear derailleur wire was disconnected (it tickled) but sat fairly still as I attempted to reconnect it, adjust the tension, and get her gears changing smoothly. I got a bit perplexed when I had Sadie all back together again but her gears weren't changing smoothly. I'd click the gear shifts while turning the pedals but nothing was happening. Sadie sat on the bike rack, humming to herself, fully aware that I had forgotten to let out the tension before re-connecting the wire. A quick reminder from BRM and I was on my way to disconnecting, letting out the tension, reconnecting, and re-turning Sadie's rear derailleur. Perfect, she was switching gears like a dream. Now on to the front. 

Sadie's front derailleur tends to ride a bit high above the gears, allowing for her chain to hop off to the outside of the gears - a trick she performed beautifully on the last 5 km of The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer last summer. I was not amused. Now, the trick with the front derailleur is to get it lined up parallel with the gears and adjust it so that at each shift, the chain barely kisses the derailleur. Sadie's chain was snuggled up close to the front derailleur and dancing on it as I pedaled. No wonder she makes such a racket! A few turns of the screws and her derailleur was neatly in place, no dancing allowed. Once everything was in place and Sadie was shifting cleanly, I can honestly say I felt quite proud. It isn't nearly as hard as I had imagined, tuning up your own bike! Now if I can find a decent bike stand for my garage...

See the rest of the class pictures here.