39 results for author: Sarah


Days 35-36: Mt Robson to La Salle Lake to Purden Lake – 79 and 66 Miles

Day 35: Mt Robson to La Salle Lake, 79mi Today was hard. After saying goodbye to Mr. Davidov and riding off in opposite directions, I was a bit overcome by loneliness.  I'm now just over half way in to my trip, which means I'm completely off-sync of all the logistics planning I did in May. I knew today's route in terms of "go down the road and stay left onto 16 and follow that for a few hundred more miles" but knew nothing about elevation profiles, camping options, etc. I was completely demoralized when I reached Tete Jaune Cache (named after a blond fur trapper) and a MASSIVE headwind hit me in the face. I wanted to give up, but it's harder to ...

Days 33 & 34: Jasper to Mt Robson and impromptu rest day – 66 & 2 miles (+8 miles hiking)

The ride out of Jasper was gorgeous and felt like it was all down hill, so I was surprised when I reached the top of Yellowhead Pass, crossing the continental divide and into BC. Either Yellowhead Pass is an enigma, or my legs are finally so strong they can't tell up from down.      They can, however, tell headwind from tailwind, and though it was definitely downhill from the not-pass to Mt Robson, it was certainly up-wind. My ride was uneventful and beautiful until I got to the visitors center and got a message from one of my favorite high school teachers, Lucho Davidov, who now lives near Vancouver, that he was approaching ...

Days 30 -32: Lake Louise to Jasper – 59, 58 & 35  Miles

Luke's parents got home from their weekend getaway very late on Sunday night with a whole car load of fresh fruit and groceries. Megan insisted I take lots of cherries and blueberries with me :) The day started out cloudy and the weather progressively got worse. I stopped for second breakfast at Mosquito Creek when it started drizzling, and when it became apparent that it wouldn't let up for a while I kept riding. After cruising up Bow Pass (which, for the record, has NO business calling itself a pass compared to Montana's hills), I took a short detour to see Peyto Lake - a "must-see" spot on the Icefields Parkway. It began raining for real ...

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 ...