What a beautiful riding day....

[Vagabond142]

This thread is started (and will hopefully be stickied) for people to share stories from their rides, good or bad, where they went, etc. Also, weather conditions and riding conditions would be great info.

I say this thread is open to all, downhillers, gravity junkies, road cyclists, bmxers, street riders, pathway enthusiasts, the lot.

Let's use this template:


Day:
Where I rode: (include start and finish)
Length of ride:
Weather: (not exact, but "Sunny, lightly windy," or "overcast, strong winds, light rain," etc)
Ride story: (be as long or as short as you like. "Awesome ride" or "(insert novel length story here)" )

And yes, today is a beautiful day for riding... 20 degrees, light winds, not a cloud in the sky :D

[syeve]

I rode powderface for the first time this year tonight.
It's about 16kms? Not sure.
It was prefect, 20 degrees, little breezy to cool you down on the climbs.

Its a great ride for anyone who usually sticks to the city parks and wants to venture out to the mountains. VERY dry for this time of year, and not a hard ride technically or physically.

[5000Audi]

Day:May 27th
Where I rode: Downtown
Length of ride:about 7 hours
Weather: way to hot lol
Ride story: just a bunch of us bmx riders finding nice stair sets,rails, grinds all through out downtown.. they seem to be putting alot more grind blockers up now...errg lol all down the river near eau clair is where we spent most of the day. hit up the skate park but its bunk.. to many stupid skaters.. and its more fun to ride around down town

[Vagabond142]

Day: May 27
Where I rode: Bow trail to McHugh Cliff stairwell, then down to Chinook and back up to home (Charleswood NW)
Length of ride: About 3.5 hours
Weather: Fecking hot, slightly breezy
Ride story: Just a nice relaxed ride today, did 4 laps of the McHugh stairwell, got my rear wheel trued (FINALLY) so it's nice and grippy on the rear brake finally :P Took a relaxed pedal down to Chinook along MacCleod, then nice gentle ride back up north to home :) LOTS of supercars on MacCleod today, counted no less than 20 Porsche's and a couple of Ferrari's (F430 Spider, Testarossa, 355 Spider F1), as well as a DB9 Volante.

[Despair*]

Day: May 27
Where I rode: Loop with some add ons (Bebo Grove Fishcreek --> Up bow river pathway into Douglas Dale/McKenzie--> Bebo Grove)
Length of ride: ~45kms/2.5 hours
Weather: Nice and hot, but very windy
Ride story: Started out with a nice spin east towards sokome riding with a headwind. The initial part of the ride was very fast. I continued North along the bow river and crossed over the Sue Higgins bridge and up into Douglasdale and McKenzie along the ridge. I continued South again until I rode by the McKenzie golf course to Sokome, and than Westbound along the fish creek trail back to Bebo. Hit a nasty headwind on the way home and it felt like my legs were iron blocks and like my bike was crawling. The ride was a mix of dirth and paved pathway. A few fair sized hills but nothing too tough. There are a few differnt deviations of this loop where you can add pieces of singletrack or take alternate routes to add on some more kms. A pretty decent city ride which can be powered out after work.

[Kennyredline]

Where I rode: east on Glenmore, out into the country
Length of ride: approx. 40km
Length of WALK back to car:approx. 10km
Weather: sunny, light wind, temps around 20C
Ride synopsis: got a flat at about 30km into the ride, changed tubes, pump would not stay on valve head, could only get tire inflated to 80psi, rode another 10km or so, got another flat, this time, in trying to get the pump head stay on the valve, it snapped off, rendering the pump even more useless than it was before.
Destroyed what was left of pump.
Walked back to car in road cycling shoes.
I now use CO2 for flats.

[a social dsease]

Day: Sat/Sun
Where I rode: Fernie - brought my street/park bike, i went to the skatepark for a bit, then went to the city jump park across the street, then headed to the west fernie dirtjumps
Length of ride: 4 hrs or so
Weather: sunny and hot!
Ride story: skatepark was fun for goofing around as always, mostly just hit the quarter and the volcano. city jump/skills park was pretty fun, they had some decent sized dirtjumps but the lips were super mellow, still got some good tricks in though. some locals told me they had built a new jump at the west fernie djs, so i headed over there. the new jump was really nice, pretty much the perfect trick jump. take-off was almost vert, and still had a good sized gap. basically you come in super hot and go straight upppppp. perfect jump for spins, i did some 3s, then a couple 1 handed 3s, then decided to go for a truckdriver. stuck a couple of those (first time on dirt, wooo!!!) then i bailed on a nofooter lol, so i decided to quit while i was ahead and go home.
Photos: got my gf to take some pics, but shes not very good, so only 1. not clicked or anything, but dece air
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13/scottc420/P5230164.jpg

It was super warm in fernie this weekend, i wasn't sure how much snow there would be which is why i brought my park bike instead of my trails bike, but it looked like the snowline is moving up pretty quickly. at the ski-hill the snow is at about the top of elk/bottom of bear area. i talked to some xc riders and they said alot of the lower elevation trails in town are very rideable, definitely worth heading there if anyone is thinkin about it!

[Vagabond142]

Originally posted by Kennyredline
Where I rode: east on Glenmore, out into the country
Length of ride: approx. 40km
Length of WALK back to car:approx. 10km
Weather: sunny, light wind, temps around 20C
Ride synopsis: got a flat at about 30km into the ride, changed tubes, pump would not stay on valve head, could only get tire inflated to 80psi, rode another 10km or so, got another flat, this time, in trying to get the pump head stay on the valve, it snapped off, rendering the pump even more useless than it was before.
Destroyed what was left of pump.
Walked back to car in road cycling shoes.
I now use CO2 for flats.
FML

You forgot your last line, edited for you :D

[Penguin_Racecar]

Originally posted by syeve
I rode powderface for the first time this year tonight.
It's about 16kms? Not sure.
It was prefect, 20 degrees, little breezy to cool you down on the climbs.

