You frequently see mountain bikers threading their way through the trails in Nose Hill Park, but just how suitable is it for gravel bikes when you get off the asphalt paths?  Well, I’ve been up there many times in different seasons and have some thoughts on this. Firstly, though,  I would advise that if you’re new to gravel biking and don’t have previous off-road experience, then get some initial kilometres riding  the farm roads north or east of Calgary. 

It’s true if you want to ride all the available trails on Nose Hill, then a mountain bike is more suitable than a gravel bike. A mountain bike has a bigger selection of low gears and suspension that make the riding easier on the legs, arms and seat. However, most of the trails are manageable on a gravel bike with wide-enough tires.  45mm tires are ideal but I have ridden on 38mm tires when the trails are firm and dry.

Most gravel bikes work well up to gradients of 10%, but Nose Hill has steep sides where the grade can exceed 15%. Climbing these on a gravel bike demands a huge amount of power or you will quickly run out of low gears.  Also, there are the steep downhill sections where your speed can quickly build up so control can be difficult without front suspension. However, it’s still possible to find gravel trails at the top of the park that don’t have long steep slopes. 

The best place to start out from is the northwest park lot on the Shaganappi Trail.  An asphalt path begins at the southern edge of the car park by the washrooms,  and taking this gives you a chance to warm up and test your bike on a firm surface.  After two minutes of freewheeling downhill, you reach an intersection with a paved path ahead and another to your right. Left is a wide gravel ramp. A prominent sign indicating “Entering off-leash area” is your cue to turn right.

Here is a chance to run through your climbing gears on a gentle rise so that the very tops of the towers downtown come into view.    Continue southwards on the path with ever more of the city coming into view.  Most prominent are the Red, Green, Yellow and Orange Buildings at University City in Brentwood.  Across the valley, you can make out the ski jump in the Olympic Park. 

The path swings left again so you are travelling eastward turning back to the right with the Downtown towers in front of you again.   You will have been riding about 15 minutes and will have covered 3km when you approach a copse of trees and can see the path below to the right.  This is your cue to slow down as you are about to enter the gravel trail that branches off to the left.  The trail is immediately before a steep hill sign  “Maximum 10”. 

Navigating the trails once you leave the paving is often a problem on Nose Hill.  I have frequently found myself in a new area by accident.  With this route, though, route-finding is not a problem as you continually skirt the “Off Leash Area”  that is marked by signs on posts every 200m or so.  If you always keep the “Off-Leash Area” signs on your left, you will be on the correct route.     The gravel path you will be following is mostly one to two metres wide.

Almost immediately, you meet a downhill section into trees where the surface may be wet after rain. Keep your speed down and get used to controlling your bike on the loose surface.  At any intersection, look for the “Off-Leash Area” signs ahead to take the correct turn.  There is one short, steep  section before you reach the Big Rocks viewpoint.  Keep your weight on the rear wheel to avoid spinning out, but there’s no shame in walking up this ramp.    

Your route bends more northerly past the Big Rocks Viewpoint from where you can gaze across Highway 2 to the airport and runway beyond.   Continuing the circuit, you loop around a deep gulley. The paths here have gravel that can be deep and loose after heavy rain. Also, I recently found deep cracks eroded in the path from storm runoff, so keep your speed down as necessary.

After a sharp left turn, you encounter a slightly longer ramp that will definitely test your climbing skills and fitness. Again, walk if necessary as there’s only 15 metres to ascend.  Your reward is a long section of gentle riding back towards the northwest. Always confirm the Off-Leash Area signs are on your left side.  Eventually, the gravel runs out where you intersect the paved trail coming in from 14 Street NW. Take a left here and follow the path back towards your parking area  Shaganappi Trail.

If you managed all the climbs on this route without walking, you may like one more challenge.  At the point where you first turned right, 400m from the parking lot, you will remember there was a gravel ramp on your left. This gravel ramp will be on your right when retuning.  Climbing this ramp takes you directly to the centre of the parking area.   Otherwise, continue over the intersection and reverse your outbound route from the washrooms. 

If you find this route straightforward, then you are ready to embark on another Nose Hill adventure.  You could try to load a course on your bike computer or just wing it when you are on the hill.   Sooner or later, you will find a slope that defeats you but you should quickly find your way back to rideable terrain.  As well as the narrower gravel paths, you will find a veritable web of single-track mountain bike trails over grass and mud.   Some of these descend steeply into the two deep gulleys on the eastern flank and are best avoided. 

