Today I rode a 46 km loop in 1:52 in the NE part of the city. You can see it on gmap-pedometer.com or below.

Starting on the Bow River pathway system (I started in Bridgeland), cross the Bow River at the Zoo, and head east on 8th Ave till it Ts into 15 St, then head east on 17 Ave SE a couple blocks till it ends at Blackfoot Trail. Take the sidewalk on the N side to get across Deerfoot Trail and the irrigation canal, then at the top of the hill east of that, turn left on 24 St (one block), then east on 16 Ave NE until it ends at 52 St. Here, you need to drop back south to 17 Ave again, and take it east. It's 4 lanes for a few blocks (take the S-side sidewalk if there's a lot of traffic), but around 68 St it turns into 2 lanes with a wide paved shoulder. Continue on to 84 St.

At 84 St, you are at the Calgary city limits, and beyond the built-up areas. Turn left and head north all the way to 80 Ave NE. The road climbs ever so slightly in this direction, but you'll notice the little hills more if you have a strong NW headwind like I did. You have a narrow, 1m-wide paved shoulder, and the road has an 80 km/h speed limit. Early on a weekend morning, there is little traffic, but I still was glad to have a rear-view mirror so I could tell whether approaching traffic was giving me enough room (most drivers gave me a very wide berth).

The LRT crossing at 8 St SW is horrible. The pavement is bumpy and uneven, to the point where each time you cross it on a bike, you are concerned that you might put a wheel out of round. Even cars crossing the tracks shudder and clank from the impact. And pedestrians are at risk of twisting an ankle from the uneven surface.

I called Calgary Transit to complain about this crossing, since other crossings downtown are fairly pleasant and smooth by comparison. Keith Gardiner (? sorry, didn't get the name right) called me back to say that Calgary Transit will be repairing this crossing on the August long weekend. They meant to do it last year, but didn't get the money into the budget.