Not a Soul

*this song should be in everyones wet weather riding playlist

Not a soul on the trail the entire way around Telford on yet another impromptu after work ride which means 9 times out of 10 I am going to Leduc. Beaumont does not have a lot to offer in terms of  paved. Well they have lots but it is mostly backed on to by houses galore. 

Hence, I will mostly choose Leduc. Cause of the lake which today it had a slight feel of seclusion as the birds were overwhelming but that feeling only lasted about half a second but still it felt pretty good man. I started at the recreation centre and stopped to take the one picture got on and didn't stop until back at the car.  

That's right, about eight kilometres of uninterrupted riding where miraculously I didn't stop for a potty break or anything. That might be a Lonebiker record.  

Beer Friday. Arcadia Brewing. Coliseum Blonde Ale

 In light of the recent success of the local hockey squad I pulled out this gem from the archives. It's gonna be an interesting series for sure as its the Oilers playing the Vancouver Canucks which must have last happened in the 80's or maybe 90's.. Let me look that up. Booh ya. Im a hockey expert! It was 1992 so I had a good guess. Apparently we lost every game to Vancouver this year so who knows but we have that very fast guy.

I have been to the new hockey arena a few times for concerts and a game and it is very nice. There is nothing like the old Coliseum though and I remember going to countless games and the beer being hypnotic. It was something to do with the pipes they said. It is sad to ride by the old arena now as it is so forgotten, The hockey history in that building is insane. 

So Arcadia brewing decided to salute the old barn with their Blonde ale and we are about to pour this bad bitch in the review lab. Arcadia brewing is in the Manchester Square part of Edmonton wherever  the hell that is. Apparently they say it is the soul of Europe right in the middle of Edmonton so now I am very curious.

It poured a somewhat dirty golden beer that had an heir of smugness to it. Like it knew it was gonna be pretty great. Will see beer... Will see. I appropriately poured this into my #99 Wayne Gretzky beer mug and shed a tear in memory of Dave Semenko who was one of the coolest Oilers ever. 

It had a nice earthy type of hop smell to it or at least thats what I want to think as allergies have me quite plugged up so who knows what it smells like, hell or even tastes like. So that being said lets get on with the beer review. 

This one is quite great and I will be sad to see this one get empty. I had kinda hoped they would have tried to create that distinctive Coliseum beer taste but that wouldn't flow with a blonde ale. They did however pull off a nice Blonde Ale. It was nice and light after a massive barbecue was had in Lonebiker Junior Express's honour as she finished another year of college absolutely killing it. 

It's a lightly hopped and malted beer and goes down nice and smooth to quote every 80's beer commercial ever made. It is very nice and easy so go out and find some.

This beer gets 3.5 suds out of 5. 

Le-Duck

An impromptu after work ride after I once again hid under my wife's skirt (ok now I'm sorry but was that sexist? I kinda thought it would be funny but I am now a somewhat older guy who can be a bit clueless.) 

Hold on. I gotta Google if hiding under my wife's skirt is a sexist remark. 

Well now.... Google says nothing but my Mom says it is but what does she know? 

The whole remark concerns me wussing out again as the weather was quite fowl hence the underskirt hiding.

A ride happened in the usual Leduc area. It was fine but a bit too cold and windy and in the beginning I was a bit grumpy. I came to life before the loop around and decided to do the little extension to the cool airplane park which should be named after a former local air force hero. 

It sounds boring but I am really digging that gravel bike and find it so much fun to ride. So in the end it was a great little rip. 

Hanger 11 Farewell Ride

A ride after a rough week of lack of sleep and other issues all thanks to a thyroid issue or as they say in manspeak I was being a little bitch. 

Nevertheless I was fine today cause of being off for the weekend so I decided to ride to the big fire we just had. The historic hanger 11. As I typed that the inner virgin airplane geek in me was crying thinking of another slice of Edmontons aviation history gone forever. It was built in 1942 and used in the war effort. 

I remember it vividly from the time spent as a kid when my Dad would take me and my brother to hang out at the airport for a while. Its sad to see the area now which now includes an LRT line going nowhere. Dead centre of Blatchford Field. I don't really pay too much attention to news events lately but alot of money was spent to put the line and station there... I hope they rolled the dice ok on this one. 

I did see them ripping apart Naits still newish LRT station as they built a new one a hundred yards ahead and I wondered how much that cost and that was before riding about a kilometre of light rail infrastructure complete with three sidewalks running parallel. The city likes to spend money.

Oh man. I'm turning in to an old haggard hairlip complaining about things the government is doing on the internet.  

I wasn't into the ride though. Just like last Saturday. Probably cause i rode a lot of old school Edmonton residential. Just like last Saturday. 

I started in the creepy old man park (science) and crossed the river and immediately climbed out having none of that river valley and rode into the mean streets of north Edmonton sticking to residential to stay away from traffic where I weaselled my way through Commonwealth and found the LRT which led me to the former airport and hanger fire. 

