6/30/08 Neepawa, MB

155.9km/2456km

Didn't sleep well last night. Around midnight someone decided to shoot off some fireworks. Plus the group next to us were up to late talking and even though they were trying to be quiet, a thin nylon tent doesn't block any sound. I just don't think we fit in here. It's a local family place where everyone knows everyone.

We thought maybe there were no services for the next 100km so we decided to get up early and get as many miles in as we could before it got hot or we got hungry. We silently rode out of camp by 6:15am.

Mike had read a lot of accounts about how bad the roads were in Manitoba and this morning just confirmed it. I think the road was more patches than actual road. And that didn't fix the ton of pot holes and millions of cracks. If you had teeth fillings, they would have been knocked out by the constant thumb when we crossed the cracks. So we rode in the only lane but traffic was extremely light this early in the morning.

We took a chance to go off route a few kilometers to Shoal Lake to see if we could get some water or a quick snack. While waiting for Mike to get back from the pharmacy, I talked to a few guys who asked if I had heard about the cyclists killed in Verdin yesterday. It was the same guys we'd been hearing about the whole trip who called themselves Cycling for Life. It was a group of four, two Canadian men in their 50s and one of the men's teenage children. A car traveling the same direction hit them all around noon, killing the older men instantly and putting the two teenagers in the hospital. They were traveling on Hwy-1 about 100kms south of our route.

More info:
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Canada
Ride of a Lifetime 2008 Blog

Mike took a lot of time looking for regular bike routes that also were safer. We have seen a lot less services but also a lot less traffic. Now I don't want to worry our mothers. Remember, Mike and I have over 30,000-miles of bike touring miles under our belt. You won't find two more defensive bike tourists out there. We won't hesitate to get off the road if we are unsure of what a car or truck is going to do. We don't take chances.

What really surprised us was that after Shoal Lake, all of a sudden we had a wonderful shoulder to ride on the whole day. And as the sun got hotter, the winds picked up and we had a tailwind. Sweet!

We measured our progress by grain elevators

We stopped for lunch at the Southend Restaurant in Minnedosa. The poor girl behind the counter was the waitress and cook. But Mike and I both voted her burgers the best we've had in Canada the whole trip. Just like mom makes, real burgers.

By now the sun was scorching up the road. We had another 30kms to go to Neepawa, but now the road shoulder got even newer and the winds picked up to gale force. We were coasting between 30-40kph/19-25mph down the road. It doesn't get much better than that.

Tailwind through the prairie

We arrived in town and headed to the Lions Club Campground. What a great place. Linda welcomed us with open arms and did everything she could to make us feel welcome. Tomorrow we head to Portage la Prairie to celebrate Canada Day!

6/29/08 Binscarth, Manitoba - Canada

125.9km/2300km

We're so used to getting up early (because our watches were wrong) that both of us couldn't sleep in till 6am. It was just as well we got on the road early because even when we left, it was already warmer than any morning we've had. That means it's going to be a hot one today.

Since it was early Sunday morning, Yorkton seemed like a ghost town. But it really was asleep because all the variety of store fronts seemed to indicate this was a thriving community. Here we jumped onto Hwy-16, one of the Trans-Canadian highways, also known as the Yellow Head Highway. Don't ask me why?

Since Hwy-16 is a major highway, we had more flat road like yesterday but even flatter, if that's possible. There was a huge shoulder and for several hours we had it practically to ourselves.

The highlight for me was racing the train out of Bredenburg. I jumped out of the saddle when I passed the last car and didn't stop until I had passed the engine at the front. Even the engineer tooted his horn at my victory.

And Jim wins by a nose

We rode through Langenburg which is one of the first small towns on our route that is actually built along the highway. You could hear the singing coming out of the big church across the tracks which would explain why the rest of town looked deserted. But the diner at the end of town was open so we got an early lunch.

Mike close behind

Manitoba is our fourth provence and third time zone (Central). Even though the route had been pool-table flat all day, we had one steep descent and long, long climb as we crossed the Assiniboine River.

Our fourth provence

We talked to an older couple at the gas bar (Canadian for filling station). They kidded each other like newlyweds but I'm guessing they were at least in their 70s. Another guy was there with is horse, Leroy, to test out some new horse shoes he had put on for the upcoming parade on Canada Day (July 1st). Everyone said the campground was nice, but I'm thinking they all loved the swimming pool.