A number of routes are listed on the site below, but remember these are aimed at mountain bikers.  Nose Hill Park Mountain Biking Trails | Trailforks    ( Green trails are easiest under their grading system)

When you plan a route to the north, east or west of Calgary, you inevitably enter Rocky View County that mostly encircles the city like an upside-down horseshoe.  From Downtown, the shortest route out of the city limits  is about 15km west on the Banff Old Coach Road at Cougar Ridge. To the northwest, the distance stretches to 25km before you cross Country Hills Boulevard on 12-Mile Coulee or  Rocky Ridge Road.  The route in this blog goes from the city centre to Bearspaw, located just outside Calgary’s northwest limits.

You could start exploring the northwest by starting out from the Shane Homes YMCA.  The parking lot at this futuristic-looking facility  off Rocky Ridge Road is conveniently located and  big enough to accommodate a couple of extra cars if you want to skip those 25km to get out of out of town.  However, I usually embrace the full ride out of town with its 200m climb up from the Bow River. On my latest ride I discovered a new trail up from Bowmont Park that avoids going through Baker Path to reach Tuscany.

On that ride for variety, I opted to climb to Tuscany on Tuscany Hill as there is a parallel cycle path. However, Tuscany Hill road has been engineered at a constant grade while the bike route throws in a couple of steep knee-straining ramps so beware.  At Tuscany Drive, I took a left, following the road this time as the whole area was very quiet, being early afternoon on a weekday in the summer.  A handy gravel cut though connects to 12-Mile Coulee at Tuscany Ridge Terrace.  Those road names are pretty confusing with so many similar sounding: Tuscany Ridge Terrace, Tuscany Ridge Crescent, Tuscany Ridge Way, Tuscany Ridge View, Tuscany Ridge Common. 

You can head uphill on 12-Mile Coulee, cross Highway 1A and continue up to Country Hills Boulevard. Hang a left there and you are suddenly in Rocky View County, specifically, the district of Bearspaw.   Immediately, the density of housing  you saw in Tuscany drops dramatically as you enter the manicured parkland around Bearspaw Golf Club.  A road snakes through the estate taking you past large homes on huge plots and bringing you out to an intersection with Bearspaw Road.

When you head north on Bearspaw Road, few of  the side roads seem to have exits as they loop round in what the district calls “pan handles”  where the homes sprout off the outside of  these loops. Although a sign at the entrance to Church Ranches Boulevard indicates “No Through Road”  the Boulevard does continue all the way through to the east and rejoins 12-Mile Coulee. Whether the sign is a sleight to reduce through traffic, or an oversight, I couldn’t say.    If you ignore this option, you need to keep riding north to a township road where you can choose to ride east or west. The township roads  would have been there long before the farmland was carved into two-acre residential plots. 

Many of the homes here are situated around small lakes, and the gently rolling, wooded hills that make for enjoyable cycling terrain. Having explored Bearspaw, you can return back down Rock  Ridge Road, past the YMCA.  This road takes you rapidly downhill past the Mormon Temple to the Tuscany C-Train station.  From the station, the downhill continues until you reach the Bow River under the Stoney Trail.  Having lost 200m elevation in a relatively short distance, now follow the bike lane by the side of Bowness Road back over the Bow River and rejoin the river trail via Home Road in Montgomery.  From there, it is 30 to 40-minute ride back to Downtown.

The overall ride described is 60km long and will take 2½ to 3 hours on a road bike in dry, summer conditions, depending on your riding speed.       

I have a favourite 50km route that departs from Downtown, heads down river on one bank of the Bow and then and returns on the opposite side in an elegant loop. The views change continuously  and are very different on the return leg, where the tower blocks of Downtown beckon you back.   

Heading upstream, I would like to find an equivalent loop but west of  Edworthy Park  it is difficult to remain near the river on the south bank.  My usual 40km circuit has me crossing back over on the Edworthy footbridge, and riding through Shouldice Park to recross the river into Bowness.   From Bowness,  I find myself climbing up to the Calgary Olympic Park and exiting to the east under the Stoney Trail before dropping back down through Valley Ridge to the zig-zags that take me down to the river crossing under the Stoney Trail at the west end of Bowness Park. This is the last crossing before Cochrane. 

If you stay south of the river at Edworthy Park, what are the options? You could always climb up the park road, cross the Shaganappi trail, climb further up the twisty cycle path to the Old Coach Road and  then head west from there dropping down through Cougar Ridge to the Calgary Olympic Park. This route inevitably takes you through development on busy roads and involves additional climbing.  But can you ride west in Edworthy Park?   

