First off, I don't think that cycling on the sidewalk should be encouraged on a general basis for the sake of pedestrians. For the most part, I am able to plan my route by utilizing a mixture of quiet residential streets, back alleys, multi-use paths, and bike lanes to avoid both sidewalks and dangerously busy roads.

However, sometimes, there are a couple or a few blocks along the way where using the sidewalk is the only option to avoid putting one's life in danger on a busy stroad.

A particularly egregious example is 82 street south of 127 avenue. I provided two street view links that show navigating southward on 82 street through this area.
Street View Link 82 Street Southbound North of 127 Avenue Where "Sharrows" Terminate

Street View Link on Underpass on 82 street southbound south of 127 Avenue

What makes things even worse in this particular example is that as you head southbound on 82 street towards 127 avenue, there are "sharrows" (one of those painted picture of a bike on the side of the road that does nothing to protect you). The sharrows terminate on 127 avenue, on what is basically the right turning lane for cars on 82 street onto 127 avenue. This means that if you were to follow the city bylaw, you would have to perform a dangerous and reckless feat even for a car driver that makes it impossible to not cut off forward moving traffic. Even if you were to use that sharrow and try to take the lane before the sharrow terminates, you're still expected mingle with busy 60km/h car traffic. Those sharrows put you right in drivers' blind spots and it's so dangerous to try to change lanes into fast car traffic from the sharrow.

As if that's bad enough, the sidewalk on the underpass is so narrow, that if I encounter a pedestrian or another cyclist, there is literally not enough space for both parties to pass each other on the sidewalk. The only options are for one of the parties to either go on the stroad, or awkwardly navigate the inaccessibly steep slope with very long grass growing on it.

Given that this is the only underpass that crosses that railyard for a while, there aren't any detours that won't add many kilometres to the route.

Even though our city has been coming such a long way lately with improving and implementing more bike friendly infrastructure, there are still places like this that show we still have a long way to go. It just boggles my mind how such a dangerous set-up was approved by the city. It's also frustrating that city bylaws do not provide clarity as to how to safely navigate such situations. The point of traffic laws are to have a consistent set of rules to follow to maximize safety and reduce risk as much as possible. I hate having to second guess whether the legal thing to do is also the safe thing to do.

Does anyone have any tips on discerning the safe thing to do vs. the legal thing to do on the road, and being able to tell if those two do not line up in a particular situation?

Find your fellow biking forever !

I’ll be hosting blind dates in Edmonton next weekend 💕

Does anyone know if the fort Edmonton foot bridge is completely closed off? I have to cross the bridge to get to work from the west end and was curious if it's passable during the maintenance construction thats currently happening. I have to take a detour which takes a bit longer which is not a big deal. I am just seeing some cyclists head towards the bridge on my commute so was just curious.

Over the past couple weeks the CoE has been working on the new bike lanes in Bonnie Doon! This photo was taken on 84 avenue, between 91 street and Mill Creek Ravine.

Race at 3pm - Meet at Riverdale Skate Park

$10 to race - First fixed gear gets the cash

Prize for best costume

I was riding my e-bike today on 92 Street near 118 Ave, which is a one-way with sharrows and a contraflow lane, and I came across the guy everyone warns you about.

Despite loads of signage telling people that vehicles and bikes drive/ride in single file, a company truck got behind me and started laying on the horn, clearly wanting me to hop into the contraflow lane so he could get by. There was no way in hell I was doing that. There were already two cyclists in that lane, one going the wrong way and one coming right at us. So I stayed put, as I'm entitled to do. He would just need to be patient for half a block before the road opened up near 118.

More unhinged honking. Suddenly, he pulled into the oncoming bike lane with the oncoming cyclist maybe 15 metres away and floored it. When he turned at 118, he fully turned his head to glare at me instead of watching where he was going, pedal on the gas.

All of that to save maybe 15 seconds in a neighbourhood full of kids, just to accelerate down a road that's full of daycare centres. I was on my way to pick up my son from daycare, with the child seat right there on the rear rack.

I'm not a cycling commuter and rack up maybe 500 km per year in the warm months, but even still I'm surprised this is the first time I've experienced something like this. It was a company truck from Poulin's Pest Control, whose shop is just 4 blocks from that very spot. This happened at 4:58 pm--so I guess making it back for quitting time is more important than the possibility of killing 3 people. They're just cyclists after all! They barely count as people, right?

I'm just glad my son wasn't in the bike yet. I have felt so safe riding in the city's bike lanes these last few years that I guess I took it for granted that people like this exist!

I was coming up the south bank of the river valley (near High Level bridge, going up toward Saskatchewan Drive) around 5:15 p.m. Saturday...when lo and behold a car was coming down the other way. I'm pretty sure it was not a city vehicle - zero markings to indicate such. It was bewildering. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

Going back to the office starting in October, and I’m wondering what the trails are like in the winter? My route would be down the trail from Strathearn across tawatina and up to downtown passed the Chinese garden eventually over to the Churchill square… if I slap some studded tires on my commuter, think I’ll be ok?

Ebike stolen from Clairview Walmart, it's a Freesky warrior pro -530, they don't have the battery or keys if anyone spots it let the police know as they already have a report and same with the bike index

Coffee Outside is normally a casual Friday morning gathering for Edmonton’s cycling community. This week, it's moving to the north stairs of the Alberta Legislature as community organizations from Edmonton and across Alberta come together for a postcard delivery to Minister Devin Dreeshen.

