This is a day late because we did not have any Internet service. But the ride was so memorable I wanted to make sure I got this out.
Today's forecast called for cold temps and rain, there was even a possibility of snow. Gratefully we did not have any rain or snow, the temps while cold, did not go as low as predicted. That was a plus for the day. This was a challenging ride with some huge climbs right in the middle ascending to the highest elevation of 6675 feet at the Columbia Icefields. Total miles ridden 100k/62 miles and 3500 total feet ascended.
It was nice to start the day with a lovely warm-up ride of about 40k/25 miles along the Head waters of the Athabasca River. Temps were n the low 50's so we were dressed in layers. Just like every day on this tour, the scenery got better with every mile. It is almost jaw dropping to see more and more majestic mountains appear as we rounded each bend. We saw the river, snow capped mountains, some with glaciers, and of course waterfalls.
We rode on HWY 93 and there was plenty of shoulder and big bike lanes on the road. The motorists gave us plenty of room and since we left around 8:15 a.m. there really wasn't much traffic at all for this morning, making it a very enjoyable ride. We stopped for photos along the way. Here are just a few.
This is the Athabasca Glacier and is one of the highest peak in Alberta.
Not only is this a good road for bicyclists but there are lots of motorcyclists enjoying the sights as well. I met this fellow at the Sumwapta view point and he was riding with a group of friends from Israel. They were all very interested in our bicycle ride and I was able to get this quick photo.
After our short break we began the big climb of the day. As you can see from the profile, it was quite a steep ascent and we hit 8-12 degrees in the climb, once again it was just slow but steady up and then up quite a bit more to the Icefields. We warmed up quickly and shed a layer or two on the ascent.
We had been pretty lucky most of the day with the wind, but as we rode alongside the Icefields we had a wicked side wind blasting us. It reminded me of a particularly windy Tour de Palm Springs ride, only a LOT colder! It took a great deal of effort and leaning into the wind to keep the bikes upright. At the summit the road turned and we now had a lovely tail wind and we stopped to layer up again before descending.
The descent was very fast and steep and The temps were around 48 degrees and I hit speeds up to 40 mph, that was cold AND speedy, thank goodness for all those layers. That, the wind and the traffic kept me very alert and attentive to the road. We all safely arrived at our lunch stop and Etienne, our tour leader, had a BBQ going and was serving chicken kabobs, salad, homemade bruschetta and lots of other goodies including hot chocolate.
We still had more descent coming up and it looked like rain ahead so I traded my toe covers for rain booties and wow, did they keep my feet warm and happy!
On the way down the hill we stopped quickly at "Weeping Wall" and a bit further on we were lucky to spot a black bear and got a quick photo.
The rest of our ride took us to our hotel, the only place around for MILES! We had to wait a bit for our rooms so we all relaxed with beer provided by both Christopher and Susan from our group.
Tomorrow we ride to Lake Louise - praying for sunshine!
2 comments:
😎😎😎sending the sun your way!!
This is really one of the iconic rides. Coming past the Icefields there is always a horrid side wind. Good work on the booties. So how fast did you come down the decent?
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