Its a great ride for anyone who usually sticks to the city parks and wants to venture out to the mountains. VERY dry for this time of year, and not a hard ride technically or physically.

Any idea what powderface ridge is like this time of year?

[Kennyredline]

Originally posted by Vagabond142


You forgot your last line, edited for you :D

Ha! It wasn't that bad...I felt much better after smashing the shit out of that POS pump...never did like it.

[syeve]

Originally posted by Penguin_Racecar


Any idea what powderface ridge is like this time of year?

We saw no snow at the first sign where you go straight to hit the ridge. I would guess it would be just fine with the usual muddy sections. Let me know if you ride it, we wanted to press on but it was getting late.

[Vagabond142]

Day: May 28
Where I rode: Started in Charleswood, did the Nose Creek pathway from Berkshire/Beddington to Memorial then back to Charleswood
Length of ride: 2.25 hours
Weather: Fucking roasting. 24 and no wind except along 14th street beside Nose Hill.
Ride story: Nice gentle ride after the punisher that is Northmount/14th to Berskshire/14th. All uphill, all intermediate angle (2nd on the front, 1-3 on the back depending on angle for gearing).

The pathway itself was a joy to ride. Lots of green grass, nice grassy/woodsy smell along the top portion of the pathway, great views of downtown Calgary and the Airport. Coming up the Bow Trail along Memorial, got a little busy but got there after most of the lunchtime joggers had scurried back into their cubicles. Finished up by going up the 14th street hill below SAIT, again a brutal hill but great for intervals (4 mins of max effort to get to the top, then ride it out gently coming up the gears till back up to speed).

Legs are burning like a mother from the hillclimbs today. Hopefully all the hill intervals I've done will start showing benefits to endurance soon XD Also, I think the city/pathway biking bug has bitten me fairly strongly. I am loving getting out there 2-4 hours a day and just riding.

[flipstah]

Day: May 28
Where I rode: My house to Westwinds then train to University (Noon); University to the Zoo Station via Memorial/Bow Trail pathway then Westwinds to my house (5PM-7PM)
Length of ride: 20 mins./2 hours
Weather: Sunny and warm on both accounts :thumbsup:
Ride Story:

Heading there was quite sunny and enjoying to ride but the ride back home was the exciting part!

D'z Nutz was boasting about the Bow Trail pathway and teh hotties he experienced so might as well join the party. From the University, I went to University Drive, all the way down to some communities then found a bridge connecting me to the Bow Trail pathway. Having the Bow River always at my right was quite a thrilling experience and kept me cool and happy. I crossed the river to see a beautiful park I've never seen before in my life (good thing I brought my camera along), with some hot chicks doing Yoga, some geese being fed by kids, some rudder... thing in the middle of the road and hot chicks doing Yoga. I continued on my trek, passed some vagrants along then was at a fork to either go Bow Trail or Nose Creek. I didn't know so I followed the Zoo sign :rofl:

Train'd it all the way to Westwinds and here I am. :thumbsup:

I learned on the train that if I kept on going to the Bow path, I'd end up at Max Bell. If I went the Nose Creek path, I'd end up at the Calgary Sun. Either way, I refuse to purely bike to the NE because there are some BAD drivers out there that I do not trust at all.

People kept honking at me which I didn't understand because I was going quite fast, the road was clear so they could've overtaken me and at one point, the light was red.

MAYBE they were honking because I had a beyond.ca sticker on my helmet... Nah. We're not THAT cool.

Wish I lived in downtown... Sure is nice.

[Vagabond142]

ZOMG! I want a Beyond.ca sticker on my helmet... hell, we should get some Beyond.ca Cycling shirts made (like a regular Beyond.ca shirt, but with "CYCLING" under the logo) :D

[flipstah]

Originally posted by Vagabond142
ZOMG! I want a Beyond.ca sticker on my helmet... hell, we should get some Beyond.ca Cycling shirts made (like a regular Beyond.ca shirt, but with "CYCLING" under the logo) :D

If that's gonna happen, it has to be in one of those 'breathable' shirts. No cotton shit.

[Adrenaline101]

Day: May 28th
Where I rode: The Bike/walking paths hidden all around Okotoks
Length of ride: First ride of the day was 20km, second with the fiance was 10k
Weather: Early in the day : Fakking hot with no wind . After dinner ride: warm and comfortable, even a light breeze
Ride story: Basically everyday since I bought my new bike last thursday I've been doing a circuit ride around Okotoks, theres various bike trails spread out over both sides of the town and Ive formed a good loop of them.

Usually I start on the north side of the city, head up the dirt trails near my place and around by 2 of the schools, then down a long hill, past the bmx track, and onto a short path along the river, cross the river at the bridge, bike down a short trail and up a quick set of steep switch backs, which takes me to the top of the opposite river back, follow that path along the river till it ends where the new subdivisions are being built, then cross the street down another path between 2 rows of houses, then across another street, which leads you to a nice couple km path along a man made waterway where the storm water goes. After the loop around the stormway is completed I basically follow a slightly different quick path, that leads me back to the river path, and I do it all in reverse.

Thats pretty much the best way on describing what I have to do to get a good bike ride around Okotoks, bein as it isnt that big, and not many of the paths loop around or come together in any way shape or form that makes any sense, lol.

But I do this usually twice a day, and havent taken a day of rest on it since last Thursday. Yet to bonk myself, but my silly fiance joined me for one and didnt bring her camelbak and dehydrated herself and ended up with a mean headache from it.

:end rambling:

[swak]

I have a good hookup for said T's if enough people are down.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by swak
I have a good hookup for said T's if enough people are down.

How much? If the price is good, count me in! :thumbsup:

It'll balance out the fact that I wear a full-face on bikepaths. EVERY single biker just stared at me like I had the plague or chuckled because I looked like I didn't belong there.

I felt like a pariah on wheels.