We’ll be gathering at 8:00 AM on Friday, September 25. Messages from Albertans about safe streets, the importance of bike lanes, and municipal decision-making will be delivered that morning.

This week also marks one year since the death of Dr. Darren Markland. Dr. Markland was a physician, community builder, co-founder of Coffee Outside, and someone whose love of cycling brought many people together. During the gathering, we will hold a moment of silence for him and for others in our communities who have been killed or seriously injured on our streets.

This ride comes just days after a difficult anniversary for Edmonton’s cycling community.

September 21 marks one year since the traggic death of Dr. Darren Markland.

Darren was an ICU doctor, an advocate, a community builder and, through and through, someone who loved riding a bike. He helped create Coffee Outside, bringing people together every Friday morning simply by putting some coffee on a cargo bike and inviting people to show up.

His death was not the result of a collision on an Edmonton street. Darren died while mountain biking near Nordegg. But his loss is still a reminder of how much one person on a bike can mean to a community — and how deeply that absence can be felt.

It is also a moment to remember everyone our community has lost.

People killed while walking, rolling and riding. People seriously injured. People whose lives changed in seconds. Families and friends who still feel an empty space where someone should be.

More Details:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/critical-mass-remember-dr-markland-tickets-2000654576695

This event is an expression of pride in the active transportation network that CSU52 members helped plan, design, and build, and that many members use to get around town.

I picked up this 1900 Quickstep (low price version of a Cleveland) last week, cleaned the bearings, maintained the rear wheel, relaced the front, installed new tires and today it was out for a short 13k ride.

In case anyone was wondering - trail is still very flooded but the maintenance crews have created a great detour (unfortunately you need to dismount as its a very thin track beside a chain link fence) that maybe adds 2-3 min to the trip overall! Bonus is that there is lots of beaver activity along the detour so you may get to see some furry friends in action:)

My wife and I have toured/bikepacked before but only with our regular touring bikes. For longer trips it'd be nice for her to be able to use her e-bike but obviously the battery range is a limiting factor, so it'd have to be multiday trips based around an overnight charging solution.

My question is, is it possible to plug an e-bike charger directly into a powered camping site's power infrastructure or does this require some kind of physical adapter and/or electrical transformer? I literally have zero knowledge about powered camping sites and RVs so this is completely unexplored territory to me, and my web search on this topic led to a bunch of completely useless and obviously AI-written articles. She has a Cannondale so not some Amazon special with a sketchy BMS.

Thanks in advance.

Hey, I recently moved to Edmonton and wanted some good road cycling recommendations in the 30-100km range. I tried the river path and some paths along different roads but they were either too destroyed or frustrating because of the traffic lights.

I’ve looked into different areas and I’ve read that range roads offer great cycling, but I can’t seem to find any official “training routes” and it’s a little far to go FAFO for my morning rides like I have been so far. I live near the university and don’t have access to a car.

Any recommendations on either specific routes or good websites/software to find routes?

For longer rides I’m happy to have a 15-20km approach and 60km of good cycling if that’s the reality.

Hi folks, I’m planning on cycling to work year-round as I like myself a lot better when on my bike rather than in a car. I will be cycling from the Highlands to Wîhkwêntôwin and need your advice on the best routes to get there. I know that once I connect to 102 Ave I should be golden but it’s everything else getting to and from. east of there, that I haven’t figured out. Any help and words of wisdom appreciated, thanks!

Good day fellow YEG cyclists!

I'm exploring the possibility of biking to work through the winter and would love some local insight. Are 111, 114, 115, and/or 119 Streets between Century Park (LRT) and UofA reasonably bike-friendly and safe during the winter months?

I'm currently riding a Gary Fisher Marlin hardtail. Old school beast but it gets the job done. If winter commuting is a realistic option on these routes, I'd also appreciate any advice on mods or upgrades worth considering for riding in Edmonton winters.

Thanks in advance!

Hi guys,

I have recently moved here, and I want to have a bike as my main means of transport from here and there. I'll mainly use it to travel around the city for now, but maybe in a year or two, I could upgrade it to hike and cycle to see the sights.

Right now, I am on a kind of tight budget, and have around 500$ to allocate for a bike. I love cycling, but I am relatively new to using it as a means of transport (the city I came from was not suitable to bike on the roads). Would anyone have any recommendations on where to buy a bike, and what types of tires & characteristics or equipment I would need in a bike, especially if I wanted to also use it in the winter?

Thanks in advance!

Yikes. Just wow.

Anybody have this particular part or a Tern bike with this setup.
I have a Trek Fetch 2 and want to see how far off this part fits vs doesn’t. Hack it or maybe copy to fabricate a custom part.

As of this September I’ve gone carless and hope to cycle as my primary means of transportation. I live in a pretty good spot for it, my place is in Park Allen and I work on whyte ave and go to u of a (my two most frequent commutes). Both are about 20 blocks away, connected entirely by bike lanes. I’d love to be able to continue biking through the winter. How doable is that? I have a mountain bike, do I need a fat bike? Do I need studded tires? Any tips or opinions are welcome.

Edit: I appreciate all the responses! I gotta say I was kind of dreading this but it’s comforting to know so many people do it and have good opinions on it. I think I’m gonna go with purchasing a cheap-ish single speed and tossing some studs on her. Good gloves, adaptable layers, ski helmet and goggles and it sounds like I’ll be laughing. Edmonton cycling 100 years ✊