Early Winter Biking

I feel so guilty! I haven't been taking ANY pictures while riding lately. My camera ran out of batteries, I can't find my charger, and it's cold so I just forget. I did get my sister to shoot this photo of me in the LRT station with the Dahon today.



This is basically the coat I've been wearing for the past several weeks. It's a light winter coat padded with cotton. And I've usually got a wool hat on too. My outfit underneath was a long sleeved cream t-shirt under a knitted multi-coloured sweater dress. Grey patterned tights and grey ankle boots.

I only had to bike one way today so I didn't ride the Pashley, and Don also had a bike themed door/office at their open house. I took the Dahon over to his work because it's a more social bike (and small enough to fit in the node at his office's opening). People tried riding it up and down the hall because it's tiny and were also folding and unfolding it over and over again. Cute to see people excited about a bike!

Things have I discovered so far my first winter on a bike:

Riding in light snow is really nice! It's very quiet and peaceful.

Corners. Don't lean into them, especially after a case of freezing rain.

My brakes sometimes sound squeaky.

Cover the ears.

It gets dark here really fast now (sun sets at 4 pm) so lights lights lights!

I do not wear any extra outdoor performance gear for my riding. Just my regular winter things like mitts, a hat, scarf, and coat.

Dougal's Chew Toy

These heels and I had a good life together. They were real work horses. Until I made the mistake of leaving them out after wearing them last week. Dougal got to them. He loves to destroy things.

Luckily they weren't expensive or anything... just sad that my inventory has been taken down a peg.

(yes, that is a jug full of Halloween candy wrappers in the photo, we're pigs)

It's so hard to be angry at him when he's so cute:( He also loves sitting on cardboard.



I think he looks quite apologetic.

Biking to Wagner

Don and I took the bikes to see Edmonton Opera's Flying Dutchman by Wagner. I love Wagner! And they had the amazing Jason Howard and Susan Marie Pierson playing the leads - SO good.

I think the temperature was maybe... 2 above freezing? I wore my super wool tuxedo blazer and Burberry merino wool scarf to keep warm. Underneath is a strapless metallic tartan dress with bubble skirt from Zara. Shoes are Fornarina and hair piece is from Clerys in Dublin.

So we're unlocking our bikes afterward to ride home and these two girls walk by, one of them saying "Oh, I WISH I had ridden MY bike!" with total sarcasm. I replied, "It'll be warm as soon as I start pedaling" and she said, "Yeah, well I don't think my DRESS would do so well on a bike."

I hate comments like that. You know, the kind that aren't reasonable? First of all, she wasn't even wearing tights or anything, and she also had on open toe slides. If she's so fashion conscious, she should have taken into consideration her blaring lack of tan before leaving the house with black platform slides and bare feet sans pedicure. Goosebumps aren't really a fashion statement. Neither are patches of dry pink skin on unexfoliated calves.

Also, somebody who is wearing a black swishy A-line skirt in cotton jersey should not be telling me their dress can't handle a bike. A-lines are easier to bike in than pants. Cotton breathes and jersey is stretchy. Obviously she wasn't thinking nor does she likely have any experience with biking in a dress. I found it ironic that she would conclude herself too formal to be on a bike. Particularly when addressing me when I'm ON my bike!

It's this 'I don't even bother trying' attitude that bothers me the most. Just because it's chilly and the opera, someone who rides a bike is somehow sort of crazy? Ridiculous. And making a sarcastic comment insinuating how I'm stupid to ride my bike is lame. I know I know, she probably wasn't trying to be dumb. I guess my point is that most people in Edmonton have a dumb attitude towards biking in general. It's just little episodes like this where I'm reminded about how ignorant some people are.

Not everybody wants to sit in a line in their car for 15 minutes exiting a parking lot. And that's after walking at least 5 minutes to get to the car first. I think THAT is a monumental waste of time. Plus, if somebody is so concerned about looking pretty in a dress, there's no better way to show it off than riding past the chumps in the cars on the way home. Dresses & bikes forever!

Cold Weather - Cold Camera

I've been lazy! This is the first winter I've had this blog and what I failed to realize is how much of a wuss I am to take off my mitt and take pictures. Lately I always seem to be biking and going about my business alone and I feel far too dorky asking strangers to take my photo.

The mornings have a real bite, but as long as I'm dressed properly it's alright.




Lately, this puffy vest has been my best friend. It's down filled, cropped (perfect because I'm short) and has a fabulous faux fur hood. The fur trim actually helps keep wind and crap out of my face, it's awesome! My puffy vest is black. Today I wore it with black skinny jeans, slate long sleeved T and and a long, oatmeal, chunky knit cardigan with huge brown buttons.




Oh, and these shoes! They're my fall staple. Mine have deepened in colour and there are scuffs all over the front edges. Signs of shoe love.