Hello all, I have a tricky situation. To train properly for this event I need to go out and log some highway miles, as laps around the reservoir and commuting just won't cut it. Problem is, most of the highways surrounding Calgary are either very busy with traffic or have extremely narrow shoulders or both! The standard highway 8 or highway 22, or any of the roads aound springbank don't really fit my criteria (in my mind anyway)....
Does anyone have any good, quiet, wide routes that they want to share? Thanks in advance!
Well we had some seasoned riders and some newbies last year and we used 22x from Spruce Meadows to Bragg Creek and back and it was pretty safe as the shoulders are wide and lots use it for riding. The trail out to Chestermere is also good if you don't want to hit roads yet.
Thanks Morrisjo, but when I used to ride (a few years ago) I thought the eastbound shoulder on 22x was pretty much non-existent. Haven't been down there for a while, so I'm not sure if it has changed or not.
The Pridis area offers some great rides. There are loop options ranging from about 50km to as much as you can handle. Very little traffic unless you choose to do the loop that includes a section of 22x. There is also a nice cafe for post ride replenishment. You also get some good hills.
Another really fun ride to do is to ride the highwood pass the last weekend before it opens to cars. Start at the South end and you have a 37km uphill grind to the top of the pass. You can turn around there and bomb back down or go over the pass to the north gate. Add a small bit from the north gate to Pocaterra for a refill of water and then turn around and head back up and over. Total distance gate to gate and back again is 110km. It is hard but really fun because with now cars it is the biggest bike path you will ever be on.
the route through Edworthy Park and over the water on to the bike path down to the base ball fields is really nice ... the one that goes under 17 ave SE and heads towards chestermere is just about devoid of hills but really nice stretch about 50K ... besides that you can type in bike paths in calgary and get a map of all of calgarys bike paths... good luck ...
Pookey, yeah i was going to look into some of the new paths. The east calgary greenway? IS it very long or crowded? Anybody rode on it? It hard to get a workout on the paths around the glenmore reservoir - lots of walkers, dogs etc. I somtimes do hill repeats in Parkland down to bow bottom trail - 4 lanes, no traffic good for working on shorter steeper grades.
KRD, yeah I was thinking about that. Perhaps we could organize a group training ride there. Being a little remote with no vehicle access it would prabably be a good idea to ride in a group. Is there usually still snow on it before that last weekend? Or could you go earlier? Could be chilly...
Last year the Highwood had snow in the ditches at the top but was in great shape otherwise. I was thinking of offering to lead a group ride. It is possible to do it earlier in June but I am not sure that my body will be ready. The road also may not be ready, depending on what the spring storms do.
Last year was my first time riding the Highwood Pass. It was quite chilly in the morning. I needed a jacket and tights. By mid afternoon it was shorts and jersey weather. It was a real confidence builder to have such a big climb under my belt before RTCC. The timing is such that you have a full week to recover before RTCC.
KRD, We did the Highwood Pass ride on May 31 last year, and there was still snow covering the road at the summit. Might be better this year with the warmer weather.
Another road ride without cars is Highway 66 west of Elbow Falls in Kananaskis (near Bragg Creek). It's closed to cars until May 14th, but there's traffic on #66 from Bragg Creek until the falls. A steep climb past the winter gate, then downhill to Forgetmenot Pond, about 14 km return or so. You can make it a longer ride by starting from Bragg Creek.
Keep in mind cell phone coverage is not great past Elbow Falls and near the top of Highwood Pass.
Not so sure what the east calgary greenway is but if you are referring to the 17ave to chestermere route it was almost empty when we did in the middle of may last year.... and I did Edworthy Park in June last year and it was great... not alot of traffic but it was so peaceful....
Rode today with the organized ride thru RTCC from Calgary BMW to Chestermere and Back to Cgy BMW. It was on the canal pathway. The ride was very windy today but managable not very many people out there either. The total kms ridden was 50kms, not super far but a good ride with good people.
Krebs, I like your user name. I have to say I don't usually give much thought to cell phone coverage. Both the Highwood and highway 66 routes are mostly out of coverage. Last year on the Highwood I was supposed to be on the ride with a large group. The group broke up at the summit after starting from the north side. Lots of people thought that was enough and turned around and headed back. I didn't want to go back at that point because it would have only made for a 34km ride and I had already done the hard part. I had intended to complete that gate to gate and back again so that is what I did.
There were lots of people out there, some of whom were probably part of the group that I theoretically belonged to. It was not like I was riding totally alone yet essentially I spent the entire day alone. In some ways that was a good thing. I was confident that I could complete the ride, and I did. At not point did I feel vulnerable for lack of cell coverage.
I don't want to start a flame war. I think that cell phones are great tools but I wouldn't let the lack of coverage stop me from doing a long ride. Bad weather, lack of conditioning or sometimes a lack of riding partners would, but not a lack of cell coverage.
KRD, I agree completely ... though I usually carry a cell phone on rides, I wouldn't necessarily rely on it to bail me out of trouble - same principle as when hiking or mountain biking in remote areas.
PS - I usually turn the darn thing off or silence it so it doesn't interrupt the ride!
-- Edited by Krebs Cycle on Tuesday 20th of April 2010 04:12:35 AM
Rode today with the organized ride thru RTCC from Calgary BMW to Chestermere and Back to Cgy BMW. It was on the canal pathway. The ride was very windy today but managable not very many people out there either. The total kms ridden was 50kms, not super far but a good ride with good people.
Jason - how are the organized rides thru RTCC publicized? I can only find Edmonton rides and handful in Calgary in May on the web site. Am I missing something?
Cathryn, I found out thru the training rides list here on the site and on the facebook page. Just log in as you normally would on the main page and click down the registered participants rectangle. It should show a training tab and click on it,and you will see the Dilawri group training rides. The next one is on may 2 I believe and starts at Calgary honda.
