Saturday River Valley Ride

I was thrilled last Saturday (June 14th) that Hubby agreed to come with me for a 45 km ride in the River Valley. I'd like to think it was the thought of spending the day riding with me that made him so willing, but I suspect that the fact that I bribed him agreed to stop for a Turkish dinner of iskender at Kebab Express on Whyte Ave. might have helped a bit.

We started at my Callingwood parking spot and rode along Wolf Willow, into Patricia Heights and through Rio Terrace to the pink bridge across the Whitemud. From there it was down the steep and winding trail to Laurier Park. We rode across the bridge into Hawrylak Park and from there to Emily Murphy park where we took an unpaved trail east. I found this trail a bit unnerving. There are a few sudden turns and hills, and the surprise factor combined with the rough surface made for a bit of an adventure. But we made it and finally came to a nice paved trail that led to the LRT (blue) bridge across the river. That was a first. We came out at the bottom of Fortway hill, which looks pretty formidable from down below. Looking up, I felt rather proud to think I ride up this incline almost every morning.

 

From here, we continued east through the Rossdale neighbourhood and along the river , stopping for a photo shoot at the Edmonton Queen viewing platform.

Since it was getting close to dinner time, we looked for a place to cross back to the south side of the river. Spotting the Walterdale Bridge, we rode across, only to find that the trail was closed. Back we went, continuing east to this brown footbridge.

Once on the south side, we rode west and uphill to a set of stairs that took us to Saskatchewan Drive. From there it was a short ride to Whyte Avenue and the Turkish restaurant.

After our meal -- which was as stellar as always -- we rode back to Sask. Drive, across the High Level Bridge and down  via a route that was new for me. Instead of riding down Fortway or Victoria Park Road, we descended on a paved trail that twists and turns and ends up behind the Royal Glenora Club and crosses to the River Valley Road trail. I had suspected such a trail existed, but didn't know exactly where it was or what it would be like to ride on, so I was glad to have a chance to try it.

We took my usual route up into the Crestwood neighbourhood. I wanted to try to find the pedestrian overpass that crosses the Whitemud into Patricia Heights. Easier said than done. We rode around some residential streets and finally ended up crossing the Whitemud on 156 Street. When we reached the south end of the elusive pedestrian overpass, Hubby surprised me by suggesting we ride across to the northside and find out where exactly it is. So we did that. I still am not completely sure how to get to it from the north side, or even whether it would be worth using, but it was a bit of an adventure anyway. To finish our ride, we took 87 Avenue to the shared pathway across from Target, which takes one to another pedestrian overpass not far from our parking spot.

Total distance -- 45 + km. The temperature was around 20 and it was sunny, so it was a good day for riding. There was a brisk southeast wind, but in the valley it is not very noticeable, so it was a thoroughly enjoyable ride. And yet another chance to be reminded of how lucky we are to have such an amazing area to ride.