spinnaker

Looks like newly laid pavement to me. Perhaps the edge of the road was eroding?

Happy Feet

It's new pavement between Banff townsite and the east gate. It looks like a drop but is more of an angled slope. Pretty safe considering the quite spacious shoulder (about 5 feet).

Rowan

It is a part of the world that is better than any part of Australia. I have been there in summers and winters on various occasions, mainly driving, but also doing cycling with various intentions, mainly touring. It is the favourite part of my world, enough so that I and Machka were married on 24 August (almost) 10 years ago, on jetty on Lake Annette near Jasper, and by the then-mayor of Banff (and cousin of Machka's family)..

We have driven into the area after serious fire affected a large section of forest in the national park near Jasper.

Happy Feet

I lived and climbed in Banff for a while and in Calgary for years after that but never really visited Jasper. Then, I did a long road tour with my family and drove the Icefeild Parkway to Jasper and back through what Machka's describes as her favorite ride (Saskatchewan Crossing to Rockie Mountain House). Oddly, I have been back to Jasper 3 times in about 5 years since then (two bike trips and one dive trip to Patricia Lake) and really like it as one of my more favorite destinations to start trips from. I can take the VIA train 10 minutes from my house to Jasper for $147.

I know exactly where Lake Annette is. I rode through the lakes park on my way to Maligne Canyon last year

This picture was taken right near that spot:

skookum

Jasper is more laid back and mellow and less crowded than Banff. At least it used to be.
Highly recommended. I don't get up there enough.

Doug64

Dale, I just returned from a tour that I road the first 3 weeks with a "saddle sore" When I reassembled my bike at the start of the tour, I installed my saddle off-center a few millimeters. On the second day, which was long and hot, I got a blister that formed and broke before I figured out what was going on. I adjusted my saddle position and used what I had: triple antibiotic, and A&D Salve. This allowed me to ride with manageable discomfort.

What really helped clear it up was a cream I got at a French pharmacy. It is NOK, made by Sports Akileine. I was riding with little discomfort by the middle of the second week, and it was mostly healed in 3 weeks. I continued to use it for the rest of the tour. My daughter also used it successfully to prevent issues from a "hot spot". I think it is available in Canada. If you find some, I'd recommend giving it a try. It is designed to prevent chafing. The cream helped me, but adjusting my saddle helped more

https://larima.ca/en/sports-akileine...chafing-cream/

Happy Feet

Thanks Doug, I'll look for that cream
And anticipating a trip report from you soon?

Doug64

I forgot to mention that the reason I was looking for some cream is that we were running low of A & D salve. I believe that the A &D salve would have also done the job.

Are you planning anything else for the summer/fall? Sorry to hear about your venture. The special thing about it was that our two daughters were able to come with us. However, one could only ride for 3 weeks because she had to be back to work. The other is a teacher, so she could do the whole tour.

Happy Feet

I have another 1 week holiday in September and am currently asking my wife if she wants to go back to Calgary to visit her parents. If so, I will try once again to do that loop - her dropping me off in Banff along the way and rejoining in Calgary. If she doesn't want to do that I hope to do either the Kettle Valley Railway or bike out to Tofino for a week and try learning how to surf.

Nice to have your daughters along. One thing I (think) I miss is having family members that enjoy biking in that way. It's always a choice between doing something as a family, which usually involves a lot of sitting around that drives me crazy (I can take visiting for like.. half a day), or doing something by myself. None of them seem to have the outdoor adventure gene. I'm pretty lucky to have a wife that allows me that freedom, although she is by far the more international traveler through competing as a chorus singer with Sweet Adeline's Itnl. My trips for the last while have been cheap (ish) to allow her to go to major competitions.

alias5000

Thank you for sharing. Vancouver Island is sitting in one big cloud of smoke right now. Today, we had a 10+ on the air quality health index ranging from 0-10. Not a day I was looking to exercise a lot. I hope for you that these issues will be gone by the time your next trip is starting. Keep in mind that you can look up the AQHI for almost any weather station (at least in BC) to give you an idea of the smoke condition.

skookum

Link to AQHI : https://weather.gc.ca/airquality/pages/index_e.html

There are also apps for your phone: https://open.alberta.ca/interact/aqhi-canada

I certainly hope the air is better in September, but until we get a good rain the fires will continue.

clasher

Cool thread... I did a similar route last summer, though I started in Lethbridge and headed toward Cranbrook and up 93 at Radium and then down toward Banff but I also took a ride through the Highwood pass before heading to Calgary.