Ride a bike from one end of Fish Creek to the other

6. Ride a bike from one end of Fish Creek to the other (within yyc city limits)
AKA, is riding a bike really just like riding a bike?
June 8, 2013

 
My family moved to Calgary when I was 15 and the home that we bought is pretty close to Fish Creek, in the south west.  One of the first things that I learned about Fish Creek was that if you had some time, you could walk or ride a bike from our house all the way to the Zoo.   I've thought about this many times and figured this was a good opportunity to do it!

My dad is one of the best people I know.  Well, there's more to it than that.  He's one of the best people in the world!  When I made this list, I knew he'd want to do this one with me.  He jumped at it and I'm so glad he did.  It was so much fun spending the day with my favorite old guy!  :)

 I hadn't been on a bike in about 15 years, so I was a little nervous.  I kept thinking, "Is riding a bike really just like riding a bike, or is that just something people say?".  For the first km or so, I was a bit shaky, but I got the hang of it right away. 

So, my mom dropped us off at the Zoo and, after a few bike adjustments, we got started. We rode behind some of the animal pens and got to see a few of them.  My dad made noises at them and a few squawked back.  

Neither of us knew the route very well and it was so bright that we could barely see the parks app on my phone, so there was a bit of improvising, especially in the beginning.

 About an hour in, we decided to stop for lunch on the side of the river.  My beautiful moma had made us sandwiches, and we sat for a little bit and had a nice chat.  From where we were, we could see the Deerfoot (major highway) easily, but it still felt very secluded. 

Carrying on, I quickly discovered that hills are not my friend, unless we were traveling down them, which wasn't usually the case.  We went through a community called Riverview and found a beautiful private wetlands area.  There were lots of people around and we stopped to ask about the lake.  We met a young couple and their toddler, who made us laugh.

We kept traveling south, crossing the Deerfoot by going below it, which was really cool.  We saw some deer, who didn't seem bothered by us at all, and a lot of people on the route. 

When researching this, I discovered that Fish Creek ends around the Deerfoot, so the park north of this area has a different name (or names).  This made things difficult when talking to the city, Fish Creek, etc.  So, if you ever plan on doing something like this, keep that in mind!

The weather was beautiful and it rained a little near the end, which was welcome, as we were so warm.  The trip took about 4 hours, all in, and was so much fun!

If you'd like to see the route we took, I've plotted it out here:  http://goo.gl/Hg15h

So, in short, riding a bike really is just like riding a bike!

Another note about this.  We rode these paths a little less than two weeks prior to the floods that covered downtown Calgary and many areas of the city.  The zoo was underwater as was most of our route.  Not having been on the paths since the floods have subsided, I don't know what kind of shape they're in now, but I'm sure glad that we did this when we did!  I doubt that a lot of these paths will be ride-able for the rest of the summer. 

Also, Calgary was an inspiring place to be at the end of June and early July.  Many people had to be evacuated from their homes during this disaster and the rest of the city was there to help.  The need for evacuation centers was low, because so many people opened their homes to family, friends and even strangers.  I am so proud of my city and the people who live here!