[98type_r]

It's a few days late, but this is/was my last ride

Day: May 24th
Where I rode: 22X from chaparral East towards 37th St/Hwy 773 and then follow the road south
Length of ride: 1h50m, 48km
First ride in these parts, I live in the North but I was staying down south on the weekend so I thought I'd try a new ride. It was hilly, lots of rolling hills but the weather was great and the sun was shining. Flatted on the ride back on 22x right by Spruce Meadows, quick tube change and back on my way. Saw an iPod touch on the road, but it looked like it had been run over several times so I kept riding.

[Penguin_Racecar]

Originally posted by syeve


We saw no snow at the first sign where you go straight to hit the ridge. I would guess it would be just fine with the usual muddy sections. Let me know if you ride it, we wanted to press on but it was getting late.

Here goes:

Day: May 29, 2009
Where I rode: Powderface Ridge Trail
Length of ride: 8 hours :(
Weather:Sunny, lightly windy
Ride story: Holy crap.
Left "parking lot" at bottom of Powderface Trail at just before 11AM
First 7 km on gravel road was a breeze. Not too warm, not too steep. Turned right at trail head for a challenging climb up the mountain. Some mud/traction issues, but at least 95% rideable. Arrived at Y-intersection for Powderface Creek Trail and Powderface Ridge Trail. Took a break and enjoyed the view, then trekked on to the ridge trail. Right away we lost the trail due to snow, and decided to go straight up mountain where there was no snow. At the top we found out we'd climbed the wrong mountain (doh) but were able to see the Powderface Ridge Trail going up the next mountain. Climbed/Rode down the steep incline of current mountain, plowed through some more snow, and arrived at the ridge trail, which was mostly clear, although quite rocky and challenging to climb.
Arrived at top of ridge trail and noticed entire East side of the top of the mountain was covered in snow. Phoned my brother to find out where exactly the trail is supposed to start from the top (hooray for cell phone reception at that exact spot). Got some points, but no exact location to go down. Decided to trek through the ridiculously steep snowy slope in hopes of finding the trail and getting away from the snow (bad idea).
Intersected with the trail after a bit of swearing and falling and realized it was also covered in snow, and would be for a while.
In hopes of less snow at lower altitude we pushed on through the snow, sometimes a foot high, other times more than 3 feet high (bad idea #2). After an hour we were still in the snow, with only the occassional 30 meter bikeable section, then more snow. After that, it started going uphill again, which meant more snow, in larger quantities. Every stop we took would result in falling through the snow ass deep. After 4 hours of trekking through the snow, cursing, and realizing how dumb we were for doing this we finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. We finally finished the East facing portion of the trail and arrived at a sunfacing portion. This is where we took some time to dry our shoes, socks, and warm up our now frozen feet from plowing through snow for 4+ hours.
At this point we looked at the map and realized there was still one small East facing portion, so we were prepared to hit some more snow on the downhill portion of the run. Fortunately this only took 15-20 min of cursing to get through. After that, it was all downhill and all dry. The short/steep downhill portion was at least somewhat redeeming. It was technical and rocky and surely tests the hell out of your braking system. The trail spits you out right in the parking lot at the bottom. Arrived back at vehicle at 7:07PM.

Conclusions:
Don't ride Powderface Ridge Trail for another few months. It's going to take that long for the immense amount of snow to melt.
If you lose a trail due to snow, and you still have to go uphill, don't.
Don't ride East-facing trails until laaaate into the season in the mountains.

The reason we couldn't turn around was because the Rocky Mountain Rally was blocking the entire road as soon as we got onto the trail. In all reality we should've turned around and taken the Powderface Creek trail, then dealt with the highway trip back to the parking lot later (or just gone to watch the rally for a while!)

All in all - worst biking adventure ever. Worse than Seven Summits in Rossland. Carrying a 45 lb trail bike through 4+ km of snow at 1km/hr is even less fun that it sounds.
I'm sure the trail would be epic when dry, as the scenery is amazing, the climbs are challenging and followed by nice singletrack (I assume there's nice singletrack under the 3 feet of snow), and the downhill section is technical.

[syeve]

wholy, I never imagined that much snow. I checked my ride journal and the first time we rode the ridge last year was on theis very day, May 31 and there was a TON of snow and I would say we have 300% more snow this year so yah, the ridge might be a month from riding.

We did ride Moose today and it was perfect, a few small snowy patches at the summit but nothing serious. Hit moose next time, I enjoy it much more even when the ridge is dry. The downhill is the best imo.

Ride took about 1:45, I think its about 26kms? I love this ride, it is my favorite. It has technical switchback sections, west coast style single track and bombing fast single track smooth sections. We passed a bunch of pilons (hikers) but they all got out of the way. Best ride of the year by far!

[Vagabond142]

Pretty fast blast today:

Day: June 2
Ride length: about 1 hour
Ride description:

Decided to take it easy today, haven't been on the bike in 3 days. Rode Charleswood/Northmount Drives to Market, then bombed it up over the bridge (USING THE SIDEWALK! O_O) across Crowchild... funny thing, the GMC dealer there had the service bays open but the lights were turned off in the sales room <_<... anyways, rode down to Northmount, and then, for shits n giggles, put it in high gear and bombed it flat out down Northmount, hard as I could go. Was probably pushing 35-40 kph with all the fucking wind blasting in my face, and my legs were screaming at the end of it... but hey, sprints are good :thumbsup: Coasted it home, called it there :P

[swak]

I live right on Northmount.. Go ride sometime there kiddo.
I love bombing doen northmount, relatively light traffic, and at the playground zones pasing cars and seeing the looks on drivers faces

[Vagabond142]

I live a hop, skip and a jump from the intersection of Northmount and Charleswood. The Triwood arena is like a 2 minute walk for me :P

[swak]

Haha wicked.. I'm less than 2min to Eurotech (northmount and 14th)

[a social dsease]