Filler up!

The pool is huge and it seems everyone from miles around are here to enjoy it. We've got a good tent side nestled between a row of evergreen trees. Not sure what tomorrows going to bring. A few people have mentioned thunderstorms. Oh boy!

6/28/08 Yorkton, SK

164km/2174km

Well, it did storm last night so I guess staying in the motel was a good thing. Plus, found out the campsite, had we used it, was only 25 yards from the railroad tracks which could be heard even from our motel room all night.

Had a quick continental breakfast and headed out. The good news was there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The bad news was the winds were out of the north, so it looks like we're getting hit with crosswinds today.

Mostly the road was rolling hills but generally we rode the plains. I think I preferred it when we climbed because at least then we had some downhills. This part of Saskatchewan reminds me more of rural Missouri with lots of rolling rangeland and a lot more trees. We must have passed a couple hundred of small lakes and ponds today. Every one was teeming with birds of some sort. I even saw a few pelicans.

Lots of lakes like this one along the way

We stopped for a bite to eat in Keliher. The odd thing was that the clock inside was an hour slow and the waitress said it was too early to serve lunch. So we had breakfast instead. A few people stopped by the table to ask about our trip. Outside talking to one gentleman, we finally asked him what time it was. Turns out the time change is when we cross into Manitoba, not Saskatchewan. Oops, that means we've been getting up at 5am every morning instead of 6. Watches are pretty useless on a bike tour anyway. [smile]

We had the option to either head directly east towards Yorkton, a bigger city, or head southeast towards Melville, a smaller town. It was longer but I agreed with Mike that Yonkton would be a better option. But that meant that we had another 100km to do. If only we didn't have that pesky crosswind.

Farm art

The road didn't have a shoulder but that was okay since we only had a few cars pass us all day. The only thing that was weird was a cloud of horse flies hovered around me most of the afternoon. Mike thought it was about 30 or 40 but they didn't seem interested in him. They didn't bite me but zoomed in and out of my vision so much is was distracting. Maybe they were attracted by my suntan lotion.

The last stretch coming into Yorkton

We rolled into Yonkton about 4pm (with our watches now with the correct time) and boy was my butt sore. We've done three 100+ mile days in the last four. I know it was necessary but that doesn't salve my aching backside. I mean I might have blisters (we were on the saddle almost nine hours today).

Oh, and the campground is another three kilometers from the road on the outside of town. But the campground hostess was real nice. She told us that Megan and Lisa (the Canadian cyclists we met in Hope and then in Sicamose) were here Tuesday. Me thinks that the girls have skipped a large chunk of Saskatchewan on their cross-country trip. [smile] It still would be great to see them up ahead. You never know.

There was a theater here but I was just too tired to even consider going to a film. We had pizza that was different - maybe it was Canadian pizza. I sure miss my Minsky's pizza in Kansas City.

Hopefully we'll be in the saddle a little less in the coming days so my butt can recover. [laugh]

6/27/08 Raymore, SK

197.3km/2010km

An interesting night. Just as we started to prepare dinner, the rain came. It passed quickly but more bad weather could be seen approaching fast. As we prepared for bed, the severe weather sounded like a freight train as it blew through the campground. I helped a woman who was with her grandkids retract their awning on their RV. Her husband farms near hear and wouldn't be in till later. The kids were a little concerned about the storm. She asked what we should do and I thought if it really got bad, we could all move into the washhouse since it was made concrete. Others in the campground drove off after battening down the hatches of their RVs and campers. Mike and I kept in our regular clothes and had an emergency bag of our valuables in case we had to make a run for it. Exciting.

Mike woke me with the words "There's a tailwind outside that cyclists would kill to have!" What he failed to mention was the huge storm that was coming along with the winds. Today was the complete opposite of yesterday. It wasn't raining while we packed but once our feet hit the pedals, the rain started to come down. And kept coming on down.

I'd post pictures but with all the rain, the camera was kept out of the weather. It was cold and wet but we had a 20-30kph tailwind that pushed us on our merry way. The terrain was a bit different here as the plains gave way to kind of rolling hills perfect for ranchland.

