City Circuit

Sat. 14 July:  City Circuit

I’m rapidly turning into the Passionate Biker!


Today I traveled over sixty kilometres across the city, from the furthest northwest light rail transit (LRT) station at Crowfoot to the far south at Sikome Lake, and then northwest across the full length of Fish Creek, finally north and east back home.  The major feature along most of my route was the magnificent Bow River.  It flows into the city from the Rocky Mountains to the West, and then soon after passing the downtown core, turns south. 

Biking from the house, it took me only a few minutes to reach Southland LRT station.  I didn’t have to wait very long for a train.  Loading the bike on board, I enjoyed the journey through the city to the furthest end of the line far in the northwest of the city.  At this early time in the morning the train was almost empty.  At Crowfoot I started my journey down through wide streets downhill to the Bow River.  The pathways followed the river all the way to the city.

For the first time I crossed the new Peace Bridge to reach the city centre.  This modern pedestrian bridge was larger and wider than I had expected.  The whole riverfront beside the city core has been, and continues to be, improved.  Wide pathways, places to sit out beside the river, large flower baskets everywhere.  It has been transformed.

It had been a long time – probably more than two decades, since I had travelled the section between Princes Island Park in the city centre and Sikome Lake, approximately 24 km to the south.  In that time, much has changed. The pathway follows the Bow River all the way south.  It crosses and then later recrosses the river – the second time on a beautiful custom-built pedestrian suspension bridge.  The path is wide and has a hard surface, making for easy biking.  It is part of the Trans-Canada Trail.

Sikome Lake was being prepared for opening, with sprinklers watering the grass and the park workers busily preparing for another summer day at the lake.

Here at Sikome I turned away from the Bow River to follow Fish Creek in a northwesterly direction, through meadows and forests, crossing and recrossing the creek on several new bridges built to replace the old bridges, washed away in a great storm a few years back.  Today it was warm and sunny and very green.

This was a trip of many contrasts:  modern suburban streets, riverside trails, downtown city parks, wide grassy meadows, rolling green hills, dark forests, and – towards the end – marshland.  But overall this was an exploration of a wide, fast-flowing river, almost bursting its banks with the volume of snow-melt racing down from the mountains.  I’d recommend this journey to anyone wanting a different view of this city and its grand river. 

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Statistics
Crowfoot/Sikome/Fish Creek
Sat. 14 July
Total Dist.	61.6 km (bike)
Height Gain	100 ft.
Max. Elev.	3,642 ft.
Time (biking)	4 hrs. 26 mins.

Other Stats.
Dep.home:     6.07 am S’land LRT:    6.21 am Crowft LRT:    7.05 am P.I Park:         8.01 am Sikome L:       9.31 am 37 St. SW:    10.50 am Home:          11.19 am	Temp: +16 C to +21 C Av. Speed:13.9 km/h. Cloudy, hazy sun, brighter later on.  Warm, no wind.

More Stats. Leg                      Dist.       Av.km/h
Home - S’land LRT Crowft LRT – P.I. Park P.I. Park – Sikome L. Sikome L. – 37 St. SW 37 St. SW - Home TOTAL	2.9 km       14.5 16.4 km      17.6 23.7 km      15.8 12.6 km        9.6   6.0 km      12.4 61.6 km     13.9