G'day there Canada ,,

From Down Under and planning a ride to Canada and parts of the US ...
Picking up bikes at Gasoline Alley at Red Deer,..
Anyway,, the dates that suite most are,, arrive Red Deer 30th May 2017...
The plan is riding to Jasper , around the Rockies,, to Banff for 4 or 5 days ,, then head down to the US ....

Question is , to get some good local knowledge ,,, at the above dates ,,, is it a reasonable time to ride that area ,, or are we a little bit early ????

Thanks ....

 

You will probably have a 80% success rate around that time. Tough to say how the weather will be since the weather in mountains are unpredictable. Hopefully it will be a better summer than last year as it was very cold and wet.

 

Hard to say,it could be -15 to +15C,sunny,cloudy,snowing,raining-all in the same day and sometimes in the same hour! Be prepared and ready to ride in any adverse weather condition at anytime and you will have a great trip,lots of magnificent scenery and friendly
hosts along the way.2016 was a terrible year for weather in these parts,chances are slim that two years back to back will be bad...

 

Thanks for your responses ....

I understand major mountain areas can be unpredictable at the best of times ... We are'nt setting any riding plans in stone,, so if the weather is ordinary around the areas in Canada I mentioned , we will head south to the US first, and hopefully on the way back to Red Deer, ( to drop the bikes off), ride the Canada areas when the weather may be kind to us ..... Cheers .....

 

The Okanogan Valley in B.C. is great in May. Usually nice but again getting there could be wet and cold.

 

I started riding in March this year in the mountains around southern Alberta and south eastern BC. was a little chilly then but was great in May.

 

Yes this last year was a funny one. I rode in late March, it was cool though. On a usual year we don't get riding until May.