Sync iCal with Gmail instead of iCloud
I gathered that it is not possible to use iCloud for this objective. One must use Gmail. (Feel free to contradict.)


Sure, I'll try and contradict!

It's my understanding that SmoothSync for Cloud Calendar does this.


  How do I move the calendar entries that I currently have with iCloud to Gmail?


I found a nice step-by-step summary at the amusingly named burlapmonkey.com. I'll summarize:


Login to your iCloud calendar at icloud.com.
Publicly share the calendar you want to export.
Select the updated URL that begins with webcal:// followed by a cryptic address and copy it.
Open a new browser tab/window, paste the webcal address without loading it (don't press enter).
Change webcal in the address to http. Load the page.
Your browser should now be initiating a download of an .ics file which you can later import into a google calendar.
Don't forget to stop publicly sharing the calendar.