Planning a ride Friday to Canmore and back on Sunday. Wondering what everyones opinions are of Hwy 1 vs Hwy 1A. Obvious trade-offs are size of shoulder vs quantity of traffic. My first thoughts are to take 1A. Is anyone experienced or have any advice to share?
I'm also looking for riders to come along with in either direction if available. I plan to leave Friday from NW Calgary at about 2pm, returning on Sunday leaving from Canmore also at about 2pm.
1A
Submitted by 2wheeler on
I prefer the 1A as it is quiet and meandering. Once past Ghost Lake there is vertually no shoulder and that bothers some people who are used to 3 feet of paved shoulder. Once you get past Yamnuska the shoulder returns and you'll have a much nicer ride into Canmore. I've ridden on the 1 and the noise and dust are very unappealing for me.
Timing
Submitted by ryker on
2wheeler pretty much sums it up. If you only sometimes wear hi-viz clothing, the section after Ghost is the time you want to have it on as the shoulder is virtually non-existant. I would still ride the 1A.
Plan for a longer ride out to Canmore than back. The headwinds can be brutal (on my ride from Calgary to Jasper, the section out to Canmore was harder than any of the mountain passes).
I have ridden both and agree
Submitted by amf673 on
I have ridden both and agree with the comments above.
1A less traffic but no/not much shoulder in places. There are heavy trucks (hauling ore??) along the 1A around Exshaw to Canmore. They can be disconcerting. Lots of nice places to stop for breaks. That church site near Morley is particularly nice.
Hwy 1 is quite a bit shorter with fewer hills than 1A, so it will be faster. Depending on the time of day the traffic may not be too bad and the shoulders are close to a full lane wide.
And yes, the head wind can be brutal, particularily the last stretch past Exshaw into Canmore.
Rough pavement
Submitted by InglewoodGuy on
Perhaps I am alone on this, but I found the pavement on the 1A past Ghost Lake to be pretty rough. The lack of shoulder didn't bother me much (not much traffic) but I felt like I was getting shook to bits at times. This was on my touring bike.
I haven't ridden out there on the 1 in a few years, but I remember the pavement on the shoulder being not that bad.
Oh, and the winds heading west past Mt Yamnuska are tough.
Time of day
Submitted by mercator on
I much prefer 1A, although there are certain times at the beginning and end of weekends when it is a poor choice - think yahoos with a case of beer in the back seat, pulling a trailer full of quads. At those times, I turn up the tunes and hammer on the transcanada. If you do take the 1, turn off at Morley, the section west of 1X is good.
1A
Submitted by mikewarren on
I agree on the 1A -- no shoulder through the reserve, but overall better. On Friday you shouldn't have much problem, I'd expect more traffic around 6pm and on Saturday. Still, especially after the Morley turnoff there's not usually much in my experience, and often pretty courteous as it's either people looking for a nice drive or locals heading home.
where leaving from, what pace?
Submitted by albertabeef on
Out of curiousity, where are you leaving from and what kind of pace are you planning?
South side of river, but not highway #1
Submitted by brodie on
The Google Map bike route takes you out to Cochrane on the 1A, crosses the river and heads West on George Fox drive, heads out to Morely beside the train tracks, parallels the #1 for awhile, joins the #1 over the Kananskis river and then crosses back to the north side of the river at Seebe:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=Calgary&daddr=Canmore,+AB&lci=bike&t=v&...
Does anyone know if a) that road on the south side of the river is open to the public (it goes through Stoney lands, I think?) and b) if open, what the surface is (probably gravel?)
Canmore
Submitted by 2wheeler on
How was the trip? Were you able to avoid most of the rain? Wind?