lori Active Urban Adventure Series
Do you want to be more active with your family? Perhaps you are motivated to bike and walk for the exercise or as a alternate way to get to know Calgary. Or maybe you’d like a local vacation, a “stay cation”, this summer; much cheaper than heading out of town and paying for hotels and meals and activities for the family. I enjoy active urban adventuring for all of those reasons and also, in order to get my kids hooked on self-propelled transport. Our 7 year old can bike up to 30km and our 10 year old is a cycle commuter, 8 km return to school every day, all year. So we decided to do some transit / bike ride combo adventures as a family. Start ’em young and they’ll enjoy the health benefits for life.
Marda Loop to Fish Creek Park and back:
Our 25 km cycle and transit day
It’s 9am on a Saturday and we’re heading south, first on bikes, followed by the train and then back on our bikes. We cycled from our house near the Marda Loop area, along the Elbow River Pathway, through Lindsay Park to the Erlton LRT. Erlton LRT is not the best set-up for bikes however, and although we could enter the platform from the south end, we still had to go inside the transit building and up the stairs to purchase tickets.
Calgary cycle/transit adventure lesson 1: Know where the Help button is located and don’t be afraid to use it.
Self-propelled urban adventures offer many teachable moments, some more enjoyable than others. We were able to teach our kids that cities are full of all types of people. On Saturday morning at 9:30 at Erlton LRT, we shared the platform with a mentally ill man. He threatened to push me onto the tracks and ranted and yelled while our kids watched. After he left we had a good chat about what to do when someone is scary. Good to know, but not a great start. We followed that lesson by another sad lesson in Lysterine consumption and straphanger acrobatics; impressive back flips using the straps that hang from the ceiling. These folks did not threaten in any way, but my 10 year old son watched the help button closely. These unexpected urban lessons will stick with our kids and they will be more aware because of them.
Calgary cycle/transit adventure lesson 2: Fish Creek Park is a a cycling, hiking mecca!
We exited the train at the Fish Creek station and cycled into the park. Fish Creek Provincial Park is one of Canada’s largest urban provincial parks. The park extends from the Tsuu Tina Nation reserve in the west more than 20 kilometres to the Bow River in the east. We cycled west from Macleod Trail along tree lined pathways, criss-crossing Fish Creek to the picnic tables at the Shannon Terrace trailhead. We had been gone from home for two hours and it was time for lunch! The post lunch pathway ride to the Glenmore Reservoir was a net downhill and we zipped along without effort. We opted to head east around the the reservoir in order to avoid the hill climb to North Glenmore Park, out at the Weaslehead. The kayaks, sailboats and Inland Gulls were enjoying Calgary’s largest body of water. The pathway was in full use by walkers and joggers, strollers and cyclists. We continued past Heritage Park and heard the train disguised as Thomas the Tank Engine. Soon we were enjoying Reservoir and Rocky Mountains camera worthy views from the path alongside the Rocky View Hospital. And this is when my daughter asked, “Are we almost at My Favourite Ice Cream Shop”?
Calgary cycle/transit adventure lesson 3: Ice cream is a motivator!
We all know it is true, ice cream (beer) motivates. Have fun with your outing and make sure to reward your kids along the way and after a good long cycle with a tasty treat, or popcorn and a movie or a bonfire and roasted hotdogs; whatever your family enjoys. The great thing about urban adventures is that there are many pitstop options along the way. We continued across the Glenmore Dam and into Altadore for the promised ice cream cone. And yes, the kids slept very well that night.
Next Adventure: Head north on the Long Weekend! We’ll cycle to Kensington LRT and ride the rails north to Crowfoot station. We’ll peddle through Bowmont Park, Bowness, Edworthy Park, along the Bow River Pathway past the East Village to Inglewood and take the Elbow River Pathway all the way home.
