Cycling Outside Waterloo Region

[clasher]

I just completed a road trip with my wife from Vancouver through Calgary via the Trans Canada (for the most part).  One thing that I noticed was that the bike routes are on the shoulders of the highway for the most part due to the complete lack of alternate routes through the mountains.  So vehicles speeding by at ~110-120 pending on the limit come within a few feet of cyclists.  I only had a few spots where I couldn't get over when approaching a cyclist, but even still, I don't think I would feel comfortable in that scenario.

But, I can say, it would be a beautiful ride and some of the downhills would be awesome (thinking specifically of Glacier National Park past Roger's Pass and Banff past Kicking Horse Pass).

I hope to ride back to Calgary via the Crowsnest highway and up 93 to Lake Louise. I'm kind of dreading the main roads, they look pretty insane. There are a few gravel roads that criss-cross the mountains but I'm not on a bike that could handle days of difficult gravel and the climbing.

If I weren't working so much I think it would take a week or so to fully explore all the paths along the river here in Lethbridge, there are so many of them. There's also a large hiking only system of trails too.