We made it to Kenaston which is just off major Highway-11. Even though the town had a sign saying it had all sorts of services, we couldn't see any from the road. I just don't get these Canadian towns. We had to backtrack to the filling station and that was like biking against a hurricane. We grabbed some jerky and some drinks and just about when the feeling was coming back to my frozen feet, we headed back outside.

Almost had a huge accident a few hundred meters down the road. I had suddenly stopped to pull my rain jacket on better and Mike was looking for alternate routes on his handlebar maps when he crashed into me. It was a very close thing. But we both seemed okay.

Basically we had 88kms/55-miles of nothing ahead of us. Farms seemed few and far between, and quite a few looked abandoned. And this had to be the worst road I've ever ridden on. It was barely just above oil covered with gravel and in a few places it was even less than that. But there were almost no other vehicles on this road and we still had that tailwind, so we flew. It was like a surfer riding a wave. When I was pushing it seemed like I was standing still as I was going as fast as the wind. Most of the time we kept the pace at 25kph/16mph but at times we could get it up to 40kph/25mph with no problem.

But still the rain kept on coming down. At Nokomis, everything seemed to change on us. All of a sudden, we had stiff crosswinds with were made worse by the rain. Mike took this time to pull ahead while I lumbered on. After some 7 hours biking in the rain, the sun broke free. I kept my rain gear on just in case though.



And if the crosswinds didn't slow me down, the 10kms of dirt road outside of Semans did. Canada must have a completely different standard of what constitutes a highway. This was a gravel and dirt farm road. Granted it was wider, but still just mud after all this rain. If I rode in the middle of the truck tire tracks I was okay, but if I moved to the shoulder, the tires just got bogged down. It seemed to take me forever just to get through it.

Is this a farm road or a highway

Mike was sunning himself and reading when I found him. We went looking for the town camping but no one was there and the washrooms were locked. We checked at the hotel, but it's not a hotel anymore, just a poolhall and bar. Finally someone told us about the motel up on the highway. It's still supposed to be raining tonight, so we opted for indoors for a change. Dinner was at Kim's Cafe across from the grocery store. We had a good visit with the folks at the store as they were very interested in the trip and the weather.

How many pages have you read?

PS. This is my longest bike riding day ever: 197.3km (122.6-miles) taking us over 9 hours. Plus today we passed the 2000km mark too.

6/26/08 Outlook, SK

78.9km/1813km

Mike tells me this is the farthest north we'll be. The sun sure does stay up in the sky a long time (and comes up even earlier). At 10pm the sun was still above the horizon. But when you're a tired cyclist, you just close up the tent and sleep away.

10:00PM and still sunny

Woke up this morning to rain on the tent. Both of us packed up as much as we could inside before full bladders forced us to the washhouse. We loaded up the bikes and hit the road just as the rain began to let up. I don't think we got out of town much before 9am, a very late start for us.

Believe it or not, we hit the sunshine a few kilometers outside of town. We could still see heave rainfall to the north but we figured we'd be paralleling it for awhile. And with the sun on us, the rain gear was too hot to wear.

Raining in Rosetown as we leave

So, while we had a break from the rain, headwinds decided to take their place and harass us the entire day. Where yesterday we averaged about 25kph, today I could only go 15kph/9mph against the wind. Nothing to do but smile and take your time.

Rain clouds all around us but we're in the sun

With Mike's trailer, he's a lot more aerodynamic, so he pushed on ahead. I didn't mind as the scenery was peaceful. It really reminds me of Kansas here. The big difference is that all the farms have several layers of trees planted around their buildings to create a dense windbreak. From a distance, they look like little forts.

Not much to tell about the ride today. At one point I had to move to the opposite side of the highway to let a wide-load truck go past that was carrying a huge house.

Just a little too wide for me on the road

I think I got to Outlook about an hour after Mike. While we grabbed a bite to eat at SubWay, I asked the family at the next table about camping. The Andersons were so nice and gave us a wealth of information about the town and our route tomorrow.

At the library (which is inside the high school) we checked our email. Waiting for Mike I asked the librarian about Saskatchewan. She said the province was booming. Agriculture has always done well but now there is a boom in oil and soda ash. She said a lot of people are moving out of the more expensive provinces like British Columbia and Alberta because housing is a lot more affordable here. And now that the province is doing so much better, hopefully the infrastructure like roads will get a much needed upgrade.

