Posts

Day 4, 5, and 6 Banff to Sparwood, Bc

-
Image
Day 4. Today we rode 28 miles and had 2300 ft of elevation gain. We had planned to do the Canmore cut off but it was closed do to a rock slide. We drove to Banff and continued our adventure  there. We got a late start, 10:40, but our hopes were high to get in some miles. The trail started out as a nice double track but soon turned  into a tuff single  track. We made it back to gravel and made it to Buller campground. We were warned there were Grizzly bear in the area but we did not see any. Day 5. We rode 43 miles and had 2400 ft of elevation gain. We woke up to frost on the table, but the sun soon warmed  us up. We started out on a gravel  road that turned into pavement, then into a paved bike path. There was bear scat everywhere  on the trail. No bears in site. We got to the end of the trail and started the climb to Elk Pass. We had three 25% climbs to get over the pass. We were able to finish  the day on a gravel  road to Weary creek campground...
3 comments
Read more

Day 3 rest day

-
Image
 We woke up this morning with rain in the forcast. Our host made us over easy eggs on toast and sausage  links. He is also the grader driver for the road we were to ride today. He told us the road conditions today would be worse then yesterday. So there would  be 70 miles of sticky mud. I had to have a picture  of me and Kevin in his bar. Doug's wife Jaymie is shadowing our ride to the border in their van. She drove the road yesterday  and said she barely was able to make it on some parts in 4wd low. My bicycle  developed some shifting problems  from all the mud, so I needed a mechanic. We loaded the bikes in the van and drove to Canmore, Alberta to get my bike repaired. A couple of quick twists of a Allen bolt by a knowledgeable  mechanic  and the bike is good to go. He shared his knowledge  with me in case of future problems. We are back on the trail tomorrow  leaving from Banff. I made peanut butter and strawberry  jam on a ...
1 comment
Read more

Day 2 GDMBR Hinton, Alberta to Robb. Alberta

-
Image
 The ride today  was a sufferfest. We road 30 miles and had 2400 ft of elevation gain.  We thought  we were in great shape, riding a gravel  road all day. This was not your Iowa gravel  road, this was a Alberta  gravel road. It rained off and on all day. The road was like a mud slurry. We had a thunder storm pass over us that put us in the ditch for a while.The climbs were endless. We got to Robb hoping to score some water. We stopped at the Coal Branch Hotel. Kevin, the owner took one look at our rain soaked muddy clothes and told us we were staying there tonight. He let us wash our bikes then fed us this wonderful pork roast dinner. We have more of the same conditions  tomorrow. Not many  pictures  today,  we were to cold and wet . 
5 comments
Read more

Day 1 GDMBR Jasper Alberta to Hinton, Alberta

-
Image
Day one  is done. We rode 50 miles today with 1600 ft of elevation  gain. The first 14 miles was on the "Overlander Trail. It was a backpacking trail, it was really gnarly. We ended up pushing our bikes three miles. The rest if the day was spent on pavement. The ride was a beautiful. It was nice to get to the Hinton  campground.
Post a Comment
Read more

Our ride starts Monday morning

-
Image
 I'm  sitting in our room in Jasper, Alberta tonight  anxious and excited for the start of our ride tomorrow morning. This ride is so much different  then my ride across America. The weather report  calls for a chance of rain every day for the next week. Snowfall around Banff this season was 230%. This could make  the trails we are traveling  difficult  to navigate. Only 10% of our ride is on pavement. The Adventure begins  in the morning. I'll  be looking forward to what my Dahlias look like when I get home.
4 comments
Read more

Pre ride preparation

-
Image
Betty and I traveled to Edmonds, Wa to spend a couple of days with my riding partner Doug Hirsch and his wife Jaymie. We needed to have a group meeting  to work out logistics of the ride. Between the four of us we figured out how to get turn by turn directions loaded on our Garmins. We have the concept of a plan to get home from Antelope Wells. The plan is to fly home, the problem is we cannot make advanced reservations because we don't know when we will finish the ride. We compared what we plan to pack on the ride. We talked about food and how we need to resupply. We took a break and walked on the Kingston ferry to have lunch in Kingston on Friday. There is certainly more to get done before we roll out on June15th.
2 comments
Read more

My next adventure starts in a month

-
Image
 I will be starting my next adventure, the Great Divide Mountain Bike Ride, with my High School friend Doug Hirsch. We are leaving Jasper, Alberta, Canada on June 15th on our way to Antelope Wells, NM on the Continental Divide. The route is 3000 miles with 200,000 vertical feet of climbing on 90% gravel and single track. I will just have turned 70 a couple of days before our adventure begins.  I hope you will follow along on this epic ride. 
10 comments
Read more