2006 200K Red Deer, Alberta

July 08, 2006

This was Red Deer's second brevet!!

Just before 8:00 am, two cyclists, Mark and I, met at the starting location - a Tim Hortons. A typically Canadian starting location, of course! And at 8:00 am, we were off.

It was a beautiful, sunny day with very little wind. By 8:00 am it was already warm ... and it just got warmer as the day progressed. Wonderful!

click to supersize On the way to Sylvan Lake
The route started up a road I am very familiar with, as it is on my “usual training” route. It’s a pretty little road that climbs in a series of stairs. We headed down past Sylvan Lake, a town that used contain a quiet little beach and a couple ice cream shops, but now is a busy resort town. And on to Bentley.
click to supersize Sylvan Lake in the distance

Bentley, with a population of about 1100 people, is known for the largest recumbent bicycle shop in Alberta! It is a fascinating shop which contains not only recumbents, but also penny farthings and unicycles!

Bentley Cycle & Trading Post

click to supersize Entering Bentley - notice the hill in the distance

From Bentley we cycled through the Sunset Hills, and past the Medicine Lodge ski hill. Apparently the Sunset Hills were frequently used by the ancient First Nations people in their hunt for food, and were a special spot for them. The Sunset Hills are also the hilliest portion of the whole route.
click to supersize Sunset Hills

The next stop was Eckville - a small but growing community not far from Red Deer. Then Leslieville, an even smaller, but very friendly town. The thing that really struck me about Bentley, Eckville, and Leslieville was the presence of “Help Wanted” signs in all three!

From Leslieville we took the scenic route, along a back road, to Rocky Mountain House and arrived there earlier than expected.

click to supersize Sunset Hills
I downed a container of fries from the local A&W, and then we set off for Red Deer. It is about 80 kms from Rocky Mountain House to Red Deer. Unfortunately, Highway 11 has become a very busy road. I don’t recall that it was so busy last year, but traffic has certainly increased in this part of the world. It doesn’t help right now that they are doing construction near Rocky Mountain House and also between Sylvan Lake and Red Deer, but perhaps the situation will improve soon.

We turned off at Sylvan Lake and took the Burnt Lake trail into Red Deer. The Burnt Lake trail is much quieter than Highway 11 and more scenic. It also tends to be a bit more rolling than Hwy 11 but ends with a gradual, general descent into Red Deer.

Over all, the weather was perfect -- 26C, sunny, mostly calm with a slight headwind toward the end of the ride, but nothing major. And no massive hailstorms this year!!

I want to thank both my father and Mark’s wife, Jen, who provided support on the event. That’s the most support we’ve ever had for a 200K brevet! They met us at the controls, signed our cards, provided us with water, and took photos! It was luxurious!


Stats:

• 205 kms

• 9:57 total time

• 8:40 ride time