After being home in Saint John recently, I realized how much I missed being able to bike around. So I began looking for a bike. Although I was open to spending what I needed to for a good bike, I didn’t need to break the bank to meet my city road and trail needs.
Following recommendations and some research, I went to Bow Cycle in Bowness, a local bike store in Calgary. I had tried Canadian Tire, but their selection, service and quality is all bad. I was initially considering The Bike Shop downtown as well, but I have little use for a store that wastes my time by having me fill out a bike needs survey only to have it ignored.
The model I ended up is the Bownesian, which is basically a Kona Dew with a special paint job for Bow Cycle only.
Appropriately so, Calgary’s beautiful Bow River is in the background of this hybrid bicycle. It cost about $449. I have already installed many accessories including two water bottle holders, night lights, seat bag and more.
I wasted no time in outfitting my new toy with accessories, including this computer! It tells me lots of things such as current speed, distance, etc. To the left, you see the bell which came with the bike, as well as a night light.
Today was my first chance to take this thing for a real spin. I started in Silverthorne Park which runs right next to the Bow River. Many of my photos in Calgary so far have been taken here.
I wasn’t really sure where I was going so I went through the park and followed the river which leads into many other parks. Finally, I see tall buildings, and know I’m downtown.
Prince’s Island Park has plenty of wonderful vistas.
Just to the left of Prince’s Island Park are many skyscrapers under construction.
I found my way back home, mainly thanks to my BlackBerry GPS since the only way I’ve known to get downtown thus far is by train. It will take a bit of time to learn the best and safest roads to take by bike. The one shown here, at 6-7 lanes, is an example of a less than ideal biking road.
Having said that, while taking side streets, I’ve discovered that based on the flat terrain and my biking speed, it should take about the same amount of time to bike as it would to take the train, 30 minutes or so. About half of this time with the train, 15 minutes, is spent simply walking to Brentwood Station.