I agree. Highwood from the North is trash. Some of the descent is downright sketchy with the potholes, gravel and when there's too many people on the hill.
South approach has a mix of everything and much better views. It's also a proper day out with 75ish km to the top and back.
North is steeper. I enjoy the descent, I take the lane even with cars.
I like the north for a quicker activity, the accomplishment of reaching the summit, and the rapid descent -- but the south approach (or gate to gate to gate if you're feeling ambitious!) is definitely a must do.
It seems to me that there's more than enough room in the right of way of both Highwood and Bow Valley to add separated bike infrastructure. Parks Canada was looking at this a number of years back for the Icefields Parkway but the project got killed because of sightlines and space required on some of the curves in the middle of a bear corridor... I wonder if Bow Valley and Highwood (especially being under provincial jurisdiction) would be more doable?
Canada is so short sighted. Cycling tourism is the real deal. The dummies have scheduled a clear cut for a big portion of the Moose Mountain trails, too (though they will review it).
If you build it, they will come.
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Huh, I don’t mind the north approach at all. Some great views there too. And it’s a shorter drive to get to the North gate from Cochrane or the northwest part of the city.
The highwood road isn’t great, and the shoulders are terrible, I can’t imagine doing it with much traffic. But it’s a fun ride with no cars, and some awesome scenery.
I think the 1A is still my favourite, closed or open to traffic. Excellent tarmac, good shoulder, not a lot of traffic.
Both are pretty epic rides.
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1-9 over is $150.
10 & over $400.
$250 riding where prohibited.
$250 pathway use without proper lighting
$400 fine for anything deemed unsafe (including missing signalling devices, brakes, reflectors, lights at night, etc,.
$400 for colliding with someone.
Bear in mind the official pathway limit is 20kph and some high traffic areas like outside of Edworthy Park, etc. are 10kph and not even posted correctly.
This is absurd and seems like financial terrorism and the perfect way to encourage people not be healthy, active, or green in their lifestyle. Most bikes don't have speedometers. Most serious riders and serious bikes that are not toys do not come with reflectors. Who is in charge of this BS?
Last edited by Hack&Lube; 06-08-2023 at 10:06 AM.
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It would help if most of our busy pathways weren't so narrow and congested. But I get it, no money for that. To busy spending it on new interchanges and event centres.
1-9 over is $150.
10 & over $400.
$250 riding where prohibited.
$250 pathway use without proper lighting
$400 fine for anything deemed unsafe (including missing signalling devices, brakes, reflectors, lights at night, etc,.
$400 for colliding with someone.
Bear in mind the official pathway limit is 20kph and some high traffic areas like outside of Edworthy Park, etc. are 10kph and not even posted correctly.
This is absurd and seems like financial terrorism and the perfect way to encourage people not be healthy, active, or green in their lifestyle. Most bikes don't have speedometers. Most serious riders and serious bikes that are not toys do not come with reflectors. Who is in charge of this BS?
The only thing they should really enforce is the 10kph speed limit in the busy areas (Peace Bridge, Edworthy bridge, etc). And even then it's not about the speed, but just whether you're riding like a dick with people around.
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It has been mentioned here plenty, but can't speak highly enough of the service dept at Bike Shop South. They are just awesome. Honest, reliable, quick, and affordable. And the wealth of knowledge with the head tech (name escapes me) is incredible.
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I've been in to the Bike Shop South twice over the past year, both times I just asked them to sell me some parts so I can figure it out and fix it myself since they're busy as hell and booked way ahead. Both times they just grabbed my wheel/cassette and fixed it.
Yeah, the older tech is great. Not super talkative but friendly and just got it fixed.
The only thing they should really enforce is the 10kph speed limit in the busy areas (Peace Bridge, Edworthy bridge, etc). And even then it's not about the speed, but just whether you're riding like a dick with people around.
