Calgary – Day 6

I didn’t take a picture of Cat this morning, so here’s a picture of us waiting for the bus.

Every time I ride the bus I think of the Danish “The Bus” advertisement. The bus we have been taking from the apartment to the bike shop has been very convenient and quick, even if it’s not quite as cool as the one in the ad. It’s worth 90 seconds of your time to click the link.

We got going a little bit earlier, catching the bus that we missed yesterday. It was another cool, but calm, dry, and sunny day. Perfect for cycling.

We had planned to circumnavigate Glenmore reservoir, but the bike shop employee this morning suggested riding down to Fish Creek Provincial Park. That’s south of where we left off yesterday, and would still allow us to ride around part of the reservoir that we haven’t seen yet. So with his help, I quickly created the route on my phone in the Ride with GPS app, and we set out.

We went the other direction around the reservoir one we got to Heritage Park, giving us an opportunity for a picture of this wonderful sign.

The trail near Heritage Park is busy enough that it was separated for cyclists and pedestrians until we got further out.

The views were beautiful.

We left the reservoir and got on the Rotary/Mattamy Greenway. It is a 145 km pathway that encircles the City of Calgary, with over a dozen parks to visit, connecting to spokes of Calgary’s many existing pathways, creating one of the largest pathway networks in the world with over 1000 km of trail. It cost $50 million and construction began in 2006. On this Greenway, we encountered more incredible active transportation infrastructure.

This little piece of public art of a dog holding his waste bag, and pointing to the garbage, was quite cute.

We could see the mountains again today.

Fish Creek Provincial Park was an incredible network of paved main paths, limestone screened side trails and single track, which would take many visits to experience in its entirety. Fortunately Ride with GPS flawlessly led us through.

While we were sitting for a short break, Patti spotted this deer across the pond, which then proceeded to run right past us.

It is a very well used park with excellent infrastructure, including four wavy bridges going back-and-forth across Bow River.

In many places, it felt like we were in the wilderness except for the paved path beneath our wheels.

They were excellent bathroom and picnic structures.

After riding through the trees for a while, we came out in this beautiful meadow, and then spotted our lunch stop in an old ranch house, which was renovated by volunteers. It was a very popular spot with ample bike parking out front.

I was last in Calgary in 1998 visiting friends who had moved there temporarily from Toronto. They lived in McKenzie Lakes, which was less than 2 km off the route we were riding today, so we crossed the Bow on this bridge and rode to their street. I had asked my friend for the address, but she recalled the street name, but not the number. I recalled which side of the street it was on, and that there was a basketball net, but couldn’t narrow it down to the right one, which I learned after the ride. It was a fun little diversion.

The climb from the bridge to the neighbourhood was so steep that it required a double switch back. We managed to ride up without stopping, but had to stop a couple times to avoid collisions on the way down because of other riders coming up.

By the time we left the pathway and were heading back to the bike store, the sky was darkening, and rain was threatening. The forecast didn’t indicate that it was going to rain yet, so we continued on to Heritage Park for coffee and cookies before returning the bikes for the final time. It was a fabulous ride. The staff at Outlaw Sports were excellent, as were their prices, and I would recommend them if you are ever in need of a bike rental in Calgary.

As we stepped off the bus at the apartment, it started to rain again, but it didn’t end up amounting to much.

We rested for a while and then went out and picked up rice bowls for dinner..