Day 33: Longview, AB -> Calgary, AB

Date: Saturday, June 17, 2023
Start: Longview, AB (Twin Cities Hotel)
End: Calgary, AB (Staying with a friend)
Distance: 80km

Another day waking up in a bed!  Always a good day!  I woke at around 7am and went to find my father.  He was already awake, and we went outside the Twin Cities Hotel where the sunrise was lighting up the landscape with another incredible scene of bright yellows and oranges.  We both pulled out our camping gear, boiled water, and had a coffee!  We spent more time catching up.  When coffee was over we both packed up and were ready to go.  I'd intentionally waited until the bakery in town opened, and we had a breakfast of flatbread and cinnamon buns.  Sitting in the sun with dad enjoying breakfast was a much better than I'd be anticipating only 18 hours ago, and I was having a great morning!

I gave my pannier bags to my dad because he was driving into Calgary.  This meant I had about 80km of biking without the weight, and boy did it feel good!  The Cowboy Trail continued to roll up and down along the foothills, but it didn't matter because I had lost all of that weight.  What I DID immediately notice was that 200km of riding the previous day had made my legs VERY tired.  They were sore from the get-go and whereas I should have been getting 25km/h pretty easily, I was only doing 18-20.  No matter, because I was also enjoying a bit of a tailwind.  I continued to enjoy the sights of the foothills: pump jacks, ranches, cattle.

Eventually I reached the town of Black Diamond.  A small town with lots of shops, it benefits from people traveling out from Calgary for weekend sightseeing and cyclists who travel these roads frequently as they train for races.  It was clear that the town was geared towards tourism as the town had pretty ornamentation that made it really quaint.

This street name didn't feel very "Alberta" to me:

From there I took the Friendship Trail to Turner Valley, which is a town just down the road.  The two towns have actually merged!  They are collectively known as Diamond Valley, but that was a recent change and not many of the signs reflect it yet.  Turner Valley was equally busy on this Saturday though, and equally as quaint.

I pushed on along the highway, dealing with occasional headwinds.  Lots of cyclists were going the opposite direction.  These cyclists were genuine, spandex wearing, tucked and grinding at 35km/h endurance racers though.  I think they'd all come from Calgary and were riding these back roads to train.  At one point I saw two people on a tandem bike.  They were also in racing gear and flying down a hill.  I didn't get time to get a picture, but trust me...it was pretty funny to see!

I had planned to take some back roads into Calgary, but when I saw the sign for the Rothney Observatory...I knew I'd spaced out and missed the turn.  The observatory is run by the University of Calgary and I never got a chance to go there and see the stars.  I snapped a picture as this was likely the closest I'd ever get.  I turned onto Highway 22X which would take me into Calgary proper!  At this point I was going directly east and it was SOLID headwinds.  I was tucked over, doing 15km/h with all of my strength.

I found the sign for Calgary and stopped to take some pictures.  I'd left here just over 1 month ago and reaching the sign again felt like coming home.

My father showed up and pulled off the road in front of me.  He told me that - while I was biking to the city - he'd gone to the mountains and explored.  After a break and a bit of chatting I turned north and took a dirt road the back way into Calgary.  I enjoyed this little change of pace, and it was tree lined and pleasant!

Then I saw it in the distance.  I can't tell you how happy I felt.  After a month of new experiences, this was something familiar.

At some point I encountered that most genuine of Calgary experiences: suburban development!

Once I re-entered the City I made for Fish Creek Park to get to my hosts house.  I'd biked through Fish Creek Park multiple times in the weeks before starting the trip as a way to train and do long rides.  The moment I reached a place where I knew the pathway I instantly relaxed.  I wouldn't have to keep checking a map.  I was back on my turf!

Fish Creek Park is really wonderful in the summer.  And today was a great day to ride through!

I eventually reached my exit and climbed into the neighbourhood of Canyon Meadows where I stopped at the house of my host.  My host for the next few days would be Anne, the mother of my friend Tyler (who biked across Canada in 2008 and whose trip was the inspiration this one I'm currently on).  I took some time to sit outside and relax while I waited for her to return home.  Truthfully I just wanted to enjoy the Sun in a way that didn't involved pedaling!

Once Anne was home we said hello, got me situated, and I went for a shower.  She offered me some lunch which I happily accepted.  We spent the next few hours chatting.

My father joined and we all talked for a bit, but soon it was time to go to the reunion I'd push so hard to get to Calgary for.  Unfortunately one of the two people I was meeting had to drop out, but he had a very good reason for doing so!  I invited my dad and he decided to join so we met at the C-Train and made for downtown!

We traveled into town and met up with Lorne, one of the duo I'd peddled hard to meet.  He also got to meet my father which is someone I know he's been curious to meet!  We shared lots of stories: mostly about how he stayed in a tent one night and thought it was barbaric and how he thinks I'm crazy for doing this.  But don't judge Lorne just yet!  He may well be providing me a stop in Wawa, Ontario in what's going to be one of the longest, uninterrupted, boring, punishing sections of the trip: Northern Ontario.  He'll be vacationing there and so we're likely to meet up again.

We all went for dinner and continued catching up and talking about the country and what was worth seeing and what is just Northern Ontario.  When the night was getting late (and I was getting plenty tired) we snapped a few photos and parted ways.  I'll see him again in Wawa, so no tears on this parting.

The weather had held up, and I'd made my meeting!  And just like that...I was back in Calgary.  More on that experience in the next post.