F 1 D 0 -- 02 08 17 at 23 22 Mountain Time

Bicycles and Edmonton.

Here is what I've heard: There are 200km of
bike-exercise trails in Greater Edmonton.

We went on a nice bike ride today. I rented a bike
yesterday, and only really had about 3h to use it.
I was still happy to get around a bit myself. Doing
that travel by foot was taking too long. And doing
it by bus was insane, as I'd watch the bus go by,
and read the next one comes in 30 minutes. Fooey on
that! I walked.

So when I got to Redbike, I rented something for
20.00 and I was pleased. It was a nice something.

But Jason's bike for me was *better*. I've seen
what the differences are. There is more to biking
than just know know many inches.  You need to find
a bike with the right leg length for you, the right
arm length too. I happen to like sitting upright
when travelling (not being bent in a traditional
bike position).

Edmonton is arranged for cars. So roads suddenly
get this highway appearance, and green signs overhead
will tell you which lane you must be in. But this is
hectic for anything which moves slowly, like a person
or a bike. 

When cars see green signs, it doesn't matter what
the speed limit is. Green sign? Go faster. 

The Saskatchewan River goes through this town
in a very big way. There are the Lower Level
Bridge, the Upper Level Bridge, and others. These
are names, not descriptions. Knowing which bridge
is essential when getting directions.

Because of the green sign problem, and the 
difficulty in switching lanes suddenly, most
people will cross the bridge twice rather than
stay on the same side of the river and go
more directly. I guess it has something to
do with congestion.

Bike trails are different. They happen to go 
directly from one place to the next, at least
by comparison.

But if you are new in town, even reading a map
to find out which trails you need is a daunting
task. I've gotten much help, and I'm starting 
to understand.

Edmonton has a main street, called Whyte. Also
called 82 Avenue. I think. I keep mixing up
Streets and Avenues. This is bad. They are not
synonyms here, but Antonyms. One means NorthSouth
streets, the other EastWest streets.

So I've managed finding my way around, but mostly
due to the kindness of those along the way. "Where
is the Muttart Gallery?" I'd ask. I just wanted to
know whether I was going the right way. Often I
was facing the WRONG way. 

Food here is amazing. 

Visit Edmonton. Eat here.

I phoned Timmy, my youngest, from here. I was eager
to see how he was doing. He's upset. Toronto has
the Canadian National Exhibition for a few weeks,
and he went there. But they've inflated the cost
of rides once again. He decided that 36.00 was too
much to spend on ride, even someone like him who
likes them a lot. So he spent the day there, but
found the fair an empty experience. Sigh, I know
how he feels. 

If I find my way to Toronto before Labour
Day, I'll see if he can do the CNE again
with me. It may not be better. 

I got to see the Dragon Races here in Edmonton.

They were a very big deal in Thunder Bay, but
the whole thing was over early here. I guess 
they're not as excited about this.

The dragon races are long boats with a dozen
people on each, from what I can tell. Ten with
oars, one drummer, one rudder. Some people in
Thunder Bay were very good at this. I wish I
could remember the funny names they'd call themselves.

The hospital had a team called "The IV League".
Our next door neighbour, Alison, was on a team
of French Immersion teachers called "Feu Vert".
(Dragons are green, right?)

I'd love to remember more of them now, but
I'm sipping Zinfandel by Gallo. 

Is that an excuse? I suppose.

Tonight's activities included watching Indiana
Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. We ate
Pizza Hut food. 

Maybe we will ride the Riverboat tomorrow. That
should be an interesting excursion. I'll tell you
what happens.

Today was a good day, but writing is laboured.

Maybe I'll be able to share more tomorrow. 

That's all I know.