camo for bike lanes?

Camouflaged bike lanes? What next?

Today I had to stop in at our rental house, so I parked nearby and rode downtown along 106 Street, ostensibly in the bike lane. 
What bike lane? It's there, but cleverly disguised as just more of the same old snow, ice and grit. So I rode in the vehicle lane most of the way. It was still a good ride. 

The distance is just under 7 km, and when I mapped out the route on Google Maps, it said it would take 28 minutes. Well, it took me exactly 28 minutes. Considering the road conditions, I thought that was not bad! The trip back to the house took only 24 minutes.

Drivers along 106 Street are so courteous. Several times I moved as far right as I could, thinking I'd let some cars pass me, but each time the cars continued to drive behind me. No one honked or yelled or waved their hands angrily at me. My bike is well-lit and I wore my reflective sash, and I felt safe and comfortable riding there. 

I didn't see many other cyclists. There was one fatbike rider, riding on the sidewalk. Huh? I don't get it -- why spend a minimum of $1700 on a sidewalk bike? And as I approached Saskatchewan Drive, I saw one other regular cyclist heading south. 

I'm working on this selfie thing. 
I figure as an English teacher I should not only know about new words but should actively use them. And, if the Pope can endorse selfies, they must be an okay thing, right? 
Obviously, I still need some practice!

arrival at work -- I tried the "night" setting on my phone camera -- clearly NOT the thing to do

It was rather cold: -15 with wind chill of -26. I wore my new L.L. Bean riding coat over three merino sweaters. On my legs: long underwear, skinny pants and my MEC Adanac tights. On my head: a wool cap lined with fleece and my helmet. Around my neck: a small fleece scarf inside the coat and my big long alpaca scarf on the outside, wrapped around twice. On my hands: wool gloves and my Olympic mittens. (There are new ones out now for the Sochi Olympics, but they don't look quite as warm.) On my feet: thin socks, Smartwool socks and my tall boots. I was warm enough, except for the times I had to stop and wait for the light to change -- then my feet got a little bit cold.

love these extra-warm mittens

Today was our last day of classes before the Christmas break. Tomorrow we have a Christmas party. For the last three days, I've had the students speak on various topics -- sometimes they choose; sometimes I assign the topic. After each student finishes speaking, the other students can ask questions. They enjoy this immensely and did a great job. It's fun to hear what they have to say and it's heartening to see how much progress they've made after just a few months. The end of a session -- and in this case, the end of a year of teaching -- always makes me reflect on how fortunate I am to have a job I love, as well as an awesome way to get to work, even when, "Baby, it's cold outside"!