29 results for month: 06/2015

Day 28 & 29: Canmore to Lake Louise (56mi) & Rest Day (23 mi unweighted +4 mi hiking)

It was easy to get on the road quickly when leaving the youth hostel - no tent to pack up and no hosts to share leisurely breakfast/coffee/conversations with. The first leg of the ride was on the Legacy Bike Path which kept me safely off the freeway but had some annoying animal control gates that required dismounting. I got to Banff early and immediately felt claustrophobic -- even at the pre-tourist hour it felt kitschy and over stimulating. I felt obliged to be a tourist, however, and stopped at a coffee shop where yesterday's muffins were only $0.50- so I bought two! Down by the river was much less stuffy than amidst the shops and restaurants, ...

Days 26 & 27: Longview to Canmore, AB- 68 & 63 miles

Yesterday started out great! Desiree cooked a big breakfast for the whole family - pancakes with strawberries, scrambled eggs, and sausage. They sent me on my way with many prayers, chocolate chip cookies, and George's homemade deer jerky. The scenery started out good (ranch land along the Highwood river) and kept getting better     and better.     I took a dip in the river after lunch, and kept churning up the pass.     I finally reached the top of the highest paved road in Canada (only 7239ft) at 3:30 and chatted with a park ranger about the mating pair of grizzlies he was tracking. I decided to ride a ...

Day 25: Lunderbreck Falls to Longview, AB – 74 mi

I had a hard time sleeping last night with nearby train tracks and strange noises off the river including the beavers slapping their tails on the water. When I got up, my tent was soaked by heavy dew which delayed my start waiting for it to dry -- seems to be a pattern when camping near water. I was low on steam and despite a tailwind I felt like I was riding through sludge. Time for another rest day soon, I think. This part of Alberta is lots of rolling ranch land, and I felt like I was back in Wyoming. Occasional glimpses of the mountains between the foothills reminded me I was going the right way. Early in the afternoon I stopped at Chain ...

Day 24 (June 23): Waterton to Lunderbreck, Alberta – 54 miles

When I got up this morning my legs didn't feel like riding, so I went for a short hike before breakfast along the edge of the lake.  Sadly, it was way too densely wooded to have good views of the lake and mountains, so I turned around when my stomach started grumbling and got on the road around 9. My legs still didn't feel like riding, and the whole way to Pincher Creek I was feeling sluggish. In Pincher Creek I finally got a definitive answer about preferred cycling route from here to Lake Louise, and with that information I was able to go grocery shopping more effectivley (what I buy depends on distance to the next store!). It was after 2 by ...

Day 23: Many Glacier, MT to Waterton, Alberta, Canada –   53 Miles

When I got back to my campsite last night I met a French family sharing the hiker/biker site. Their kids are 3 and 6, and they have been riding about 30 miles a day with a Chariot and a tag-along contraption for three months from Arizona. They're riding to Whitefish, taking the Amtrak to Seattle, flying to Barcelona, and then spending the rest of the summer riding home from there before first grade starts in September.  And you think I'm nuts... They invited me over to their fire to roast marshmallows, which was PERFECT because after my pie I was still craving sugar, and I had even looked at all the smores fixings in the campground shop and ...

Day 22: Logan Pass to Many Glacier, Glacier NP – 40 miles

First off, Happy Father's Day to my dad, who has been a huge source of support on this trip. Second off, huge thanks to Jacob Cloud! This morning he cooked eggs, bacon, and potatoes in camp, and then drove me up the Going-to-the-Sun road and dropped me off at the top of Logan Pass. Part of me says it was cheating, but going through Glacier was a 200-mile/3-day detour anyway and my quads have no regrets. Once we were part way up the road, I was thoroughly glad to be in a car: though not as steep as I expected, the road was VERY narrow and winding, not at all ideal for cars to be sharing with cyclists. Jacob and I bid each other farewell at the Logan ...

Day 21 (June 20): Whitefish to Sprague Campground, Glacier NP – 30 miles

After a late night chatting, I tried to sleep in this morning with minimal success. I bid farewell to Grete and Zach and started pedaling through town to the back road they'd recommended when BAM! Less than a block from Zach's bike shop my rear tube exploded very loudly and dramatically (over-pressured + pinch flat from last night's tire replacement). The tube managed to wrap itself around my cassette several times and wedged itself between the gears and spoke protector so thoroughly I couldn't pull it out. I regret not taking a picture because it really was impressive. I walked my bike back to the shop where they had to remove the cluster to dig out ...

Day 20: Big Arm to Whitefish, MT – 55 miles

I had a hard time with my snooze button this morning -- with the sun going down later and later as I go North, it's hard to go to sleep at a reasonable hour. As soon as I smelled bacon, though, I was able to get up right away. Sharon's brother, Alan, cooked me French toast (he also cleaned and tuned my bike up a bit after I went to bed last night) for which I was DEEPLY grateful. I hit the road and lazily cruised the rest of the way around Flathead Lake. Just shy of Kalispell, I found a bike path paralleling the highway, and it eventually routed me the back way in to town which was quiet and peaceful compared to 93. When I got to Whitefish, I ...

Day 19: Missoula to Big Arm, MT – 90 miles

Today got off to a rough start. I tried to be on the road at 7:15, as usual, but as I went to load up my bike I discovered that one of the tires I had patched yesterday was totally flat again. Changing flats is not the most fun (or confidence inspiring) way to start off a morning. Since I was so late getting going, I rode through downtown Missoula after the Adventure Cycling office was open and decided to stop in. They have a great little lounge for cyclists with free ice cream, so I had a cone for breakfast before stopping at the post office.  So by 9am, I'd ridden only 5 miles, with a long trek ahead to my warmshowers hosts. Fortunately, it ...

Day 18: Darby to Missoula – 69 miles

After saying goodbye to Patrick, Haley, and Aubrin this morning, I cruised down hwy 93, making exceptionally good time on the increasingly busy road. I was sad to be ridding with my back to the exceptionally pretty Bitterroot Mountains, and the cottonwoods along the river made my allergies unbearable. When I got to Stevensville I took a break at the Mission church historical site (but opted not to pay for the tour) and ate lunch, letting a bank of clouds that had been spitting at me all morning get ahead. Despite my quick pace in the morning, I felt like I was dragging all afternoon- the miles would just not pass quickly. Around 1pm I got a flat ...