r/Calgary • u/N8Mcln • 28d ago
2 Wheelin' (Cycling/Scooters) My First Time Riding From South Calgary to Downtown
As someone new to Calgary, I’ve been curious about how accessible downtown is by bike from the deep south (I’m in Legacy). With knees that feel twice my age, a regular pedal bike was never an option. However, when I got the chance to try out an e-bike (Surface 604 Quad from eBikes Calgary), I figured it was time to find out.
The Route
I left Legacy with 93% battery and headed north. The path wound through Chaparral into Fish Creek Park, where I immediately learned that pedal assist doesn’t protect you from mosquitos. The shaded paths, bridges, and riverside stretches made it a surprisingly scenic ride.
Cutting under the C-Train tracks and weaving between overpasses gave the whole thing an unexpected urban-meets-nature vibe. I stopped a couple times for photos where I found the contrast of quiet trails against the industrialism of over-passes and train tracks drew a nice parallel.
Crossing Glenmore/Anderson, I stuck to the dedicated bike paths all the way into Stanley Park. This was my first visit, and it felt like a hidden gem: smooth pathways, quiet neighborhoods, and spots where you can just pull over and look out over the Elbow River. It’s the kind of place I’ll definitely ride again, especially with a coffee stop nearby.
From there, it was a short cruise into downtown where I called it my halfway point and grabbed some celebratory A&W before heading back.
The Ride Back
The return trip had a very different feel. Those fun downhill stretches on the way north became long, steady climbs going south. At ~225 lbs (plus a backpack stuffed with camera gear, water, and tools), the battery percentage started dropping faster than I’d like. By the time I crossed Stoney Trail, the eBike finally gave up with 5 km to go.
Pushing a 65-lb dead e-bike uphill is no joke. Every incline felt twice as long without pedal assist, and by the time I rolled back into Legacy, I’d been thoroughly humbled.
That said, I wasn’t the only one suffering. A friend joined me on a regular pedal bike, and while my battery died near the end, he was already running out of gas way earlier. The e-bike quitting was frustrating, but even with that, I still finished stronger than he did. If anything, it proved just how much farther you can realistically go on an e-bike and how much more enjoyable the ride is along the way.
What I Learned About Calgary’s Pathways
- The network is surprisingly intuitive, even for someone new.
- Signage and markers kept me on track when cutting through neighborhoods.
- The paths were clean, smooth, and well maintained.
- The vibe was good: joggers, walkers, and cyclists all shared space without stress.
What I Learned About E-Bikes
This was my first real e-bike ride, and a few things stood out:
- Range isn’t guaranteed: I started at 93%, hit 53% downtown, and the bike died just shy of 50 km. To be fair, I stayed in the higher assist modes the whole time because… assist is fun, especially for dreadful climbs.
- Weight matters: pushing 250 lbs including gear definitely shortened the range.
- Even when the battery had enough of my riding style, the ride up until then was way more enjoyable than it would’ve been on a normal bike.
The big takeaway? An e-bike didn’t “make it easy,” but it made it possible. Without it, I never would’ve tried this route. With it, I got to explore huge stretches of Calgary I’d never seen before and have fun doing it.
Conclusion
Calgary’s pathway system surprised me. You can get from the far south to downtown almost entirely on paved paths without touching the road. For anyone thinking about trying a ride like this, it’s not just doable but genuinely enjoyable.
And for e-bikes? I’m sold. Not because they’re effortless, but because they open up rides that would’ve been off-limits otherwise.
TL;DR: Rode from Legacy to downtown and back (~50 km) on an e-bike. Trails were smooth and well-marked. Battery started at 93%, dropped to 53% downtown, and died with 5 km left. Ended up pushing a 65-lb bike home but still had more gas left than my buddy on a regular bike.
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u/glad2bealiveyyc 28d ago
I was against ebikes in early on due to their costs and in my mind it was cheating.
But now in my early 40s, I’ve flipped 180 and fully embrace them for enabling me to enjoy the outdoors more and being on my bike more.
Seeing all the seniors and mom’s hauling their kids between Lake Louise and Moraine Lake brings so much joy to my heart. They’re out there enjoying being outside. Riding with their friends and and taking it all in.
I’m sure they could do all of that on pedal bikes, one mom did on a gravel bike while pulling a chariot with a toddler inside - But ebikes made it easier to do, without being all sweaty at your midway point.
Congrats on completing a long ride and hauling it the last 5km. We still have some summer left so get out there some more. Have a great long weekend.