I investigated, first, the Christmas Tree Trail that hugs the river but this is really just a grassy footpath that gets pinched out after a few hundred metres where the river and railway converge.   Trail finding apps like Trailforks portray a blue category mountain bike trail called Brickburn that runs west from the Edworthy parking lot  and parallels the south side of the railway. However, when I got there, I found my way barred by a new chain-link fence and padlocked gates.   While the route is also shown on the Ride with GPS map, it is no longer marked on the Alltrails  app and is not shown on the City of Calgary on-line map for trails.

I quickly discovered  I did not have enough gears to cope

As I couldn’t physically access the Brickburn  Trail, I needed to look for alternative which meant looking back uphill in the parking lot.  There, I saw an unpaved road that struck west but I couldn’t go further than a turnaround area as a sign indicated the road beyond was private. Apparently, there are several private homes inside the park boundary.  Another trail,  the  Crackendale/Edworthy Car Park Connector  was also shown starting there on some maps.  This was categorized as a green, moderate, mountain bike route.

I looked carefully around the vegetation and found the entrance to this narrow, single-track trail that circumvents the private land, as it climbs obliquely towards the west.   Riding a gravel bike, though I quickly discovered  I did not have enough gears to cope with the initial  ascent over gnarly tree roots.

No sooner had the trail levelled out than it dropped back down toward the railway line where again you are greeted with a chain-link fence, possibly erected to stop riders crossing the tracks to link with the Christmas Tree Trail.  However, a soggy bypass path goes west and, before long, it  has become the original  Brickburn Trail paralleling the rail track.  From here onwards, there are few signs that the route is regularly ridden anymore.

The route I rode is not suitable for road or gravel bikes

A steep ramp, that I couldn’t ride, hauls you up to a bench and then to a great viewpoint with a vista over the valley to the brightly-coloured Children’s Hospital on the far slopes. Steep, but manageable descents take you back down to railway level and at one point you skirt the very edge of the railway to cross a stream. 

By the time you have lost that height, you are out of the Park although I saw no boundary signs.  The trail continues through a corridor of mixed trees and shrubs, with the railway to your right and cleared pasture on your left.  It is unclear, as you approach from the southeast, who owns this land but where you near the exit for Bowdale Crescent, two signs inform you it is CP Rail Property and No Trespassing is permitted.  

After the ride, I found a web site describing the City of Calgary’s Freight Rail Corridors Policy  for developments.  The map clearly indicates that the trail I had been riding was in the rail corridor that covers land about 30metres each side of the railway.  Formal City cycle paths infringe this corridor further east of Edworthy Park but the path there is always segregated from the railway by a high  chain-link fence.  

Once you reach Bowdale Crescent, there is no question you are on a legitimate bike-permissible road.  Continue westwards and you pass through a series of three underpasses at the Sarcee Trail which allow you to access Na A Drive SW leading you further to Canada Olympic Drive where you can connect to Valley Ridge Boulevard to reach the bike trail to the zig zags down to Bowness Park.

So, for now, I think an effective link between Edworthy Park and the Calgary Olympic Park is still missing.  The route I rode is not suitable for road or gravel bikes and I will not be riding it again. If you do ride it, be aware that its status is dubious as it seems CP Rail is not allowing you to infringe the rail corridor unless the track is separated from the trail by a fence.

I’d be interested if anyone has an alternative?

I always get nervous a few days before a big ride with other people, even a Gran Fondo that is not supposed to be competitive.  However, this Fondo had chip-timing for the serious routes despite its small size.  There were 150 timed riders and the same number of riders for the childrens’ and minor distances.  However, just 35 of the total 300 were tackling the 165km (100 mile) route.  I thought I had prepared okay for that distance but when I remembered back to the Red Bud Century Ride in April, I recalled running out of steam for the last 30km.

The C4 Fondo has been running for 3 years and attracts riders from all over Alberta who want to challenge themselves and enjoy the rolling prairie routes.  The event is a prime fund-raiser for the Cardston Community Cycling Club (C4) whose aim is to promote cycling as a healthy activity for their youth.   As Cardston is an isolated town with limited hotel choice, I  stayed in Lethbridge the night before as its only 50 minutes away and has a wider range of facilities.  

