Andy_K 

I had some questions for @mountaindave, but then I thought others here might also have some experiences to share. I'm going to be visiting Glacier National Park in a few weeks and I'm hoping to get in some bike riding. It looks like Going-to-the-Sun Road is the primary attraction. So my questions:

Are there any other roads in or near the park that I should consider?
Do I really need to bring bear spray (as shown in the NPS video), and if so how accessible does it need to be?
What kind of temperature range should I expect assuming an early morning start? Does it get really cold at the high elevations?
Is there any way to schedule this to avoid the 11-4 bike restrictions and still get in all the best roads?
What tires would you recommend? 700x28 slicks OK?
Anything else I should know?
Anyone want to meet me for a ride?

BikeWonder

I just completed a 1020km Calgary -Vancouver tour. I can answer some of your questions.
Please do bring bear spray. Bear sightings have increased these past couple of weeks. I was lucky enough to not see any, but with the weather getting warmer, it seems bears are more likely to go about. A man who was bikepacking was recently attacked in BC by grizzly and used a knife to defend himself. You want to be prepared and have it at your disposal with a moment's notice. I brought an air horn and bear spray for personal defense but did not have to use them. I felt safer carrying them with me.

Temp-wise, it great depends. My first few days up inti Lake Louise went from sunny and 25° to rainy and 12° and back to 20°. Morning would start out arounf 12-15° in the morning, go as high as 22-28° mid day, and drop back to 12-15 in the evening if you go higher up.

Bring clothing that you can put on and take off easily that will protect you from the elements. The sun can make it really hot, too, so bring strong SPF sunblock.

In terms of tires, I rode with Panaracer Tourguard 32mm x 700c (NOS). I imagine if I used 28mm, the ride might've felt a bit harsh but zippy. If you are using loaded gear, 32mm is what I would recommend. Keep them inflated well.

You are passing through the rockies, so the rocks you will find on the side of the road will be sharp/jagged at times.

Expect a lot of up hills and down hills (obviously) and wear high-vis clothing. People will be distracted by the views and that increases your chances of things going sour. Make sure you are seen from a long distance.

Bring a bit of chain lube. The change from dry to wet conditions dried my chain several times and that affected my ability to perform. Bring a nice chain lube on you just in case.

This is all from personal experience. It's one thing to just talk based on what you read versus experienced, so I hope my information helps you.

Most importantly, water up.

Lake Louise Scenic route from Banff

jamesdak 

Well, I go to Glacier every year and will be there again this year. Bear Spray for sure. I'm there mainly to do photography and bears are all over the place. That's one of the reason's I love it.





They'll be hot and heavy after the huckleberries soon, so quite active. I've seen them all over the Going To The Sun Road.

Temperature range varies a lot week to week and even day to day there. Be prepared for everything, hot, sunny, windy, cold, rain, even snow.

The road is usually in good shape and off the top of my head I think the repaving is all done. You may see some rock falls but should be able to just go around. I actually brought a road bike with me last year and just had my normal Conti GP 4000s II tires on it. 700 x 25 if it matters.

Look out for some gratings up top, by the tunnels and such if I remember correctly. And remember, a lot of the drivers around you will be qawking at the scenery and not looking out for you. I'd wear bright clothing and use flashing lights.

The park get's busier every year for sure. But the traffic on the road still dies down real early morning and late evening. Just watch for increased wildlife action.

I prefer the east side and the ride up the west side will be more crowded with less room on the road shoulders (where there are some) and seems like a steeper climb.

It's a beautiful place that is unfortunately being loved to death and is way over crowded now days. If you want solitude, ditch the bike and head a few miles in on pretty much any trial. Way fewer people them.

Bad Lag

I fixed those goofy temperatures you quoted. At first, I was thinking, "Antarctica". Then, I realized oh, he means °C.

Yeah, verily on the tires thingie.

