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Originally Posted by marsplasticeraser
I could see some easy wins for road bike routes such as:
1. Waterton to Canmore (get people staying in small towns all the way to Calgary
2. Calgary to Lake Louise (can continue south to Waterton or North to Jasper)
3. Edmonton to Jasper (can continue south to Lake Louise, and then Calgary
4. Edmonton to Calgary (basically allows a bigger circuit, ideally go near mountains.
5. Calgary to Drumheller circuit incl back via crowsnest and foothills (part of itinerary 1)
I'm sure there are some good rides in the middle and north of alberta as well.
If we did this right it would bring tourism dollars to towns that need the money, and make it easier for Albertans to be healthy.
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I'd add the following to the list. Less for multi-day bikepacking and more for a collection of single-day destination trips.
1. Marketing the Bow Valley Parkway & Highwood closures.
2. Pincher Creek / Beaver Mines / Lundbreck falls area -- the road up to Castle Mountain was recently paved and they didn't put in bike lanes, talk about a fail.
3. Calgary to surrounding municipalities (good for regional tourism, get people from Calgary out and spending money in Bragg Creek, Cochrane, Okotoks, Airdrie and redo the pathway to Chestermere).
4. Edmonton to surrounding municipalities (I'm sure there are options I just don't know the Edmonton region as well)
As someone who works in the tourism space, there's absolutely a compelling pitch here and some of the small operators are crying out for support. There's even already a plan drafted for a route that would use the utility right of way to get to Bragg Creek, and we occasionally hear about Airdrie/Okotoks/Cochrane -- it just gets lost in the inter-regional shuffle with no provincial leadership or project champions to step above the fray.
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They just don't understand it. Like they don't even know that multi-day bike touring is a thing.
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The political class being a bunch of corporate "never-leave-the-city-limits" folk definitely does not help here. Honestly I think it would take a grassroots movement or special interest group to lobby for it. It sounds like you have some connections, so DM me if you're interested in making a push for this. I've been seriously considering it for awhile now...