We could not have picked a better destination than the Canadian Rockies for our special anniversary trip. We spent a couple days on our own in Banff before joining Backroads for an organized bike tour. Sixteen of us traveled together from Banff, to Lake Louise, to Bow Lake, to the Columbia Ice Fields, and finally to Jasper.
Backroads did an excellent job of taking care of logistics and roadside support. Much of the time there were two vehicles and three guides; Bill, Lisa, and Grant. All of them were fun to spend the week with and they provided encouragement to everyone also.
The guests we spent the week with were great. It is rare that everyone gets along so well on a trip like this. By the end of the week, we were all friends and hung out together just because we enjoyed one another's company. While there were some non-cyclists in the group, virtually everyone rode every day, and usually every kilometer. Quite a feat indeed. Althea was particularly amazing on the bike. The day she conquered the climb to the Ice Fields gave her a new sense of confidence..
We stayed at all best lodges including the Chateau Lake Louise and the Jasper Park Lodge. But, we all had the most fun at the informal, rustic Num Ti-Ja lodge. We were spoiled with breakfast buffets and elegant dinners. We justified all the deserts by pointing to all the kilometers we were going to ride the next day!
The riding was certainly challenging as was the weather at times. Not too many roads were flat...we always seemed to be going up or down. The high point on the ride was Bow Summit at 7300 feet. When I got there it was snowing and I crashed as I started down the slippery descent. Fortunately I was wearing a rain jacket which probably saved me from some major road rash. I am sore but do not seem to have any lasting damage.
The roads rangied from relatively quite parkways, to roads closed to traffic, to riding on the breakdown lane of a 4-lane highway. The 240 km Ice Fields Parkway was a bit more tame and we had a great shoulder to ride on. But, we still had to contend with one RV after the other, many of which were towing cars.
I hope that these photos will show how spectacular this trip really was. Every day we saw wonderful things including a bit of wildlife. All in all, this trip will be hard to beat. |
