Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Prairie Dog]

You saw my nautical theme post and raised me a historic post!
Nicely done sir... well played!

I say we just call it a draw.

 

[PatriciaK]

A Step Back In Time...

I’ve been looking forward to making a return trip to Lacombe, AB since I last visited this charming town back in April. It was an impressive mural on one of the town’s buildings that first captured my attention so much that I felt the need to see more artwork most of which is discreetly tucked away in the downtown’s alleyways. It all started when the mural project committee hired Tim Giles back in 2004 to begin the work of creating historical scenes on the backs of buildings of several local businesses.

View attachment 132160

I’ve never really been an early riser and yesterday morning was no exception as I didn’t leave the house until 9:30am. Weather was splendid as usual and a cool breeze was a welcome start to my non-PAS ride. I could have opted to ride my analog but the Creo is a more comfortable ride with its beefier gravel tires and cushy Future Shock. Minimal elevation gain would make for an easy ride out and back.

View attachment 132161
How cute is that? A couple of youngsters greeted me along the paved path as I made my way towards the Trans Canada Trail. The TCT is paved bikeway that winds through farmland and forests, past the town of Blackfalds and eventually leads one to Lacombe.

View attachment 132162

Mainstreet Lacombe and the oldest flatiron building in Western Canada.

View attachment 132163
View attachment 132185View attachment 132186

The Denike Building – Constructed in 1913 it remains essentially unaltered over the years. It’s home now to an interior designing firm. I spotted an ice cream shop right next door so I couldn’t help but indulge myself.

View attachment 132164
View attachment 132165

The Michener Home – Built in 1894, it is the oldest residential building in town. Now home to the Lacombe Museum and Archives it was the birthplace of the late Roland Michener, former governor general of Canada.

View attachment 132166

Built in 1902, the Lacombe blacksmith shop is currently the oldest in operation in Alberta on its original site. The Lacombe District Historical Society purchased the building back in 1991 and work began on its restoration.

View attachment 132167
View attachment 132168View attachment 132169View attachment 132170

Once I started the self guided mural tour, it was relatively easy to follow the route but I must admit that I missed several of the 30 + works and found a few that I could not identify on the list. With so many murals to view, I’ve only included a few from the collection.

Campbell Block Fire

The Campbell Block (Nowco Home Hardware) is one of Lacombe’s finest examples of 1920s commercial architecture. Originally built in 1896 as a small, wooden store, the Leading Store was resurfaced in brick in 1920 under the ownership of A. M. Campbell. The building housed the Leading Store on the main floor and had tenant housing on the second floor. In 1940, a fire started inside the building and gutted the whole interior. The original wooden structure was destroyed; however, as the building had been covered in brick, it survived the fire. The Burris Pumper truck, Lacombe’s first firetruck, arrived on scene and the volunteer fire department was able to put out the flames.

View attachment 132171

Doris Ballintine

Doris Ballintine was a local resident in Lacombe. She is seen here up at the Research Station and has tied her dogs to her wagon similarly to how one would harness horses to a cart.

View attachment 132172

H.A. Day General Merchant

Herbert Alfred Day arrived in Lacombe in 1896 and was a very prominent businessman. His general Merchant Store sold all the necessities of a small town, form dry goods to clothing to tobacco. In 1903, Day rebuilt his store with brick. The Day Block was the very first masonry building in Lacombe. On the ground level many different stores conducted business while the second level was home to the Day Opera House. The Day Block is currently home to the Lucky Palace Chinese restaurant.

View attachment 132173

Field Day

The Lacombe Research Station was founded in 1907 as an initiative of the Lacombe Board of Trade. At the time, scientific research focused primarily on crops and livestock. This research was shared to the public through bulletins, letters, annual reports, farmers’ meetings, and talks at field days.

