Cycling Thread 2

[redflamesfan08]

Originally Posted by kermitology

North-South between Inglewood and Quarry Park was mostly okay, but some sections along the rail yard, bridges, and oddly Lynwood were ugly. I had to get off and walk in a few parts. Lynwood just has so much foot traffic from people walking dogs and such that I was surprised it hadn't been cleared. By the time I went through nose creek it was cleared from 8th ave to the zoo.

Do you bike that route year round? Wondering if the path from Inglewood to Ogden Road gets cleared. First day riding this year was mid-march, and it was definitely not cleared then. Hoping I don't have to put the bike away for the year already, but I'm not equipped yet for winter riding, and I'm not leaving the path for the industrial parks when snow falls.

[Fuzz]

Hrmmm, -9 tomorrow. Now to remember which layers, applied in what order are required for this. Ah, who am I kidding, I'm gonna way overdress.

[kermitology]

I’ve been riding it since late March. It was cleared today in the afternoon, sections were clear in the morning and there was evidence of clearing. The bridge the goes around the corner wasn’t cleared, not sure if it gets shoveled manually. I’ll ask my friend that’s been riding that route longer.

[Bigtime]

Probably didn't need to roll the studs this morning. Just wasn't sure about the path along the zoo, as it can get a lot of melt across it from the zoo. I think tomorrow I'll be back on the summer bike.

[Fuzz]

I had to turn around at Confed and go around, they hadn't plowed and it was a field of rutted ice. Had several places I was thankful for studs.



Did not overheat to much.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by redflamesfan08

Wondering if the path from Inglewood to Ogden Road gets cleared.

That route does get cleared; or at least it did last winter. There is a map from the city that you can look at to see what they clear. I did have to make adjustments to my route last winter.
https://maps.calgary.ca/PathwaysandBikeways/

[redflamesfan08]

Originally Posted by ken0042

That route does get cleared; or at least it did last winter. There is a map from the city that you can look at to see what they clear. I did have to make adjustments to my route last winter.
https://maps.calgary.ca/PathwaysandBikeways/

Yeah, I've seen this map before - would be good to have data about priorities, or even real-time data about when a particular route was last cleared. I know when I went through the first time this year, there was no difference between the section of path along the railyards south of the Bird Sanctuary (which according to this map should be cleared) and the newly reopened section of path through refinery park (which according to the map is not cleared).

Thanks!

[Northendzone]

i think that the further out of the core you are riding from, you have to expect to have to wait a day or two for the the pathway to be cleared.

that section behind the bird sanctuary, i would personally expect it to be cleared for the afternoon ride, but not the morning one. i thought there was some twitter or other social media group that updated info on snow removal on pathways

[Fuzz]

Well they haven't cleared the Peace Bridge yet either. I was a little surprised just how rough shape it was in this morning.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by redflamesfan08

Yeah, I've seen this map before - would be good to have data about priorities, or even real-time data about when a particular route was last cleared. I know when I went through the first time this year, there was no difference between the section of path along the railyards south of the Bird Sanctuary (which according to this map should be cleared) and the newly reopened section of path through refinery park (which according to the map is not cleared).

Thanks!

There are two paths there, one does get some clearance, the other doesn't. But the hard part is that there are some big dips around there and when you get a lot of snow or melt and freeze it turns big puddles into dangerous ice. Last year I dropped through a few times or had to plow through the ice and hope I didn't tip over because I'd soak my shoes. I was riding 29" tires.

The alternative is to ride past the turn to Refinery Park and head along Ogden to the hill that goes into Lynwood. You can either stay on roads and go to 18th St or catch up with the Lynwood ridge pathway.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Well they haven't cleared the Peace Bridge yet either. I was a little surprised just how rough shape it was in this morning.

Sounds like there's a lot of bridges that didn't get cleared.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

i thought there was some twitter or other social media group that updated info on snow removal on pathways

Quite a few of us give pathway condition reports on the winter riding on the #yycbike and #frostbike hashtags on twitter. Admittedly a lot of our coverage is around the inner-city, but some of us do venture farther out and provide updates on routes like Nose Creek and others.

[redflamesfan08]

Originally Posted by kermitology

There are two paths there, one does get some clearance, the other doesn't. But the hard part is that there are some big dips around there and when you get a lot of snow or melt and freeze it turns big puddles into dangerous ice. Last year I dropped through a few times or had to plow through the ice and hope I didn't tip over because I'd soak my shoes. I was riding 29" tires.

The alternative is to ride past the turn to Refinery Park and head along Ogden to the hill that goes into Lynwood. You can either stay on roads and go to 18th St or catch up with the Lynwood ridge pathway.

That trek along Ogden road is so dirty, but is a very understandable case of the City using its $$$ wisely and clearing the most useful sections, leaving others to melt. My purpose in bringing up the refinery park area was just to say that it was no different than the bird sanctuary area - despite one being marked as maintained path and one not.

Also odd that they'd want to maintain the path close to the river with the big dips that will accumulate meltwater, and ignore the flatter section away from the river that should just have drifting issues.

Clearly a bike mounted flame-thrower is in order.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by redflamesfan08

That trek along Ogden road is so dirty, but is a very understandable case of the City using its $$$ wisely and clearing the most useful sections, leaving others to melt. My purpose in bringing up the refinery park area was just to say that it was no different than the bird sanctuary area - despite one being marked as maintained path and one not.



Also odd that they'd want to maintain the path close to the river with the big dips that will accumulate meltwater, and ignore the flatter section away from the river that should just have drifting issues.



Clearly a bike mounted flame-thrower is in order.

To be honest, they’re both pretty much the same. Both get mega ice puddles.

[kermitology]

Rolled over 3000km this morning. I'm super proud to have ridden this much this year. I think a little over 4000km is achievable.

[Lubicon]

Cyclists, if you are going to ride on the road (which I am fine with) at least make yourself visible. Commuting will be in the dark for the majority of people soon, it's dangerous if you cannot be seen. Came across a guy this morning -dressed entirely in dark clothes. No reflective marking his clothes or his bike, no lights. Driving on the shoulder near the curb he blended in with the dark grass and was practically invisible until I was almost on top of him.

[Northendzone]

^ years ago i used to commute down that gravel path that runs in behind shaganappi golf course. one dark morning i just grazed a guy walking. he was dressed in all black and my light was not overly bright. took me a bit to register that i grazed someone.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

^ years ago i used to commute down that gravel path that runs in behind shaganappi golf course. one dark morning i just grazed a guy walking. he was dressed in all black and my light was not overly bright. took me a bit to register that i grazed someone.

I preach angling your front light down, but you still need to keep it casting far enough forward based on your average speed for scenarios like that. I've encountered the all dark walker on the Nose Creek pathway quite a few times too. Especially in these last few weeks were I just don't think people pay attention to the fact that it is dark now.

[ken0042]

I've got one better than the dark walker, the dark walker beside his buddy all lit up. The guy in dark was on the line in the middle of the path, and his buddy on the inside had a 600 lumen headlight on his forehead. So I was partially blinded by the guy with the light, making the dark walker even harder to see.

Yeah, given the price of lights these days it baffles me when I see another cyclist all dark.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

I preach angling your front light down, but you still need to keep it casting far enough forward based on your average speed for scenarios like that. I've encountered the all dark walker on the Nose Creek pathway quite a few times too. Especially in these last few weeks were I just don't think people pay attention to the fact that it is dark now.

Also, you should be beat with the frequency of your strobe. Don't strobe your front light.