The MUP from Shouldice to 10 St. was mostly packed snow, with some bits of bare and dry and the odd glassy bit of ice. I suspect there's more ice hiding under the snow, so beware as things develop through the day, things could get worse instead of better.

As noted last week, there's a berm building up that makes moving from the MUP at the top of Bowmont park onto the top of Home Rd. tricky. If you come through here, beware, the situation is getting more challenging.

I managed to keep the speed nicely up from Edworthy along past Point Mackay and Parkdale, but did find that the snow conditions kept things feeling a little squirelly. More ninja dog walkers noted this morning than I usually see (or perhaps fail to see?!?)

If you're staying on the North side of the river and going under Crowchild Tr. (and don't ride studded tires) beware of some hazardous ice patches. They are on a section where you can pick a nice straight line before going over the ice, so you should be able to navigate it safely (as I did), but stay relaxed or you may not keep the wheels under you.

Maybe the mild temperatures predicted for the next couple of days will help clear up the situation...or maybe it will just get things nice and wet before it gets cold and ices up.

My route (Bowness Rd to Bow river path) was basically an easy ride today, except for the stretch from my alley way to Bowness Rd. This 50 foot length of slightly uphill roadway ending at a 4 way stop, covered in compacted but breaking snow proved too much for me. I went down, and some of my pride went with it. I wasn't happy about the goofball driving the othe way who thought it would be helpful to honk at me as I stood up and dusted off the snow.

At least it was a soft landing though. I also made the mistake of taking my alternate route rather than wait for a red light. This took me off of Bowness Rd and into a snowy personal hell of poor road conditions which chased me to the sidewalk, and I had to wait for  train to pass :) . I think Karma was trying to tell me something today.

1)WID path - max bell to 17th ave SE - cleared

2)17th bridge to bow river bridge - not cleared, some high snow drift. Ended up walking most of it, 5km/h, worst part of the trip

3)bow rive bridge to bird sanctuary - cleared

4)bird sanctuary to bonneybrook bridge - not cleared, uncompacted snow and lots of footprints made for slow tricky riding. Tough riding but at least i did not have to walk it

5)bonneybrook bridge to milligan dr se - cleared

6)lynnwood path - not cleared, hard packed foot prints gave my arms a workout.

good workout, more than what I bargained for. I think 5cm of snow will be my limit for riding if the paths are not plowed.

Does anyone know what shape the pathways are in between Stoney Trail and Home Road at the west end of the Bow River Pathway System?  I assume they are plowed, by now (sometimes it takes a little longer for Baker Park at the far west end though).  

with an incredible amount of snow still on our roadway (bus route that is still un-plowed) there was no way I was taking on the nastiness.  Even the vehicle tracks weren't down to pavement this morning and instead were several inches of squishy squirmy gross stuff that my vehicle even had issues with.  My undrifted sidewalk had 20cm and drifts much deeper.  By comparison it's truly astounding how little snow there is downtown.

My kids should have fun this evening... I piled all the deck snow up and build a gradual toboggan ramp down from our deck onto the lawn.  They were busy inside last night when I did this so I just had to take a few runs myself to pack down the snow. 

As of this morning

26th Avenue SW snow route-not yet cleared

14th Street-Cleared

Prospect Avenue-Cleared, as usual, not a designated snow route but I'm not complaining.

8th Street SW-Cleared, but sketchy in spots

The extra phat mud guard on my front fender means absolutely no splatter on my shoes, legs or pannier.  Thanks @bikebike @brodiebikes!!!

10th Avenue-Cleared

Overall, a good ride, however the parking ban on 26th Avenue was being largely ignored.  No doubt many warnings were handed out there.

BEATUIFUL weather this morning, but terrible roads.  Squishy snow as far as the eye can see.  Spent my fair share of time on the sidewalk, but managed to keep the rubber side down!

A call out to my Southern brothers and sisters!!  Anybody have a really good winter route form let’s say the Southlandish area?  My normal route takes me from the Southland C-train station (drive in from Okotoks)

-          Haddon Road (plowed)

-          Heritage Drive (plowed)

-          5th Street (YUCKY SLUSHY MESS)

-          5th Street from Glenmore to 58th (plowed)

-          5th street winding down to Stanley park (SLUSHY MESS, BROWN SNOW GALORE)

-          Elbow River pathway (plowed)

-          Misc. Downtown roads (plowed)

The starting point is not so important since I drive in anyway.  I just like the option of taking transit home if I so desire (never have).

ANY THOUGHTS OR IDEAS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!!

The ride in from Glenbrook was so much better today. My side street (43 Street) was even plowed (had a lot of fun maneuvering that yesterday - don't know why I didn't just use 45 Street but I like a challenge I guess). 26 Avenue SW was plowed sometime yesterday, but on my ride home yesterday I did find that along most of the route the snow was just plowed into the bike lane so I did find myself having to veer into the traffic lane quite often. Thankfully it was nice out this morning (9 degrees) and most of this has melted. Prospect Avenue was clear, but the hill down 9 Street, south of 17th Avenue was tricky as is was soft, uneven snow and it was dark so I couldn't even see anything so I had to use my feet to balance! 8 Street would probably be the way to go at this part of my trip when it snows....

