Drumheller, famously known for its dinosaur museum, lies on the Red Deer River where it cuts through the Badlands of Alberta.   The river valley is narrow and steep-sided revealing stripy layers of mud and ash laid down 70 million years ago and carved into deep gulleys after the last Ice Age.   This land is barren, lumpy and unusable for crops but away from the river and its feeder valleys the land transitions to the prairie plateau.   On the plateau, you can see for miles across the gentle undulating arable landscape.

I was staying in Rosedale some 6km downriver from Drumheller, and had planned a route that encompassed views of the Badlands and the wide prairie above it, taking advantage of the web of gravel roads that cover the area south of the Red Deer River.  I was also taking advantage of the early sunrise at that time of the year.  Traffic wouldn’t be an issue as the roads are only used for access to farms, small oil installations and wind generators, and these are few and far between.

The evening that I arrived in Rosedale there was a sprinkling of rain that, fortunately, would do nothing more than help suppress dust on unpaved roads.  I had ridden in this area previously after heavy rain and that had turned the road surface to a thick mud which bound loose chippings to my tires reducing my speed to a crawl.  My luck was in this time.

Setting off at sunrise, I needed a jacket to keep of the chill as I made my way south up the Rosebud River valley on the 10X road towards Wayne a former coal mining village.  The original planners intended the road to run directly up the gently sloping valley to Wayne but the river has other ideas as it constantly wends across the valley floor.   Consequently, the road has to cross the river no less than eleven times in only six kilometres.   

Wayne is a spread-out collection of modest homes so the two-storey Last Chance Saloon is easy to spot off on the west side of the road. Just when you are getting used to the speed of the paved surface and gentle incline, both change and you are faced with a steep, gravel climb out of the valley.  On that gradient it’s good to find a line clear of loose grit to give your tires purchase.  At least the sun on my back began to warm me as I made my way up to a T junction where the  gradient eased.

Here the roads are mostly known by their original Township Road or Range Road designations; I turned right onto  Township Road 280.  Now the sun had risen, I had extensive views over the Red River to the Badlands to the north.   A red glow in the sky was perhaps a portent of the severe thundery weather we would experience much latter in the day, fortunately, long after I had completed my circuit.  

At the first turn, one mile later, I turned south onto Range Road 200 and traversed the landscape in that direction for several more kilometres.  Away from the Red River, there was no sign that you were in the Badlands as this was rolling arable land, uncharacteristically green after  the heavy spring rain.  A couple of wind turbines broke the horizon east of me and I passed dilapidated wooden barns and a donkey oil extraction pump.

The gravel surface was moist so there was no dust and ran freely, not that I saw a single vehicle on the gravel sections. I only saw two cars when I was returning  on a paved section of Highway 841 where it crosses the Rose Bud River further west.  Navigating the East/West or North/South gravel roads is in the most part simple, though they are not all dead straight where they have to run around a creek or a significant hill.   Also, I found two roads had no through access despite being marked as routes on the Garmin and Ride with GPS apps.  Luckily, there is usually an alternative road heading in the same direction one mile further west or two miles further south so detours are a minor inconvenience.

My route was roughly rectangular, about 8km by 4km with the longer, north-bound leg eventually clipping Highway 9 on its run into Drumheller. At that time of morning, I encountered no traffic on the main road towards the town before I peeled off onto Township Road 284 that heads directly east to Rosedale.  After passing an oil installation, I noticed a sign indicating the road was seasonal and may be impassable in wet weather.  Tributary creek beds running down to the Red River forced the road to twist and turn, presenting me with a fun, rougher descent. At one bend, a deep gully to my right afforded a view way down to the Rosebud River valley floor.

Suddenly the road began to plunge steeply but a sign proclaimed “End of Public Road”.   Ahead of me was a grey ramp of hard packed mud cutting down through dark and light bands of mudstone and clays.  I hesitated for a moment wondering if this was private for the last 200 metres down to the valley; or was it just a deterrent because the surface felt soft  under my 45mm tires.  With no alternative route, save backtracking  four kilometres to Highway 9, I took the plunge.  At that angle of descent, I held the brakes on all the way down but the surface smeared and slid disturbingly under the tires.

With some relief, I levelled out next to a scrapyard and rolled onto I Street North that joined the paved Centre Street and then 2 Avenue, the through road also designated Highway 10.  From there it was just five minutes cycle back to the Bridge View campsite where I was staying.  The circuit of 47km with 500m of ascent took 2 ½ hours travelling at my gravel average speed of 20kph.  With the final descent I described, I would not recommend riding this in the reverse direction.  

This was a fun route and a great introduction to the diffeernt types of gravel riding in the Drumheller district.

Planning to undertake a long bike ride a few years ago,  I became frustrated when  my friends’ initial reaction was always what charity was I doing it for?  The assumption that people only rode that sort of distance as a challenge for  charity was ingrained, it seemed.    I toyed with the idea of raising funds for youth in the far north and suggested sites to contribute to on my posts but the intention of my ride was to satisfy my own curiosity of what I could achieve.  I was irked at the suggestion that riding that distance without raising money was somehow selfish.

I was going to ride longer days and at a higher speed than most cross-Canada cyclists as I had only nine weeks off work to complete a route of over 8,000km. There was no personal charity that I felt would give me the spur I needed to complete my training program – the ride was my  goal.  

The modern-day plethora of sponsored bike rides for charity appears to have grown out of  earlier sponsored walk events from the 1960’s and 1970’s.  I recall as a young teenager back then undertaking a challenge walk of 20 miles in support of our village community association. We needed a playing field and hall and every mile I walked would contribute more to that fund so it was implied I would suffer more to achieve that noble goal and complete the full journey.      

