Bicycle trip in the canadian prairies summer 2022

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Colibri
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2017 1:26 am
Location: Northern Canada

Bicycle trip in the canadian prairies summer 2022

Post by Colibri »

Hello all,

I am planning a bicycle touring trip in the canadian prairies this summer. The idea is to fly to Calgary with my bike in the plane, spend 1-2 days there to get ready and then hit the road in north-east direction towards Drumheller and then the Saskatchewan border.
Looking for cheap places to stay upon arriving in Calgary and at the end of the trip, probably in Regina.
I did a quick search for hostels in both cities, they exist. Any recommendations or experiences about any of them ?
Is Calgary a bike-friendly city ?

Thanks !

Western Red Cedar
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Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:15 pm

Re: Bicycle trip in the canadian prairies summer 2022

Post by Western Red Cedar »

You should probably try to make use of warm showers if you weren't planning on doing so already: https://www.warmshowers.org

I haven't traveled much farther east than Nelson in Canada, but the Hostel there is nice. Please post an update after making your trip your tour as I'm hoping to take a trip through Alberta at some point.

Colibri
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2017 1:26 am
Location: Northern Canada

Re: Bicycle trip in the canadian prairies summer 2022

Post by Colibri »

Yes, warm showers is on my radar. What I have in mind for arriving in Calgary is to have a place where I can just get ready and get last minute supplies without any social obligations. I am afraid with warm showers there might be an invitation for dinner or I will feel like I need to socialize with the host. Maybe it is all in my head.
With the hostel, I can come and go as I want.
And I will post a trip report when I am back as it might be of interest for some of you.

Toska2
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Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2015 8:51 pm

Re: Bicycle trip in the canadian prairies summer 2022

Post by Toska2 »

I used a variety of sleeping arrangements when I backpacked part of the Bruce Trail in Ontario. From Georgetown to Tobermory, I used hotels, hostels, strangers' backyards, campgrounds, and wilderness tenting.

If you are doing a recognized trail there might be a dedicated group, "friends of the trail" if you will. The accommodation might vary but I found even a garden hose helpful in not carrying water weight.

I chose against warmshowers because my phone did not work at all. I also didn't have a set itinerary which made the (42 day) walk much more enjoyable.

Hostels in bigger cities are usually booked well in advance and very crowded (4-6 people to a room)

Socialization doesnt have to be an all day affair. Tell a story, listen to theirs and part ways.

Colibri
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Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2017 1:26 am
Location: Northern Canada

Re: Bicycle trip in the canadian prairies summer 2022

Post by Colibri »

Hi Toska,

Good comments, this is what I am planning to do while on the road. My idea is to bike trip like in 1995, no cellphone involved.
Maybe I didn't express myself clearly enough, my questions are towards cheap accommodations in Calgary, not while on the road.

Michael_00005
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Joined: Thu May 04, 2017 12:26 pm
Location: East coast USA

Re: Bicycle trip in the canadian prairies summer 2022

Post by Michael_00005 »

Curious about how you do this; is it biking along the Hwy? And if so, is it true you need to watch for flying rocks that get kicked up from cars and trucks? Biking sounds kinda fun if it would be on trails instead of the Hwy. Or hiking, canoe or even a cross country train ride might be a good way to reconnect with travel and the countryside.

You might enjoy this docu film, it's currently on Amazon Prime:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJm6-5namR0

fyi - that biking picture on WarmShowers site looks not only dangerous for bikers but also like a hazard for cars and tucks. If it's not illegal to take up a car lane on the Hwy it should be!

Colibri
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Location: Northern Canada

Re: Bicycle trip in the canadian prairies summer 2022

Post by Colibri »

A bit late for news about this....
I did this trip last September, 3 weeks. Biking on (paved) rural roads in Southwest Saskatchewan.
What a great trip. Lots of wildlife, very cheap campgrounds, sunny and hot.
The grasslands were well worth it for my northern eyes.

Next bicycle trip : Utah in September !

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unemployable
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Re: Bicycle trip in the canadian prairies summer 2022

Post by unemployable »

Cool, I live for long trips like that, although mine have always involved driving.

Did you keep it cellphone-free? How did you procure sleeping spots?

Utah gets my vote as the state with the best road scenery in the country, although not the best overall scenery including what you can hike to. You planning to do Highway 12?

