Glenmore Biking Trip - 15Jun13

Our first true long distance trip together. This was a night trip. We must have begun from Downtown Calgary at about 8:45 PM. We took took the 8th St SW all the way up to 12 Ave SW and kept going East until 4th St SW. Then we headed South until we reached Elbow Drive. There it was West again all the way until the jungle where the trail to the reservoir begins.

The suspension bridge leads into the park - 10 PM. The Elbow River below

The trail leads in through a park, which has a cutoff time at 11 PM. So we had to get in and then back out of it by then. It was a little over 10 PM when we entered the park. So we had to make it quick. The entry into the park is through a suspension bridge. It is quite narrow so cyclists have to dismount while making use of it. The trail continues thereafter albeit with a huge steep ascent. 

The pathway leads into a steep ascent ahead of this

The trail and the bridge are almost at the level of the banks of the Elbow River. You would have gained an elevation of about 100 metres by the time you reached the top of the trail. This is sure a calorie burner and when you reach the top you can feel the air and blood surging through your lungs alike.

After gaining an ascent of approx 100m from the Elbow River

The beauty of this trail is that once you gain height, momentarily after that you start losing and then gaining again. By my standards I would definitely recommend new folks to have tried the Bow River Pathway at least a few times before attempting this in one go. 

On the North Eastern banks of Glenmore Reservoir - 10:30 PM

We did not attempt a full circle of the reservoir at night as we were constrained by time. We have left this for sometime in future. More posts on that when we do. The trail opens up to the view of the Rockies and the reservoir had we continued for another 5 kilometers on the trail. The trail always goes through Heritage Park. We decided to head back but just for fun sake spent some time on the North Eastern banks of the reservoir. 

Downtown Calgary - about 15 KM North of us

There was some confusion at night which way to head back as the trails split up at the North end though we had good lights on our bikes. Some time was spent in losing the way and getting back again on track. This is when we saw the Downtown from a distance at night. We have seen this kind of sight from various points in the landscape during our tours, but it always fascinates us. From our odometer I calculated this point would have been approx 15 KM South West of Calgary.

The moon from the jungle we were in - 10:54 PM

Unfortunately we lost one of our bikes' head lamp on the slope down due to an overhanging branch. That point on we slowed down full scale. The bike at the back was now dependent solely on the head lamps of the one in the front. But it was fun anyway. We managed to get out of the park just about the time at which it closes. It was then a long ride back to Downtown through Elbow Drive.

Elbow River Pathway - aside Elbow Drive - 11:15 PM