The idea of suffering to ride big miles on a bike for charity bothers me.  If you are sufficiently well-trained then the distances you attempt on a bike should be achievable and the ride should be enjoyable. That does not mean the ride should be unchallenging but the challenge should not reach the point where you are actually hurting.

I have been out riding in the Fraser Valley of BC and encountered the tail end of  a charity 100km ride where the stragglers were “limping” their way to Chilliwack where they would overnight and then ride a further 100km to Hope the next day.  Saddle-sore and weary with aching muscles and joints, these riders would be put off ever riding that sort of distance again.  When well-wishers applauded their heroic arrival in Hope the following afternoon, they would be subconsciously reinforcing the myth that riding long distances is an ordeal that just needs to be endured.  

Despite my ambivalence to charity rides, I have participated in couple where I could simply contribute a fixed amount and wasn’t expected to set up a fund-raising page to drum up a minimum sponsorship.   In this way, I feel I was paying the charity for my enjoyment, not asking others to contribute for my “suffering”.   Contributors are strangely reluctant to give away their hard-earned money if they think you will actually enjoy a sponsored event.     

It’s rare I get an opportunity to cycle with my twin Dave nowadays so on my latest trip to England when I was staying near his home in West London, I agreed to meet up so he could take me on his local training ride around Richmond Park.

At 2,500 acres or 10 square kilometres, Richmond Park is the largest Royal Park in Greater London. It was set up almost 400 years ago by King Charles I, initially as a closed estate for hunting.  The public has been allowed access for the last 250 years and it was landscaped by Capability Brown to enhance its seemingly natural layout.   Today, speed restrictions and sections closed to motor vehicles make the Parks’ roads ideal to West London’s cyclists and an increasing number of tourists riding e-bikes. 

Much as he would love to live in Richmond itself,   Dave lives 8km north of the River Thames in Ealing, presenting us with twenty minutes of traffic-filled streets to negotiate first.  I set off in front from Dave’s front door, descending a street lined on both sides by parked cars.  The houses here were built before most people had a motor vehicle. Small front gardens are now paved over to fit perhaps one car while the another is on the road.  The available driving space is only wide enough for single  lane traffic so it wasn’t obvious I was on the wrong side until Dave reminded me: “Left Side!”

After that, I simply followed in his wake, riding his Specialized Tarmac road bike.  The saddle was a little too high if I was being picky but otherwise it rode perfectly and the electronic Di2 shifting was a boon  when I had to make quick decisions whether to stop or accelerate.  There was much to concentrate on with buses, pedestrians and numerous meal deliverers on e-bikes. To the cyclists’ advantage though, the car or bicycle is king here as British pedestrians do not have the right to step out unpredictably at intersections.   

With 18 different streets, a railway crossing and Kew Bridge over the Thames to negotiate just to reach Richmond Park,  I was glad I didn’t have to navigate and I don’t think even a head unit could present the information fast enough to follow without slowing.

Just over Kew Bridge, my attention was immediately drawn to a cricket match being played on the historic pitch at Kew Green.  Cricket has been played here since 1732 so it was great to see the tradition being continued .

Dave’s outbound route doglegged between two large cemeteries before climbing slowly up from near river level to the Richmond Park entrance by the Royal Star and Garter Home. The Home is a magnificent Georgian-styled five storey building, erected after the First World War for injured veterans but now converted into high end apartments. 

Once you exit the roundabout to the Park entrance, the speed limit is theoretically 20 mph or 32kph which is marginal for cyclists and certainly too slow for the downhill sections where gravity wants to take you up to 60kph.  If the speed limit doesn’t inhibit you, though, a number of motorists drive below 20mph and you have to decide whether and when to overtake them. 

The Park’s roads are laid out in a roughly triangular form with Queen Road initially leading you downhill on the western side towards Kingston Gate.  Immediately, you find the Park is characterized by copses of deciduous trees set in green parkland with conspicuous veteran oak trees that are several hundred years old.  The oldest are 700 to 800 years old, and like the buildings in this part of the world, appear quite extraordinary to north American eyes.

Before shooting out of the southwest corner of the Park, you take a hard left at a roundabout and begin to regain some of those 50m height you lost with a climb up Bromfield Hill to a large parking area.  On the way, we were fortunate enough to see some of the herd of Red Deer that are protected by the Park’s National Nature Reserve status.  Over-eager tourists had parked haphazardly at the roadside and on the grass in an attempt to capture a photo of the animals.

Beyond the parking area, Broomfield Hill drops down in a sweeping “S” curve through more closely spaced trees and we had to be mindful of deer wandering out onto the road here where motor traffic is not allowed.      Despite the lack of cars, there were a number of cyclists either riding training circuits or just enjoying the countryside that is so different from the densely packed streets and housing only a mile or so away.  I had to mind my speed on Dave’s bike as I wasn’t familiar with the ride with its 26mm tires and a stiff frame. 

Cycling through this part of the woodland, I kept hearing bird squawking that appeared completely out of place. Dave explained the noise was from the flocks of Ring-necked. Parakeets that have now taken over this part of south east England. Considered a pest, these mostly green birds out-compete indigenous species and appeared in London when the number of escaped pet birds gradually became a sustainable population.

During the second and third circuits, I got used to the fast descent and the climbs so we improved our times.  We also noticed other riders as we crossed their clockwise paths around the Park. I’m not sure which direction was more popular for cyclists. As there are roundabouts marking each turn, there is no great advantage in riding clockwise to secure left turns as we did. 

