Edmonton (Bicycle Tour)

BOU AVENUE
Edmonton (Bicycle Tour)

Hoping to escape inclement weather throughout much of southern Alberta on 25 May 2024, Zosia Zgolak and I traveled to Edmonton to go for a long bike tour through the city. Starting from a dead end driveway (53.45404, -113.61605) in the community of Windermere, we descended to the banks of the North Saskatchewan River and muddled through some singletrack before connecting with a paved pathway just under Anthony Henday Drive. From there, we essentially followed the river toward downtown going through Terwillegar Park, past Fort Edmonton, and over Groat Bridge. At the High Level Bridge, we crossed back to the south side of the river to Kinsmen Park where had lunch on a picnic table at John Walter Museum.

When Zosia and I resumed cycling, we headed north across Walterdale Bridge and grinded uphill to the downtown core where we passed by Rogers Place, the home arena of the Edmonton Oilers hockey club. We then rode through perhaps the sketchiest neighbourhood in Edmonton along 106 Avenue NW near Chinatown. It was sad to see the great number of homeless people and drug addicts here, but we were never subjected to any aggressive behaviour and rode through unmolested. Past Commonwealth Stadium, I made a minor navigation error in the community of Cromdale, but we only had to backtrack a little to get back on route. We eventually crossed the river for the last time near the Sunridge Ski Area at the east end of the city.

Loathe to return the same way, Zosia and I opted to follow various streets through southern Edmonton to get back to our starting point, and I relied heavily on my phone's GPS application to find the most suitable routes for cycling. By coincidence, we happened to pass close to the home of Edwina Podemski and Chris Wood, and we stopped for a short but enjoyable impromptu visit before continuing on our way. As we approached Windermere, we took a more roundabout route in order to avoid both the aforementioned singletrack and having to climb back up to our car. This added significant distance but ultimately resulted in a more relaxing and mostly downhill ride to end the tour.

Very nice bridge!

Sonny rides across North Saskatchewan River near Terwillegar Park.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak

	Sonny makes an uphill hairpin turn near the south end of William Hawrelak Park. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	By chance, Zosia runs into Daniel Dufresne and his friends at Kinsmen Park.
	Zosia and Sonny show off their true colours in front of a historic house at John Walter Museum.
	Zosia crosses Walterdale Bridge en route to downtown Edmonton.
	Zosia stops outside Rogers Place, home of the Edmonton Oilers hockey club. In the background are JW Marriott Edmonton (left) and Stantec Tower, the two tallest buildings in the city.
	Zosia raises her bicycle beside the statue of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky at Rogers Place.
	Sonny tries to figure out where to go next outside Commonwealth Stadium, home of the Edmonton Elks football team. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Sonny points at Sunridge Ski Area which is near the east end of Edmonton. This would be the turnaround point of the bike tour. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Sonny visits Chris and Edwina with their amazing camping van.
	A blue jay is perched on a pine tree in the community of Olgivie Ridge. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Total Distance: 66.7 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 8 hours 8 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain: 263 metres GPX Data