Day 13 , Dinosaurs lived here.

Today was a long hot day !!!!. For the first time I left camp in just shorts and a shirt , our crew was on cooking duty so I left early with Trevor and Brigitte, but we split up shortly after and I ended up doing the first 100 km on my own. Shortly after leaving camp we entered the Bad Lands , I'm not sure why they call them that and if I have enough juice left after up loading this I'll Google it !! The roads were good and the going fast , once I turned east I could see the road disappear in the distance and mile after mile it just went straight on. The temperature was comfortable to start , but by 11 it was in the 30s , I had 3 water bottles with me and 2 were drunk by 75 km , I was rationing my third bottle when I joined up with Mark at the 100 km mark and just after that we saw the truck and flagged it down to refill our water bottles . From there we took the optional scenic route to see the Red Deer River and cross it by the ferry, it was very scenic but it had two tough climbs of 12% grade one was 1.1 km the other 1.6 km. We did the first ok and yes it was tough then crossed over on the ferry and rested while we eat our lunch in half shade ( shade was very scarce !!! ) then we climbed out of the valley and that was hard after the stop and it was scorching hot by then , but we managed it and were rewarded by the scenery at Horsethief Canyon lookout , the area is were many dinosaur fossils have been found . By then I had had enough and with luck we were just a few km from camp . 

Tent set up and showered I lend a hand and we made spaghetti with Alfredo sauce , green salad and rice crispies for desert , all turn out very good and the cyclist were happy. The only hi-cup is that there is no potable water here so we had to boil a lot of water !!!, for washing dishes and cleaning and drinking if we run out of the supply we brought from the last camp.

Tomorrow rest day I might sleep all day !!!!

Total ridden today: 130.4  - average 23.4 -- ridding time : 5.33 

Day 12 , the Big Blue Sky

So today we left the mountains behind , initially it felt sad as we had enjoyed them so much. The road was smooth and mostly down hill all the way to Canmore and from there we started to notice the change we had the wind at our backs so we were making great progress the little climbing was easy and the mountains became hills dotted with lakes . We carried on possessed not stopping just enjoying the speed, finally we stopped at around km 80 at the side of a lake and snacked on our peanut-butter sandwiches. Later water running low we headed into Cochrane and visited the Tim Horton’s for coffee and a sandwich , loaded up the bottles and headed out to tackle the hardest hill of the day , it seemed to climb for about 4 or 5 km , not easy after a rest !!! And from there on we were in Big Blue Sky country , we came across the first wheat fields , the first oil wells , cow ranches everywhere. We were in the foothills , up and down the rolling hills we went on the straight road that just disappeared in the distance and as we went the temperature went up until we were in the 30s !!! ( our first hot day ) 

A good day today, we miss the mountains but are happy to be in the new surroundings, the road was kind to is today as mother nature provided the tail wind, hopefully we stay on her good side and enjoy more of it !!!

Total ridden today: 150.2  - average : 25.6 - ridding time : 5.50

Day 11, we crossed into Alberta !!!!

Another cold morning, someone said it was only 3 degrees last night , burrrr !!!. So today almost from the get go we started climbing to get over Kicking Horse Pass , it was 7 km of mostly 6% climbing and all in all not all that bad. on the way up I saw my second bear of the trip, he was a youngster grazing on dandelions on the side of the road , we all had to go past him and he showed very little interest in us.

After the summit we turned off onto the old highway that is now closed to traffic and had it all to ourselves , we came to the old “Continental Divide marker” were the water of the Divide stream split and one stream flows west to the Pacific and the other flows east towards the Atlantic. 

Also it marked the boarder between British Columbia and Alberta , we of course stopped and did our usual picture tacking. From that point on Bob Rhiannon and I cycled on together for the rest of the day. As we were leaving the old highway we noticed it was blocked by red tape with a bear warning but since we were so close to the end we just went on. Later we found out that the park rangers stopped the rest of the group from going through as they were tracking three grizzly bears !!! 

From there we went to Lake Louise which is just beautiful , took more pictures and found out about the grizzlies , the rest of the group had to double back and then make a long tough climb into Lake Louise. 

Most of the rest of the day was a peaceful ride along the Bow Valley, with a hike up Johnson Canyon to see the water falls , and twice we sighted elk on the side of the road  just munching away ( I got some nice pictures )

Now we are camped outside of Banff enjoying our last night of mountains as tomorrow we will be in the prairies , I think I am going to miss them as the are inspiring and they made every climb worthwhile . 

I have been very pleased with my climbing abilities over long stretches  and this trip has thought me a lot, mostly to just relax and climb, the top always comes and the descents are sweet !!! 

Total ridden today: 92.8 - average :18.5 - ridding time: 4.59

Day 10, magnificent !!

What a day, just a joy to be on the road today even though there was a good bit of climbing to get up to Kicking Horse River Valley, 18 km to be exact !

We were blessed with sunshine today and we soaked it in, it made the cycling a joy!. The morning started out cold but as we had to climb right from the start we warmed up quickly and our mood was jovial.  It was a day to be enjoyed as a cyclist on the road and as a tourist , a lot less cars today made the cycling more enjoyable than the last couple of days and the scenery was just breathtaking, we are now surrounded by monsters “ the real mountains “ and they are magnificent towering above us!! add to that the flowing blue rivers and green pines ( which today you could actually smell ) and it was like being in heaven, the km went by with ease. 

Our route was short today only 63 km but it gave us the chance to do a 13 km side trip from camp up to Takakkaw Falls ( the highest water falls in Canada) It was a HARD climb with switchbacks and all ( I used my granny gear for the first time ! ) but as we followed the river up we were surrounded by amazing view of mountains no matter were  you looked  and at the end we were rewarded by the falls , we took many pictures as a group of us went up together , we even asked a poor tourist to snap our picture and of course we produced 8 cameras for him to use , he was a good sport and we had a good laugh and got our pictures taken. People are fascinated with our story of cycling coast to coast and ask all kinds of questions and always wish us good luck. So after sightseeing we headed down and then the way down was crazy fast as we just let go and barreled down the road ( I felt like a kid again it was so much fun !!! ) Had to stop once for the snowman in the middle of the road made by Taso, Jay and Stephanie and more pictures were taken, it’s a well documented trip !!! 

We are in Yoho National Park , our campground has no electric service and there is no signal for cell phones either , but it is just beautiful here !!! We have been warned that we are in bear country and had to put all food items in the truck for the night and the cooking stoves had to be put away also. 

Tomorrow we leave British Columbia and enter Alberta , hard to get a grasp on the fact that I have almost cycled over the Rocky Mountains, I had been so intimidated  about it and as it turns out not only was it doable but it was a pleasure to do !!

Total ridden today: 93.7 km - average - 19.1 - ridding time 4.53 

Total to camp ground was 63 km

Total cycled so far : 1065 km