Most of my bike riding is of the urban sort because I mostly use my bike for practical city transportation. But I jumped at the chance recently to go on two longer highway rides in the mountains near my city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. And these were two of the best rides I've ever experienced for one reason: No automobiles!

Both roads were closed to cars. One, the Highwood Pass in Kananaskis Provincial Park, is closed seasonally to automobiles and I managed to get in a ride after the snow melted but before the cars took over. The other highway was in Banff National Park and was restricted to human-powered transportation for reasons related to Covid. And without the constant threat of being squashed into a pancake by an errant driver, the dynamic and feel of the ride changed remarkably. Plus, there were all kinds of people enjoying the opportunity -- families, older people and kids, not just middle-aged men in Lycra.

I wrote about the joys of the Highwood Pass a few years ago for a magazine: https://cyclingmagazine.ca/sections/feature/early-season-road-riding-taking-on-highwood-pass-assisted/

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