Date: June 2, 2009
Ride Length: 2.5 hrs
Description: Went to COP for the evening. Hit the blue run about 15 times, it was fun, exactly the same set-up as last season. Went and hit the DJs for a bit as well. I heard alot of people complaining about the djs this yr, but that happens every yr, so i was kind of eager to check them out. They were actually pretty disappointing, not even as good as last season. Theres'two jumps, then theres a huge wallride/wood berm, then 3 more jumps. The first two are alright, despite not being very steep, the wallride is fun but you have to hop super hard off of it to have any chance of clearing the 3rd jump. It kind of angles your away from the jumps, so if you don't hop really far off then you have to turn to hit the jump which kills all your speed. If you hit the wooden berm then its even worse, basically kills all your speed. After the 3rd jump the 4th jump is dece, but then the final jump is literally about 3-4 ft gap. The first time I hit it I landed completely flat, even with a massive brake check. To actually hit tranny on it you have to come almost to a complete stop its so small. I don't understand why they would make the jumps go from big to small, it would flow alot better if it was the other way around, ie jumps get bigger as you go through.
Anyways I'm glad I didn't buy a seasons pass this yr as I don't think its worth riding on a regular basis. That said it is a fun rip within the city limits and there is definitely room for improvement; i hope the crew can get around to fixing the djs.

[a social dsease]

Date: June 4, 09
Ride Lengths: 30mins
Description: Chestermere

Since my office is in E calgary I decided to check out the chestermere "skatepark" on my lunch hr. Had some fun on the 8" mini halfpipe. Fun to ride but super slippery. Heres a little clip.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13/scottc420/th_P6040240.jpg (http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y13/scottc420/?action=view&current=P6040240.flv)

[Vagabond142]

^^^^ did I see a little one hander near the end there? :D

[Adrenaline101]

Day: June 10th
Where I rode: the entirety of fish creek park
Length of ride: 3 1/2 hours
Weather: too hot at the start, but when a light breeze picked up and it started to get a lil shady it was just perfect and invigorating.
Ride story: Well basically since I moved into deer run, Ive been tryin to burn fat like crazy on the bike, going out whenever the weather allows. So today I slept in nice and late, then at about 3:30 I decided to go hit up the park. Rode from my house, to the entrance near the bow valley ranch, then all the way to shannon terrace (taking as many of the dirt and gravel offshoots along the way as possible), then from shannon terrace I rode back along the dirt trails beside the creek and river all the way up to Mallard Point, then back down the paved trail to the entrance to deer run, and home.

It was fun exploring every little path possible, even found a buck deer that didnt look to friendly as I was climbing over some felled trees with my bike. I tried to bike at a steady pace the entire way, and now Im sitting here and I cant feel my legs. Id make supper, but I think if I got off my bar stool Id fall flat on my face. Great Ride:thumbsup:

[syeve]

June 13 hit up Moose but took a brand new trail up instead of sulpher. It's called pneuma I think, it's it only a year old I think. You hook up off sulpher and take it all the way up to race of spades (it got to muddy to stay on it). It was a really nice ride, but added about 45 minutes so it defn made a difference in water use and energy use. It took us 2:30 minutes and I was BAGGED after the ride, we didn't stop except to take a few pics. Anyways, weather was perfect and didn't see another person until we linked up on Moose.

pneuma
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m186/Syeve/DSC01269.jpg

Bro on an ETSX team
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m186/Syeve/DSC01278.jpg

Loop out to the edge of Moose mountain
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m186/Syeve/DSC01280.jpg

[Adrenaline101]

I feel slightly retarded by asking this...But where is Moose exactly? Since I moved to Alberta I havent actually gotten around to finding out where everything is in the calgary vacinity

[a social dsease]

Originally posted by Adrenaline101
I feel slightly retarded by asking this...But where is Moose exactly? Since I moved to Alberta I havent actually gotten around to finding out where everything is in the calgary vacinity

its just west of bragg creek. by paddys flats campground. check out this website, has everything you could want to know about moose, including maps.

http://www.mmbts.com/members/

[a social dsease]

Date : June 14
Length of Ride : 1 lap
Description : Hit up Moose Mtn for the 1st time this season. Went down Race of Spades. Was really fun, trail was in excellent (almost perfect) condition. Late enough that there was no snow or mud, but early enough that there was no ruts and it wasn't dusty. Still getting used to being on the bike again but I hit every stunt on the trail (except the big gap at the bottom) and felt really confident out there. I'd definitely recomend Moose right now!

All my pics turned out super blurry, I think I need to adjust the settings on my camera, but here is the best shot I got...

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13/scottc420/tedatmoose.jpg

[flipstah]

Originally posted by a social dsease
Date : June 14
Length of Ride : 1 lap
Description : Hit up Moose Mtn for the 1st time this season. Went down Race of Spades. Was really fun, trail was in excellent (almost perfect) condition. Late enough that there was no snow or mud, but early enough that there was no ruts and it wasn't dusty. Still getting used to being on the bike again but I hit every stunt on the trail (except the big gap at the bottom) and felt really confident out there. I'd definitely recomend Moose right now!

All my pics turned out super blurry, I think I need to adjust the settings on my camera, but here is the best shot I got...



Holy shit that's high. Looks fun though! :D

[86max]

Date : June 19
Length of Ride : approx 2 hours
Description : Boost Infested and I joined some others to do the Sulphur Springs loop by Moose. We did it counterclockwise in just over 2 hours, which is probably pretty slow. For a first time mountain trip it was really fun, but also very demanding. A LOT of up-hill is involved, I believe it's 265m of elevation change within 12km. It started raining near the end of the ride, but otherwise a nice day. I crashed twice, and I've sworn off fast food for a while lol.

Didn't get too many pics but here's a couple from one of the scenic rest points.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v98/86MAX/0619091519.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v98/86MAX/0619091519a.jpg

[syeve]

^^Nice guys!! Next is ALL the way up to ride Moose! You will NEVER forget the downhill on Moose. Good job!

