Calgarian closing in on quest to cycle city's entire pathway system

Forty years of biking has taken David Schamber from Vancouver to St. John's and Inuvik on tours across Canada, but the retiree is now racing to meet a goal that's closer to home: conquering all of Calgary's paved pathways.

Since the spring of 2019, the 68-year-old has been biking his way through the network of routes that now amounts to almost 1,046 kilometres. To get it done though, he's had to pedal a lot more clicks as he looks to cover every inch.

The idea to ride across the entire network, Schamber said Monday on the Calgary Eyeopener, came when he realized Calgary pathways were integrated with a GPS running and cycling app called Strava.

The initiative was set up by Mathieu Fenniak, who created the website yycpathways.ca.

Calgarian closes in on biking every inch of the city's pathway system

4 years ago

Duration 4:37

If you've ever played Pac-Man, you'll understand it's a difficult task, but David Schamber was up to the quest. He took CBC along for a ride just days before yycpathways added the latest city update to their map for him to tackle.

The app syncs a user's activities to the pathway system, and highlights areas that have not been visited yet. 

Progress is reflected when visited pathways disappear from the map.

"When I looked at it, I said, 'This was a great idea. This will get me into all parts of the city with a purpose,'" Schamber said.

• WATCH | This Calgarian is closing in on cycling the city's entire pathway system. All of it. Every last inch. 

"So, it put a purpose into my life. I like riding, but I was always doing the same set of rides from where I live. But this gave me a chance to go throughout the city. And I'm very happy that that happened, because it's an amazing city."

Map upgrades create moving target

When he began, Schamber said he had already done 27 per cent of the established pathway system, having cycled some ground before he established his goal.

Because he rides from his home each time to reach untravelled pathways, Schamber said he has racked up lots of kilometres — around 3,800 over 75 rides — just getting to the destinations where the routes still count toward his goal.

He uses two bicycles, but his primarily "go-to" bike is over 20 years old, has clocked almost 45,000 kilometres and is named Zarathustra because "it has been to the mountains, and then it has come back down with some enlightenment," he said.

In July, the city celebrated paving 1,000 kilometres of pathways.

And until Monday, Schamber was closing in on his quest, having travelled nearly the entirety of the network — until the city moved the finish line.

"I was at almost 97 per cent complete, but the city upgraded the map this morning, and I'm back down in 91," Schamber said.

"They added 112 kilometres."

This is not discouraging for Schamber. In fact, he said it is an upgrade he was hoping for. 

"I've been after that for a while … because I know these pathways are out there, and of these 112 that are new, I've already ridden 50 of them. So, it's not as bad as it seems."

'It's part of a game'

The gratification for Schamber is not only found in watching pathways disappear from the app as routes now travelled.

Getting to know Calgary this way, he said, is also part of the reward.

His favourite rides are along ridges, or the pathways along the storm collection ponds.

And if it all goes according to plan, Schamber said he should be finished it all by early September.

"The fertile fields that I still have are above Nose Hill in the north," Schamber said.

"So it's a long way to get there. But it's part of a game."