A local rider mentioned recently that they had a new gravel bike but had only ridden it on pavement. Where did they start riding on gravel? The answer is to look outside the city limits. While we have a fantastic network of cycle paths, they are almost exclusively paved which is fantastic unless you want to learn to ride gravel. Fortunately, Rocky View County, that encloses us on three sides has 1,600km of gravel roads and these are a great place to begin your gravel adventures.
Gravel roads are shown as red lines on this map: /www.rockyview.ca/Portals/0/Files/Maps/Rocky-View-County-Map.pdf
You may wonder why I didn’t mention Nose Hill Park that is within the city and has numerous unpaved trails. For beginners, though the paths on Nose Hill are frequently narrow and often steep so are best tackled when you have gained confidence on more forgiving routes.
The closest areas with a good density of wide gravel roads which can be linked together to form circular route are: to the north between the city and Madden; the north east from Chestermere, and the south east from Chestermere. There is also a small area in Foothills County east of Okotoks. Rides of 20km, 40km or even 80km can readily be planned where virtually all the riding will be off pavement. The road surfaces will vary from old, hardpacked gravel that runs freely to new loose gravel that fees like cycling on marbles. Occasionally you will encounter that bane of all unpaved roads, washboarding, where the surface pushed into closely-spaced ridges and it feels like you are riding on a corrugated iron roof.
there are few places where you can freewheel other than on obvious downhill sections
While there is some rural traffic on these roads, they are lightly used and drivers are likely locals. Even so, it still best to ride with a high intensity rear light to be seen when passing vehicles kick up dust. There are undulations in the prairie terrain that these roads pass through so you need to take care near blind summits if you are tracking the middle of the road, following the smoother line. You quickly learn that the easiest line to follow is in the wheel tracks of previous car and truck users.
Once you have cycled a few kilometres on gravel, you will begin notice that there are few places where you can freewheel other than on obvious downhill sections. The extra rolling resistance is reflected in your speed that is likely 5kph slower than your road bike speed, so don’t be too ambitious with target distances. If you are used to riding 40km on the road, I would initially reduce that distance to 20km on gravel.
With some experience on gravel, you may be ready for the more challenging routes in the foothills such as in the Ghost Public Land Use Zone north of Cochrane, the MacLean Creek Off-Highway PLUZ south of Bragg Creek or even further south in the Porcupine Hills west of Nanton and Claresholm. Some ideas are given on these sites Alberta Gravel Cycling Routes and Gravel Cycling Routes Calgary Alberta Canada — BikeBike but be aware that the riding in these areas is often much tougher than on the prairies and these areas are more remote if you get into difficulty.
Wherever you start to ride on gravel, one thing is certain. You will soon be out looking for more routes in more interesting areas. You may be seeking the solitude of the forests or the challenge of steeper climbs, or may just enjoy cycling on roads with little vehicular traffic. Whatever your reason for riding off pavement, there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy both paved and unpaved experiences. Gravel bikes ride very well on pavement too!