EDIT: Guess I will throw in my ride today (Saturday) - Rode from the moose gravel parking lot to Pnuma. We rode all the way up Pnuma to Race of spades then on the road until the upper parking lot, then down moose. The swithbacks and downhill are PERFECT, super fast and tacky. The trail uphill is in great condition but I am beat up again. We rode this same ride last weekend and I thought I just had a bad ride. I felt a new kind of pain on that last hill near the end of Moose. I am going to take more food in on ride days, I was just completely out of gas.

I was in my small cog on the HIGHWAY to get back to the car from station flats. :barf:

Total ride time was 2.5 hours-ish. I have no idea how long it is, maybe 30kms? Big climb though, ~950m up.

[syeve]

Rode Quark Creek last night. We were going to ride powder but the trail was absolutely PACKED. I bet there was 35 cars in the paking lot?!

i forgot how wicked a ride Quark is though. It's a great after work ride that isn't super tuff but has better views and scenery than any other ride we do, better than powder, moose, cox, whatever, the views were amazing. I didn't have my camera but I have a few pics from previous Quark rides. This would be a great ride for the guys just venturing into the mountains for a sweet, not to hard ride.

It took us about 1:45 but we weren't pushing to hard and spend about 15 minutes just site seeing.

Oh yah, you have to cross the elbow, water was up to my nuts and I'm 6'2" so be careful, pretty fast water.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m186/Syeve/2006_09_30-01-GarySteveontheElbowRi.jpg

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m186/Syeve/DSC01172.jpg

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m186/Syeve/DSC00180.jpg

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m186/Syeve/Picture030.jpg

[Vagabond142]

Day: june 25/09
Weather: Fucking HOT with some wind
Story:

Wow... today was glorious for riding... hit the road about 11, headed north to Nose Hill, got some great cooling winds coming over the hill, did the nose hill paved trail and then did a relaxing downhill to northmount/14th, turned around, and hill sprinted all the way to Berkley, then turned around and came home... loads of good, hard cardio today... legs are fucking jelly, but damn I feel good :D Time to go have a garden salad to get my after-ride meal in :D

And syeye, where exactly is that creek?

[86max]

Originally posted by syeve
Rode Quark Creek last night.

How do you get to that trail? I wanna try it this weekend :)

[syeve]

Originally posted by Vagabond142

And syeye, where exactly is that creek?

You know, after looking at that last pic it might be on prarie link (powderface). I remember it was runoff from melting snow but you could ride it for like 200 feet uphill. I didn't label my old pics very much, but I do think it was powderface. Sorry!



Originally posted by 86max


How do you get to that trail? I wanna try it this weekend :)

I have looked everywhere online for the quark trail, I can't find anything! It should be in the bragg trail guide if you have one. I will grab my trail guide (at brother house) and post up some of the info on the trail.

[swak]

Day: June 28
Ride length: about 4.5 hrs (incl. lunch and other rest breaks)
Ride description:

Rode from Calgary city limits at 22x to Elbow falls following highway 22 merging into 66. (Just over 90kms). I am beat, a fair bit of traffic on the highway, but other than that, amazing ride. Weather was wicked, wind wasnt too bad. All in all, perfect day for a ride.

One thing i have to note, i rode past Priddis golf club, and have never seen such a well kept golf course. Its ridiculously nice (Fully Private).

[Vagabond142]

Day: July 15
Length: 4.5 hours
Description:

FINALLY some clear weather. Bout fucking time <.<

Did my super-loop of hill sprints and recovery downhill all the way home twice. Loop goes Brentwood -> Edgemont via Dalhousie -> Country Hills -> Harvest Hills -> down 14th st to home, with the option to cut across Nose Hill to repeat the loop if wanted, which is what I did. NICE breeze coming over Nose Hill, cooled me right off. I really need to get some gravel/dirt tires vs the street tires I have so I can start getting some mountain time in before the routes close

[98type_r]

Originally posted by swak
Day: June 28
Ride length: about 4.5 hrs (incl. lunch and other rest breaks)
Ride description:

Rode from Calgary city limits at 22x to Elbow falls following highway 22 merging into 66. (Just over 90kms). I am beat, a fair bit of traffic on the highway, but other than that, amazing ride. Weather was wicked, wind wasnt too bad. All in all, perfect day for a ride.

One thing i have to note, i rode past Priddis golf club, and have never seen such a well kept golf course. Its ridiculously nice (Fully Private).

did you do the ride solo? I did it once or twice last year, but my riding buddies have more or less retired and haven't gotten out yet this year. I might have to now that the ring road is open and I can't do laps on that anymore.

[swak]

No, not solo.
Its a wicked ride though.
Lots of good climbs, usually not too much traffic.
Only downside is the texas gates. Not too keen on them.
But definitely a good ride.

[scary_perry]

Originally posted by swak
No, not solo.
Its a wicked ride though.
Lots of good climbs, usually not too much traffic.
Only downside is the texas gates. Not too keen on them.
But definitely a good ride.

I usually ride past the golf course through the valley and then turn back. Sometimes I ride into Bragg Creek, but I have never done all the way out to Elbow Falls.

I am game for a group ride.

I usually try to keep my pace between 30-35 kph, but I am cool going slower.

[scary_perry]

The part I don't like is no shoulder on the Eastbound 22x at Red Deer Lake.

I usually ride that last bit on the Westbound side.

[swak]

Originally posted by Vagabond142
Day: July 15
Length: 4.5 hours
Description:

FINALLY some clear weather. Bout fucking time &lt;.&lt;

Did my super-loop of hill sprints and recovery downhill all the way home twice. Loop goes Brentwood -&gt; Edgemont via Dalhousie -&gt; Country Hills -&gt; Harvest Hills -&gt; down 14th st to home, with the option to cut across Nose Hill to repeat the loop if wanted, which is what I did. NICE breeze coming over Nose Hill, cooled me right off. I really need to get some gravel/dirt tires vs the street tires I have so I can start getting some mountain time in before the routes close

Would you be able to draw out this route on a google map or something?
This sounds like a really good ride. Find it hard to flooow in your summary though.

