Cycling in a winter wonderland

“Daddy, let’s go!” 

Ramona LeDressay and her sisters are bundled up in parkas and ready for their morning drive to school. Their dad, David, swings his leg over the seat of what he calls his mini-van. It’s a bicycle with a rear seat that fits two of his children—and a trailer for the third. 

“OK, let’s go!” he says, as he pedals away in the snow. Ramona shrieks with glee.

Every winter, thousands of Edmontonians use their bicycles to get to school or work, buy groceries, explore the river valley’s trails, and so much more. The City of Edmonton estimates one in four cyclists ride all-year round. More than 90,000 bike trips were counted in December 2023—an increase of 143 per cent over the previous December.

LeDressay says his children like the bike commute as much as he does. 

“It’s a lot of fun,” he says. “They get to see a lot more, you move at a much more kid-friendly pace. We have opportunities to stop—they can get off and play much easier than if they were in a vehicle or even on public transportation.” 

Dr. Kate Storey uses her fat bike—more on those later!—to get to and from work as an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. She loves being active and enjoys being out in the fresh winter air. 

There are more than 160 km of shared pathways and unpaved trails throughout Edmonton’s river valley alone. Across the city, there are more 32 km of protected bike lanes and more than 1,000 km of shared pathways—with another 17 km of the latter scheduled to open in 2024.  (More routes are planned for 2025 and 2026, as part of a $100 million expansion of the city’s active transportation network.)

“I’ve been cycling for about 10 years now,” says LeDressay. “As bicycle infrastructure has continued to expand, as well as the fact that the City is working really hard to clear the lanes and stuff like that, it’s gotten much, much faster, much more efficient, safer and less unpredictable. Cycling in winter is immensely easier compared to when I first started.”

It’s also easier than ever to learn the ins and outs of winter cycling and meet other winter bike enthusiasts. Some of them meet on Friday mornings as part of Coffee Outside at Constable Ezio Faraone Park. Let’s Bike There YEG, a group of cargo bike owners, host monthly meet-ups at playgrounds around the city. There's the Winter Cycling Congress, a three-day international conference in Edmonton, from February 22 to 24, 2024, with several free meet-ups. There’s also the Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance, a group of volunteers who help to maintain some of the unpaved single-track trails in the river valley.

“Edmonton’s bicycle community is great,” says Gary Tait, general manager of Mud, Sweat and Gears, a bike shop in the west end. 

“Every Saturday morning, I get to work and there’s a group of guys that are meeting here in our parking lot to go ride trails together. We see that a couple of times throughout the week. We’re so lucky to have our river valley, the trail system. I can’t think of too many other places I’d rather live than Edmonton to be able to ride single-track trails right outside our front doors, in winter or summer.” 

Mud, Sweat and Gears also runs its own river valley rides for fat bike riders of all levels. Fat bikes use thicker and wider tires, which make it easier to float through snow-covered trails. (Tait says fat bike sales exploded during the pandemic.) Regular bikes can also be used in winter; many local cyclists add studded tires to their cruisers or road bikes for better traction. As for what to wear to keep warm (but not overheat), Tait suggests dressing in layers and avoiding cotton. “When it gets wet, it holds moisture against your skin,” he says.

Angela Ostafichuk bought her used bike for $100 from an online seller. “There's so much to love about winter cycling, fresh air, exercise, but also I get to see a lot of people,” she says.