Each spring my husband Will and I look forward to doing e-bike rides on mountain highways while they are closed to vehicle traffic. This year we managed three spectacular rides.

The first was on the Sheep River Road, which is about an hour and half drive south of our home in Calgary. On May 10th, our group of eight met at the winter gate that blocks off the last 18 kilometres of the unplowed highway from Dec 1 to May 14 every year. The snow gradually disappears from the road in April. 

May 10th turned out to be a beautiful blue-sky day. Our summer clothing contrasted the snow-covered mountains.  

Three members of our group met the challenge of the hills on regular bikes. Impressive! We took many stops along the way, including one for the highway’s namesake bighorn sheep.  

And a picnic lunch at the Sheep River Falls. 

On our return trip, another biker snapped a shot of the whole group. 

Our second ride this spring was the Highwood Pass, the highest paved road in Canada. It closes to traffic from December 1 to June 14 due to high snowfall and to protect wildlife. The first two weeks of June the road is free from snow for biking. It’s hard to find a parking spot on the popular weekends. Seven of us went Thursday, June 7, the weekday with the best weather forecast during that narrow biking window. 

We enjoyed blue skies, but the brisk wind made the riding cool and the uphill sections more challenging, especially for intrepid Sam, on a regular bike. He also took our group selfie. 

The return ride was mostly downhill with the wind behind us, which made for lovely coasting through gorgeous mountain scenery. 

Our last mountain road ride of the season was June 14th on the Bow Valley Parkway from Banff to Johnston Canyon. This highway stays open in winter but closes to cars in June and September to protect wildlife and allow cyclists to enjoy the road. Tourists can rent e-bikes in Banff for the 50-kilometre return journey. The Parkway’s hills are less steep than those of Sheep River and Highwood highways. This time regular bikers outnumbered e-bikers 4-3 in our seven person group. 

The weather forecast was 40 percent rain and we got pelted with with cold drops during a five-minute downhill section.  My cotton pants were drenched but dried quickly in the breeze when the sun reappeared. 

We heard reports of four bears sighted on the roadside. We missed them, but once more encountered bighorn sheep.   

These highways are so long that I’ve never felt crowded even when I’ve gone on popular weekends. This spring we did all three rides on weekdays and most of the time we had the roads entirely to ourselves.