Category: Northern Rockies 2017

NR06: Columbia River Valley

After settling in last night, adjacent campers arrived who were, you know, the kind of neighbors you pray you don’t get. Nit-wit noisy novice inexperienced. Fussing with every little article, bleating out endless stupid questions and banal answers. “Where did you put the ketchup?” “Didn’t we bring toilet paper?” “How does this table work?” “I can’t find the water.” They complained that Jack’s tent, located well off their setup, possibly encroached their campsite, that their boundary was defined by a tree they arbitrarily selected, so he shouldn’t be there. They played bad music. Quiet hour at this campground didn’t start until

Continue reading

NR05: Smoky Kootenay NP

As planned, up early, and out by 7:15AM. I’m running slowly this morning. I slept well, but once up, I just felt sluggish. Sluggish packing up. Sluggish on the bike. Jack and Phil are soon far ahead of me. No worries. In those situations I just relax, relish where I am and make sure to enjoy the roll. A sign for Numa Falls had me pull over to examine, but the site is closed due to renovation of a bridge. I dilly-dally anyway, taking photos, stretching out the morning. We all knew we’d encounter smoke today and had talked about

Continue reading

NR04: Change of Plans

Awoke about 6AM and connected to the bcdrive website. 93 is still closed but an updated report is due at 6:27AM. Lo and behold when the report was issued, they’d opened up the road on an hour-by-hour basis. Hmmm… Eggs, potatoes, sausage, toast, and coffee at the cafe. Alpine Centre hostel is a very fine place to stay when you’re in town. At breakfast we set our day’s plan: . take the Bow Valley Parkway out-and-back to Banff, as originally planned, but… . take a look at the entrance to 93 at Castle Junction to see if it was open

Continue reading

NR03: Lake Louise

Man, real cold this morning! Gotta be in the low 40s. Don’t wanna get up! But we’re out by 8:30 or so for a snack breakfast and tear down, and off we go. The original ride plan had us going 80 miles today, but our efforts the past 2 days have reduced that to less than 40. A nice easy day for sure. We stop almost immediately at the other Waterfowl Lake a little south of us, and hike a few hundred yards down to the lakefront. Absolutely stunning. The still waters reflect a beautiful steep mountain (Howse Peak) illuminated

Continue reading

NR02: Banff National Park

Nice last night – rain on the tentfly. Makes the sleeping that much better. Seems like it cooled things down a lot too. We’re all up by 7 and ready to go by 8, and I bet it was in the high 40s maybe. In checking our maps, we note “only” 17 miles to breakfast, but oh my. This segment takes us up on a brutal climb to the Glacier Skywalk tourist attraction. We’re talking a sustained 9-10% grade, actually one of the toughest I’ve encountered. The views around here are stunning, including lakes, icefields, glaciers, alpine forest, monstrous mountains. It’s hard

Continue reading

NR01: Jasper National Park

The four of us get up early, pack the vehicles, and complete an hourlong drive to Jasper. I kept watching the car thermometer, noticing it dip into the low 40s in the low spots. Brrr. We soon find ourselves in the town of Jasper. Touristy but not nearly as crowded as I might have imagined. Bikes are readied and panniers loaded. Time to get this thing started! Linda takes a group photo and heads off on her own, with a plan to golf and spa her way around British Columbia for a couple weeks. I know she’s going to love this

Continue reading

Six Days to the Start

Finally on the road and headed north in the SUV. We met with Phil earlier this week and he brought over his bike and almost all his gear, holding back just enough to fly with. Jack will fly from Atlanta with his boxed bicycle and gear to Calgary. Phil will fly from Chicago to Phoenix to Calgary as well. From there we’ll all meet up in Edson Alberta, not far from our start point in Jasper. Linda and I took our sweet time, taking six full days of driving and golfing to get there. Non-stop drive the first day to Provo

Continue reading

Are We Ready?

The tour is almost upon us. Jack, Phil and I have been exchanging emails for last minute information. A prevailing tone has been a wondering if we’re collectively ready for this. Since returning from vacation travel 30 days ago, I’ve gotten in 395 miles and just under 14,000 feet of climbing. 168 miles and 8,000′ climbing were about 75% loaded on the Surly.  Jack’s done a bit more than that.  Phil did the Mormon Lake and Luna Lakes rides with me, so he’s likely on par. As Jack points out, we’re about to try 800 miles and 30,000 feet of climbing

Continue reading

Luna Lakes Conditioning Ride Day 3

Wow, just a little bit of everything today. A very eventful day on tour. Up at the crack of dawn this morning. Phil made black coffee and I added some Pop-Tarts for calories. We made our way out onto the streets about 6AM just as the sun peeked over some nearby trees. Eastward on NM12 and immediately into climbing mode. The route is especially pretty in the morning, cut deeply through a few rock walls. The long morning shadows in shades of orange were a sight. This first climb is a real doozy, about 2200’ in 12 miles. I stopped

Continue reading

Luna Lakes Conditioning Ride Day 2

To our delight, this was one of those truly great-to-be-out-here days. We needed it after yesterday. Eggs and bacon at the Largo Café for breakfast. The cook then brought out 2 huge pancakes for each of us. Who are these for? (They come with breakfast.) Phil and I could barely touch them. To the general store for provisions. For me that’s Fig Newtons, Skittles, and a can of 7-up. Oughta last 40 miles, along with 4 liters of water and the Pop-Tarts I had. Certainly reflects a riding mode, being so carb intensive. South down NM32. The air was humid

Continue reading