My current home of Edmonton isn’t very windy by the standards of the place I grew up. When the people here get worked up about how strong the winds are during a storm, I’m most often underwhelmed. Are trains blowing off the tracks? Are truckers driving down the highway two-abreast to try to stay on the road? No? It’s not that windy, then. Go to Wreckhouse during a Southeaster and then we can talk about wind.
On other hand, we do get  intense winds here in Edmonton during summer thunderstorms but they usually only last for less than half an hour. When a breeze settles in to stay a while it is quite the occasion. And then there are tornados on the prairies as well – something I hope to never see.
Given all that, our recent day-long storm with gusts exceeding 100 km/h was a pretty big deal here. I rode to work in the morning on my Raleigh Superbe through a steady downpour and with a strong tailwind. The storm kindly expended most of its force while I was snug inside at work listening to radio reports of the storm damage, power outages and fallen trees. By the time I was heading home there was only a stiff headwind with driving rain that fizzled out as I rode.
The were were certainly a lot of branches and twigs stem across the asphalt. I decided it was probably safe to dip down onto the Mill Creek paved trail for a short distance and see if there was any storm damage. In what was likely less than a kilometer of riding I had to get past about eight trees fallen across the path. I forgot to count at the time. I didn’t take any pictures due to the rain, but the next day on my way to work I took one shot before detouring back to street level.
The city announced that all River Valley trails we closed for the day, but the foresters put in a hard day’s work and almost all the paths were reopened by time time I was headed home.
All in all, I do have to admit that it was a fine little breeze we had.
tuckamoredew 