View attachment 132174

Nanton Street at Night

This mural offers a unique look at Nanton Street in the 1930s. It shows the street looking north, illuminated by the electric street lamps. Street lamps began to gain popularity in Lacombe when motor vehicles became popular and a few were installed on important roads in town, such as Barnett Avenue. Between 1930 and 1955, Calgary Power improved and extended electric power and more street lamps could be installed. By 1955 there were 275 street lamps in Lacombe.

View attachment 132175

Nanton Street Looking North

Nanton Street was a popular street for parades. This mural features a view of the street looking north. The crowds were painted into the mural, but unfortunately, the marching band was not included.

View attachment 132176

Laird Motors

In 1919, Bill Tees constructed the Tees Block to house his garage and sales service. He was in competition with Empire Garage and Morrison & Johnson Hardware, who had the official Ford service station for the Lacombe District. Tees eventually sold his garage to Hal Laird, who opened Laird Motors. The garage and sales service also featured gas pumps and a tow truck. There was a fire inside the garage and the whole interior was destroyed. Thankfully, the brick exterior was undamaged. Later on, Laird Motors was sold and renamed McTaggart Motors. Today, it operates under the name Weidner Motors but the Tees Block has since been torn down.

View attachment 132177

Ladder Team

This mural depicts the Lacombe Ladder Team practicing for competitions. The Ladder Team competed against various other teams in Central Alberta in games, with the goal of having their climber reach the top of a freestanding ladder the quickest. This mural depicts members of the volunteer fire department, circa 1908. Frank Montgomery is the climber. The ladder is been held by Lloyd Standish and Jim Frizzell in the back and David Hay and E. V. McLeod in the front.

View attachment 132187

A few images to share as I made my way back towards home base.

View attachment 132178
View attachment 132180
View attachment 132179
View attachment 132183
View attachment 132182
View attachment 132181View attachment 132184View attachment 132190

A video tribute of my ride to historic Lacombe.

Beautiful murals -what a wonderful idea!

 

[Prairie Dog]

Beautiful murals -what a wonderful idea!

So true, PK. We have a number of impactful wall murals in our own downtown core but unlike Lacombe, the artwork is not entirely devoted to the history of the city.

Here’s another favorite of mine.

The Texaco Mural

In the early 1930s, architecture in Lacombe moved into the “Moderne” style. Many old buildings were resurfaced with stucco to achieve this look. Additionally, newer, more modern businesses, such as gas stations, were built in this style specifically. Mainline Motors was constructed in the early 1930s and was an example of this new form of architecture. Prior to 1937, Mainline Motors was renamed Texaco. The garage featured four service bays as well as several gas pumps. The building was located at 5032-50th Street, near where the current Alberta Agriculture Building stands today. John Fincham, Lacombe’s second blacksmith, has his home at this location as early as 1895. He was also a skilled auto mechanic and even worked at Mailing Motors after the business bought his land.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I just wanted to share the most typical Tuscan view, so I'm sure Chargeride won't show it to his missus!

Tuscany consists of hills with cypresses, olive trees, and grapes. Sadly, I could not take a good picture of a maritime pine, which can only be found in certain areas of the Mediterranean. (Tuscany is the easternmost border of the area where maritime pines grow).

 

[RabH]

After 2 days of heavy but much needed rain it was good to get out on dry roads today, there were some floods around but nothing too bad! It was time to head north into The Campsie Hills again, its been too long since I ventured up there! I took the hard route today up the Tak Ma Doon road, even on the e bike its a toughie! Its worth it for the descent at the other side and the views at the top!

I had an absolute blast down the descent, today it was into the wind but still awesome Not that the wind was really strong though, just 15mph! The views in the valley are pretty nice also!

The hill I just descended!

I was now heading for the Campsies at the other end from where I started, the ride takes you past the Carron Valley Reservoir which was looking rather low! Hopefully with Autumn approaching it will get topped up again soon, 2 days of heavy rain made very little difference of course!

Some of the roads here are really rough but some are lovely to ride like these ones!

A few miles on and I can see the climb I am just about to tackle, on my way up I passed a couple struggling on a tandem! I told them they should get one with a motor for climbs like this and they agreed!