I would recommend you carry a folding spare tire with you if there is sharp/jagged gravel. High pressure, lightweight tires do not mix well with gravel. A blow out is possible which damages/destroys the tire's carcass and the inner tube. I would be ready for that type of repair as it could leave you stranded.

Eric S.

~25 years ago riders in the Flathead Valley would do a ride dubbed The Highline Hammer, about 145 miles. A beautiful extension of riding the Sun road is to continue South on Hwy 89 from St. Mary, then Hwy 49 to East Glacier.

bfuser191509248

My goodness, do I envy those of you who are able (and young enough!) to ride up there. Those would be memories to cherish.

I revisited Banff several years ago, but the last time I visited (by car) GNP was circa 1965, before heading up into Canada, and Banff and Jasper. Still remember the Going To The Sun road, the Weeping Wall, the wildflowers...

iab

Only rode it once, no bears. Then I rode Cino Heroica, do that route, most excellent. Stop at Lake McDonald Lodge, it's pretty neat inside. Temp change was maybe 10-15 degrees. I rode 27s, but it is a smooth road, 23s would be fine. Not a steep climb, pick a tempo, go. I don't think the elevation will affect you, at least it didn't affect me.


Cino 34 by iabisdb, on Flickr


Cino 36 by iabisdb, on Flickr


Cino 42 by iabisdb, on Flickr


Going To The Sun by iabisdb, on Flickr

mountaindave 

For temps, I would put West Glacier and East Glacier into you weather app. It’s about as close to the sun road as you can get.

I did the Sun road last week and, because of a late riding partner, didn’t leave Avalanche campground (16 miles from Logan pass) until just before 7:00 AM. It wasn’t bad going up, but very annoying going down - you can easily go faster than the cars and I hate riding the brakes on the number of a car. I suggest getting on the road from Avalanche no later than 6:00 AM. If starting in West Glacier, no later than 5:00 AM.

If you can get someone to shuttle you, east to west wouldn’t be bad either, just start early.

Bear spray? If I were flying and couldn’t bring it, I wouldn’t worry about it. If I were picking hucks or mushrooms in the woods, absolutely. Riding a well traveled road? Not so worried. I’ve run into bears a handful of times in the Sun Road and they were all black bears more interested in eating what they were eating than paying any attention to me.

I know people, like @Eric S, who did the Highline Hammer back in the day, but it doesn’t happen so much anymore I think because traffic has increased so much on Hwy 2 from East to West Glacier - and that’s pretty much the equivalent of a mountain stage in the TdF . It is possible to ride from west to east and take the train back - they take bikes in the luggage car on a hook! I did that a couple of years ago - we left West glacier at 5:00 AM (you’ll need lights). It’s still 80+ miles with almost 7000’ of vert.

As far as other roads, nothing jumps out at me as bucket-worthy as the Sun Road is. Good rides, but not “do this before you die.” The east side of the park is most dramatic. If you stayed in that side and ride into either Two Medicine or Many Glacier (possibly my favorite place in the park), you could do some short rides with amazing mountains as backdrops.

If you bring a comfortable gravel bike, riding up the Northfork is worth doing. It’s the western border of the bark and quite beautiful. A nice loop in the valley that gets you away from cars and into the side roads is Foothills Road.

I did the Blacktail Mtn hill climb today out of Lakeside along Flathead Lake- it’s a mile or so longer and 600’ more elevation. But the last third of it is gravel. You don’t get the glacier-carved peaks like GNP, but you get a very quiet ride up to a peak that overlooks the whole valley. Google blacktail hill climb in lakeside.

The Lower Valley is always nice - still mostly farmland.

Lascauxcaveman 

Going to the Sun; if you stay on the pavement, you 'might' see a bear, but you won't get close enough to spray him. Off on some gravel roads, yeah, it wouldn't hurt to come armed. I might make it out there myself this fall, with my unemployment looming soon

specialmonkey

Are those rims wooden? What kind of bike, what size wheels?

jamesdak 

I see them multiple times roadside on my annual trips and had my closest bear encounter ever right on the shoulder of the road one morning while shooting pics.

