Cycling Thread 2

[Fuzz]

I ride a lot better going away from Edmonton than towards it!

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Brett is a legend, can't wait to see her tackle the Trans American Bike Race next year. 6800km on a Brompton. Gonna be wild to follow along.

I thought it was impressive when she didn't the Ride to Conquer Cancer on a Brompton. These are next level rides.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I ride a lot better going away from Edmonton than towards it!

That's the dilemma. Would I have the incentive to go to Edmonton? Or would I prefer that it is mostly downhill.

Either way- for me that could be a fun week in trying that!

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by KTrain

A local Brompton enthusiast road their bike from Calgary to Edmonton earlier this week.

340.72km and only 983m elevation. Here's their route if anyone is interested in taking on the challenge.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2311642953

How does that work or am I completely misreading the profile? Calgary to Edmonton is a significant net elevation drop.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

How does that work or am I completely misreading the profile? Calgary to Edmonton is a significant net elevation drop.

I assume it has 983m of climbs. Total descents will be more than that given the profile, but you add up all the little climbs to get 983m.

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

How does that work or am I completely misreading the profile? Calgary to Edmonton is a significant net elevation drop.

This counts the hills you go up. You can see in the activity profile that there are some up hills even though most of the route is down hill. It's not a net calculation.

For fun a reversed the route from Edmonton to Calgary. (Aside from a few loops she did) and the elevation wasn't as huge as I thought it would be. Though Strava seems to underestimate elevation by a couple hundred meters when you make routes.

https://www.strava.com/routes/18497607

[redflamesfan08]

Originally Posted by habernac

The one on the west side of the river is not, there's a detour to get around it, I rode there last weekend. Not sure about the east side of the river.

The path under 17th on the west is open, but there is a small detour through Inglewood to get back to the path. No more need to use the lights to cross 17th.

Been like this for at least 6 weeks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kermitology]

What's the best way to get from the Bow River path to the canal to Chestermere?

[ken0042]

Confirmed that the pathway under the bridges is open. There is also a nice pathway along the BRT route taking you into Forrest Lawn. (If that's your thing.) This is an image from the west most BRT bridge looking south. As said, the full path still isn't open yet.


You still could get through to the east park of Inglewood towards the bird sanctuary, but I think I'll continue down 9th ave until the path is completed.

[Northendzone]

try this link https://www.alltrails.com/explore/tr...bar-static-map - pick up the canal at a spot that best suits you.I live in the deep SE, so when I want an easy 50k ride, this is my go to route as it is a much quieter option that dealing with all the people walking thru fish creek park

this pathway can suck if the wind picks up and you are riding into it as it is relatively wide open

Originally Posted by kermitology

What's the best way to get from the Bow River path to the canal to Chestermere?

[habernac]

Originally Posted by kermitology

What's the best way to get from the Bow River path to the canal to Chestermere?

Even when the BRT was under construction, you could still get under 17th ave, but I haven't ridden it since last year.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by kermitology

What's the best way to get from the Bow River path to the canal to Chestermere?

This is the path I take:
https://goo.gl/maps/5Zwhax2pQSLLkJzt9

The problems with the Canal Route- there are not enough trees, and there are too many trees. As mentioned, it is generally wide open so the wind is a factor. However where there are trees, the roots have made their way into the path and are quite dangerous in places. I had my first and only flat after hitting a root at speed. One of these days when I have time to get home I'm going to stop and put in a 311 report on all of them.

Worst ones are:
Following my link, just after you go under the train tracks and turn east, 100 metres later there's a tree on your right- stay left.
After you go under Glenmore, the first downhill stretch is fine and you can speed up a bit. However after another 100 metres start looking for where people have carved dirt paths beside the main path. They are avoiding roots.

[mrkajz44]

Okay CP - ride your bike to work day is May 3 and I was thinking of attempting it. I work on 11th Ave SW and would be coming from Douglasdale. I don't have a commuter type bike, just a sport check mountain-type bike that has like 21 speeds or something. Two questions:

1) Should I even try to attempt this given my bike and experience?
2) If yes, how long do you think it would take me?