Colibri
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Re: Bicycle trip in the canadian prairies summer 2022

Post by Colibri »

I kept it pretty cellphone free. Did not book anything in advance. Since this was late August and September, campgrounds were empty. Many ( most ) were self-registrating, cash only. Never had an issue to get a spot. I slept one night in a ghost town on the deck of an abandoned house.
And one of the last night of the trip, the campground of a little town turned out to not be in operation. I went to the town office to ask about alternatives, they invited me to camp behind the community swimming pool, closed for the season. It was a nice spot.
Most campground had free unlimited hot showers, nice to have after a long day sweating on the bike.

Planning for the Utah trip is not very advanced yet. Highway 12 ? I will keep that in mind. We checked this winter about possible route, don't remember what we picked for options.
One problem we have is to where to leave our car while we are doing the bike trip. We will be driving from British Columbia. I am thinking maybe a generous WarmShower host would let us leave the car at their place.
This trip is also part of going to the EREfest.

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Bicycle trip in the canadian prairies summer 2022

Post by Western Red Cedar »

Colibri wrote:
Sun May 28, 2023 2:49 pm
A bit late for news about this....
I did this trip last September, 3 weeks. Biking on (paved) rural roads in Southwest Saskatchewan.
What a great trip.
Thanks for following up on your experience. Can you elaborate a little bit more on your bike setup and the logistics?

Did you end up flying the bike in? Were you using panniers, bike bags, a combination? What was the weight like? How did it feel physically and how many miles were you averaging?

Any lessons learned or changes you plan on making for the next trip?

Colibri
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2017 1:26 am
Location: Northern Canada

Re: Bicycle trip in the canadian prairies summer 2022

Post by Colibri »

Sure !
So I started the trip on the transcanadian highway a bit outside Medecine Hat and finished in Regina 3 weeks later. I had to fly the bike with me from the Yukon to B.C. and then I was lucky to have my BF drive me to Medecine Hat from B.C. with the bike in the car. Otherwise, starting (and flying) in Calgary from the Yukon would have been another option, but adding time and distances to the trip.
I biked only one day on the busy transcanadian before I took road #21 towards Maple Creek in southwest Saskatchewan. Biking on the transcanadian was juste fine. The shoulder was mostly clean of debris and as large as a lane, so really you had your own 8' lane for biking.
I spent the rest of the trip on regional roads, often on the old "red coat trail". I planned the trip according to the campground locations, which were numerous. Quite astonishing sometimes to see the littlest village with its own campground, even if it was sometimes only a cleared field with a drinking water hand pump and outhouses. That is all I needed anyways. Wild camping was not much of an option. Much of the land was fenced and there is almost no trees to hide behind. Wild camping in the ghost town was one of the highlight of the trip.

I was stocking up on water at the campground before leaving in the morning. There was almost no options to get water outside of that. Some roads were quite remote and seldom travelled. As a last resort, I could have knocked on doors of the few farms along the road. Biking in September proved to be a good idea to avoid notoriously bad tunderstorms in the prairies. Of 21 days of biking, I got rain only one day. It is a great circuit for bike touring given all the cheap campgrounds and little road traffic. The landscapes were quite a change from the usual mountains+lakes+forest that I am used to. It was such a novelty. Cactuses and pronghorn antelope !

I had both back and front (small) panniers plus a few waterproof bags strapped with bungees on top of the racks. The bike was heavy for sure but you get used to it quite quickly. I still think I was travelling fairly light. This was my first bike touring trip so I didn't have any precise expectations about it. I developped butt chafing after about 10 days on the road. It got bad but I had oitments and I took more breaks after that. It kind of went away after 3-4 days. I was doing on average 40 km / day. A few days of 65-70 km and also one or two shorter days, 20-25 km. It got really hot (34C+) so I was biking only in the mornings and napping in my tent in the afternoon to beat the heat. I had a small camping stove but I barely used it. Too hot to cook so I went for tortillas, avocado and tuna cans.

My bike was a real clunker, and I knew it from the start. I finished the bike trip in Regina but I kept travelling east to visit family. It was making no sense to fly the bike east to fly it again back in the north. The solution then was to purposely leaving it behind in Regina, which I did and then flew east. So knowing that, I got the cheapest bike Canadian Tire has on offer ($170) in the Yukon and outfitted it for touring ; good quality road tires, back and front racks, etc. It worked. The bike did what it had to do for 3 weeks and now enjoys retirement (I hope!) in Regina.

Lessons : Pay attention much quickier for signs of butt chafing. Get a better bike next time. Bring more water bottles, especially in dry climates. Take more breaks during the biking hours. I really enjoyed knowing exactly where I was going to sleep every night being a solo traveller, having a precise destination for the day but with two people I would likely do more wild camping.

What else ?

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