Day 1: Tonight we meet at Al's!

Aug 29: Day 1

My pal Al was in town and this was my first chance to put no-car transit to the test. Al lives down south and it is usually a 30 minute drive. I biked to the 8 St. C-Train stop, hopped on the train, and got off at Shawnessy; pretty much cake. I had a couple of technical issues with the bike when I got off. The kickstand was in the way of the pedal and the back wheel wouldn't go backwards. However, it was solved by wrenching the kickstand into place and moving my back fender.

My next challenge was negotiating Macleod Trail/162 Ave. It's not great in a car and on a bike it wasn't as bad as I predicted. The trick was just catching the crosswalk lights to so I'm not cooling my heels as cars endlessly turn. And I cheated by riding on the sidewalk. There was no way I was getting mowed down by a truck. Once I got to the intersection Sun Valley Blvd. and Sunmills Drive, I hopped onto the road and made my way to Al's down Sun Valley Blvd. Then I had a lovely time chatting with Al.

Driving distance: 19.3 km (according to Google Maps)
Driving time: 30 minutes

Biking time (including C-Train): ~45 minutes. I didn't pay attention on my way to Al's but the return trip was about that.

Observations:
-Sun Valley Blvd has subtle hills and valleys. Something you don't notice coasting in a car and makes it challenging to sustain. When you bike downtown, you're catching stoplights constantly so you always have time to pause. I think I'm about to see that everywhere.

-Elevation kits for trucks have their place... somewhere, but not in the city. On the Canyon Meadows/Macleod Trail overpass, I spotted from the train a truck that was easily the height of two sedans. At first I thought it was on top of another truck but then I noticed the gigantic wheels. It easily dwarfed another truck in front of it and that truck was not small.

-Very few pedestrians out in the 'burbs but a couple of bikers. I think that Superstore/Safeway/Co-op/Home Depot area, "a power centre" is about as pedestrian-unfriendly as you can get. It's featured quite negatively in Radiant City.