Having collected my registration package on the Friday evening,  I could afford to roll up to the start line on Saturday morning, ten minutes ahead of the course briefing.  There was plenty of parking at the assembly area so my only last-minute decision was what to wear.  I looked at weather, sunny and 13⁰C, so decided on my Gore jacket with zip-off sleeves.  Most of the younger riders wore short-sleeved cycle jerseys, expecting to warm rapidly on the climb up to the US border.

At precisely 8 am, we were released through the start gate.  I stayed nearer the back initially as our group climbed the gentle incline that comprised 4 Street.  We levelled for a few hundred metres after turning south but then hit the steep ramp I knew was coming.  Young muscles powered their riders up and away from me and I realized this would be the last time I would see them except when they were returning from the turnaround locations. 

The route comprised three limbs that each included a long climb and descent, though the total amount climbed was a little under 1300m, so not that high for a 165km event.   Our initial limb lead us south on the road to the US border crossing at Carway, which,  I discovered  later was merely a name on the map with no settlement.  After that initial 12% ramp, the incline dropped but the road continued upwards for the next 18km. Then, the last few kilometres to the border undulated downhill. 

Some four kilometres from the border, the fast group came back past me returning to Cardston.  Slowly a group of three of us coalesced, comprising me and two female riders who were at about the same level of fitness, despite the disparity of ages and gender.  We worked together well and certainly pushed each other more and rode faster than we would have as individuals.  At first, Caitlan, a younger rider struggled on the hills but she was great at pulling in front on the flat.  I couldn’t climb as fast as Barb, a 50+ category rider, but was more than happy to take long pulls on the front.

None of us was particularly concerned with the chip timing so we stopped for water, bananas and snacks at the aid station back in Cardston.   Having competed the southerly limb, we now struck west on the main road towards Waterton Park. Our pre-ride briefing instructed us to ride on the shoulder which was fine as this was a wide strip of smooth asphalt, except at gravel road intersections.  The two others rode hard on this stretch and  I had to fight to stay with them on the climbs.

At around 80km, our route turned north off the Waterton road, down on a long drop towards Hill Spring our northern turning point.  We appreciated the downhill but noticed a north easterly wind was picking up. That wind might have helped us some on the way back south but I wasn’t looking forward to the 17km of climbing back to the main road.  As I feared, I began to lose the wheel of the others on the climbs but they were patient, enabling us to remain together for the ride west to the aptly-named Mountain View turnaround. 

The weather remained fine with the temperature climbing into the low twenties and a fierce sun burning  but, after turning at Mountain View, we knew we would be climbing more long hills and riding home into a headwind. There had been no wind when we set off in the morning but it gradually built up over the five hours we had been riding so it became important for us to ride tightly together. 

The return distance to Cardston was around 39km but  I found it increasingly difficult to generate the same power as I had at the start.  Barb was silently suffering from  a dead foot but, surprisingly, Caitlin was  finishing strongly.  In fact, she rode off on her own some ten kilometres from home and both Barb and I were happy to let her enjoy her first bike event and to finish it at her own pace.     

The pair of us rode over the line just after 2pm, having taken 6 hours 8 minutes on the clock and 5 hours 54 minutes on Strava..   When I looked at my result relative to the other 35 riders,  I found I was well down the list, but all those participants were serious cyclists.  This wasn’t like other Gran Fondos I have ridden where there were people just riding to see if they could actually complete a 100-mile course. 

I certainly had a great day on the bike and I really appreciated the efforts of the Cardston Community Cycling Club to welcome us and to arrange a first class event.

Until a few years ago this wasn’t  an issue as the only motor that could provide enough power to move or even assist a cyclist was a gasolene fueled internal combustion engine.  Once the engine was integrated with the frame, the machine was effectively a motorbike in most jurisdictions but, in Europe after the Second World War, bikes like the Velosolex  were produced with a small auxiliary motor that was mounted above the front wheel with a friction roller that could be lowered to drive the tire.   This type of machine never made inroads into Britain or North America and by the time true mopeds were introduced in the 1960s and 1970s, they were considered just low-powered motorbikes, albeit with working pedals that could move the machine if you were desperate.   

However, the remarkable development of efficient lightweight batteries in the 21^st Century has generated a deluge of electrically powered bikes that have been categorized differently to traditional motor bikes.  The drive to promote “green” mobility with these machines, and so  reduce car usage,  has resulted in them being treated  more benevolently by authorities than their gasolene-driven counterparts.  So much so, it seems, that the definition of a motor bike has been blurred.  There is no worldwide agreement on the definition of a bike with electrical motor assistance (what we term an e-bike) and a pure electric motor bike although there are some common themes. 