Rain in the form of drizzle arrived during our second circuit but luckily the surfaces remained grippy.  Even after we turned back towards Ealing after our third circuit, the rain wasn’t penetrating my shower-proof jacket.  At no time was I especially warm though as the temperature had hovered around 14°C under a grey sky.  The wind was a gentle westerly that only became noticeable when we climbed westwards in to it on Sawyers Hill.

For variety, Dave took a couple of different roads back to Ealing, the first taking us past the Victoria Gate of Kew Gardens.  The cricketers in Kew were hiding from the rain as we passed the ground before crossing Kew Bridge to the north side of the Thames. Apart from traffic light holdups, we were stopped by the barrier at a railway crossing before taking a shortcut along a traffic free path through South Ealing Cemetery.  Once we crossed the railway bridge at West Ealing I realized we were almost back to Dave’s home.

Our total distance with three circuits of Richmond Park was 53km with a surprising 443m of climbing and we had taken 2 ¼ hours. As everywhere in urban riding, the stop-start nature of the riding reduced our average speed to 24kph but this was no endurance ride. 

Overall, I found a huge contrast between riding on the busy streets and in what appeared to be the open countryside of Richmond Park.  Certainly, in the Park you could concentrate on pushing yourself hard if you wanted to whereas in the city you had to remain alert for hazards at all times and hold something back.  Consequently the half hour ride out and back were ideal for  warming up and cooling down.

The announcement this month that Dunlop has returned to manufacturing bike tires made me realize just how long some of these tire companies have been going.  John Boyd Dunlop didn’t invent the pneumatic rubber tire but he quickly saw its potential for bicycles when he made some for his son’s tricycle in 1887.  As a veterinarian in Belfast, Dunlop used rubber sheet in his practice and made the tires by cutting and sewing together strips of the sheet into tubes that he wrapped in canvas before gluing to the wheel rims.  Very soon afterwards, he persuaded a local cycle racer, Willie Hume, to use his tires at an event in Belfast. When Hume won, the demand for Dunlop’s tires was immediate. Soon afterwards, Dunlop took out a patent and set up a company with the  President of the Irish Cyclists Association.

Dunlop didn’t make a fortune as his patent was invalidated after it was later realized another Briton, Robert William Thomson, had patented pneumatic tires in 1845. Thompson’s invention preceded that of the motor car and the bicycle but he could not persuade the conservative carriage manufacturers of the day to use pneumatic tires.  However,  by the end of the century,   automobile and bicycle manufacturers were open to new technology and tire companies were quickly established both in Europe and America.    

Ironically, it was only after Dunlop sold out his interest in the company he founded that it was renamed in 1900 to honour him.   In a similar manner, an American tire company was named to honour a pioneer in rubber development, Charles Goodyear,  the inventor of vulcanization, a process of adding sulphur to stabilize sticky natural rubber.  Before Goodyear, rubber had very few industrial applications even though it had been used by the ancient Mayans for balls and toys.   Goodyear, the tire company, has also recently returned to making bicycle tires after a long period of concentrating solely on motor vehicle tires.

Initially bicycle tires were simply stuck onto the wheel rims like the so-called “Tubs” used until recently for racing applications.  However, punctures in these tires were difficult to repair, losing riders significant time in long distance cycle races that were by then becoming popular.  To speed up puncture repair, Michelin developed the glue-less clincher tire in 1891.  With a wire bead, the clincher tire could be removed and refitted allowing the inner tube to be repaired.  The design was demonstrated on the Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race that year and adopted for motor car tires in 1895.  

Other European companies already established by then were Continental (1871) that had been making solid rubber tires in Hanover,  Hutchison (1853) that had made rubber treated fabrics in France and tires by 1890, and Pirelli (1872) making rubber goods in Milan and then bike tires in 1894.  Vredestein (1909) started to make cycle tires in the Netherlands in 1910.

While tubeless tires have only recently made their way onto road bikes, B.F Goodrich developed them for cars immediately after the Second World War, some eighty years ago. The demand for rubber in the War was exhausting all natural supplies so an artificial “Butyl” rubber was developed. Butyl rubber proved to be more durable and had very low gas permeability.  B.F. Goodrich realized these properties would make tubeless tire practical.  However, the cycling world  continued with latex  that was lighter and more supple.  Advances like the introduction of TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane) inner tubes tires a decade ago by the Austrian company Tubolito  further slowed the adoption of tubeless cycling tires.  Interestingly, it was B.F Goderich again who invented Thermoplastic polyurethane back in 1959.

When you look at the tires ridden by the current professional teams (}ref), half of the manufacturers  have been around for over a century and even the “newest” company, TUFO is 35 years old.  Sadly, neither Dunlop or Goodyear has made it to the list yet.

#	Manufacturer	Teams	Established
1	Continental	21	1871 Germany
2	Vittoria	14	1953  Italy
3	Schwalbe	10	1973 Germany
4	Pirelli	8	1872  Italy
5	Specialized	3	1974  USA
6	TUFO	3	1991 Czech Republic
7	Hutchinson	2	1853  France
8	Michelin	2	1891  France
9	Maxxis	1	1967 Taiwan
10	Vredestein	1	1909 Netherlands

The prompt for me to undertake a VO2 Max Test came from an odd source.  At a charity gala where my daughter was volunteering, various products and services were being auctioned off.  I got a call from her at the gala: “Did I want to bid for a VO2 Max test?” It seemed such an unlikely, specialized service to be offering but I said yes.  Eventually, other bids exceeded the nominal value of the test and I wasn’t successful but my interest was piqued enough for me to book a test anyway.