At the top of the climb, just before another amazing descent down into Lennoxtown!

No more photos after this, time to concentrate on getting home safely with the schools back after the holidays! The roads here are crazy when the schools are back, in my day we walked to school....

What a great ride in perfect weather, I'm hoping to cycle to the car racing on Sunday if the weather plays ball...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Damn!

I'm being sent to Frankfurt/Main for a trade show, the whole next week. Meanwhile you Rab beat my distance ridden this year (I am not capable to match your 74 vertical kilometres in any case...)

 

[Mulezen]

Yesterday morning (Tuesday) was a fine morning for a ride with my friend from town. The temperature was 71f, 21c with dark clouds scudding along the horizon but ultimately we stayed dry. We rode the tony part of Goochland county (Virginia) and with some of the steep hills leading to the James river managed a peak speed of 38mph. My friend was ecstatic over this and wondered why I wasn't. I replied it wasn't really a feat to EBR (Scotland?) aces but he expected to rub it in to the other friend who has ridden the same bike. Seventy year old men still reliving competitions of fifty years ago. Fortunately his guide was more mature and cognizant of the responsibility to photograph barns. But though there were many they sat in distance green pastures out of reach of my point and shoot. And a few were of brick and brass and certainly cost more than my farm. The road seemed smoother than my pot-holed chip seal, and the cars politely our back were the expensive kind...tony.

 

[PatriciaK]

Another training ride this morning:


Looking across the harbor to Mount Baker:



She's there, if you know where to look !

Couldn't resist a shot is this Navy "trainer":



Who needs a pedal car when you can fly this baby !

Beautiful day, beautiful ride!

 

[Chargeride]

I just wanted to share the most typical Tuscan view, so I'm sure Chargeride won't show it to his missus!

View attachment 132205
Tuscany consists of hills with cypresses, olive trees, and grapes. Sadly, I could not take a good picture of a maritime pine, which can only be found in certain areas of the Mediterranean. (Tuscany is the easternmost border of the area where maritime pines grow).

Im down to visit my dad, got the wife with me so writing this in the bathroom.
Yes, thats the Tuscany I know, which shows how much I knew.

Heres the wife casually admiring some young man diving into the river.
'Isnt he fit' she says.
Imagine me commenting on a 20yr old woman.
Silence for the rest of the week.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Heres the wife casually admiring some young man diving into the river.
'Isnt he fit' she says.
Imagine me commenting on a 20yr old woman.
Silence for the rest of the week.

So true...

 

[Readytoride]

The Ice Cream Social Ride

A 23 mile group ride with our bike shop yesterday. An easy pedal down the rails-to-trails W&OD (former Washington (DC) and Old Dominion (Virginia) rail line operational in the early 1900s) from Leesburg (Virginia) heading east towards the domain of urban suburbia. Directly into the abyss of the maddening crowds and 6 lane highways with flying overpasses. Arrow straight into the technology heart that is Northern Virginia, a dive into the lair of the endless data centers, the processing heartbeat of the world's internet, thousands of humming computers carefully arranged in perfect rows inside hundreds of featureless buildings with no windows and all surrounded by unclimbable fences with sculpted razor ends. The rail trail rolled by, generously giving birth to numerous thin bike paths branching out on their own, all winding away from the mother trail to attach themselves to the highways, their aim being to carve out a narrow piece of hard road firmly etched with white paint in the form of a wide bike silhouette so that the adjoining motorized traffic tearing by at breakneck speed on the bigger lanes will know ...and hopefully honor ...the rights of our small group cruising that painted lane at less than light speed on our way to a local Baskin Robbins for a double dip ice cream sundae with whipped cream and two cherries on top. Or, for the lone millennial in our group, an iced pumpkin spiced double latte with a shot of whatever-they-call-these-coffee-concoctions-nowadays.

