Icefields Parkway

Just how fit can cycling and walking make you? 

Last September I asked myself this question.

My regular exercise routine is simple:

• I ride my bike to and from work (15-17 km) most days. This is on city streets, with frequent stops at red lights.
• Hubby and I walk the dog most nights. Our shortest route is about 5K; sometimes we go 8 or even 10K, at a speed of about 6.4 km/hour. Not exactly a strenuous workout.
• Sometimes I go for a fast (7.5-8 km/hour) half-hour walk during my lunch break.
• In the evenings, I do push-ups, abdominal exercises and weight-lifting (2.2 kg dumbbells.) A few yoga stretches. That kind of thing.
• When I can’t exercise outdoors, I use the treadmill or stationary bike inside.

I knew this fitness regimen had helped me maintain my ideal weight and clothing size for the last few years. That was good. It made me smile. But last fall when my oldest son, my youngest son and I decided we wanted to cycle the Icefields Parkway – 230 km of highway between Jasper and Banff -- I asked myself: Just how fit am I? Would I still be smiling as I rode about 100 kilometres per day, two days in a row, up and down some rather decent-sized hills? 

My bicycle ride to and from work is fairly flat. Sometimes I ride through the River Valley, which is a little hillier, but nothing compared to the climbs I’d face on Highway 93. I was also apprehensive about the downhill stretches. What if I wiped out while attempting to control my speed going down those slopes?

A few days before we left, I decided to test my mettle on the hilly range roads and secondary highways north of town. These are not exactly mountains, but I figured they’d give me a taste of what I’d encounter on the coming weekend.

Well, guess what? Those hills were easy! The first day I rode 26 kilometres, uphill and down, no sweat. The following day I increased the distance to 32 kilometres, adding another hill or two. Still no problem.

The next day we left for Jasper. And folks, we did it! I rode the entire way over two days. I won’t say it was exactly easy, but it wasn’t horribly difficult either. There was one point halfway up one of the hills (not even the biggest climb) when I sort of felt like giving up, but after a few minutes’ rest, I was ready to go again. The wind was vicious; it rained one entire morning, and it was cold and hot by turns; but I did it! And best of all, I wasn’t even sore afterwards.

Check out those clouds!

Not only that, but I even managed to sleep on the hard beds at the hostels. And survived three days and two nights without running water! 

Beauty Creek Hostel

My love for road cycling stems from this trip in Jasper. When I got home, I decided that riding hills was too much fun to limit it to once a year in the mountains, and I started my weekend routine of riding on the hills north of town. Thirty-two kilometres was no longer enough, so I set myself a few different 45-50 kilometer routes and rode three times each weekend until late November, when the snow hit the highways.

A surprising side effect? I had to buy a bunch of smaller pants, becausemy “ideal size” pants became too big, even with a belt. And as the smaller pants also became loose, I had to start eating more so that I wouldn’t disappear altogether. This was a problem I had never encountered before, one that was taken care of by the advent of winter and by the dozen or so boxes of chocolates I received as Christmas gifts from my students.

Today I rode 48.9 km. It was a bit windy and cooler than yesterday, but still great. The sky was the most perfect blue, a striking backdrop for the flocks of returning Canada geese. Even the obnoxious crows and raucous seagulls were beautiful to my eyes -- their presence means that spring has truly begun.

Temperature: +1 Celsius; Wind: SE at 22 km/hour