My pre-instructions from  the TCR Bike Shop – Fitness and Training, were simple,  don’t do anything too strenuous the day before, wear cycle kit and bring your own shoes.  I thought it would be a good idea to be fully hydrated too, so consumed a bottle of Scratch drink over the two hours before my appointment.

As I was booking in at the front test and completing the usual medical forms,  a client who was just leaving wished me good luck.  If I wasn’t nervous before, his cryptic message nudged up my anxiety a notch further.  I wasn’t exactly sure what format the test would take though I believed it was a ramp type test where power was increased in steps.

Initially though, I was introduced to Jessica, a highly qualified exercise physiology assessor who was going to run me through the process over the next ninety minutes. The step test itself would take only a small part of that total time as first she needed to weigh me, measure my height and take my blood pressure.   I seemed to have lost a centimetre, gained a kilogram and have slightly elevated blood pressure! Of the three measurements, only weight was relevant to VO2 Max as the results would be read per kilogram.  

Did I know what VO2 Max was and what it signified?  I admitted to being a bit vague but was aware that supermen like Pogačar had figures like 80+ of what whatever units were.    I learned that VO2 max was the volume of Oxygen my body could usefully use to generate energy per minute and this value was rated against my overall mass.  The heavier I was, the lower that figure would be.  So, what did the value actually inform me?  Essentially, how fit I was for aerobic activity.   

Now, I was not born a natural endurance athlete.  In high school cross-country running, I came home in the bottom 10% even though I could sprint well. Anything over 200m was a nightmare to me.   I could hike and cycle long distances but it was only as I aged, that I managed to train myself to run longer distances and to cycle faster. Had my VO2 Max been higher as a youth I am sure I would have pursued competitive sport for longer. Consequently, I was keen to discover how my endurance fitness now compared with that of my cohort, 50 years later.

Before commencing the measured test, Jessica got me to put on the heart rate chest strap and shoes and sit on the saddle so she could adjust the test machine for my dimensions.  After some finessing, I was satisfied with the set up and followed a gentle warm up program without wearing the mask.  I rode at 40% and steadily up to 70% of my current Functional Threshold Power (FTP).   It was a comfortable pace at 80 to 90 RPM pedal cadence so I was able to chat with Jessica about my future rides and plans for the year.

With the warm up complete, I got off the bike while Jessica selected a standard size mask and fitted the straps so it was tight to my face. Had I been running on a treadmill it would have been even tighter because of the bounce from running. As it was, I knew this new piece of equipment would bug me the most. There was very little resistance to breathing but occasionally the inlet valve would whistle gently so it sounded like I was wheezing.

Once I was seated back on the test bike,   Jessica connected my mask to a clear pipe that looked like a skinny vacuum cleaner hose.  The screen in front of me counted down to a big green GO sign and I began pedalling at 50% of my assumed FTP for two minutes.  I aimed to keep my pedalling RPM at around 85 and didn’t initially pay much attention to the other figures displayed.  At two minutes, the resistance increased by 20 Watts and I maintained around 85 PRM.  This was like the ERG mode on a smart bike trainer where the force required to turn the pedals will increase if the cyclist reduces the pedalling rate,  or reduce if the cyclist pedals faster.

By the third 20-Watt step, I was beginning to focus on the figure for my heart rate as it climbed.   I was still reasonably comfortable but becoming more conscious of the mask.  Ten minutes in and we reached my FTP so I was working hard and it was impossible to talk; I just acknowledged Jessica with a nod or thumb raise. Jessica’s gentle coaching had little persuasive impact on me as I had been conditioned in high school and the military by barking male coaches.

As my breathing rate increased, I was even more aware of the mask and found there was nowhere for snot and spit to go but down the tube.  Normally a wipe with my towel would suffice. The steps were only a minute long after 220W and I was ok up to 260W when I  noticed my heart rate was already over 150BPM which for me was quite high.  We clicked up to 280W and I was starting to have trouble keeping the RPM high enough – in the low 80s.  I was  tempted to grind out the power at a lower RPM but  I was struggling to breathe fast enough.

With seconds ticking by in the 280W minute, my heart rate hit 153 and I really wanted that mask off my face.  I knew when I reached the 300W step, I would not get through the next minute.  I wasn’t exactly panicking but, psychologically, I felt the mask was the cause of my breathing issues, and didn’t realize it was simply because I couldn’t breathe fast enough at that level of effort.  At the 300W step I made the cut gesture to Jessica but she struggled for several seconds to unclip the mask.

While it felt good to be free of the mask, my breathing rate didn’t slow immediately as the mask wasn’t really the problem.  Continuing to pedal at low power during the cool down period, I gradually got my breathing and heart rates down and stopped after 7 of the 10 suggested minutes.

Jessica began to process the results while I climbed off the bike to change into a tracksuit. I felt good as the overall exercise toll on me was relatively low.  Waiting for Jessica, I took the opportunity to peruse the rest of the store and their physiological test facilities. 

When the results were processed, I was presented with graphs and block diagrams but the figure I was most interested in was at the top of the page – 42.4 ml/kg/min.  Was this what I had expected, she asked?   I said I had hoped for something over 40 which Google had suggested was good for 60+ year olds.     On TCR Lab scale, of Poor, Below Average, Average, Good and Excellent, my figure crept into the low end of the Excellent range.  There was an additional figure for Ventilation in L/min where my figure of 145l/min was rated as Good.

