Mile for mile the Icefields is best. Anybody who complains about the traffic is a ninny...the shoulder is the widest lane on the damn road...which just goes to show you how compulsively unhappy some cyclists are. Yes, the costs of facilities and camping add up, but commercial areas are very limited, and last time I looked, limited supply meant higher prices. If ya want cheap coffee, head over to edmonton and go to Timmy Hortons. Of course then ya can complain about right hooks and traffic!

The mountains are remarkable. Of the two passes, Bow and Sunwapta, I prefer the latter. Ferocious climbs on both sides, awesome scenery, including both valley glaciers and the edges of (small) ice sheets. The overlook at Bow Lake is beautiful. Watch for moose in the lower elevations where ya have wetlands and bogs on the west side of the road.

When I was there all the youth hostels were primitive; so ya never got the "hop off the bus with our backpack and pretend we are outdoorsman!" sort of experience ya have at the Hostels in Europe. The campgrounds are nice but bears are everywhere and given that we cyclists tend to carry things bears love (peanut butter, granola, honey, eggs, etc in my case), it might be the better part of virtue to stay at the hostels.

But those damn bumps every 20 yards or so drive ya batty!


Of my experience elsewhere, there are few roads that compare to it. Riding a long tour thru the alps sure can beat it; but in terms of any one road, I can't think of any. The Karakoram highway snakes thru the Himalaya, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush, but is narrow and dangerous in many places. Colorado's 'million dollar highway' was too much cliff and rock for my preference. The Blue Ridge Parkway can rival the Icefields, but i'd say only in the Spring when the rhododendrons are out. Vermont Rt 100 can also; but only in the fall when the colors are spectacular. Parts of the Pacific coast highway can rival it, but again it is narrow and too "California", if ya know what i mean.

roughstuff