In the European Union, Britain, Japan, Korea, Australia , South Africa and Russia e-bikes are limited to 250 Watts

The essential characteristics of a conventional bicycle are that it is powered by the rider and is relatively lightweight. Speed is mostly limited by the gradient of the road, the tire and air resistance, and the power the rider can generate to overcome these.   An untrained, recreational cyclist can sustain say 100 to 150Watts for an hour, while a good club rider might put out 200 to 300Watts.  An elite world class rider could maintain 400 to 500 watts, so how do these values compare with the power assistance given by e-bikes?

In the European Union, Britain, Japan, Korea, Australia , South Africa and Russia e-bikes are limited to 250 Watts but this consensus is not met in North America.  Canada accepts e-bikes of up to 500Watts on the road while the USA and Mexico allow the power to be as high as 750W.  On the face of it,  we are giving an untrained cyclist in Canada as much power as a world class elite athlete, even before they add their own pedal power.  In the USA and Mexico, the power available is completely inconsistent with the rest of the world’s  interpretation of providing electrical assistance.        

Fortunately, we are not seeing e-bikes whirling past us at 60kph on the cycle trails because there is also legislation in place that limits the maximum speed of e-bikes to 20mph (32kph) in both Canada and the USA. These bikes can go faster if the rider also pedals or goes downhill.  In contrast, in Europe the available power is reduced from 250W when the bike reaches 30kph. 

With the extra power available in North America, we do see a greater number of heavier machines such as cargo bikes, fat tire cycles and mountain bikes. In hilly and rough terrain, there is an argument for needing more power to move these machines but there is the potential problem they pose when mixing with pedestrians or lightweight cycles on mixed trails.  Then there is the problem of riders using bikes intended for off road on public roads.   

Bikes such as the Velotric Nomad 2 are currently being sold in Canada with 750W available power, a top speed of 45kph and a carrying capacity of 560lbs (250kg). The marketing blurb advises purchases that there may be federal or provincial regulations that limit the speed on public roads but it is up to the rider to comply.  Strictly, such a bike can not legally be used on the roads here because of their power, even if ridden below 32 kph.  It seems likely, though, that these machines will migrate onto our bike trails and roads around Calgary as there is no effectively way of policing them.   

Is that the end of the story?  Sadly, not because also sharing our bike trails are electric scooters and the phenomenally fast electric unicycle (EUC).  Some of these EUCs being sold in Canada boast 3000W of power and 90kph making a total mockery of any bike regulations.  In some countries, like Germany, they are illegal for use on roads, cycle paths and sidewalks, while other countries like Switzerland treat them like motor vehicles and require a licence plate and insurance.  Here in Canada, we are still playing catch-up with regulation.  There are no Federal controls but some provinces treat them as e-bikes with speed and or 500W power restrictions. However, here in Alberta we have not defined their status. Calgary allows them on bike paths provided they adhere to the 32kph limit.

So, when is a bike not a bike?  In my mind anything that cannot be pedalled and that generates more power than an elite athlete should not be regulated as a bike.    What are your thoughts?

This is a ride of 50km, that can be clipped to 40km for winter, and is one of the most enjoyable in Calgary.  Essentially, you ride down one side of the Bow River and return via the opposite bank.  Although I ride from Downtown, you can start this ride from a number of free parking locations around the circuit:  Renfrew Off-Lease Parking Lot, Old Refinery Park,  Carburn Park,  Douglas Ball Park, Fish Creek Loop Parking, Fish Creek (Bankside or Mallard Point), Sue Higgins Dog Park and Graves Bridge Boat Launch as a few suggestions.

One of the key features of the ride is that there is no riding on roads as all 50km is on dedicated trails. True you have to monitor pedestrians and dogs but, outside the riverside parks, these hazards become fewer and the users are mostly other sports cyclists or bike commuters.  On the east side of the river, you cross a total of three roads, two of which are dead-end drives to golf courses and the third is via a controlled crossing at the Zoo bridge. (The underpass there remains closed for construction.)  On the west bank there are several quiet residential  roads to cross as you pass through Inglewood.

Another feature of the ride is the provision of rest room facilities year round, at St Patrick Island, Carburn Park, Fish Creek Bankside and Fish Creek Mallard Point, and seasonal facilities in Prince’s Island Park and Douglas Ball Park.  Cafes tend to be clustered downtown  and in Inglewood but for the 2 to 2 ½ hours I need for this route, I normally take my coffee back at home.   

