11th in a series originally posted on my Ride to Conquer Cancer personal page:

Cycle blog entry #11, May 22, 2009
I'm eagerly anticipating the completion this summer of the on-going upgrades to the Burnaby bike trail system. The "trail" is actually patterned after Vancouver's bike routes; a safer alternative for bicycles to travel on secondary roads parallel to major traffic thoroughfares.

The Central Valley Greenway is a bit patchy thus far. The railway overpass at Burnaby Lake (very close to my office) is scheduled to open in June. Recently I photographed the installation of the overpass sections as they were craned into place over several days. I like being able to look back and see the progress as each section was secured. The overpass seemed to inch its way across the road and railway tracks.

I've ridden the whole route between office and home a couple of times to see how it all fits together. After riding along the North trail of Burnaby Lake I followed Still Creek Avenue until it ends, then across a soil distribution yard which connects with the road where the new Costco is located. That road passes under Willingdon Avenue. Another gravel path breaks off from there and crosses a wooden foot bridge over Still Creek. From there I crossed Gilmore and traveled along a new asphalt trail under the Skytrain tracks that took me to Boundary Road, where Burnaby meets Vancouver.

It's a good jaunt, about 10 miles. Strangely enough, I seem to catch a head wind most times I ride home. It makes for a challenging workout since there's quite a hill at the end starting near Clark Drive along E. 10th. There's not much opportunity for coasting along the whole route. So despite not having done many long rides to train for this event, I think all the riding I've been doing lately on my daily commutes has certainly benefited me.