We have been fortunate to have some amazing weather in Calgary so far this spring. When I signed up for Ironman 70.3 St. George on May 7th I assumed the majority of my bike training would be indoors. Instead I headed out on my first outdoor ride of the year on March 20th. That feels unbelievably early for around here! I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth though, so I’ve been riding outside as much as possible, trying to find hills to ride to help prepare me for the epic climbs in St. George.
My friend Keith suggested a ride along the Road to Nepal on the south end of Calgary. I’d never ridden this route before, but I heard it offered up plenty of hills! If you want to ride this route for yourself there is a parking lot between the eastbound and westbound lanes of 22X right at 96th/37th Street.
This ride was the perfect time to test out my brand new SOAS Racing team kit, complete with matching knee warmers and arm warmers!
Keith and I rode an out and back portion, heading south along 96th Street and 112th Street. As you can see from the route on Strava, there are plenty of hills to ride!
This is a great route to settle in and work on climbing and descending technique. I’m a bit scared on downhills but Keith encouraged me to not hit my brakes on the way down. If you are looking to make the route longer you can turn west on 549 and make a loop coming up Highway 22/Cowboy Trail. So many options!
at the corner of 112th Street and 549, looking at 112th Street
Besides all of the hills the scenery is lovely. On a clear day you can see the mountains.
I thought these old farm buildings looked beautiful too.
After our ride we went for a 30 minute run off the bike…it was a good way to test out those wobbly post-bike ride legs!
I don’t head to the south side of town to ride that often, but I definitely want to come out and ride the Road to Nepal again. Thank you to Keith for showing me the route! You can read his summary of our ride too.
Have you ever ridden the Road to Nepal? Where is your favourite place to ride in Calgary?
Great write up Leana! There are a ton of great roads south and west of Calgary, and each one is better riding than the last. That one hill after the first long one, I even drove out there once and did hill repeats on it. Heart rate central! Hope you see you out there again.
Keith recently posted…Normally I draft while running, but
LOVE the cycling kit and the writeup! I’d like to get there too this season once I build a bit of fitness and confidence. Right now I’m only riding from Calgary to Cochrane on that main drag since I feel very safe with the wide shoulders. It’s pretty loud from traffic though, so I hope to find some more calmer routes soon.
Amy, after St. George maybe we can meet up and I can show you some other places around Bearspaw to ride! There are tons of places you can go where there is much less traffic. I’m not a huge fan of cycling 1A just because the traffic is pretty fast, but the shoulders are indeed nice and wide out there.
Runner Leana recently posted…Calgary Cycling Routes: Road to Nepal
Yes! I would love to go back there with a more experienced rider-thank you. There is one really hilly road I’ve done back there before, but I’m definitely not ready for them just yet 🙂 I also have Horse Creed Rd on my list to try.
That looks like a lot of fun! I’d love to attempt to run (half of) it haha I’m not sure if I’d survive a bike ride with horrible riding skills
Carmy recently posted…Try it Tuesday: Crossfit YKV
Such a pretty ride! We always do it as a loop (riding up 192 St to Township Rd 214) but will head a little bit further west on 549 to 22 to grab a snack at the Corner House Cafe before we tackle the second half. I haven’t been out there yet this year but hopefully soon.
Jenny recently posted…Road Ride: Sheep River Valley