Bike riding in the mountains

Last year I randomly ran into a guy who organizes a bike trip in the mountains every year through a friend of Nancy's at an event. This year was Jasper to Nordegg over 2.5 days, so I signed up. It was around 250 km. The organizer chartered a bus, arranged to transport the bikes in a customized trailer, and provided all the food and accommodations. It was the best organized event I've ever been to that wasn't "official". They had rest stops set up - the bus and trailer would drive ahead and park, then they would set up snacks or lunch for people when they arrived, then they would pack up and head to the next stop. So essentially it was a fully-supported tour.

The first night we stayed in Athabasca Falls hostel, about 30 km outside of Jasper. The entire hostel was reserved for the bike trip (about 35 of us) in bunk beds and a huge common area where we had spaghetti. Unfortunately the weather was pretty cold - it hailed lightly the first day (could hear it pinging off the bikes) and rained a bit but it was a short day after getting off the bus. 

The next day was a tortuous climb up Sunwapta Pass (Columbia Icefields) from Athabasca Falls to the Saskatchewan River Crossing hotel, about 120 km. The day was approximately 1,500m of vertical elevation gain and the longest and hardest climb I've ever done. The grade was 10% in places and I could hardly pedal up it in my easiest gear as it went on for over an hour. Of course then there was a huge downhill. It was around corners, and had lots of gravel, and I am a bit more cautious these days after a couple of crashes so I maxed out at ~65 km/h. Other people sailed down at over 90 km/h, which is ridiculous. I would do that if it was a straightaway but not around blind corners. The weather was somewhat cold, especially on top of the pass near the Icefields, but it was sunny (I wasn't expecting that and got burned despite the cold). 

After buffet breakfast/dinner (watched the Oilers game in the pub there too), the next was the river crossing to Nordegg. The last day was cold again and those bringing up the rear got soaked in a late afternoon storm. Fortunately I was done by then and safely eating hot dogs at the celebratory BBQ lunch. Saw a bear right by the road watching us go by too. There was also one at the hotel.

Overall, it was good despite the weather and the fact that I literally had met one guy on the trip for a couple hours a few months beforehand, and otherwise didn't know anyone. Some pictures below (none of them are mine though).

Coming around the corner into the rest stop at David Thompson Resort

Bear at the SK River Crossing resort

Bear near Thompson Creek

Abraham Lake

I'm in the back of this selfie taking a break after the brutal climb

Day 1

Next year they are doing Banff to Nordegg so I might sign up again.

Then Monday and Tuesday this week, Nancy and I went to Canmore and biked from Canmore to Johnston Canyon in Banff and back - we took my bike and Nancy rented one. Altogether it was just shy of 100 km, which would be the longest ride Nancy has ever done in a day by far. For parts of it I biked ahead and then just waited for her, There were some pretty good downhills on the way back.

The first part of the trip is on a paved trail from Canmore to the Banff townsite, then the next few km are on a little-used road, and then the Bow Valley Parkway is completely closed to car traffic until July so that part is for bikes only. The weather was pretty good. Nancy saw a few bears and I saw one, and we both saw mountain goats and deer. 

Nancy in Canmore

Nancy coming around a hill near Canmore

Old Banff mileage marker

Mountain goat near Johnstone Canyon in Banff

I have a warranty claim in on my bike due to some cracked carbon in the frame that I think is a design flaw, so hoping to get that sorted out so I can start riding again - noticed it while biking in Banff.

On an unrelated note, the other tree is blooming too. 

Aurora

 It was a bit cloudy but we still headed out on the range roads to see if we could catch the northern lights this weekend. There were some blasts of brilliance in between the clouds.

It was already very smoky yesterday, spent most of the day indoors, but got the garden mostly started, including the new raised beds and still lots of stuff in pots. The front yard perennials are starting to poke out - hoping to see lots of bright lilies this year. Planted a bunch of bulbs last year and they came up, but never flowered.

Pear tree is in bloom.

Mom and Dad are coming this week to accompany Jude to some medical appointments, and we are all going out for her birthday. Next week the same crew is back to see a Beatles show at the Winspear.