Also, to perry, id be down for a ride to elbow falls.

[98type_r]

Originally posted by scary_perry


I usually ride past the golf course through the valley and then turn back. Sometimes I ride into Bragg Creek, but I have never done all the way out to Elbow Falls.

I am game for a group ride.

I usually try to keep my pace between 30-35 kph, but I am cool going slower.

You should try to the end of Highway 66, past Elbow Falls all the way to Little Elbow campground. 2 grueling climbs but once you turn around you can get some crazy speed coming down those hills.

+1 for a group ride but i'm a bit slower, average around 30kph depending on the day.

[scary_perry]

I might be able to go Sat.

My place is in Somerset close to 22x - lots of parking across the street from my place too.

[swak]

id be down sat but i work until 3 that day, possibly next week.
I will most likely be riding friday though (Probably more of a short-fast ride to cochrane and back)

[98type_r]

Did 60km on highway 574 to Madden and back today, perfect weather for riding.

If we can't make it out this weekend, I'm out for a group ride next weekend, 24 hours of Adrenaline is that weekend and I have a team commitment.

[scary_perry]

I did 62km this morning. I are pooped.

[scary_perry]

Originally posted by 98type_r
Did 60km on highway 574 to Madden and back today, perfect weather for riding.

If we can't make it out this weekend, I'm out for a group ride next weekend, 24 hours of Adrenaline is that weekend and I have a team commitment.

I have to organize a team for next year. I really want to try and 24 hr race.

[scary_perry]

Originally posted by swak
Day: June 28
Ride length: about 4.5 hrs (incl. lunch and other rest breaks)
Ride description:

Rode from Calgary city limits at 22x to Elbow falls following highway 22 merging into 66. (Just over 90kms). I am beat, a fair bit of traffic on the highway, but other than that, amazing ride. Weather was wicked, wind wasnt too bad. All in all, perfect day for a ride.

One thing i have to note, i rode past Priddis golf club, and have never seen such a well kept golf course. Its ridiculously nice (Fully Private).

If you set out from 37th st and 22x intersection, that's about a 120 km ride. Excellent!

[Kennyredline]

Date: July 18
Route: Parked car at Shell station across from C.O.P. Rode out 16 AVE to Highway 22, went east down the valley into Cochrane. Turned south onto the 1A, headed up the big hill, came back to the Trans-Canada on Stoney Trail.
Distance-Approx. 60km
Weather-Hot and sunny, moderate wind coming from the south-east.
Ride synopsis-I like this route, because there are nice variations in uphill-downhill, and the big bastard hill out of Cochrane. I prepared for the hill just before I turned onto the 1A, buy having half a Power Bar. I noticed the headwind just as I turned onto the 1A, and it made the hill less fun...lol.
I handled the hill ok, but was really hurting with about 400m to go. I got to the top, and felt a slight twinge in my left calf muscle, so I had to baby it the rest of the ride.
I averaged 30.8km/hr over the ride.

[Vagabond142]

Originally posted by swak


Would you be able to draw out this route on a google map or something?
This sounds like a really good ride. Find it hard to flooow in your summary though.

Also, to perry, id be down for a ride to elbow falls.

Sure, gimme a bit of time to get it up tho, just heading to bed XD look for it within about 24 hours

[scary_perry]

I just did Priddis and back. 33 km.

There was a rider ahead of me. As I hit 22x and McKevitt they were starting the hill westbound on 22x. I caught them by the Priddis turn - quite proud of myself.

It was a chick though. She looked pretty fit and was heading to Bragg from the looks of it. I did not want to freak her out so I didn't say hello. Plus I slayed those kms and could barely talk.

[swak]

EDIT:
haha... k now i have an actual report.

A good friend that moved away a year ago came back home to ride for a couple weeks, i was crazily happy.

Today we went for a short ride to Bragg Creek.
Parked at COP, down highway 1 west, to 22 south and into Bragg Creek.
80'ish km ride, avg. 25 km/h. (this speed is calculated from time and distance, including time spent eating lunch and a pee break, so id assumb itd be higher)
16th was actually pretty dead (10am on a weekday morning, going westbound. It goes without saying.)

Perfect weather (not too hot) and very little wind, and quite a few other cyclists around. Its nice to see a wave from another rider now and then.

[scary_perry]

I passed another nice looking lady today on 22x.

You single blokes ought to get on the road. Back in my day I was lucky if I saw one female cyclist per year our on the roads.

Looks like there was a Time Trial tonight near the Priddis turn off (that or a group ride).

I am a lot slower than I was 3 years ago - 30kph is all I can muster now. Damn my old age!

[swak]

Originally posted by scary_perry
I passed another nice looking lady today on 22x.

You single blokes ought to get on the road. Back in my day I was lucky if I saw one female cyclist per year our on the roads.

Looks like there was a Time Trial tonight near the Priddis turn off (that or a group ride).

I am a lot slower than I was 3 years ago - 30kph is all I can muster now. Damn my old age!

Yeah, crankmasters had a time trial there tonight.
A lot of red white and blue jerseys id assumb.

and the only lady i saw riding when i have been out was some time trial chick, who i wouldnt classify as friendly.

[swak]

Eaither this thread is dying, or nobody is riding.
Start riding!

Day: August 21
Length: 3hrs (2-5pm) 62kms
Description:
Crazy nice day, (35 degrees) decided to make the best of it, parked at COP, went up the hill and down springbank road to the bragg creek traffic circle, did a 360, and came back.
Made really good time up the COP hill IMO. (8min from the gym at the bottom of the hill to springbank road, incl a short break to catch my breath by the Teahouse)
First time using a cycling computer (bought the polar cs600). It is crazy. After loading it on my computer, its nuts to see what you rode.

The weather really got to me near the end of the ride, really effin hot!
Drank a tonn of fluids.