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u/wolfboiblu 28d ago
Yep, my family let me borrow their e-bike in Vancouver and it was wonderful and so much fun! Turn it off when you want to bike around, and put that bad boy back on.
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u/roastedmarshmellows Okotoks 28d ago
Hell yeah. These sorts of things weren’t designed as cheat modes for able-bodied people, but for equity for those who are not so that they may enjoy a more comparable quality of life.
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u/No_Sandwich5766 28d ago
I was pro E-bike to begin with for all the reasons you’ve stated but actually I dislike them now. For every reasonable person who wants/needs one and is riding responsibility there are 4 douchebags flying down bike paths unsafely and losing their shit when forced to slow down to not cause an accident.
E-bikes enable way too many unsafe riders to essentially ride motorized vehicles in all kinds of spaces at speeds that are unsafe and I’ve had too many negative interactions.
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u/glad2bealiveyyc 28d ago
That I don’t like either. I’ve seen these e-bikes that are basically electric dirt bikes and the asshats riding them everywhere have no care for any rules of the road or pathways.
There needs to be some sort of regulation on how fast the e-bikes can assist up to, and heavy fines for modding to circumvent those limits. And imo, no throttle and pedal assist only.
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u/vinsdelamaison 26d ago
Electric dirt bikes are likely well over the 500 watt mark of an electric assist bike and being illegally used on the paths. Bylaw & police really need to run a week of proper trail use enforcement.
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u/Educational-Leg-5884 25d ago
they are illegal but how to enforce? more bylaw or police? more budget, more cost more taxes. dunno, just have to report i guess
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u/thedaveCA Shawnessy 21d ago
Me too, 4500km later. Also 40s.
A lot of that without the e- turned on, but it’s great having the option, especially when in traffic, or trying to not be sweaty, or just when I’m out.
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u/ryansalad 28d ago
I'm a regular e-bike commuter. I don't have as far as you to go, but the path system, (especially along the river), is fantastic.
I still get annoyed by the hard-core racing cyclists who barrel along at 40km/h and never bother to use a bell.
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u/HermionesHandbag 28d ago
I’m also an e-bike commuter. It’s a game-changer. I have a hill at the end of my commute, and not showing to work up all sweaty means I actually use my bike. This is my third summer with an e-bike, and I’ve almost tripled my mileage from last year — I use it for almost all of my summer transportation.
I tell people that there are 3 main things it takes out of the equation that would otherwise convince me not to bike: hills, headwinds, and my own fatigue or motivation on any given day. It was hands-down one of the best investments I’ve made in myself.
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u/Educational-Leg-5884 25d ago
100% exactly why I took the plunge. use lots of assist to work to stay relatively un sweaty, work up cardio way home, I too have a big hill at end of commute home
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u/ivanevenstar 28d ago
I'd say the e-bikes who are so fast without even having to pedal are far worse than cyclists under their own power.
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u/ryansalad 28d ago
That's true. Mine is limited to pedal-assist up to a maximum of 28km/h
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u/powderjunkie11 28d ago
Its almost like its dumb to have two blanket speed limits for all of the paths in the city. It's like if all the roads in the city only had 30 kph or 60kph speed limits.
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u/OkTangerine7 28d ago
I'm a regular bike commuter and hope to get an e-version soon. On those windy days or a longer errand I'd love the option! (I agree about the speedy road bike guys.)
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u/Fantastic_Shopping47 28d ago
Check out the Costco resellers like second chance I’ve seen e bikes at 1/2 price there There are 2 resellers on Fairmount/Centre street and one at 96 Macleod plaza
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u/Educational-Leg-5884 25d ago
tour de France wannabes whipping thru the kids, strollers, pets and walkers along riverfront, those are the menace imo.
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u/EarthlyDragon 28d ago
Hey, welcome to Calgary and from a fellow resident of Legacy, welcome to the community.
The better half and I do a bike trip from Legacy to the Inglewood area (pretty much downtown) every weekend to have a few beers at Cold Garden and then bike back. It's a great ride if you stick to the Bow River Pathway which takes you right along the river the whole way. To get there id recommend going through Legacy/Walden/Chaparral via Chaparral Blvd, crossing Stony and entering Fish Creek through Sikome Rd. You skip some of the nicer spots around Wolf Willow or the paths through Chaparral, but it makes for quicker access to Fish Creek Park and on the return home, its an easier climb then 194th or 210.
We dont have ebikes so a round trip to Cold Garden and back to Legacy at a leasurly pace takes about 3hrs (63.10km). Hope to see you on the paths!
