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| Title: | Bicycling |
| Notice: | Bicycling for Fun |
| Moderator: | JAMIN::WASSER |
|
| Created: | Mon Apr 14 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 3214 |
| Total number of notes: | 31946 |
2387.0. "Icefields Parkway trip report" by SPEZKO::SMITH (Recreational pCYCLEpath...) Tue Aug 18 1992 15:41
Ed's Excellent Adventure
(or how another Ed spend his summer vacation)
Trip: Icefields Parkway, Alberta Canada
Date: July 26 - August 1, 1992
I'd been planning this trip since last Christmas. We were going
home to Calgary to visit family and friends this summer and I
planned to spend a week of the trip cycling the Icefields
Parkway.
The Icefields Parkway is the famed ride from Banff to Jasper,
Alberta through some of the best Rocky Mountain scenery in
America. My goal was to cycle from Banff to Jasper to Banff to
Calgary in 6 days for a total of 415 miles.
I wasn't exactly equipped for the trip since I planned on
camping. My bike, a Trek 1400, is not the ideal bike to tour on.
I expected to have some problems hauling the weight with it's 32
spoke wheels and 700x23 tires so I brought several spare spokes
and 3 spare tubes. It's gearing was far from ideal with my
lowest being a 42x26. I own a rather large rear pannier which
held everything I need for the trip. I also had a small
handlebar bag to hold snacks, wallet, map, etc. Here's what I
carried for the trip:
- Clip Flashlite 2 tent
- Sleeping bag
- Ridge rest sleeping pad 3/4 length
- Food for 6 days (freeze dried, rice, macaroni, etc.)
- Cloths for 6 days
- Warm sweater
- Cycling jacket (semi-water resistant)
- Coleman Peak 1 stove, fuel
- Peak 1 mess kit
- Camera
Day 1 - Banff to Lake Louise
----------------------------
38.4 miles
12.7 mph average
65� partly cloudy
I planned on getting a ride from Calgary to Banff and then cycle
from Banff to Lake Louise to keep the first day easy. The next
day I hoped to climb 2 major passes and wanted to save the
energy. On Sunday, my friend drove me out to Banff and I got
started cycling about 2:00. I took it easy and left Banff,
cycling down Highway #1. The shoulder is very wide and for a
good reason. The traffic was very heavy and some what distracted
from the enjoyment. The alternative route is to take the Bow
Valley Parkway (I did on the way back) which is much quieter, but
no wide shoulders. I stayed at the campground in Lake Louise
that night. Camping was $11. They provided food storage lockers
so you didn't disturb the bears ;')
Day 2 - Lake Louise to Colombia Ice Fields
------------------------------------------
80.1 miles
12.6 mph average
50� and light rain in the AM
55� and cloudy in the PM
Morning came with the sound of rain beating on my tent. I rolled
over and went back to sleep. Finally at 8:00 I decided rain or
not, I need to get a move on. After packing up wet gear I set
off to the Colombia Ice Fields. The rain let up a bit and by
noon it had stopped. I tackled the two major passes today, Bow
Pass and Sunwapta Pass. After climbing Bow Pass there is a nice
long stretch of downhill to the Saskatchewan River Crossing
followed by a real bear of a climb up Parker's Ridge to Sunwapta
Pass. I was really wishing for a triple chain ring today.
Climbing Parker's Ridge @ 4 mph was an all legs, no lungs effort.
Near the top of the hill my rack broke. The strap that holds it
to the rear brake snapped. Yeech! I strapped it back up to the
seat using some rope. This got me by until the campground where
I more securely tied it up with some rope that held for the
remainder of the trip.
I camped at the Wilcox Campground, $7.50 a night. On the way up
the access road to the camp, I stood to climb the hill and broke
a spoke, rear wheel, non-freewheel side. This was the last time
I stood to climb ;'(
Day 3 - Colombia Ice Fields to Athabasca Falls to Honeymoon Lake
----------------------------------------------------------------
60.6 miles
13.0 mph average
40� and light rain in the AM
60� and drizzle in the PM
A little cold this morning... burrr. The rain didn't help
either. I had planned to go into Jasper today but because of the
rain I cycled up to Honeymoon lake and set up camp then continued
cycling without my gear to Athabasca Falls. It was another 19
miles into the town of Jasper from here but the rain changed my
mind.
In the morning it was real cold going down hill from the Colombia
Icefields so I stopped to put on my sweater. On my left I heard
a large thunder sound and turned to watch an avalanche.
Fantastic! I grabbed my camera and took several shots of the
avalanche in progress.
