De Ronde van Cowtown – 2023 Edition

It’s the next morning as I’m typing this. I didn’t get home until after seven and then a bath, some food and lots of hydration and then it was time to sleep.

This is the third year I’ve done the Ronde. It has been “a thing” in Calgary for a long time, but it wasn’t until our ambassador Chris Roy took the reins that it became “a club thing”. The basic idea:

• Early in the season, so you are risking bad weather and adverse conditions
• Find every hill and climb it
• Have fun

Every year the route changes a bit, and it’s so long and complex that I spend most of the day constantly checking my cycling computer. It’s not a fast ride, with an average speed around 20 km/h, but with a lot of climbing and a very long day in the saddle. Being at the start of the season, no one is really ready for it.

This year, Ian decided he wanted to give it a try. He’s been riding his bike to school all winter, and so is in reasonably good shape to start the season. We got him some 32c gravel tires for his road bike a couple of weeks ago in preparation. They don’t roll as easily as road tires, but they do a lot better when the road is sketchy. Tammy dropped us at Edworthy, where we met up with Phil, Mark and Brett and rode 10 km to the start at the Telus Spark.

The day started at freezing, but was 12 degrees by midday. Dressing appropriately was difficult, but we did it. At the Telus Spark, we had about 65-70 riders who we split into one “fast” group, one “slow” group, and three “medium” groups. We had enough ride leaders to make that happen. I was the leader of a medium group, along with Rob and Colette.

The day was beautiful, unlike last year when we had three snow squalls. A fair bit of gravel on the roads, and the dirt paths were muddy and/or still had snow, but they were few or avoidable. My group lost a few riders along the way due to people calling it a day and one mechanical (Brenda’s read derailleur packed it in in Silver Springs).

Ian’s highlight of the day was a cat that was at the top of Home Road. He almost lost the group taking pictures, not realizing that we had continued riding.

As is becoming traditional, we had a stop at our house. Our place is just off the route as it comes through Tuscany. It started in 2021, when I wanted to stop at home and grab some water and snacks and use the bathroom. Since then, Tammy’s upped her game and puts out a spread of coffee, water, fruit and snacks. This year, she even made homemade stroopwafels. Between them, the coffee, the washroom, and an opportunity to fix bikes, there was a tone of goodwill for doing it. Miranda helped Tammy in the preparation. 💜❤️

Ian called it a day at our house, not getting back on his bike. He accomplished most of the climbing (1,100 metres) and 76.5 km of distance. A mighty effort.

The rest of the ride (50 km of ride, 20 km more riding home) was tough but pleasant. We left our house with a group of 20 riders, caught Rebecca’s group (the remainder of the “slow” group) at the top of Canada Olympic Park, and then lots riders to attrition until we finished with 10 at Eau Claire. Paul was riding home in Arbour Lake, and Adam was heading to Royal Oak, so I rode home with them. That last climb up into Silver Springs seemed… difficult.

All told: 145.6 km, 1,812 m of elevation gain. Moving time: 7 h 22 m, elapsed time 10 h 4 m. A long day.