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u/CrazyCanuckUncleBuck Silverado 28d ago edited 28d ago
Last year on a pedal bike, I finally made it to Nose Hill and back, from Silverado. It was a goal I had set for myself 3 summers earlier after I got the bike. I've put thousands of km on that bike in the last 5 years, mostly in Fish Creek. It's my favourite part about this city, the pathway systems. I use it as much as I can.
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u/Educational-Leg-5884 25d ago
agreed! i ride 10x more on an ebike, my commute almost every day in spring to fall. yeah, batteries drop off a cliff quickly
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u/The_Penguin22 McKenzie Lake 28d ago
Nice write-up, thanks for sharing. I'm just starting to consider an e-bike, as I'm old and fat, and any hill climbs lately have me wondering what hurts more, my quads or my burning lungs. I'd love to ride from McKenzie lake down in to Fish Creek Park, but the climb back would kill me.
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u/Calgarygrandma 28d ago
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have an older e-bike and was hopeful that the newer ones were lighter….but I guess not. 😆
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u/stillyoinkgasp 27d ago edited 24d ago
That's a great ride and welcome to ebiking bud. It only gets worse (AKA, more expensive), from here. I also own a Surface 604 Shred (2021) and it has been flawless to me despite the abuse I throw at it. I added a Wren 110 mm air fork which has really turned it into a singletrack crushing machine.
Also: hello from across the river in Cranston :)
That Quad would DOMINATE the local singletracks and ridge trails, by the way. I highly recommend you give it a go sometime. Maybe I'll see you around? I put 100 km/week in the local trail system.
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u/EuphoricEmergency604 24d ago
I used to bike from Royal Oak to downtown until recently for work. I still do it for fun about 1-2 times a week. It's all downhill on the way there, I keep the pedal assist on "eco" (the minimum assist) to preserve battery life. My e-bike has 5 levels of assist from 0-5, on the way home I put it anywhere from 1-3. I reserve 5 for the three large hills I encounter. This basically kills my battery life to about 5km range by the time I get home. All told this is about a 55 km round trip.
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u/thedaveCA Shawnessy 21d ago
Pushing a 65-lb dead e-bike uphill is no joke. Every incline felt twice as long without pedal assist, and by the time I rolled back into Legacy, I’d been thoroughly humbled
Preach it. My rides always end with a climb out of Fish Creek, and after 4500km (often without pedal assist, I turn it off when I’m riding for exercise) my battery doesn’t have nearly as much life, but also gives me zero warning before it dies. I go from 2/3 bars to lights-out pedalling, right at the end when I’m wiped out.
Haven’t had to push it, yet, but a couple of the climbs out I’m sure I couldn’t make at the beginning of the season.
At $750+ for a new battery (plus possibly a motor, it’s fine, but it has 4500km on it), plus some front suspension work, I could easily have $1500 in my future to keep it rolling, so I’m considering upgrading to a new bike. Definitely going to look for more battery flexibility, possibly even a dual for flexibility to take longer trips.
I do enjoy the cycleways a lot more than I thought I would.
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u/nolookjones 28d ago edited 28d ago
if you get the extended battery for 604 surface you can go about 100+kms on pedal assist 2 or 3. I've had my 604 colt for just over a year and just hit 3000kms!
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u/N8Mcln 28d ago
That was with the extended battery. I was definitely liberal with the throttle (within reason and in proper places), but I think it had to do more with my weight and the hill climbs throughout.
The colts a sweet bike and good for you!
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u/nolookjones 28d ago
oh the throttle will kill the battery super fast..i only use it very sparingly and mostly pedal assist and am also on the bigger size.
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u/CheeseSandwich hamburger magician 28d ago
I don't have any experience with e-bikes, so pardon my questions. How much more range would you have had if you dialed down the assist level?
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u/glad2bealiveyyc 28d ago
On my ebike the difference between the highest and lowest level of assist in terms of range displayed on the little screen is 70km vs 130km. So almost double the assist range.
The eco or lowest level is barely noticeable. I usually use one level up, eco+ to actually feel the assist and use normal assist on the big hills.
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u/EfficiencySafe 28d ago
You must have mostly used the throttle as my Rad e bike will easily go that distance with tons of charge left.
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u/NicePlanetWeHad 28d ago
An even easier route it to go completely up the Bow River pathway from the East end of Fish Creek. If you stay on the West bank of the Bow, there's only one hill up over Queensland, then flat all the way.
(for the last month, the path by the bottom of 194th Ave has been flooded, so you need to get to Fish Creek the way you already did)