BANFF And BEARS! Bikepacking the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR)

We bike through Banff and start the most insanely beautiful part of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR). We run into SO MANY BEARS, including one very stupid close encounter with a grizzly. Always an adventure when on a bike packing trip!

#gdmbr #bikepacking #greatdivide

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Liz & Alex

About us: We are Liz and Alex, a married couple that makes outdoor adventure and travel videos. We strongly believe that dreams are meant to be pursued, and we hope to motivate others to get outside their comfort zones and do the same. We are full-time nomads and divide up our time between traveling abroad and the other part of the time in our self converted van all the while fitting in loads of outdoor-based adventure along the way! Our goal is to show you amazing places and inspire you to get outside your comfort zone and pursue your dreams...whatever they may be.

[SurlyRider]

That makes sense, see a bear cub and follow it.

[walterdanielswalter.r.dani]

Brought back a memory of me driving the ALCAN through B.C. in 2016 where I spotted a large male grizzly feeding on a moose kill just off the road in the ditch and at the very top of a long grade. As i looked forward and down the long grade, I spotted a lone bicyclist loaded with gear. I stopped to warn him of the extreme danger awaiting him at the very top of the grade, assuming it would be the perfect spot for a bicyclist to pull over for a rest after ascending the hill. I often wonder how he managed that situation. A short distance later I stopped at a small gas station/store where I informed the owner of the bear kill and the bicyclist. He went on to inform me that not only was there the large male that I saw, but also a sow with two 2 year old cubs who had also been feeding upon the carcass. I'm glad I was driving a truck.

[jamieturtles]

Gorgeous paved path that follows down to Banff !!! Wow!!!

[slowridescott]

It's been a while since I've been on a ride, HABing up steep hills brought back some painful memories lol! Great video, looking forward to watching the entire ride. Just subbed.

[johngorman]

You can always tell the tourists in Alberta 😂. Next time see if he will let you tickle him.

[arcoulant]

i rode the bcepic1000 race and rode back up to Banff must have just missed you I was going through bolton trading post on the 7 july, A few weeks later rode down the trail to sawmill camp site for a overnight trip and on way back saw that grizzly bear you saw it just jumped up out of the bush 10 feet away from me and roared I just kept pedalling, the roar it made I wont forget .It was holly crap moment .GDMBR next year looking forward to it, great video thanks for posting.

[kenny]

Love your videos. Keep up the adventures.

[ashleyhowell]

Very interesting life style documentary, excellent photography good luck on your adventure.

[philjoy]

I watched all the episodes of your Canada biking adventure.

[kenny]

That log you are going to hang your food on is from deer hunters so they can suspend the deer. Works for keeping food away from bears too ... if you get it high enough. Stay safe.

[Scor-ah]

Much As I Love Jasper, I think I will skip the Jasper to Canmore section next summer because of traffic

[chadv]

lol you guys are scary. Stopping to get some photos of a bear. You know you can't outbike them right?

[davejack]

Just a quick comment. As others have mentioned, there are some lessons learned from your bear encounters. Rather than making these mistakes in real life I suggest you consider taking a Bear Aware course, its only a couple of hours online. This will help with your personal safety and just as importantly, the safety of the bears as well. Each year sees Parks personnel have to shoot bears due to preventable human interactions. While the course will not cover practical considerations like using bear spray and bear bangers you/should practice those on your own before the trip.

[unkreativnet]

Banff is nice, but Jasper is still nicer :-D Thank you for another nice video to dream about canada

[Bikepacking]

Cool video you should look into Bikepacking setups it great for trails compared to traditional pannier cycle touring setup

[briantyhy]

Great Video, I am planning to cycle this section of the great divide and branch off to Fernie BC. I have taken a few bear aware course and what they have told us in these courses that black bears are more dangerous. Why because black bears associate people with food because the bears scavenge from peoples garbage. If you don't scare a grizzly bear, they are generally more curious about humans but don't associate us as food or with food.

[chantallemire]

Good video! What were your travelling dates? You also mentioned it was hard to hang up food. What did you do if you just could'nt hang it ?
Good luck on your next adventure

[jamieturtles]

Are u using gravel bikes or hard tail mtb with drop bars ?

[frankducett]

Don't get so far away from your bear spray, ever.

[zenofthemoment]

I know you said you learned your lesson, and I believe you, but the point needs to be reinforced. If not for you, then for others who may see this and not take it seriously.

Y’all need to quit playing with those bears. Their names aren’t Whinny or Pooh, those are the real thing. I think 4 people were mauled to death in Montana alone in 2022, one of whom was a female bikepacker who was dragged from her tent at 4am and killed. She was even camped behind a public school building in a town. That’s the worst case.

Best case is the bears get used to being around people, start getting too close, and fish & game has to come out and kill them before they hurt someone. There is no good outcome from messing around with them.

That automatic reaction you had to a real life no bullshit predator paying attention to you originated deep in your brain stem, as automatic as breathing, programmed in by a million years of your ancestors successfully avoiding predators. It’s what kept us alive. I would pay very close attention to it.

A great tip I once heard was create a huge triangle. Cook and eat your food in one spot, then hang your food and the clothes you cooked and ate in at least 200 yards (600ft) away and at least 15ft up, then pitch your tent and sleep at least 200 yards from both of those two points, forming a triangle. Your mileage may vary, but that sounded like pretty solid advice to me.

Continued success on your rides. Safe travels. Thanks for sharing.🤘