Alberta Roubaix

The inagural ride of the "Alberta Roubaix" course I mapped out went pretty darn well today with Pat, Gerry and Henry. A 9am start with cloud cover till noon left us a little chilly, but riding new roads made it that much more worth the while.

We headed out through Bowness Park, then up through Valley Ridge to the TransCanada. I've got an idea of how we can stay off the highway for longer, riding along the power lines near the community... possibly even making it over to the east end of Airport road.

Airport road is the same old, however we turned right near the stinky farm and hit the first extended gravel of the day, it rode easier with cross tires than it did on my motorbike (less float). Hung a left and climbed to 22, then went across 22 for a peek across the reserve. Descended a nice hardpack gravel hill, then turned north generally parallel to 22. Continued north to the Cochrane burbs, then exited the community by the bridge, but climbed south on 22, then crossed both lanes at the "right spot" to a sideroad that provides access to the second bridge across the Bow. A bumpy descent gave way to smooth gavel to carry speed across the wood surfaced bridge.

After a coffee stop, I elected to cut out about 3k of roundabout, and climb up by the schools directly, then up retreat road. We then made our way east on TWP RD 262, turning north on Glendale Road. From there it was north to Big Hill Springs, until we got onto Bearspaw Road, where we turned left on another township road. Connecting Glendale to this road by field is probably feasible, if we could find the right farmer/quad track/power line right of way to go on. From here we wind south until Henry observes the sign that says "No Exit". This is where I'd been confused earlier, as I've found a "road" that's not on the map that connects back to the Rocky Ridge area.

We climbed under the barbed wire fence to ride some sweet looking new bike path (great location for an unsanctioned cross race, nobody would ever notice your presence, everyone could park at Wal-Mart 10 min ride away). Wound our way through the northwest and stopped at Doyle's for some refreshments.

I rode back along Sideshow Bob, when Shawn Bunnin came upon me with his fresher, and always faster legs. We rode back to my house together, but with about 2k to go, my rear tire bead came off my rim, so I had to deflate, push it on, and ride back taking it easy. I'd say that's fairly weak performance for a brand new Schwalbe inflated to the appropriate pressure as noted on the sidewall.

4.5 hours riding time in total for me, at a pace that was rather leisurely. Great ride!