There are definitely layers to this and a big part is "they" lack the intent or action of educating ALL users on appropriate usage of the shared areas. By far the most common issue I see on the pathways are inappropriate behaviors/usage by NON-cyclists - walkers, runners, dog owners, scooters/mopeds, roller bladers. Yet only cyclists seem to have ever been targetted and generally they tend to nab the seasonal good-weather riders.
There are definitely layers to this and a big part is "they" lack the intent or action of educating ALL users on appropriate usage of the shared areas. By far the most common issue I see on the pathways are inappropriate behaviors/usage by NON-cyclists - walkers, runners, dog owners, scooters/mopeds, roller bladers. Yet only cyclists seem to have ever been targetted and generally they tend to nab the seasonal good-weather riders.
Fair to a degree, but I don't think any travel mode has a significantly disproportionate rate of d-baggery (except for Ram trucks and BMWs, obviously)
I also don't think it's reasonable to expect 'appropriate behaviour' - from a cyclists viewpoint - from other users in many, if not most situations. Walking around ignorant of your surroundings or letting your dogs leash hang across the path is only a big problem because of cyclist conflict...otherwise it might be just mildly inconsiderate behaviour.
It does kinda suck that there are very few places where cyclists can just be 'free', but it is what it is.
FWIW the only bad incident I can recall in thousands of kms on our local pathways is getting knocked down by another moron cyclist a dozen meters past the north end of Peace Bridge on a very busy day. I'm sure there are countless times where I've had to slow/stop for loose dogs/etc, but it's pretty rare that I find myself annoyed at other users - except for inconsiderate cyclists
I biked this weekend in Cuyuna Minnesota, an IMBA Silver Ride Centre. It's in an old iron mining range with a 70 mile trail system built on red dirt. I haven't mountain biked in several years, but managed to do 60km yesterday with my friend from Whistler. We also biked Friday and today. He was technically advanced, I am not, but I tried my best and had a blast.
Last edited by Johnny199r; 06-11-2023 at 07:00 PM.
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Took my cycling tourist dollars down to Montana and rode the Going to the Sun road this weekend.
Wow what a bike route. 1000m elevation and 70km so very similar to Highwood, but a consistent 5% grade and narrow winding road to the top of the pass gives it a totally different feel.
Mountains, waterfalls, weeping walls… every corner had better views than the last. Hands down the best bike route I’ve ever ridden.
Last edited by Flames0910; 06-11-2023 at 10:53 PM.
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Took my cycling tourist dollars down to Montana and rode the Going to the Sun road this weekend.
Wow what a bike route. 1000m elevation and 70km so very similar to Highwood, but a consistent 5% grade and narrow winding road to the top of the pass gives it a totally different feel.
Mountains, waterfalls, weeping walls… every corner had better views than the last. Hands down the best bike route I’ve ever ridden.
That's on my list. Did you do it as a day trip? Any advice?
Took my cycling tourist dollars down to Montana and rode the Going to the Sun road this weekend.
Wow what a bike route. 1000m elevation and 70km so very similar to Highwood, but a consistent 5% grade and narrow winding road to the top of the pass gives it a totally different feel.
Mountains, waterfalls, weeping walls… every corner had better views than the last. Hands down the best bike route I’ve ever ridden.
Nice, that is quite the road. What is traffic like now? Do they still have the road closed and capacity limited public vehicles (lottery system to drive the road)?
This is absurd and seems like financial terrorism and the perfect way to encourage people not be healthy, active, or green in their lifestyle. Most bikes don't have speedometers. Most serious riders and serious bikes that are not toys do not come with reflectors. Who is in charge of this BS?
We get a lot of 911 calls to that exact spot. This stuff doesn't just get decided arbitrarily
We get a lot of 911 calls to that exact spot. This stuff doesn't just get decided arbitrarily
If it is dangerous and people get injured they should make it safer. Handing out tickets for a few days a year does nothing for safety. Fix the infrastructure.
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