We discussed whether I could have pushed further to the 300W step but Jessica showed me the VO2 against power curve which was already flattening suggesting I was at my limit.  Any increase in power after that can only be generated anaerobically.  Interestingly,  the data suggested my true FTP was nearer 210W than the 220W I had been using.  It is possible my own trainer bike set-up is measuring 5% too high as I have not recalibrated the Stages crank power meter for ages.  Even so, from my VO2 Max figures, it looked like I should be able to increase my FTP a further 10 or even 15 %. 

So, my Training Zones shook out approximately where I had expected.  Recovery was at a power level of 145W or lower at a heart rate of 105 to 109 BPM.  My Aerobic Zone 2 was 146-170W  for a Heart rate of 120 to 130 BPM.  Tempo would be 171 to 200W taking my heart rate from 131 to 138 BPM giving my Threshold of 200 to 220W at a heart rate of 139 to 147 BPM.  Above this, my VO2 Max was 280W, the last level I had completed and this would be at 153 BPM.   These were figures I could now enter to my TrainerRoad and Strava profiles. 

Jessica explained further that I could still improve my respiratory rate. Some of her clients could reach 60 breaths a minute but it was important not to hyperventilate and to take in full breaths each time.  The best way to  gain this improvement was to ride at VO2 max levels for longer periods and practice forcing a high breath rate. Typical training programs only had you riding for 20 seconds or perhaps a minute at VO2 max but if you could ride for 2 minutes say, you would have to force your breathing to keep going.

We also discussed fueling on the bike, for my Zone 2 continuous riding  power of 146 to 170W, it seemed I would need 54 grams of carbohydrate per hour. Above about 180W, all my fueling was by carbohydrate so any fat burning took place below that level. Jessica thought I should try to raise the % fat burning at each power level but whether this would be through fasted rides, like pre-breakfast or not I would need to investigate further myself.    

Was this a worthwhile experience for the $160 expenditure?  For a trained cyclist, the results give valuable information on your level of fitness compared with other riders and inform, to a certain extent, your strategy and potential to improve further.   I still have some winter fat to burn off before the summer cycling season so my figure might have been higher, but it is not a test you need to undertake more frequently than annually.  I will be monitoring my training zones  more methodically in future though, using heart rate when I don’t have a power meter fitted.

As an avid hiker and climber in the UK before moving to Canada,  I was an early adopter of Gore-Tex clothing.  When the heavens opened, as it did so often on the British mountains, I was thankful that at last I could remain dry and also warm.  It wasn’t surprising then when I returned to serious long distance cycling I would seek out clothing with Gore-Tex , particularly as I was then living in the soggy Fraser Valley of BC. 

One particular company, Gorewear,  continued to impress me with its wide range of cycling specific attire from glove and overshoes to jackets and caps. Consequently, it was a huge shock to me to receive an email from Gorewear last month announcing they were closing down for good at the end of March 2026.  After stating that they had produced award-winning and world leading weather protection for more than 40 years they simply explained the decision followed: “a difficult review of long-term prospects in a challenging highly competitive landscape”.

Although that statement suggested the reasons were simply economic, I quickly discovered there were other factors, particularly environmental challenges, that had weakened the company’s status.  I had been oblivious of the growing environmental movement against performance wet weather clothing manufacturers until Gorewear sent me that email.    Gorewear’s parent company W.L. Gore & Associates  would continue making fabrics for other outdoor companies and they hoped the new products would satisfy  the demands of environmentalists. However,  the jury is out on  whether their substitute fabrics will be as durable or as effective as the original.

When I investigated, I found that the Patagonia company was among the first to acknowledge an environmental issue with their rainwear products in 2015.  They explained they used a Durable Water Repellant (DWR), a chemical on the surface of breathable fabrics that caused water to bead up and disperse moisture so it didn’t make the material soggy.   The inner layer in the fabric with the vapour barrier would not work if the outer surface layer was saturated.  The issue was that the DWRs were so durable they fell in the category of  “forever chemicals”  that would last  for centuries in the environment.  Patagonia and other companies introduced interim measures to remove the more indestructible chemicals from their garments but they still contained perfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS.

Even if companies managed to remove PFAS from the outer layer of clothing, the inner vapour barrier itself contained PFAS too.  PFAS may impact the immune system, increase the risk of some cancers, and affect reproductive and metabolic systems. Initial pleas from manufacturers that their only solution was to produce less-durable products that would have to be replaced more frequently and would still create an environmental issue fell on deaf ears. 

The state of  California banned the use of PFAS in fabrics in 2025. Bans in Colorado and New York followed.  France, Japan, Denmark  and New Zealand have introduced their own legislation and more is to come including a more comprehensive ban in Canada.  Interestingly, the rise of PFAS for waterproof clothing in the 1980s coincided with the ban of asbestos for fire-resistant clothing.  At that time, it was feared although it was toxic, asbestos could not be improved on. Eventually though, superior, environmentally-acceptable alternatives like Polybenzimidazole were developed, proving that if you research hard enough you will find a solution.   

With the perennial demand for waterproof cycling clothing, we can be hopeful that a superior alternative to PFAS will eventually be discovered too.    For now, I am glad I moved to a drier province but I will be treating my Gorewear products with more care until though new materials appear.  