It was what I expected. Mostly a pile of burnt building that looked like ash with a surviving door frame. A shoutout to those nineteen forties bricklayers!

From the fire I saw something peculiar and thought "is that a train line running through runway 12?' 

Thats when I discovered the lone LRT tracks and started wondering how much it all cost. Well there I go again.. I found my way back and still despite not being into it the bike still ruled. 

lots of money spent with nothing around this station yet, we assume its all slated for high capacity residential *shudders 

The Winds Blow in Alberta This Time of Year

Alberta is windy as fuck in April. Hence...you yourself may have complained about the insane wind we have been having lately. I have spouted off a few times to the fine looking Lonebiker sidepiece aka Mrs Lonbiker to which zero cares are given back. Like come on man... "you are the one that chooses to ride out there" she says. I guess but could it not be so windy?

Wind has never been much of an issue as most of the riding is in enclosed sheltered trees. The gravel bike has introduced me to wind and this year has been a bit rough but manageable with no wide open headwinds on long straight aways.  I can see how that happens with this kind of bike and today it took me a bit to get going as every time I stepped out of the car the heavy winds made me tuck my tail and sit in my car and contemplate life...

So after I sucked it up I started the ride at the dog walk outside legends golf course somewhere in Strathcona county which takes you to Fort Saskatchewan. 

Usually a damn good ride and today easily topped yesterday as I hit Fort Saskatchewan and rode the easy part of the loop singletrack looping back to the car. 

Singletrack is not easy on a gravel bike. My forearms were killing me after that little bit from holding on and using the brakes. It was still cool and gave a whole new experience on these trails and now am wondering if an end to end run from Turner park would happen soon. 

The wind was never an issue and it was in my favour along my way back through some wide open fields. 

This almost didn't happen which would have been a shame as it was quite fine overall. That dang gravel bike is too much fun. 

Ken Discovers AI Imagery and Goes for a Ride

 Yes I discovered and quickly fell in love with artificial intelligence imagery and this was the first picture I made and as you can see. 

It's a fuckin masterpiece.

I typed a demon wearing diapers chasing a mountain biker  and voila! It is a bit creepy to be honest and I may now have weird dreams for the next four and a half months so thanks for nothing AI. 

The ride with real pictures below took place from Strathcona High School where I rode through Old Strathcona and found the High Level and crossed thee almighty High Level Bridge (I saluted the whole length) because hot damn! What an epic bridge!

I rode the LRT trail and was amazed at how cleaned up it was compared to my last roll through where the homeless were out of control. I knew the city did a big clean up so that must have been one of the areas. A few tents were in the area though still. 

I crossed through Rundle and rode out into Capilano. I tried to find my way back to Strathcona High School avoiding every busy like road I could and found bike lanes and back alleys or many residential streets and soon found the Old Strathcona infamous bike lane and made it for home. 

An odd ride as I wasn't really into it one bit at any point. 

Whats going on in the background? Is it other demons carrying mountain bikers away? I'm that much more creeped out now.

And is he wearing a speedo? Come on AI. Get your shit together.

\

Beer Friday. Annex Ale project. Evolution Revolution

 Yes the weather won, And yes I have been a bit of a chump as of late due to the weather but I don't care. A seemingly ok start to the newfound riding schedule which has been hampered by weather and my weak inner soul. 

As I said yesterday a light skiff of snow hit us cause it's Canada which came with below zero temperatures and high winds which sucked bad after plus 16 degree days beauty days where everything screamed Spring!  

Canada is a raging whore when it comes to changing weather.

Speaking of Canada, tonight's beer review comes form our friendly neighbours down south which reminds me to wish their hockey club good luck and hope they don't meet the Oilers in the playoffs starting quickly…

*intern leans in..  

Well bummer about those Flames guys. I wish a fairly giant hearty good luck sirs! That goes out to our local hockey sportsmen. The Edmonton Oilers ice hockey team! I'm sorry but I don't know why but I am trying to sound European for some reason. Dear lord. Enough, let's just get to the beer.

Did this pour a pinkish colour or am I insane? *turns on flashlight and hold up beer. Ok.. it's salmon and I'm sorry I said pink earlier. It had a nice fruity scent to it and in a weird way reminded me of Five Alive but in beer format so I guess really nothing like Five Alive. 

Oh man. I must be the most terrible beer reviewer ever. 

It was fruity for sure but not like Five Alive. This has a a nice sweet fruity taste to it but it seemed to marred in darkness. aka I guess the alcohol. Does that make sense? It is a light content at about 4.3% I believe. It is a nice mix fruits with a sour like taste which took me back to those sour soothers while downing this one. This one can be a bit sour for some so beware.

It was nice and enjoyable. that being said if you are into sour fruit beers this one is for you. For the others it's nice and different and worth seeking out.

This beer gets 3.5 suds out of 5.