Starting from downtown on the busy Bow Valley trail you can’t help but notice the newly finished Eau Claire Plaza opposite Prince’s Island Park. Bright yellow sunshades and loungers sit in an artificial beach of sand with the incongruous backdrop of city skyscrapers to the south.  Avoiding other cyclists and errant pedestrians here, you make your way over to St Patrick’s Island with its strange street light sculpture that serves as a nesting platform for ospreys in the summer.    If you’re lucky enough, further south when riding on the east ridge above the river,  you may spot an osprey hovering briefly at your level before it plunges down in search of fish.

Beyond St Patrick’s Island you pass between the two sections of Calgary Zoo, under the connecting bridges and round to the Nose Creek confluence where an inviting bench offers a view up and down river.    You continue down river but depart for a while to cross over the main Deerfoot Highway  on the footbridge that leads towards  to the Max Bell Centre.  Below you is the outflow where the Western Headwaters Canal starts.

On reaching the canoe slalom course, you spiral up past the Vietnam Boat People Memorial and back over the canal, descending down to ride along its west bank, passing under the Deerfoot trail through a chicane where  the bridge girders are so low they almost graze your helmet.  Separating you from the Bow River is the  Inglewood Golf Course that necks down before you cross a little-used siding from the Canadian Pacific shunting yard.  Looking right over the river along the course of the railway line you get a great view of the downtown skyline.

The  50Avenue overpass near the Brick furniture warehouse is your cue to recross the canal, climb to 50 Avenue and then cross back over the canal, the railway and the Ogden Road. Continuing your anticlockwise manoeuvre, you descend under 50 Ave and turn onto the bow River Pathway passing through Old Refinery Park to reach the river itself.   Follow the Bow River Trail south, and prepare yourself for a short steep climb up to the ridge that affords distant views of the Rockies on clear days.

Sadly, after gaining all that height, you lose it again to drop down under the Graves Bridge and the Glenmore Trail. Along the next stretch of river, American White Pelicans are often seen in summer by the islands in mid-stream.     Carburn Park can be busy a little further along  and the route continues through parkland until you go under the Deerfoot Trail again.  There’s long-term construction at the bridge and the adjacent Enmax substation so watch out for traffic controllers.

 At Douglasbank Park, you have the option to cut 10 kilometres from the route by crossing the river on the Sue Higgins footbridge.  400m south of the bridge , in the Mallard Point parking lot, are spacious, heated washrooms that give welcome respite from the weather on a cold winter’s day!  Should you remain on the east bank, there’s another climb ahead of you but the vista from the ridge is ample repayment for your efforts. Views over Fish Creek Park stretch on forever, while ahead of you the river sparkles in the sun. 

Theres one more descent on this side of the river to take you down to the McKenzie Bridge (South Fish Creek)  as this is the turning point on your journey.   Wide, newly-paved trails carry you north through Fish Creek Park, where, with luck, a tailwind will speed you back across the flats to Mallard Point. (Your river crossing point if opting for the short course.)   On this side of the river, there’s  one short but steep climb at Diamond Cove and then an immediate drop down to ride under the east side of the Deerfoot Bridge.

The trail is flanked on the left by industrial yards whose fences hide oncoming traffic so take care here as you pass through to reach the Sue Higgins Dog Park with its yellow painted speed humps and mini roundabouts aimed at slowing you where footpaths cross your trail to access more dog park by the river.  Opposite the luxury car distributors on Heritage Road is a fenced off area of land where deer and other wildlife can roam unhindered.  

Graves Bridge has a parking lot and public boat launch that is often used as a take-out for commercial rafters.  Your route  follows the river bank closely here,  past the golf range and more industrial yards and under a long tunnel where the air is notably colder than the ambient temperature  both in summer and winter.  On the railway bridge next to Ogden Road, you often see freight trains crossing the main river and the cycle path here takes an interesting loop under the second railway bridge on a balcony that juts out over the river.  In winter, it can be quite disconcerting to find yourself suspended over a jumble of ice and freezing water on this balcony.

Railway sidings keep you company from here as far as Inglewood Meadows and the Bird Sanctuary. Rounding houses in Inglewood, you pass the bike pump track, duck under the Cushing Road bridge and enter the woods at Peace Estate Park.  Again, you need to be aware of other path-users here but its worth detouring to watch rafters and paddlers on the slalom course that has been crafted in the nearest reach of the river.  