I completely failed to take a group shot of our intrepid gang enjoying their cold treats at the outdoor seating. Thankfully, our group leader took a group selfie as we headed back home, full of ice cream, and thoroughly enjoying the sunny, cool, perfect day.

We all made our leader promise to have this ride again, preferably on the 31st when all Baskin Robins ice cream dips are 30% off.

 

[fooferdoggie]

 

[Chargeride]

This is the track from our Airbnb to the local pub, its VERY steep and often full of cows and fresh cowpats.
Im going on the bike tonight and then
try to ride back up it in the dark.

What could go wrong.

 

[Prairie Dog]

This is the track from our Airbnb to the local pub, its VERY steep and often full of cows and fresh cowpats.
Im going on the bike tonight and then
try to ride back up it in the dark.
View attachment 132482 What could go wrong.

Dunno, getting mugged by a gang of Hobbits? Seriously, that is one gorgeous view from the high ground.

 

[Djangodog]

The Ice Cream Social Ride

View attachment 132458
A 23 mile group ride with our bike shop yesterday. An easy pedal down the rails-to-trails W&OD (former Washington (DC) and Old Dominion (Virginia) rail line operational in the early 1900s) from Leesburg (Virginia) heading east towards the domain of urban suburbia. Directly into the abyss of the maddening crowds and 6 lane highways with flying overpasses. Arrow straight into the technology heart that is Northern Virginia, a dive into the lair of the endless data centers, the processing heartbeat of the world's internet, thousands of humming computers carefully arranged in perfect rows inside hundreds of featureless buildings with no windows and all surrounded by unclimbable fences with sculpted razor ends. The rail trail rolled by, generously giving birth to numerous thin bike paths branching out on their own, all winding away from the mother trail to attach themselves to the highways, their aim being to carve out a narrow piece of hard road firmly etched with white paint in the form of a wide bike silhouette so that the adjoining motorized traffic tearing by at breakneck speed on the bigger lanes will know ...and hopefully honor ...the rights of our small group cruising that painted lane at less than light speed on our way to a local Baskin Robbins for a double dip ice cream sundae with whipped cream and two cherries on top. Or, for the lone millennial in our group, an iced pumpkin spiced double latte with a shot of whatever-they-call-these-coffee-concoctions-nowadays.

I completely failed to take a group shot of our intrepid gang enjoying their cold treats at the outdoor seating. Thankfully, our group leader took a group selfie as we headed back home, full of ice cream, and thoroughly enjoying the sunny, cool, perfect day.

We all made our leader promise to have this ride again, preferably on the 31st when all Baskin Robins ice cream dips are 30% off.

View attachment 132459

The simple pleasures are the best. Nice story telling too. Contentment is a gift.

 

[Mulezen]

This is the track from our Airbnb to the local pub, its VERY steep and often full of cows and fresh cowpats.
Im going on the bike tonight and then
try to ride back up it in the dark.
View attachment 132482 What could go wrong.

Bruegel-est

 

[kahn]

Nothing Bruegel-est about my trip!!! WWII exhibit at Reagan Presidential Library somewhere in over populated southern Calif

 

[dodgeman]

I’ve been visiting relatives the last week so no bike rides. So I am a mostly retired land surveyor and they wanted me to review a project that we started 11 years ago and got put on hold. My house to work is 7 miles so I rode the bike and of course a barn of the day pic.

 

[dodgeman]

I did a little over 32 miles and 1100 feet of elevation gain today, a long ride for me. A couple of barns, one in decent shape with an intact but most likely non functioning wind mill. The other barn is pretty rough and collapsing on the left side. Also rode by a alpaca (or llama) farm.

 

[BlackHand]

Finishing up family visits in PA and MI and looking forward to getting back on the ebike soon.

I did manage a little over 4 miles around the block on ye olde 10 speed, but didn't trust it for more than that between the cracked and peeling sidewalls and an ominous creaking from the headset.

I've been down this road thousands of times in decades past. Hit about 24 mph on the tar and chip this time.