In case anyone here takes some of the same route as me here is an update from this morning:

• Simcoe Blvd/Christie Park Hill/Lower part of Strathcona Dr  - roads are clear with the usual wet salt spray.  The only exception to this is the bus trap/sidewalk that connects 58 St and  Costello Blvd - lots of foot traffic in the snow.
• Sarcee/Bow - Path down from Strathcona in good shape and the path down to Edworthy Rd in good shape too but the transition from the path to the road has a bit of mashed potatoes.
• Spruce Dr - clear and wet, fast
• Quarry Trail - Very mushy and lots of different tracks and ruts which make your bike jump and swerve all over like  a drunken sailor (esp with my lack of technical prowess).  I almost lost it a couple times up on top, though the bottom half was better.  I think I'll use the paved path up to 26th or Edworthy for a while until it freezes up and smooths-up again.  Once I pick up my winter bike from the shop with my studded tires I may have better traction who knows.
• S Bow Path/2nd Ave/3rd Ave - nice

Yesterday I rode legally on the road and was squeezed into the curb at the light at 17th ave sw and richmond road by an asshole in a big white truck. He saw me and basically chopped me when the light turned green. Then today I rode illegally on the sidewalk in same location and had a pedestrian purposefully block my way and tell me to dismount. I even tried to tell him why i was on the sidewalk (my son was onboard) but he just ignorned me.

Assholes.

I had another go at westbound 10 Ave SW during rush hour - I'm a glutton for punishment. As ridiculous as it sounds, I sailed along the last stretch between 12 and 14 St by pulling into the empty vehicle lane, passing all the cars stopped in the bike lane, and merging back in where the line is dashed and cars are supposed to enter. The design of that stretch is defective enough that I'm not sure enforcement will have much effect. Maybe the new cycling planner(s) in transportation can tackle that one.

Just south of alyth bridge, there was some ice under the light snow cover at the first turn. Some icy spots just under the bonneybrook bridge as well. I took my first real fall there and took it real slow after that on hills, turns and under bridges. I did not see anybody on the trail before the fall but a cpr truck was driving by just as it happened so he got some entertainment. I found a motorola cell phone busted up on the westbound lane of millican drive before the hil. Going to let it dry out a bit before checking if it works and return to owner.

Yesterday (Tuesday), I was coming from a different direction (had to drop the car off at the garage) and so was on a route I rarely take. I came Southbound on Edmonton Tr. to 20 Ave. and turned East. Then to 10 St. and turned South. I arrived at the lights at 16th Ave. and found I had a rules-of-the-road dilemma:

• My light was red. There was a bus on the extreme right. There was another cyclist stopped in the bike lane, to the left of the bus. I pulled even with the cyclist.
• There's a sign that clearly says that cyclists are to go on the advance light, same as for transit.
• The problem: The bus needs to move to the left, essentially crossing the imaginary bike lane through the intersection but, the cyclists are to the left of the bus. 
• In this case, what happened was as follows: I had drifted about a bike-length ahead of the other cyclist, because I was anticipating the light; on the advance light, the bus started up and moved (to my mind, quite agressively) to the left; since I was uncertain how to handle the situation, I followed the other cyclist's lead, who stayed put while the bus pulled out, but since I was ahead, I was uncomfortably close as the back end of the bus tracked across my path and I moved to the left to stay away from the back corner of the bus; we both headed across as soon as the bus was clear.
• This didn't work well in the long run, partly because I felt I could have been across the bus's intended line more quickly than it was across mine. Also, it stopped at the first bus stop on the way down 10 St. and I had to hold up, since there wasn't a decent space in traffic to get around the bus, and then had the same thing happen at the next two stops. Had I gone ahead, we'd have been out of each other's way for the rest of the way down 10 St. 

What are your opinions? How should this situation be handled by cyclists and transit drivers, respectively?

-20 with windchill this morning? Damn! That means winter is officially here, better put some pants on.

CTV is saying + temps again tomorrow. Good, need it to freeze/thaw the residential roads making them easier to ride on.

Much nicer this morning.  I didn't see many (I mean none) cyclists this morning.  I saw one jogger in Stanley Park, me thinks there are many people off today for some xmas shopping.  Only 4 bikes in the bike room when I got in this morning, grented it was pretty early.  On a super duper yay for me note, I am on Holidays for 4 weeks starting at 15:00is this afternoon.

Really enjoyed the ride this morning. I am sporting "new to me" tires - second hand from a friend, little used and altho' not studded are better for pushing the snow out of the tread than the ones I've been using. New light for my b'day in Oct - 300 lumens.  Of coures it's like summer riding right now with snow cleared and very little ice - the ride thru' the park in the dark was a cake walk.  Who could argue with winter riding in these conditions :)

Had to ride to MRU this morning to meet a reporter (doing a story about new bike lanes on 50 ave sw) and had the pleasure of riding through all that light fluffy powder on my dutch bike. Very impressed with how easy it was to ride that bike in such deep snow.

Get out and enjoy the conditions!

Also keep an eye open on openfile.ca for the story about the new lanes.