Calgary at the Gates of Dawn

So I haven't blogged lately cause I work too much (sorry my dear). Therefore I shall blog now. This morning I had some business in the northeast of Calgary then Airdrie, so I figgered I'd go bike Nose Hill, right smack dab in the middle of Calgary. 14.19 km, not too bad.

GPS data can be found here, in case you get lost in Nose Hill.

Yeah, so driving south from Cochrane to Springbank, there was the MOST spectacular sunrise ever. So me goes out and takes a photo while driving (always a safe thing to do) in hopes of capturing dawn in it's beauty. And what do I get? A blurry, smeary inside of my driver window. At least I tried.

The "trailhead", if you will, is located off of Shaganappi and Edgemont Blvd. Not as scenic as K-country, but on the way to work, so it's got my vote. This photo doesn't make it look too urban...

...but if you turn to your right, you get this. At least those condos have a nice view.

Almost as if you are in a serene meadow in the middle of nowhere. But the serenity was betrayed by the skyscrapers that are being built downtown. I could photo shop those out of there, but that would be lying about Nose Hill Park.

The trails are either loose gravel or paved! Last time I was there (about 2 years ago), there was no pavement. Not a very challenging ride, but I didn't care. I was out to have fun (as always).

The view out east was fantastic. Well, this is sort of north east. I could tell it was going to be hot day today because there were waves of heat blowing on me while I was biking. Yep, gonna be a stinker. That means hot in ellornean.

There is some single track in the park, but it is pretty well worn down from being in such an urban location. No biggie though, there are places you wouldn't even know you're in a city. It's really a beautiful park. I think it is the largest "in-city" park in North America. Take that Central Park...

It's kinda cool looking down at downtown. I always think of the poor executives in their leather chairs looking out at Nose Hill wishing they could be frolicking in the grass like I am doing. Haha, suckas. That being said, my goal in life is to never be an executive or have to wear a suit (aka. fabric coffin) to work. How did I get talking about this?

Turn your back to the road (14th street) and you get some nice rolling hills. Believe it or not, I actually bailed on my bike on a flat section at the top. I was just biking along when my back tire obviously slipped on something and I found myself on my duff. Weird....

A view out to my beloved mountains. I will be out in K-Country this weekend with fellow blogger and barefoot runner Neil Z, assuming the rain is not a pourin and the bears aren't too hungry. I am sure there will be a blog from the both of us regarding the trail run. Now you get to see BOTH sides of the story.

BTW, props to whoever can decipher this blog post title. I'd have giveaways, but I have nothing to give away other than being a riding buddy or running partner.

Also, I did a scramble of Mt. Baldy 2 weekends ago, and I promise a blog about that one. Hang tight!

:-)