Today, I went for a nice ride in between study sessions (one more final tomorrow, then it's officially summer!); about 2 hours or so of riding and a 30 min break. I headed west from Calgary out to Cochrane then continued out towards Waiparous (close to Capture the Flag paintball) along Forestry Trunk Road. After lunch, I continued south on Richard Road only to find that 1/3 way south, the road was washed out and nothing but mud and lake sized puddles. I was forced to turn around and return the same way i came. I'm posting some photos of the spot i found for picknicks if people are so inclined.
Here is the road map:
http://img847.imageshack.us/img847/4922/bigmap.jpg[/img]]

Here is the picknick spot: (Taken with a cell phone, and photoshoped into a panoramic view)
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/4816/panoramai.jpg[/img]]

Overall, i would rate Forestry Trunk Road a 7/10 for conditions, they've fixed most of the potholes, but there are some sections that are quite bumpy and several parts where they repaved half the lane. In those spots, as long as you're not weaving around your lane you're fine. Once you're through Waiparous, the pavement becomes coarser. It's not rougher, but it looks like concrete compared to regular blacktop. When you pass the paintball field, you're about 4.5-5 k from a T intersection. Leading up to the T, it becomes completely gravel covered. Be careful turning left, and watch you don't "punch it".... Once you clear that intersection, it's about 100m then back to pavement. The road is a little pebbely on the shoulder and by the centerline, but it clears going into the last right hander. Go across the bridge, and there you are. You can head south if you like, but i don't recommend it at all. Potholes, blind corners, gravel, and general "sketchy-ness" until you hit the mud pit... go if you dare....

The way back from the bridge is much nicer. I found that there were far less blind corners and because you have a feel for the road, you can be a little more "spirited" if you so wish, but i recommend waiting until you pass through Waiparous again.I'm off to go read my textbook again, enjoy!

Looks like you had a great ride! I see some snow, did you have any icicles hanging off your body when you got done?

It was around 5-10 degrees, so it was actually pretty warm compared to recent temps...-25 here, -20 there... No icicles though