There’s no riverside trail option when you reach  15 Street SE so you have to take the path next to local roads  until you can return to the river at 13 Street.  This might be a good time to take a coffee break at Good News Coffee located where 15 Street SE meets up with 17 Avenue and 9 Avenue.    The river trail from 13 Street westwards to the Elbow confluence has been reopened so you no longer have to take the road detour along 8 Avenue that was never great in winter.  

From the Elbow, you simply follow the cycle path next to the Riverwalk into downtown. On the way there coffee options at Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, Café Gravity or the Hutch Café and Alforno Bakery and Café if you decide to go as far as the  Peace Bridge before turning back.  

I hope you will enjoy the route as much as I do.

About Me

This blog begins with a bicycle journey to Calgary across the mountains from British Columbia.  The story explains, indirectly, how I ended up living in this city as well as giving you an insight to my love of the bike and in riding long distances.

It was the second summer of the Pandemic so while there were some interprovincial travel restrictions, these didn’t stop travel from British Columbia to Alberta.  The previous summer  in   2020, I had made a journey over the Rockies from Chilliwack to Jasper where my son worked at  the Lodge.  Now, in 2021, I had planned different route over the mountains to my daughter’s home near Nosehill Park in the northwest of the city.

The 1,200km route I had chosen from Chilliwack hugged the American border as far as Cranbrook and then struck north between the Purcell and the Rocky Mountains to Radium Hot Springs, where I would cut over the mountains to Castle Junction in the Bow Valley and then follow that river on the old Highway 1 through Cochrane and into northwest Calgary. From my experience riding to Jasper, I knew I could make it in six days.  

I like to travel fast and light on a bicycle. This results in less days on the road and, in the summer, speed keeps you cooler and allows you to outpace most bugs.   While I could have made the journey unsupported,  my wife Jane readily accepted a driving role.  Our strategy was for me to leave very early in the morning and she would depart some three hours later catching me up after four hours of cycling.  We’d swap out drink bottles, I’d take on more snacks and then she’d drive ahead to me again two hours later.  For a  ride longer than eight-hours, we’d repeat our meet up another two hours down the road.   Mostly, this strategy worked.

Unknown to us before I departed on Sunday 20^th June, an unprecedented heat event was developing in southern British Columbia.  Nothing appeared unusual as I set off at first light into a gentle headwind. In fact, a drizzly shower peppered me as I crossed over the mighty Fraser River at Agassiz on the skinny two-lane bridge that most cyclist dub the scariest in the Lower Mainland.  At the time of day I crossed though, there was little traffic to harass me.  

Riding towards Hope, I was in familiar territory as this was the same road I had taken to Jasper the previous year and where, more recently, I had made my longer training rides.  However, climbing up into the Coastal Mountains east of Hope I was into new ground.  Driving that road up to the Manning Park you just don’t realize how relentless the grade is but the views of mountains and the fast-flowing Skagit River compensated for my slow cycling pace.

At Manning Park Lodge, I rendezvoused with Jane and enjoyed a sandwich in the picnic area along with dozens of day-trippers and vacationers passing through to the interior.  By then it was midday and the heat was building even at that elevation of  1,200m.  Curious Columbian ground squirrels popped their heads out of burrows in search of crumbs.  These ground squirrels are distant cousins of the smaller Richardson ground squirrels we see here,  once the snow melts.

By the time I reached our Airbnb accommodation in Princeton, I was starting to wilt from the effort of riding and temperature, so the long cool drinks Jane plied me with were just what I needed. Those and a huge pasta meal to replenish lost glycogen.

I had no illusions the next day would be any easier as I had to ride through Osoyoos, well known for having some of the highest summer temperatures in Canada.  By then we also knew a so-called “heat dome” was developing behind us and tracking eastwards.  Even so, when I departed the air was pleasantly cool and the initial riding was gently downhill following the lyrically-named Similkameen River.    

 I had to climbed over the ridge into the Osoyoos Valley, first passing by the geographical oddity of Spotted Lake before making the fast descent to my rendezvous in Osoyoos where the temperature was already in the low 30’s C.  A break in an airconditioned Tim Hortons revived me temporarily but did nothing to prepare me for the brutal ascent up Anarchist Hill on the far side of the valley.  Granted I was moving slowly but I was managing  to grind my way up the hill on tar that was beginning to get tacky in the relentless sunshine.    That was, until I reached a roll-over accident where a gravel truck trailer had flipped on the descent, blocking the road.  