References:

Durable Water Repellents: Our DWR Problem – Patagonia Stories

The problem of forever chemicals and waterproof clothing | Ethical Consumer

GOREWEAR To Cease Operations – End of the Road for a Pioneering Brand? | GRAN FONDO Cycling Magazine

Gore shuts down Gorewear apparel line but keeps Gore-Tex alive | Cycling Weekly

GOREWEAR | Premium Durable Sports Gear for Running & Cycling

The end of Gore-Tex? – Pique Newsmagazine

Polymer Fabric Protects Firefighters, Military, and Civilians | NASA Spinoff

On long distance cycle journeys, there are three factors that impact your daily distance and time on the bike;  hills, road surface and wind. The first two you can plan for but the third is a less-predictable variable.  Three days into a ride on the Alaska Highway, I came across a cyclist stopped at the edge of the road, straddling his heavily loaded touring bike  and slumped over the handlebars.  In a thick German accent, the bike-packer muttered: “Its this wind, everywhere this f***ing wind!”  I could offer only sympathy, as he likely hadn’t foreseen this issue when he’d planned his ride back in Europe.

As much as headwinds may be demoralizing, stretching out the riding hours and draining energy reserves, tailwinds can propel you as effectively as an electric motor.  On the Yellowhead Highway near Vermillion, a prairie wind pushed me along at 40kph for only 120 Watts of effort.  I arrived at my destination that day before the motel had even prepared a room for me.     

In some cases, wind is more than just a hinderance or aid though.  In March 2017, to celebrate a significant birthday, my twin brother flew to South Africa to take part in the Cape Town Cycle Tour, a massive cycling event with 35,000 participants.   Wind was clearly going to be an issue when they set off, but not long into the ride the entrants were confronted with 100kph gusts. Riders were  blown off their bikes and the decision was made to cancel the event.  It was a bitter disappointment, especially for those like my brother who had flown half way round the world to participate.

Even though wind, like weather, cannot always be accurately predicted, it does follow general patterns and there are dominant wind directions which may vary with the season or even the time of day in coastal regions. I learned this the hard way riding on the flat fenland in Eastern England.  The wind rose pattern for Calgary determined by Meteoblue is shown in the figure below and this largely conforms with my experience. 

The dominant wind directions are westerly and southwesterly, a trend all too apparent when you have to fight your way to Cochrane against a Chinook wind in the spring (as in the banner photo).   The westerly to southwesterly Chinooks are most noticeable from November to April or even May. Interestingly, there are occasions when north-northwesterly or opposing south-southeasterly winds dominate.  This I can testify to as these directions align with the Bow Valley downstream of the city and Nose Creek north of the Downtown. Often, I am fighting one of these winds as I make my way along the Bow Valley Trail through Fish  Creek Park  or northwards up the Nose Creek Trail.

Nowadays, I always check the wind direction and any predicted changes before I set off on a long ride as it may affect my routing.    Until recently, my go-to tool was the free Windfinder app that predicts wind strength and direction at 3-hour intervals throughout the day.  However, occasionally, I found the 3-hour reporting periods were just too long to show rapidly changing weather.

With my new bike computer (Garmin 540),  I discovered I could introduce information from third party apps and display this in a field next to power, speed and distance data.  Consequently, I use Windfield to display relative wind direction and strength in kph.  The wind direction arrow moves as you turn to show which vector you can expect the wind to come from at any given moment in a ride.  While some may question the value of such information, I find it as valuable as knowing how steep and how long a hill climb will be.  I may decide to reroute and take a more sheltered path instead of remaining exposed in the open.    If you need any convincing that wind is valuable data to display, have a look at the following link.  Live Wind and Weather on your Garmin // WindField 🌬️🌧️☀️ – YouTube

I was in two minds whether to write about this subject because, as cyclists, we are all reluctant to dwell on the possibility of being hurt or worse while out riding.  And yet, when we sign up for a club ride, or rent a bike anywhere in the world, we are asked to acknowledge we understand cycling is a potentially risky activity.  What’s more, we don’t have to look far for people close to us who have suffered a serious accident while out riding. I know cyclists who have forsaken riding on roads with motor traffic because they have been so affected by the loss of biking friends.  As much to reassure myself as to inform others, I thought I would explore the facts.

Luckily, most of my own accidents over the years have not involved motor traffic or other road users and I have only suffered bruising, gravel rash, broken fingers and a cracked shoulder.  I will emphasize, though, that on three occasions my injuries would have been much worse had I not been wearing a helmet.  Consequently, you need to be careful interpreting research like this What evidence is there that cycle helmets save lives? I found which suggests wearing a helmet has little effect on the outcome.   This may only be true in the specific case of car-bike high speed collisions.

I still ride on highways with motor traffic, mindful of the scenarios that expose me to risk.  When I rode across Canada in 2022, I would set off at sunrise long before most people were on the road and always used strobing front and rear lights.  I try to avoid riding directly into low sun at dawn or dusk as even strobe lighting can be missed by drivers coming up behind you.  Similarly, I won’t ride on roads in dense fog or driving snow. Where possible, I select roads with wide shoulders but this is not a foolproof strategy for avoiding collisions as I have witnessed disturbing incidents where impatient drivers used the shoulder to overtake slower traffic. 

Once or twice a year, though, the news that a high-profile cyclist has been struck down by traffic while  out riding makes me reappraise my choices.   Most recently, it was the death of Hannah Henry the BC Triathlete in Arizona that made me look at the risks of riding in the US.  There appears to be a wide variation across the country depending on the amount (or lack) of cycling infrastructure, the density of traffic and the percentage of tourists.  Florida holds the unenviable reputation of being the most dangerous place to cycle returning 20% of  America’s 1100 cycling deaths each year.   In Canada, we suffer some 74 cycling fatalities a year.