I feel like I'm in pretty good shape (I run a handful of Spartan type races each year for reference) but I rarely bike long distances. Any thoughts would be helpful.

[Fuzz]

Google says it's about 20km. I see people all the time riding Canmore to Banff, which is 25km, who look like they have never been on a bike. You should be fine. I'd guess about an hour.


Make sure your everything works on your bike and pump the tires to near max of what they say so it will be easier. One option is to bike in one day, and home the next to break it up, but 40km won't kill you. Your butt may be very sore though.

[dubc80]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

Okay CP - ride your bike to work day is May 3 and I was thinking of attempting it. I work on 11th Ave SW and would be coming from Douglasdale. I don't have a commuter type bike, just a sport check mountain-type bike that has like 21 speeds or something. Two questions:

1) Should I even try to attempt this given my bike and experience?
2) If yes, how long do you think it would take me?

I feel like I'm in pretty good shape (I run a handful of Spartan type races each year for reference) but I rarely bike long distances. Any thoughts would be helpful.

I can comment on this. I was in a similar situation a few years ago.

You're a farther South than me, but you should be able to access the Bow River path from Douglasdale quite easily.

I ride in from Riverbend to Downtown almost every day in the summer. This year will be my 3rd year. I think its just over 15km for me, one way.

My first year I had a mountain bike, probably similar to yours. I rode in a few times then I bought a used commuter/hybrid bike off Kijiji. What a difference. Way way way easier and faster. Looking back, the mountain bike sucked. Too heavy. Tires are too slow and fat. Not ideal.

Its a great ride as you can follow the Bow River path all the way if you want. No cars! Last year the Beaver Dam Flats area in Ogden/Millican/Lynnwood opened back up and you can just follow the path all the way through Inglewood past the bird sanctuary, past the weir, past Fort Calgary, East Village, and all the way into Eau Claire.

If you want to shorten it up, just stay on 9th ave all the way into Downtown from Inglewood instead of staying on the path after the bird sanctuary.

Its a beautiful ride in. One day last year I saw a coyote, deer and a bald eagle all in the same morning. And there's always pelicans hanging out just north of Carburn Park on the Bow.

YOU CAN DO IT!

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

Okay CP - ride your bike to work day is May 3 and I was thinking of attempting it. I work on 11th Ave SW and would be coming from Douglasdale. I don't have a commuter type bike, just a sport check mountain-type bike that has like 21 speeds or something. Two questions:

1) Should I even try to attempt this given my bike and experience?
2) If yes, how long do you think it would take me?

I feel like I'm in pretty good shape (I run a handful of Spartan type races each year for reference) but I rarely bike long distances. Any thoughts would be helpful.

That’s my ride every day. I do Renfrew to Quarry Park and back. It’s pretty flat overall, mainly pathway. When you get to the Inglewood bird sanctuary, stay on 9th headed west, under the bridge and then at West Canadian, cross north to ride along 8th.

Hardest part is the climb from the Glenmore underpass to Lynnwood ridge, after that it’s smooth sailing. Carburn park is lovely in the morning. Expect it to take you 60 minutes or so. My ride is 16km and it takes me 45 minutes but I know my route and I ride at a moderate speed (23 km/hr average).

[cral12]

Anyone with any biking trips planned this year?

I'm off to Moab early May for MTB adventure session; intrigued to hear what others have planned.

[Northendzone]

I am going to Vernon in the days prior to mothers day.

trying to talk my wife into an extended weekend in whitefish or fernie - but I am not trying too hard as she is a lukewarm cyclist and she is dreaming of going someplace alittle more fancy and non bike related......

[habernac]

I'm going to Oregon, southern Washington in August. Just me, so I'll be riding by the seat of my pants. Looking forward to it!

[KTrain]

My wife has authorized a solo-trip for a weekish this summer. I'm thinking some place driveable so I don't need a bike bag or the costs to get there and bring it. Likely down to the states so I can try a few different locations.