I also had something take a dead deer right off the road under my nose about 10 years ago. I walked about 10 feet back to my car to change lenses as I was shooting a crow picking at the eye of the deer. When I turned around the carcass was gone, dragged into the brush. This was between Rising Sun and Two Dog Flats. So while I don't really worry about bears on the road, or anywhere else, they can and are everywhere there.

Like the morning I'm having a late breakfast at the Swiftcurrent eatery. I see a bear come out of the woods on the corner of the parking lot and lay down alongside the sidewalk. Next thing I know some older lady comes walking up and then jump out of her skin as the bear leapt up and ran. No one else in the restaurant even noticed.

Hence why I always advise carrying spray.

gugie 

I think the obvious solution is to ride with someone slower than you.

TimmyT 

Depends on if you're riding uphill or down. If the bear is on a downhill section, then you want someone faster in front of you.

Andy_K 

Yeah, but where am I going to find someone slower than me?

Andy_K 

Thanks to everyone who has provided comments and suggestions. By a weird coincidence, GCN featured this ride on their Facebook feed last night. At first I thought it was just Facebook spying on me again and digging up old sponsored content, but all of the comments on the post were from yesterday so it must have been new.

Dfrost 

Sorry, Andy. Can’t make it for this trip.

ryansu

Me neither @Andy_K its a beautiful place, I was there 27 years ago in an aging VW Van so I was going about as slow as I would cycling, enjoy

Stormsedge

Was up there a couple of years ago...didn't ride my bike though. We got there in late May and the Sun road was still blocked with snow above the lodge...we went around the other way through the back gate to get a look at the glacier. I picked up a bear spray at a Walmart for walking around safety factor. Didn't see any bears until we got down to Yellowstone...could have been a little early at Glacier.

iab

Yes. 1933 Frejus. 700c.

specialmonkey

Cool!

sixer

I rode GTTSR in late June of 2018, about a week after the road re-opened. I only rode the west side from Apgar Campground to the Pass and back. I left about 5:45 in the morning and only saw one other rider on the way up going up - a few others were buzzing down from the top. There was almost no traffic going down after turning around (9:15am?), which made it fun and fast. I was going fast enough I could have overtaken some motorcycles.

It wasn't cold and I didn't need any special riding gear. It was warmer at the top as you're out of the valley and the sun was coming up.

I rented a Kona Rove NRB from a Glacier Cyclery in Whitefish and it came with 650bx47c tires, but the roads were very smooth and nothing that fat was necessary for pavement. The guys there would have lots of advice about where else to ride. When talking to them about my ride and dealing with the time restrictions they told me they frequently rode it in the afternoon/evening - the sun is up very late in the summer and the tourists are gone. I had thought about riding all the way to the east end and back but felt like I'd have to sit around waiting for the road to open again so just decided to haul-ass back down instead. I didn't see any bears.

The rangers at the pass weren't very pleasant - they wouldn't allow me to bring the bike up to even the first level where the toilets were, and because I didn't have a lock or anything I didn't even do the little tourist walking loop at the Pass.

Have fun!

mountaindave 

There are toilets on the lower level, but not water. I just rode up the handicap ramp carefully to the water fountain, nobody stopped me. But it was 8:30 AM?

Always bring a packable wind breaker, it can be gorgeous down below and very cold and windy at the very top. It’s about a half hour of descending - one gets chilly speeding along at 30mph.

Wildwood 

When exactly are you going to be there?
These legs are old n slow.

Andy_K 

I’ll be there August 19-23. PM me if you want to try to make a plan.

mountaindave 

I think that this simple advice would work for most mountain situations: dress in layers, be prepared for incliment weather.

I always ride with some kind of bag that is large enough to hold what I need plus that which I shed - don’t fill your bag all the way.

And enjoy!