Calgary - Vancouver

captbeerdart

Hi guys, first time post for me!

I've booked flights to Calgary, and then out of Vancouver in August. The plan is to ride over to Vancouver, and spend a few days in Vancouver before flying back. Very excited!

Anyway, just wondered if anyone has done the trip before, and if so, anyone got any tips for me....the place looks so damn big and there's so many options!

Thanks in advance....

(Ps, aiming to be riding for about 2 weeks, unsupported and on my own, camping all the way)

Dan

yer gran

I believe theres a transfer bus from airport to Banff which carries bikes. Mention this as road is very busy and not very exciting. In two weeks you probably should see some of the rockies and head for Okanagen/Penticton route. Getting into Vancouver pick up the trans Canada bike trail which should see you safely into the city centre. It's illegal to camp outside designated campsites, but sometimes necessary. People very friendly so dont hesitate to ask at farms/houses for garden space. Otherwise take bear precautions, tree everything edible/smelly at least 50mtrs away, latrine well away etc. Take usual precautions with bike in cities, they still have dark underbellys out there. Enjoy yourself. Oh, and expect weather. It can go from hot and sunny to snow in 24hrs. And its wet.

keenancook

Hey there,

I'm new on the forum too, but your post caught my eye. I'm actually from Rocky Mountain House, AB, and have cycled from there to Vancouver, on my way down to Argentina. I'd say of the whole route, the Icefields Parkway, between Banff and Jasper is probably some of the best cycling - arguably one of the best in routes in Canada, if not the world. Are you looking to stick to pavement the whole time? I'd maybe recommend something like this: http://g.co/maps/3mbpc especially if you're looking to hit up the Okanogan area - great fresh fruit and vineyards. Otherwise, I'd say something like this might be even better: http://g.co/maps/38yj2 but then you're getting some pretty steep grades and I'm pretty sure packed dirt/ripio type roads between Little Fort and Highway 97. But again, beautiful country and pretty remote.

When my brother and I went we only paid for a campground once in the 2 weeks from home to Vancouver area - there are definitely chances to do some wilderness camping, if that's your kind of thing, and you're looking to minimize costs. Otherwise campgrounds do exist all along the stretch, more or less. Yer Gran says it's illegal to camp outside of designated spots, and in the National Parks that's true (the entire stretch from Banff to Jasper). I'm pretty certain, in Alberta at least, wilderness camping is permitted on any public land as long as you're using a tent and practising 'leave-no-trace' camping, i.e. hauling out your garbage. But as was said above, asking to camp in anybody's yard or anything like that should be easy enough - especially if you're foreign. Oh, and as a warning - they do charge a lot in the Parks - both for camping and for generally visiting. I'm embarrassed that our national parks would charge so much for people to enjoy nature, but I've heard a few cyclists complain about that. I know if you cycle in on highway 11 (the highway that goes from Red Deer to Rocky Mountain House and joins the Parkway halfway up) they won't charge you when you're on a bike, but I've heard of cyclists having to pay park entry on the Banff side.

Hope this helps, and feel free to send me an email if you've got any more questions. I really love cycle touring and route planning, and am more than happy to help out. Good luck!! I hope you have a fantastic trip!

Pumpkin Positive

Hi Keenan

Sorry to hijack this thread but it didn't seem sensible to open a new one.

I'm thinking about a similar trip in late summer from Lethbridge (my brother lives there) to San Juan Islands (my aunt lives there). I've driven the route just north of the border on route 3 but my memory is a little hazy. I'm planning on covering 100 - 150km per day camping and carrying no more than on or two days rations and eating predominantly in restaurants or diners. My question is how is easy it might be to find regular places to eat or to find a bike shop capable of carrying out basic repairs (such as a broken spoke) along the routes outlined in your previous post?

Many thanks

keenancook

Hey, sorry for the delay here. For the first route up through Jasper and down highway 5, you wouldn't have too much of a problem with food for sure. Google maps lists quite a few towns, and some have services and some are nothing at all. After Jasper the town of Valemount, Blue River, Clearwater, and Blue River all have food and grocery before getting to Kamloops which has everything. (Avola and Little Fort have small stores too). Then nothing really until Merritt, then nothing until Hope. If you were doing 100-150 km a day, you'd for sure hit up a town with groceries and small restaurants. Bike shops might be a bit more of an issue, I don't know for sure but I would guess that Valemount and Clearwater would have shops that could do basic repairs, and Kamloops for sure. If you went through the Okanogan Vernon, Kelowna, and Penticton would all have everything you'd need.

I haven't done highway 3 for a little while, but I think you'd be fine for food and bike shops along the whole way, again at least once a day. It goes through a few big ski areas, which turn to mountain biking towns in the summer, so bike shops shouldn't be an issue in places like Fernie, Cranbrook has everything, Creston is decent sized... then might get a little sparse, with Castlegar and Osoyoos having decent services available.

Hope that helps? Let me know if you have any more specific questions - sorry if I missed anything! Good luck with the route planning.