Planning logistics, making snacks for the trail, shopping, checking fit of panniers on the gravel bikes … Thanks to both BC and Alberta’s management of the first round of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re ready to take on the next leg of our ride – the 420km from Calgary north to Edmonton.
It seems a bit incongruous to be going north for four days when our goal is directly east, but that’s where the Trans Canada Trail goes, and so will we.
With the mountains of B.C. and the Continental Divide behind us, we are switching from mountain bikes to faster gravel bikes which will be loaded with panniers. We’re also taking a friend along for this first leg of 2020. Jen Koury is a former colleague who now lives in Calgary and who is more than up for the challenge!
Planning the logistics has included allocating acceptable daily distances that get us to towns with a hotel, finding lunch stops, planning each ride portion and breaks, plus the extra step this year of calling the towns to ensure they are comfortable with visitors from BC.
We’ll do one short day in Calgary, followed by four days of 90-110km each, much of it along roadway. After the wild mountainous trails of the past two summers, it seems the challenge now will be mental endurance and boredom management.
We’re also avoiding flying, so will drive to Calgary via Banff and reward ourselves with a stop in Lake Louise on the way home.
We’ve done almost 2,000km of this 14,500km-plus journey so far, and this will be a small chunk added. But we are hoping to do a second leg later in the summer to take us all the way to Saskatoon. Lots of prairies ahead … But first, Edmonton.
#TheGreatTrail #TransCanadaTrail
Trans Canada Epic 