[USED1]

Rode the Highwood pass from Kananaskis Village to the Highwood Junction. Quite the climb over the pass, I believe the total trip was just over 85 km.

[D'z Nutz]

Just came back from a 25km bike ride (75min). After I get home from work, eat, and digest a bit, I only get less than 2 hours of sunlight before it's pitch black. It gives me enough time bike from my house in the NE, to along deerfoot, to the zoo, then to eau claire, train it back the NE and bike the rest of the way home.

Yeah it's not as super impressive as some of your guys' rides but at this time of the year, I'll take what I can get during the weekdays. Weekends are too hit and miss for me :(

[Vagabond142]

These past few days have been glorious riding days. No clouds, light winds, good temperatures.

Date: August 28th, 2009
Length: 4.5 hours (approximately 60-80 km's, all told)
Weather: fucking gorgeous. No clouds, light wind, 27-30 C
Description:

Did a long urban route today to get my new pedals (MEC brand) fully broken in and the bearings all happy. Had my first real crash of the season too at the bottom of the hill on southbound 19th NW because of the lovely condition of Calgary's roads. As the bike was fine and I was only lightly scraped (miraculously, I crashed at damned near 35 kph), I continued my ride. Went all the way to bow trail, then south through downtown (saw a Ford GT in the Gulf racing paint scheme beside a white F430 at MacLeod and 6th ave, and both pinned it leaving the lights :love: :love: ), all the way down to Heritage, turned around, and reverse the route all the way home.

Fun story is that even though I had two granola bars (nicely flattened in the crash) at the bottom end, I also had my first bonk today. Got home and was physically shaking, light headed and feeling super hungry, quickly had some bread and cold chicken from last night's supper, with a glass of gatorade crystals in water, felt fine 10 minutes later.

All in all... to be honest, one of the most physically demanding rides of the year, good distance and speed and I feel fucking awesome now, despite being sore all over from the crash XD

[corsvette]

beautiful riding days!but they are getting short,not much daylight after work anymore:(

[scary_perry]

I am so lazy - no running or riding in almost two weeks.

Cross season will start and kick my ass into shape again.

I liked the heat earlier this year, but for some reason this heat wave has me hiding in my basement.

[swak]

Originally posted by scary_perry
I am so lazy - no running or riding in almost two weeks.

Cross season will start and kick my ass into shape again.

I liked the heat earlier this year, but for some reason this heat wave has me hiding in my basement.

Best advice ive heard is, "Is it easier to NOT ride?"
Definitely not.

You'll be kicking yourself in the butt once you jump on that bike again.

[corsvette]

a nice long ride in todays wind was fun,it did not seem to matter which direction i was going it felt like i was against it the whole time,slows you down but a good workout!

[98type_r]

did a weekend ride from rocky ridge we rode through bears paw and then back onto hwy 1a to ghost lake and back.
105km at an easy pace, we finished in 4 hours. The cochrane hill kicked my ass all the way up.

[swak]

nice time there type_r.

Did you take any breaks, or is that time excluding breaks?

[corsvette]

Another windy day ride!Giving some serious thought about picking up a road bike,seems i have been doing most of my riding this year on pavement, i have never ever even rode one i should try one out.

[stellerGT]

Originally posted by corsvette
Another windy day ride!Giving some serious thought about picking up a road bike,seems i have been doing most of my riding this year on pavement, i have never ever even rode one i should try one out.

I was on the same boat as you. I was lookin for a new Hardtail bike, but I realized that I've only been riding on pathways and pavement. I decided to try a roadbike, and I have no regrets getting one. You should definately give it a try.

[corsvette]

Originally posted by stellerGT


I was on the same boat as you. I was lookin for a new Hardtail bike, but I realized that I've only been riding on pathways and pavement. I decided to try a roadbike, and I have no regrets getting one. You should definately give it a try.

I was looking at a kijiji ad for a Cannondale R5000 for $1000 Im somewhat a newb on roadbike frame sizes its a 58cm,i am 5ft10',any help in the right size would be great.I read a few owner reviews on that model the all seem positive and was a pricey bike when new,i know absolutly nothing about whats good or bad (components, frame material,ect)on road bikes.Any thoughts on this model?

[scary_perry]

That might be a bit big - I would guess a 56cm would fit you. But that is just a guess based on your height. You could be all leg or all torso.

For a first bike, it might make more sense to hit a shop and get the full service treatment.

[98type_r]

Originally posted by swak
nice time there type_r.

Did you take any breaks, or is that time excluding breaks?

it was excluding breaks, set the computer to only count time while i'm moving:D

Saturday's Ride:
Moosepackers loop, starting at Station Flats parking lot ride up the Moose Mountain gravel road and back down through moosepackers. Total time ~1:50

[el_fefes]

Day: Sept 9. Labour day.

Where I rode: Hawkwood (NW) to Downtown

Length of ride: 16.04 km
Speed Avg: 21.4 km
Speed Max: 49.8 km

Weather: sunny but a bit cool with the wind.

Ride story: biked with my gf, I lent her my mt bike and I used my dads old road bike. Our pace was kind of slow because this was more of a leisurely ride. All of the ride was either flat or downhill... good times. Ran into a friend of ours along the bow river pathway, chatted for a bit and then kept going. We also ran into my parents just as we arrived at Eau Claire... 2 coincidences in one trip!

Downtown was dead... not surprising. We trained back to the NW.

On a side note, for those of you that have a S60 GPS enabled Nokia phone (N95) do yourselves a favour and download Nokia Sports Tracker. What a great app! It gives you your distance, Max and avg speed, and max and avg pace. It also gives you different graphs, like speed vs. time, altitude vs. distance etc and the route you took which you can then export to google earth! :D

EDIT:

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k13/el_fefes/Routes/HW-.jpg

[syeve]

Does anyone know about a new trail on powderface? I have heard rumors of a sweet single track that is brand new complete with berm's, hits, etc. Anyone? :thumbsup:

[Vagabond142]

So, anyone planning on fall/winter riding? I'm biking as long as the temperature is above 5 C, but I really don't have proper biking clothing so my season is pretty much over :\

[el_fefes]

I'm planning on commuting w/ my bike through the winter...let's see if I last.