With no alternative, I had to turn back as there was no easy detour around the blockage. I had ridden 132km but couldn’t get to Greenwood without arranging for a ride with my support car. We made a massive detour through Kelowna and by the time we returned to Highway 3,  I had no appetite to ride the last 30km to British Columbia’s smallest city.  Frustrated at having not been able to keep riding, I prepared myself for the next day that featured two huge climbs totally over 2,300m.

The road was empty when I set off at dawn and as the day brightened logging trucks began to appear, headed for the mill in Grand Forks. Further east the Kettle valley gave me some respite before a thousand metre climb to Paulson Summit.  Beyond was my reward of a 30km descent to the Columbia River at Castlegar.    During that descent, I had a scare with high-speed shimmy on the front wheel, something I had experienced a couple of times before on the Roubaix road bike.  Intriguingly, I concluded that I was causing the oscillation myself with my twitching, tired arm muscles. Once I dared to take one hand off the handlebars the oscillation disappeared!

I hid in another air-conditioned fast-food restaurant at Castlegar, drinking a litre of ice cold coke and not wanting to go back into the withering heat.  Facing 40km more riding and one more big climb of 700m, I reluctantly left and set off for accommodation in Salmo.

Day 4 was a tough one featuring a thousand metre climb followed by a decent to Creston and then a hundred kilometres of slowly rising terrain to Cranbrook. The 20km climb seemed never ending and my only reward was the 30km drop to Creston, a British Columbian town that sticks to Mountain Standard Time year-round.  In summer that  time is the same as Pacific Daylight-saving Time so no clock changes we necessary.  As I made my way further east, I noticed clouds developing and sensed a change in the weather was coming.   Later from our hotel room at Cranbrook, I observed the sky turning dark, preceding a violent thundery rain storm where the streets ran with water that couldn’t drain fast enough. 

When I set off the next day, it was still dark and street lights reflected off puddles in the road.  The rain had stopped but I donned a jacket to stay dry from the spray. I was headed north along the Rocky Mountain Trench through Fairmont Hot Springs and Windemere. Luckily a southerly wind helped my progress and soon dried out the wet road surface.  Vacation traffic was  busy by the time I reach Radium Hot Springs and turned up though the narrow gorge on the cut through to Banff.

The terrain climbed beyond Radium Hot Springs and gave me a wonderful open view of the Kootenay River after the highpoint.   Down in the Kootenay Valley, my tired legs appreciated the gentle grade and I found the wild landscape therapeutic enabling to enjoy the final climb up the Vermillion Valley to Kootenay Park Lodge.  In that second pandemic year, the Lodge was up for sale and appeared to be struggling to survive.

With the temperatures I had experienced on this venture up to that point, I had forgotten how cold it could get in the mountains, even in summer.  So, when I set off without gloves on my final day, I was soon struggling to keep my hands warm.  The further I climbed to cross over to the Bow Valley, the colder my hands got.  Then I had the exhilarating descent to Castle Junction but I didn’t appreciate this as it was all I could do to stop shivering uncontrollably. 

Eventually, I warmed up enough on the Bow Valley Parkway to enjoy the ride to Banff and to take in the majestic mountains south of the Bow River.  Carrying on through Banff,  I followed the cycle trail to Canmore, meeting up with Jane for a celebratory breakfast at the Summit Café in Cougar Creek.  By then, I was warm enough to sit at an outdoor table that afforded an excellent view of the Three Sisters ridge across the valley.

I couldn’t linger for too long in Canmore as I was only half way to my destination in Calgary.  I found Highway 1A east of Canmore busier than I had expected and got held up for a while at a railway crossing before making my way past Ghost Lake to Cochrane. After  brief pause at the Ranche parking lot, I had to fight my up Cochrane Hill as  by then I was really feeling the six days of accumulated fatigue in my legs.  

Not really knowing my way around Calgary and not wishing to ride in afternoon commuter traffic,  I agreed with Jane to halt just inside the city limits at Tuscany.  When I stepped of the bike, I was exhausted to the point of needing to sit still for five minutes before  loading the bike on the car and driving the final 15km to  my daughter’s house.  

In a roundabout way, this is the story of how I got to move to Calgary. When we arrived at my daughter’s door, my first grandchild greeted us at the door and this welcome subconsciously set in to motion the wheels that lead us to live in the city less than three years later.