A Tale of 2 Cities

This tale begins on Twitter. Didn't know that Twitter could tell a tale, did you? :)

It started here - keep in mind that I am a brat and I just can't help myself when a challenge seems imminent. 

William Choy is Mayor of Stony Plain. His tweet on April 21st made note of the trail system in Stony and the fact that (his opinion) it is #alwaysbetterinstony. WELL! Being a Spruce Grovian myself, I could not let that pass. :D I quickly responded that the Spruce Grove Heritage trail wasn't half bad and that perhaps a side by side comparison was in order. @wchoy74 responded that he was happy that Spruce Grove was so nice but that it is #alwaysbetterinstony. Hmmmmm, out came my thinking cap and I offered a challenge - Donate to my ride and I would come over to Stony, ride the trails, and write it up (Fits in with "I'll do (almost) Anything for a Donation").

Would you believe it? William Choy did donate to my fundraiser! And true to my word I rode the trails of Stony Plain and here is my tale:

Tuesday, April 29th, 5pm. I'm not familiar with the trail system in Stony Plain and so I've asked a friend to point me in the right direction. His recommendation is that I enter the St. Andrews Neighborhood and access the trail system there, across from the baseball diamonds. I knew the general area and after some conferring whilst standing outside the office building, I felt confident that I could find the start that I was looking for. Bike loaded, gear on (always wear a helmet, kids!), and water bottle filled, I headed South/West into Stony. Locating the trail head, I was pleased that it was situated directly next to a park, complete with small dirt parking area. Bonus! In Spruce I ride out of my front door and so have no need for parking so it was a pleasant surprise to find it so readily available in Stony and right were I needed it. I unloaded the bike and hit the trail (see below)

And so it begins...

While I live in Spruce, I work in Stony but have had little opportunity to explore the town. Today was my chance. I headed South on the trail, noticing straight off how very friendly everyone was. The trails were busy on this beautiful day and everyone, young and older than young, had a pleasant smile and "hello" for me as I zipped by. :D I was enjoying this already!

Things I noticed along the way;

1. The trials run along a water way and while it may be only a "ditch" for spring run off, I do love the sound of running water. There were also several interesting bridges crossing this water at intervals and painted in various colors. Very picturesque.

2. The trail crossed a few too many roadways for my liking. That being said, I was riding "blind" without knowing where the trail may lead and in all fairness, not really sure where I was going. I'll be heading back to Stony for future rides & will be armed with a map of the trials.

3. I got lost - or rather, I lost the trial. I was riding to see where I could go but when I got to the school (St. John Paul) at the south end of town, I simply lost the trial. It was gone, vanished in a parking lot. I rode around a bit to the west, thought I picked up the trail again, and then found myself coming around to the Multicultural Center. At least I knew were I was at that point and headed back the way I had come, all the way back to start - or nearly so.

4. My tires are not made for off roading. While zipping along a narrow offshoot of the trail, close to the golf course, I slipped off the track and scared the bazeebees out of myself. No fault of Stony Plain, just an early spring ride and my own inexperience with road slicks on slippery leaves. :) Onward!

5. Once I did locate the trail south of Stony (South/East of the aforementioned school), the ride was B-E-A-U-tiful! I stuck to the green lined track so as not to get lost but later realized I didn't have anything to worry about - the track that wasn't green lined just dipped in and out of neighborhoods. The ride through the wood was wonderful. My favorite type of ride, away from traffic (cars) and through nature. Popping out onto 628 I road past the prettiest part of my ride (I have a thing for trees, stone walls, etc):

Conclusion: I enjoyed my ride and will be back to Stony Plain to ride again as I don't believe that I have seen it all and am not yet armed to make a fair comparison of the 2 trail systems. Lucky you, there will be future reports!

Stay tuned and in the meantime, enjoy the map of my ride - 23 km! The loop to the left of 779 is where I was while I was lost. ;)