[syeve]

For anyone still riding in the mountains; rode Moose yesterday afternoon. Still in good condition! Few snowy patches but nothing serious.

[962 kid]

random November bump, but I just picked up another bike to replace my P3

http://www.sicklines.com/gallery/data/628/medium/transition_double.jpg

Got one of these in yellow, and man am I excited for next year :D went for a short ride today and I am in love with this thing

[a social dsease]

I rode Moose last Thursday (Nov 12) , RoS, and it was pretty good. Bit of snow at the top but that just made it more fun, as well most of the jumps were hittable. I don't think its snowed much (or at all) since then so should be good still.

[Vagabond142]

First ride of the year!

Of course, I have to choose the COLDEST DAMNED DAY OF THE WEEK >__<

Ah well:

When: 8:15 am, March 24, 2010
Where: Home to SAIT
Story:

Goddamn my legs are out of it XD Had WLS (wobbly leg syndrome) when I got off my bike at SAIT, went and gulped down about 3 liters of water and wolfed down a granola bar and felt awesome right away :D

A short ride, just getting my bike all in tune again and making sure all the wheels are trued and all, but hey, kick starting this thread for the year!

[swak]

^^ Good on ya man!
.. what do you ride again?
.. and how longs your commute?

[syeve]

Pnuma is open now...just a few icey patches. Moose packers is still snowed in. Still about 2 feet of snow on the trail. I would imagine ROS is OK by now but the road is still close.

Start tuning up your rigs!

[corsvette]

Been out a few times the past week, going to start looking for a nice road bike since i highly doubt i will have time for much cross country mtn biking this year (new baby coming this may).

[Vagabond142]

Originally posted by swak
^^ Good on ya man!
.. what do you ride again?
.. and how longs your commute?

A McKinley something (don't know the exact model, but it's a twin shock (front and back) with smoother road tires.

The commute is not entirely long, probably 10-15 minutes depending on how fast I go. It's from Charleswood to 16th ave along 19th street NW southbound, then left and across 14th street to SAIT. Riding into the wind was FUCKING COLD tho... gah (shivers).

[swak]

Today wasn't beautiful at all, ahaha....
March 30th ride, up COP hill, and down springbank road (Sprinting Intervals, then went back), wasn't going for distance today.

Was cold and effin windy, but warmed up quick (underarmour, and leg and arm warmers!).

Best part of it all though, i got a laugh out of it at least, but parked in the main lot at COP, got ready, essentially dressed down into kit, etc...
There were cars around me throwing on their winter jackets, grabbing their skis and heading to the slopes.

Got some weird looks, but was well worth the ride today.

[Vagabond142]

Went out again today, was nice starting out around noon, but then the clouds came, the wind picked up, and I had no riding gloves o_o

Let's just say it took a few hours for the feeling to return to my fingers when I got home XD

[swak]

Started riding at 10am, riding west INTO THE WIND sucked.
Period. Sucked.
cant stress this enough.
Riding with the tailwind was fun as hell, picked up some damn good speed, but today was just a 1hr training ride around West of COP.

weather was nice, but the headwind was HELL.

.. the low km/h is a result of the headwind... it sucked :nut:, from the spike, its pretty clear where i turned around heading east ahaha.... Even on some pretty steep uphills on highway 1 i got to about ~40.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/magishn/Capture-1.png

[swak]

Leaving at 10 - 10:30 tomorrow from MRU, PM me if you want to come along to Bragg Creek.

[Vagabond142]

Goddamned weather... I haven't ridden in two weeks now :| grrr (shakes fist at sky)

[swak]

Originally posted by Vagabond142
Goddamned weather... I haven't ridden in two weeks now :| grrr (shakes fist at sky)

ahaha... i cant say the same (however, the layering of clothing is getting old fast), but i definitely agree the weather BLOWWWSSS (pun not intended).

.. I had a time trial yesterday, which included 3-5degree weathers and some nice 15k+ winds.
ahhhhh. yeahhhhhh....

[Vagabond142]

Finally got out and about after this morning's rain and first thing I had to do was do an about turn and WALK home because I punctured my rear tire :facepalm: Ah well, such is biking :P It was a glorious afternoon to bike in though, warm, gentle breeze to carry body heat away, but not too overly roasting hot

[corsvette]

Finaly some half decent wether.....but now my right knee is causing trouble for some odd reason:thumbsdow

[flipstah]

Nice weather today! Rode around the NE and realized my Big Apple tires are way too slick lol.

Need to change it up haha!

[sgt_hawk]

Great day at moose, Was an xc event so the parking lot was packed but. 8 guys training T-dub and Ros is epic.

Some spots have puddles but Other then that all the berms are Stupidly sticky :)

[Vagabond142]

Jeebus meltymans it was hot out there today. Despite this being a rest day for me, it was too beautiful out not to get at least an hour of gentle riding in today. Did Confederation Park all the way to the ends of the pathways :D Just a nice quick zip close to home, get the sweat on a bit. If this weather holds, we're in for some awesome biking days next week :D

[flipstah]

I lost a quarter for train fare and had to bike from the UofC to Taradale.

Two hours of fighting hunger and delirium lol! So hot, so hungry but was hydrated!

[Vagabond142]

Oh gawd today was PERFECT for biking. I was out there when it was 26-27C and not a cloud in the sky, but there was a light breeze coming out of the northwest all day. Did half the bow trail (Bowness to south Downtown and back) just for shits n giggles, was absolutely perfect :)

This was one of those days when being on a bike just works, no matter what happens. Perfect weather, perfect pathway conditions (not clogged up with runners, just a nice, light, steady flow of people), and perfect mechanical equipment (my bike seemed to like today just as much as I did :D)