Yup....looks like what I was getting from the videos too. Looks like Spruce Meadows may be what they are looking at for the start/finish. The 2nd day should be nice...it's a little more downhill based on how much uphill it was last year (I still have my elevation profile from the 2009 Ride) ;)

Too bad we're not closer to Highway 2 in Nanton...If memory serves there is a WW2 Lancaster Bomber down there that I'd like to check out at some point ;)

-- Edited by Psycho Mike on Friday 26th of March 2010 12:28:15 AM

Looks like it comes right through Nanton so you'll get to see the Bomber, we'll ride right by the museum.

Is there anywhere to get a map with the changes in elevation for the predicted route?

I could be wrong, but it looks like the animation shows the Day 1 starting route heading south out of Spruce Meadows on Spruce Meadows Way (rather than east on 22X and south on Highway 2). That would avoid the heavier traffic on Highway 2 south of Calgary.

It looks pretty challenging for both days but that climb at the end of day one will be a bugger.

The downhill and wind at the back on day 2 is wonderful...and not having to arrange buses, saving that money (and the gas/diesel) are great too.

I'm actually somewhat happy the route isn't totally different...that is some very picturesque country and the perfect backdrop for this ride....pretty symbolic too. In spite of the storms, rain, thunder, lightning, snow, blizzards etc, the mountains stand firm against the onslaught of nature...kinda like the survivors. It ain't easy, but those who make it in the battle against this horrible disease are a lot like the mountains...standing as strong as they can against what comes against them.

Okay, on Day 1 this year there will be a pretty good climb near the end, but it won't be anywhere near the monster we had on Day 2 last year (5 km @ 3-5% for a warm up and then 5 km @ 8-11%). At the end of a day of pedalling, it will be tough and a lot of folks may end up walking part of it, but if that is the toughest part of the route, I'll take it. :)

Considering last year was 183 km with a nasty climb early on day 1, a vast majority of day 2 being climb (the last 20 km was more flat but you couldn't tell) and against a headwind, I don't think many will mind 210-220 km with fewer hills/monsters and a more downhill trend on day 2. Plus there's a decent chance of a tail wind on Day 2 ;)

I haven't ridden the tentative route, but I suspect it will be a lot easier for the average cyclist.

Tammy, don't worry...we all have downers, but you did 183 km last year with some pretty tough conditions for an average cyclist....this year, even though it may be longer, it'll seem easier I'm sure.

Tammy,

We don't have anything planned yet, but I'm good for a ride on the 24th. I'm sure I can come up with something to fill a few hours of your time (I might already know one nice route that may be perfect for that time (depending on how fast you are) and it doesn't have a lot of hills...just one decent though short hill that can be walked and some mild grades. :) Maybe we can get a few folks to join us :)

You can drop me a line (my email is on my team webpage...link in my signature) with some more details about time and I can give you directions to someplace we can meet to start/end the ride.

Hehehe...my 183km came from the gps: It breaks out the horizontal (183km) and the vertical (1.6km) and is +/- a little bit...using just the regular wheel sensor it would have been a little different, probably ~187km depending on how far off the road one took one's bike at lunch and the pit stops :)

Yay Tammy, looking forward to riding with you. I'm still on rehab for my knee so we can be pokey together. Hope to see you on the 24th for a ride.

Oooooh. Don't encourage Mike too much , Although I must say he is learning to play nice with others

That's liveable. Sure it's toward the end of the first day, but last year, day 2 had a 30km/h headwind and the "big" hill was a two stager: the warm-up was 5 km @ 3-5% grade followed by 5km @ 7-10% grade with no break in between.

I can handle 4-5% for 3-4 km after that ;)

Realistically, 3-4% grade isn't that bad...when you consider that most roads in the province have a small grade from shoulder to crown (say 1-2%) for drainage.

You'll feel 5% and if it is prolonged, you may need to walk it a bit if you're not used to it, but it is managable if you gear down and spin (don't try to keep going in a big gear and mash it...it is hard on your knees).

Although it's only a couple hundred meters, we have one local slope (yes, with an asphalt surface) with a 30% grade. I was geared right down on the mountain bike (22-34 gearing) and it was a challenging climb, but even that can be done on a bike. :)

The thread is located under training tips called Nanton to Chain Lakes.  10:30 is the meeting time at the macs/gas station on the west side of Hwy 2 southbound.

Hi again. I just went to mapmyride.com and created the leg from just outside Nanton to Chain Lakes and downloaded the data. There is date given as to distance and altitude for every 15 meter or so.

Playing with the numbers I came up with the steepest grade being 9.29% (ouch, this is very close to the top of the hill at 24K give or take a little) but the good news are that this is measured over 14 meters linear. I also calculated the % rise over every 500 meter and the largest % here was 5.44% @ about 16.5K. The long hill starts at around 11K and summits at 24.3K with an average grade of 2.33%. The long hill flattens out at around 19K and gives us a break for a couple of K. From 11K until the 19K the hill ascends at 3.4% average. From 24.3K to 36.6 we will have an average decent of 1%.

I think I can, I think I can...

How was the training ride?

If anyone is interested in riding the entire day one route (as it was gleaned from the fly by videos) and would like a GPX file they can upload to a GPS for turn by turn directions let me know and I can forward you a copy of the one CrazyCGA and I used to cycle the whole route.

Route 533 by itself is not that scary, yes there are some hills, mostly up, but some down and by itself would not pose much of a challenge to anyone who has been out training for 6 weeks prior to the ride. That being said the route we took, and remember they keep telling us this is not the "official" route, has about 450m of elevation gain before you hit the hills on hi-way 533 at the 80KM mark in the ride. So your legs are no where near as fresh as they would be if you just did a training run from Nanton to Chain Lakes and back.