Just south of Calgary and highway 22X there is a wealth of great cycling to be had. Today, Lou and I did a nice 40 km circuit with some lovely smooth roads, several hills (about nine, maybe) and fantastic views of the mountains.
This is a great evening or morning ride. Our riding time was around 1.75 to 2 hours, but that was Lou's first outing on the hills for a very long time, and only my 3rd. The first 10 km is pleasant riding on gently undulating roads, through horse country. Turning south onto the main local highway, you get a great continuous run on a smooth asphalt and at 20 km you start to think it's in the bag. Then you turn west towards Millarville and almost immediately, the hills start. The third is probably the worst on this ride, and is horribly obvious from several km away. After a fourth and maybe a fifth, you turn north onto the Roller Coaster Ride (112th St) which is super-smooth, but has five hills, of which the second is the highest on the ride at about 1225 m elevation. Descending this I hit 71 kph; next time I might try for 80 if there's no traffic around. The reward at 36 km is a 3.5 km solid downhill, to the finish. Doing the ride in reverse would somehow make it harder I think, and you would lose the mountain views.
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