That evening at the campground I met up with a couple from New
Zealand. They had been on the road since April and had already
cycled from Vancouver to San Francisco, bused it back to
Vancouver and then cycled into northern BC, across to Jasper and
down the Icefields Parkway. What a trip! They were enjoying
their retirement. What a way to retire!
Day 4 - Honeymoon Lake to Waterfowl Lake
----------------------------------------
75.8 miles
12.4 mph average
40� and blue sky in the AM
70� and blue sky in the PM (YES!!!)
Love them blue sky days... This was the kind of day that makes
the whole trip worthwhile. The scenery was spectacular. Blue
sky, emerald lakes, blue gray mountains, white snow on their
peaks and dark green pines.
The return trip down Parker's Ridge was a disappointment. Going
up was hard but because of the slow speed the railroad track like
bumps were not noticeable. On the way down however it was a bone
shaking. I had to ride the brakes to keep my speed below about
15 mph so as to not shake completely apart. The rest of the ride
was better.
Back at the Saskatchewan River crossing I stopped at one of the
few stores on the parkway to stock up on some snacks. In the
store I looked for my wallet in my handlebar bar bag (Cannondale
quick release kind) and didn't see it! Panic!!!! The last time
I had it was 30 miles back!!! To boot, I had locked my bike and
the key is in my wallet. Oh S**T. I scramble back out to my
bike to check my panniers. Still no wallet. I re-check my
handlebar bag and there it is, hiding under some maps and stuff.
(insert large sigh of relief here). My wallet is black and so is
my handlebar bag so it was easy to miss. I open my wallet and
out falls my wedding ring on to the decking, boing, boing, boing,
thunk... Oh S**T again. My ring just fell through the decking
boards. The deck is about 2 feet of the ground with no access to
get underneath. I run back into the store and ask for a coat
hanger. After a few minutes of fishing around I manage to
retrieve my ring. Wow, what a day.
That night I camped at Waterfowl Lake campground, $11.00 a night.
I sat in on the Ranger's evening program on Bears in the Park.
He told an interesting tale of a family of grizzly bears that had
been leaving close to the road for the last several years.
He had been watching one of the 2 year olds this spring because
of his attraction to wandering on the road in the mornings. One
morning, apparently while he was watching, the Grizzly decided to
give chase to a cyclist. Talk about an adrenalin rush! Boy did
that cyclist move. The Ranger felt the young grizzly was just
playing around and was not being aggressive. I sure the cyclist
had an opinon too. By late spring they had moved up to the high
country.
Day 5 - Waterfowl Lake to Banff
-------------------------------
78.7 miles
13.7 mph average
35� and blue sky in the AM burrrr...
75� and blue sky in the PM ahhhhh...
Today was an easy ride, lots of downhill. The morning was very
cold and even with my sweater it was chilly. My fingers were
near frozen with the downhill. By afternoon it really warmed up.
I decided to take the Bow Valley Parkway (Highway #1A) from Lake
Louise to Banff this time and I was glad I did. It was a great
road with little traffic. Nice rolling hills.
I had lunch at Lake Louise and camped at Tunnel Mountain
Campground in Banff, $13.00 a night. A bit steep but it included
showers. None of the other campgrounds on this trip had showers
so washing was all manual. I headed into town that night for
pizza and beer.
Day 6 - Banff to Calgary
------------------------
81.8 miles
15.5 mpg average
45� and blue sky in the AM
70� and blue sky in the PM
Smooth sailing day! Mostly downhill with a few rolling hills
just to keep the ride interesting. The best part was the tail
wind all the way home. It really helped my average speed. At
the city limits my average was 16.2 mph. Lights and traffic in
the city dropped my final average for the day. Highway #1 has a
nice wide shoulder but the traffic volume was quite heavy. As an
alternative Highway #1A offers a quieter road, less of a shoulder
and more hills. I decided to put up with the traffic since I
knew the road surface was good and didn't know the road quality
of Highway #1A. I was looking for a nice easy ride to end my
trip.
Overall, a fantastic trip!
...Ed
| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 2387.1 | No icefields handy around here :-( | SUSHI::KMACDONALD | haba�eros 'R' us | Tue Aug 18 1992 15:59 | 5 |
| > -< Icefields Parkway trip report >-
I vote we give Ed the "Most Disruptive to Normal Work-Related Thought
Processes" Note of the Week Award for that.....
ken
|
| 2387.2 | | NOVA::FISHER | Rdb/VMS Dinosaur | Tue Aug 18 1992 16:59 | 3 |
| great trip, Ed. Great write-up too.
ed
|