While the numbers may sound appalling, an American study tried to put them into some sort of perspective.( Relative risk in cycling,) Apparently, you are twice as likely to be killed as a passenger or driver in a car than be killed by a car while cycling and thirty time more likely to die if you are riding a motor bike. 

How does any of this data inform a cyclist of the risks involved in their sport? Well, if you cycled 2 hours a day,  300 days of the  year for 50 years,( 1 million kilometres)  your chances of being killed on your bicycle would still less than 1 in a hundred.   

Even if the statistics convince you it’s safe enough to continue riding it is hard to pass a white Ghost Bike without feeling for the victim, their family and friends.  The idea of installing a white bike near the scene of a fatal accident originated in the US about 20 years ago but has since spread worldwide.  It was  an Instagram post from the guy who was preparing a Ghost Bike in memory of Hannah Henry that prompted me to write these words.

Just when you think winter is done, another winter storm hits the city leaving us covered in a further 20cm of snow. And, with the temperatures plunging back into the minus 20s⁰C, there’s a huge temptation to hide inside and simply ride on the indoor trainer.

I don’t advocate riding during a storm. I found that out the hard way earlier in the year when  I couldn’t keep my googles clear enough to see where I was riding, the cycle path quickly drifted over and my hands froze in the plunging temperatures.  But once the snow has stopped and contractors have had a chance to clear the bike paths, then it’s just the low temperatures you have to contend with.

Where I live Downtown, on the morning after a storm the first path-clearing vehicle sweeps past my apartment at 6am, preparing the way for hardy bike commuters. And, sure enough, even with temperatures in the mid minus twenties, a few cyclists brave the conditions to ride into work.  I certainly wasn’t going to head out before the sun rose, but I was interested in finding out just what had been cleared for cyclists straight after a snowfall.

On  leaving the apartment, I found the Bow River Trail at Prince’s Island Park was brushed clear enough to ride, although there were patches of compressed snow in places and I was glad to be riding on studded tires.  Heading west on the south bank,  I passed under  the 9 and 10 Street bridges, travelling a little slower than normally as the patches of snow dragged on my tires.  The underpasses were mercifully clear of snow.

Using an old cycle computer with limited battery life and uncertain charging, I suddenly found I had no cycling information as it had gone dormant in the cold after only a couple of kilometres.  Luckily, I could start up Strava on my phone to cover the majority of the ride. 

Not long after my computer gave up, the cleared path also came to an abrupt end at   Pumphouse Road leaving me with a kilometre of rutted snow to the Chrowchild pedestrian bridge.  I was able to follow packed tracks made by fat tire bikes but, when I fell to the side,  I was brought to a halt by 10cm of loose snow.   Across the river, I could see contractor crews working to clear the Bow Valley Trail there so, I guess, the route from  Parkdale into downtown along the north bank, gets priority.

I had no problems in Parkdale but did have to ride on the footpath past the Angel Café because of the water pipeline construction going on there. The Angel Café was, sadly, boarded up now that the business has had to vacate and either relocate or close down completely. Further west, in Shouldice Park, 13 Avenue had been ploughed down to a firm, packed surface that was easy to ride.

At the Bowness Road bridge over the Bow, I had two options, either to continue west along the Bowness Road or to take the longer, hillier route on the north bank via Bowmont Park.   As the bike paths continued to look clear, I chose to head up to Bowmont Park, naively believing that my return journey from Bowness on the Bowness Road bike path would be straightforward.

Even with the stiff climbs in Bowmont Park, I had no trouble with the cycling surfaces that were mostly bushed down to bare asphalt.  I did, however, find my rear derailleur was freezing up and becoming reluctant to spring back out when I selected higher gears such that  I had to nudge it with my boot heel occasionally.

Apart from one or two dog walkers, there were very few trail users even through the normally crowded Baker Path just east of the Stoney Trail bridge. There were even fewer cyclists on the trails but I did encounter  one man who was clearly taking great delight in getting frost on his wild man beard.  On me, I could see frost building up on the back of my fibre-fleece mittens but my hands were warm enough, especially with the handlebar pogies providing additional wind protection.

Trails in Bowness Park were still snow-covered but packed firm by bikers and walkers so ran reasonably well.  My bike ran better in the shallow tracks of the Park’s runabout buggy as the  the boot-packed snow gave a choppy ride.  Coming out of the Park, and onto 48 Ave, I got a taste of the road conditions ahead.  Here, motor traffic had cleared tracks down to bare asphalt but the road margins were covered in 10cm of churned up dirty snow. When I turned right onto 85 Street where I expected to find a cleared bike lane, I discovered conditions were the same. Luckily, my lunch destination, Angel’s Drive In diner, was only a hundred metres away.

I refueled on a burger and fries, and slowly drank my coffee to warm up.  My toes were tingling slightly and I could feel where my face had been exposed to the minus twenty degree cold but the rest of me was warm enough.  When it came time to leave, I had been warming up for 30 minutes so found it very hard to leave the cozy environment and face the 40 degree drop in temperature outside.      

Climbing over a berm of snow to reach the road, I now realized the full extent of the problem ahead. If I cycled in the road I would be holding up traffic, or I could try the sidewalk but that wasn’t completely clear and at every driveway and side road was a mess of churned up snow.  I rode the sidewalk option initially but after the road curved to the east and turned into Bowness Road there was no effective sidewalk. The a parallel sideroad was competently un-ploughed so, with some trepidation, I chose to ride in the main road.  

