Lions Gate To Cypress?

Is there a way from getting to Lions Gate to Cypress Bowl Road that doesn't involve extreme agony? :D

I don't claim to be the fittest person on the planet, but a combination of the heat and pushing a 39/25 gear up 14th and 21st to get to the highway destroyed me today!

Is it worth heading further west, say heading up 31st / Mathers Avenue / Westmount Road and then heading east on the highway before turning north onto Cypress Bowl Road?

Cheers,

Wall"fatbiffer"eater

Is there a way from getting to Lions Gate to Cypress Bowl Road that doesn't involve extreme agony? :D

I don't claim to be the fittest person on the planet, but a combination of the heat and pushing a 39/25 gear up 14th and 21st to get to the highway destroyed me today!

Is it worth heading further west, say heading up 31st / Mathers Avenue / Westmount Road and then heading east on the highway before turning north onto Cypress Bowl Road?

Cheers,

Wall"fatbiffer"eater

Here is the route I used to use (MTB but it should be fine on a road bike). There has been some development since those days, but hopefully it is usable.

If I recall used to take Mathers all the way across, West to 27th Street, climb up 27th to where it merges with 28th Street. There is a trail across the Creek to Rosebery Avenue. Take a right on Gisby Street, left on Spencer Drive, and the Benbow Rd to right turn onto Westmount Road. Follow Westmount Road to the Chevron Station (grab a refreshment if you want) and take the overpass over HWY 1 (Wentworth Ave). You have to ride on the sidewalk because it is a 1-way but there will probably not be anyone on the sidewalk anyway) and you end up on the edge of Cypress Bowl Provincial Park on the north side of Wentorth. Ride East towards the Cypress Bowl exit, and you should spot a dirt road/road (it used to be dirt)/trail to what looks like a District Works Yard (hopefully its still there). Cut through it and you will be on Cypress Bowl Road about 1 km uphill from the Highway 1 entrance to Cypress Bowl Road.

Its been a few years since I've done this, but here is a map of the area showing all the features (including the trail from 28th to Roseberry):

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.3451599,-123.2125973,16z

Is there a way from getting to Lions Gate to Cypress Bowl Road that doesn't involve extreme agony? :D

I don't claim to be the fittest person on the planet, but a combination of the heat and pushing a 39/25 gear up 14th and 21st to get to the highway destroyed me today!

Is it worth heading further west, say heading up 31st / Mathers Avenue / Westmount Road and then heading east on the highway before turning north onto Cypress Bowl Road?

Cheers,

Wall"fatbiffer"eater

Hmm… everything is a trade-off.

Easiest is going to be 13th, King's, Taylor Way, Hwy 1. Also the most highway. Not something that I'd normally do.

31st/Mathers/Westmount is probably the nicest of the ways to go. It's the least amount of highway that gets you to the bottom of Cypress Bowl Rd. But, the first part of that climb is pretty steep. I ride a compact 34/25 and it's a good grunt.

A fav of mine is 13th, King's, Taylor Way into the British Properties. Make your way over to Chippendale and then go up the new road that joins Cypress Bowl Rd below the lookout. I reco turning R onto Stevens and then make your way up Kenwood, Eleveden, Eyremount, Pinecrest. Then down Finch Hill to Chippendale.

If you're fat like me and like to climb, I do recommend the compact crank for riding around here… definitely eases up on the suffer factor.

I always do 11th St, Mathers Ave, 21st St, Skilift Rd.

Coming from HSB terminal along marine drive which road should I take to get to cypress with the least amount of #1, steepness doesn't really matter?

Coming from HSB terminal along marine drive which road should I take to get to cypress with the least amount of #1, steepness doesn't really matter?

You have to climb out of HSB to Marine. After that is rolls along for a few KM and you'll have to take a road to the Upper Levels again, and it'll be steep. So any of the western routes described above (like 31st) would work, or you could cut up shorter at Sharon and ride up to the Chevron and then down to Cypress exit.

I don't claim to be the fittest person on the planet, but a combination of the heat and pushing a 39/25 gear up 14th and 21st to get to the highway destroyed me today!

Swap in a 11 to 28 cassette, or even a 12 to 30. I can't climb at all and that's what I did. You end up spinning at a higher cadence and it seems to make it "easier".

Right right.
I couldn't remember if the cypress turnoff had a road heading up from marine or not.

Eater, my bike came 53/39 11-25 for gearing. Switched out to an 11-28. Much better now. Part of what made me do that was during last years tour looking at some of the leaders bike checks and seeing them running bigger gearing for the mtn stages.

Thanks for the help all. Plenty of options. The new road that connects to Cypress Bowl Road below the lookout looks like an interesting route.

Re. gears: I've been a bit of a princess because my bike has some nice Dura Ace 7402 cranks and a Dura Ace 9sp cassette and I've not wanted to change them! I think I need to see sense and do some changes. Maybe someone will want to trade cranksets.

If you're coming over LGB, I'd head east rather than west and use Capilano Road to access Hwy 1 (there's a narrow foot/bike path on both sides of the Hwy 1 bridge over the Capilano River).
You're then using the shoulder of the highway all the way to Cypress Bowl (though I always exit then re-join at the Taylor Way intersection) which isn't nice but I'd guess is the least steep option.

There is a way to link up Chippendale and the new intersection between the 1st and 2nd switchbacks but I haven't figured it out - last time I looked, there was signs warning of construction work and no trespassing…

I've done 14th up to Mathers, over to 15th and up that to the highway. I think the upper section of 15th is a bit less steep than 21st.

For a slightly different approach, I go up Capilano road to the dam, across the dam, and then take the trails across to Glenmore in the BP. From there I go across the properties to the "new" Cypress entrance.

After the dam, it's about 1K of dirt paths, but have never had any issues on my road bike. The climbing going that way is a lot more smoothed out than going straight up to the highway from Ambleside/Dundarave, and you don't have to deal with the highway at all.

For a slightly different approach, I go up Capilano road to the dam, across the dam, and then take the trails across to Glenmore in the BP. From there I go across the properties to the "new" Cypress entrance.

After the dam, it's about 1K of dirt paths, but have never had any issues on my road bike. The climbing going that way is a lot more smoothed out than going straight up to the highway from Ambleside/Dundarave, and you don't have to deal with the highway at all.

This. Low traffic, no highway, and a nice up and down through the Properties. Plus you take the short cut new road up Chippendale and cut out the first bit of the road climb.

http://www.strava.com/routes/754242

This. Low traffic, no highway, and a nice up and down through the Properties. Plus you take the short cut new road up Chippendale and cut out the first bit of the road climb.

http://www.strava.com/routes/754242

Is that road/link officially open yet? Last time I was there, an irate builder was threatening to throw tacks down on the road as he was pissed off with riders cutting through whilst he was working:eek: