Fort Edmonton

Today Teenage Son, Hubby and I went to Fort Edmonton with #2 Son, Daughter-in-Law and Little Granddaughter.

I left here at about 8:45 and rode Miranda to Edmonton. This was a first for me. Yes. Although we have lived here for more than 13 years, I have never before ridden my bike into the city. I did try once, many years ago. #2 Son and I set out with good intentions, but made it only to the overpass across the train tracks (about 5 km out of town) before I got a flat tire. We didn't have a spare tube or any tools with us, so we called Hubby to pick us up, and that was that. Since then I have thought many times about riding in, but until today I didn't actually make it happen.

It was a good ride: 24.5 km from our house to the parking spot in Callingwood. It was not exactly warm, but at 15 degrees and with a light northwest wind, it was very pleasant riding weather. I rode on 16A and Anthony Henday, then took 87 Avenue to the multi-use pathway that winds south to the pedestrian overpass across the Whitemud. When I arrived at the parking spot, I saw that my average speed was exactly 29 km/hour. This included stopping at numerous stop signs and red lights, so I thought that wasn't too bad. I didn't ride hard, but didn't slack either, so it was a comfortable speed. Next time (yes, I am already thinking ahead) I'll try to go faster.

This was the first time I have ridden any significant distance without any real hills. I thought it would be boring, but it wasn't, and the various landmarks -- the unofficial used car and RV lot; the highway 60 exit; the landfill -- went by quickly. Although this ride is not nearly as picturesque as my north country rides, it was surprisingly enjoyable, and I'm glad I broke the ice and finally did it.

I met up with Hubby and Teenage Son at the Callingwood parking lot, and from there we rode through Wolf Willow into the ravine. Now, that was an adventure. I knew we had to go down some stairs. So we did. At the bottom, I expected to turn right, but the trail didn't give us that option. Fortunately, just then a woman came by with her dog and I asked her for directions. Turns out we had gone down the wrong stairs. "You want the 200 stairs," she said. Great!

About face, carry bikes up stairs (maybe 50?) and head for the other set of stairs. Two hundred stairs is a lot of stairs! Especially when you have to carry a bike. But we made it down and crossed a small bridge and came to yet another obstacle: a washed-out section of trail. Dismount yet again; carry bikes through the crater left by the floodwaters. Once we were finally on the right trail, all went smoothly and we came to the Fort Edmonton footbridge. From there it's just a short ride to the Fort itself, where we met the others.

We had a great time walking around the park, looking at the historical buildings, eating together and enjoying Little Granddaughter's happy smiles.

After we got home, I decided to take a spin on my vintage ten-speed. I just rode to the end of the trail and back again -- maybe a twenty-minute ride -- but somehow along the way I managed to lose my cell phone. When I realized I had dropped it, I had to decide: do I retrace my ride, or just go home and wait for the phone call? I decided on the latter course, and it turned out I chose well: as I was putting my bike in the rack, I could hear the phone ringing inside the house. Sure enough, it was the guy who had found my phone. He lives just up the street, so we took Maggie for a walk and stopped at his house along the way. What would this world be like without neighbours like him?

Now it's time to finish laundry and do some house-cleaning.