Fortunately, traffic was very light and even the vehicles that were on the road were travelling cautiously.  As I set off in the righthand track, I noticed a panel van ahead of me wasn’t going much faster than I was.  Cars did overtake me by moving carefully onto the hardpacked snow nearer the centre of the road but no-one showed impatience towards me.

Eventually, I made my way over the Bow River and could turn off the Bowness Road into Shouldice Park.  From there, my ride back to Downtown was uneventful as the contractors had fully brushed the bike path through to Princes Island Park.  Tiny flakes of bitingly cold snow drifted into my eyes before I reached my destination but I couldn’t be bothered to pull down my ski googles. For most of my ride I hadn’t even used sunglasses either as they just misted up too quickly.  On a brighter, sunnier day, I would have struggled.  

From my two-hour ride on the bike paths immediately after a winter storm I was impressed with the crews who cleared the dedicated cycle paths.  In contrast, from what I saw, bike lanes that were adjacent to roads were not cleared and conditions made them unrideable.    According to the City of Calgary’s snow clearing policy,( Snow clearing on bikeways  ) downtown cycle tracks are Priority 1 (cleared within 24 hours) while on-street bicycle lanes are Priority 2 (cleared within 48 hours). This approach may explain the differences I experienced that day after the storm.  

While motor traffic is commonly listed as the greatest concern to cyclists,  being chased by a dog is pretty near the top of that list too.( How to Overcome Cyclists’ Top 6 Fears – CTS ).  According to the American Kennel Club, chasing is part of a dog’s natural instinct and is one of the more frustrating behaviors for dog owners.  Unless dogs are trained to ignore the temptation, they will chase, cyclists, runners, pets and wild animals.  Unfortunately for cyclists, chasing incidents may be on the rise as organizations including the UK’s RSPCA are concerned about the surge of “inexperienced” pet owner following the pandemic.   ( www.vettimes.com/news/vets/international/covid-19-impact-on-pets-five-years-after)

For full disclosure here, I admit to have never being a dog owner, but many cycling friends own dogs and some actually take their dogs along with them during rides  either in a carrier or running alongside on a leash.  It made me smile to see pictures of world class cyclist Demi Vollering carrying her four-legged friend Flo in a backpack during a training session.  For a professional rider to be able to enjoy the company of a dog  while out training is something special, but the interaction of cyclists with dogs covers the full range of positive and negative experiences.  Ask Tour de France rider Yves Lampert  who crashed on Stage 12 in 2022 when an inattentive owner allowed their dog to wander out in front of the peleton.   

Car-free bike paths in Calgary are often combined with footpaths as mixed-use trails. Consequently, you will frequently encounter people walking dogs.  If you give the dog and handler a heads-up with a ring of your bell and slow down to pass, then the interaction should be uneventful.   City bylaws specify that unless you are in an off-lease area, your dog should be restrained on a lease no longer than 2m.   However, a minority of owners will let their dogs off lease or have them at the limit of a flexible leash, indifferent to the inconvenience this poses for other trail users.  

More caution is needed when cycling through off leash areas, but I have found the majority of dogs will not interfere with your progress.  Owners are usually very aware of their dog’s response to cyclists and take the appropriate action, either calling the dog back or physically restraining them.  However,  I have been chased and was once knocked off my bike when a dog ran into my front wheel in an off-lease zone.  

Problems can arise when dogs are allowed run alongside their owner who is on a bike. Sure, this freedom does give more energetic dogs the chance to exercise fully.  But in some cases, the dog is attached to the bike by a leash or even assisting by pulling the bike.  On our crowded paths, this informal combination has potential dangers, for rider, dog and other trail users.  Here, I am not  denigrating the sport of Bikejoring, which evolved from dog sledding, where properly trained dogs use specialist equipment to pull bikes on open trails. 

Outside the city, on rural roads, you would think there was no issue with dogs.  Alberta is not like Thailand where bike-packers report being troubled by the country’s estimated one million stray dogs.   Some adventurers there  advise carrying a dog Dazer, a device that emits a high frequency sound that normally deters dogs find unpleasant. ( If you cycle in Thailand you have to take aggressive dogs with you. (S3 P1:E4) – CA15 ) Other riders even  carry pepper spray.  During my short ride through Vietnam last year, I found the dogs there were never an issue. Certainly, they were curious and came out to see what was going past but I was never chased. It may be that they were conditioned or trained not to run after the thousands of scooters and motorbikes that constitute most road traffic.     

In Alberta, property owners are understandably concerned about the rise in rural crime (Rural crime rates consistently higher than in urban areas: StatCan | Calgary Herald ) and often protect their acreage with dogs.    If relatively untrained dogs are left to run loose on a property and have free access to the roadway then problems can arise.  A bored dog given little organized exercise may chase a cyclist on a public road, even when the cyclist poses no threat to the property it is supposedly protecting.   

Being chased by a dog is both scary and annoying and you may not wish to take action but by reporting the incident to the local bylaw enforcement office, you may be protecting others in the future.   If the dog actually nips you and draws blood, you need to take immediate action to protect yourself as well as others.  Even if the wound seems superficial, you should immediately seek medical attention. Fortunately, rabies is not prevalent in the dog population here but you will be advised about tetanus protection.  Also, you should take photos and report the incident so a bylaw enforcement officer can contact the property owner and investigate further. 

Don’t let this discussion of negative experiences with dogs colour your attitude towards our loyal companions. In five decades of cycling, I have been chased numerous times but have only ever been knocked off once and nipped on one other occasion.   With the co-operation of both cyclists and dog owners we can co-exists and all enjoy our city paths and country roads in peace.     

Photo Credits:, American Kennel Club, Canadian Cycling Magazine