I have to tell you that the folks here in Outlook are the friendliest we've met so far. Everyone we came across has been full of smiles and interested in our trip. Besides the Andersons, I shouldn't forget the librarian, or the ladies at the checkout counter at the Co-op grocery. And all the women at the post office were full of huge smiles, while an older gentleman on his electric wheelchair motored with us down the street to the Outlook Bakery where another wonderful lady sold me a few glazed donuts for my breakfast. I definitely recommended the town of Outlook to any cyclist traveling this way.

Eventually, after talking to everyone, we made it to the campground which is pretty nice, full of trees and grassy tent sites. I think I got a bit too much sun today and forgot to put on sunscreen. But I felt better after a nap.

Before the rain came back again

But, as the afternoon moved into evening, it started to rain while I was cooking dinner. Wonderful. They told us we were in for thunderstorms tonight with the possibility of a funnel cloud. Yep, this is just like Kansas.

6/25/08 Rosetown, SK - Canada

190.7km/1734km

Definitely cold last night. I was in my liner sack inside my sleeping bag and I used my helmet liner as a stocking cap. With the 24-hour truck stop all lit-up nearby, it never really got dark. Even so, there were a ton of stars out. I miss seeing the stars in the city.

With the cold, it was a bit slow getting up and packed but I still think we were on the road by 7:30am.

The 34km to Alsask, just over the border into Saskatchewan, went by fast. But after we took a break at the gas station, a look over our shoulder showed another storm coming our way. So we jumped on the bikes and used the light tailwind to propel us away.

Our third Canadian province

Near Pinkham, we realized that the storm had crossed behind us, but we weren't safe yet. I think all the clouds were regrouping to take another crack at us later.

Even though our watches said we had reached Kindersly at noon, it was really 1pm because we have crossed into our third time zone (central time zone). Throughout our trip, we always see "Tim Horton's" so we decided to give it a try for lunch. I guess you could call them the Starbucks of Canada. Outside in the parking lot, several different groups of people asked about our trip. Like most Canadians they were curious and also very supportive. No "You're crazy!" yet.

Very different barns around here

Just as I thought, storm clouds behind us had regrouped and tripled in size and strength. It was like watching a blue-purple wave come hammering down on you. We had already done 94km but decided to see if the storm winds could push another 83km to Rosetown.

Like yesterday, we could see rain to the north and south. Even though the tailwind was light, the road was generally flat (but we climbed 266m/873') and we pushed hard as the storm closed in on us.

Wall of rain headed for Mike

It's amazing the motivation a storm can have on your endurance and stamina if you're a cross-country cyclist. We pushed ourselves to the limit, traveling from Kindersley at a blistering 28kph/17mph pace (remember that's with a loaded touring bike). But the storm was faster.

We passed the 100-mile mark (162.5km) near the town of McGee but we didn't stop to congratulate ourselves as drops could be felt. Mike is a much stronger rider and I didn't see any reason he should slow down for me getting us both wet so I told him "Save yourself and ride like the wind!"

Even though I was exhausted, I really didn't want to get drenched, so I pushed. The road swung us into a crosswind but the rain drops just told me to dip my head and dig deeper.

As the road straightened up so I could take full advantage of the tailwind, I sprinted into Rosetown. I laughed at the silly storm who couldn't catch us in 83km. It was so embarrassed by it's defeat, that it broke up and not one drop fell on us or the town.

I met Mike at the first gas station as you enter town. After getting a cold drink, I wandered outside to catch my breath. When I asked the young gas station attendant about campgrounds, I discovered he was from Scotland. "You're wondering how I ended up here in Rosetown." he said. He told me he's only been here a few months but he is supposed to be a father in a few days. He just looked at me and said it was a long story. It was the end of his shift so we said our goodbyes and headed towards the campground.

The campground is on the far side of town away from the highway. We can see farm fields from our tents.

Our route through Saskatchewan is a bit difficult because we wanted to avoid the major highways until we really have no choice. So that takes us through a huge chunk of the province with little or no services. For example, our choices tomorrow are 70km (44-miles) to Outlook or the next place is an additional +149km (+93-miles) to Nokomis. The way my body feels right now, I'm voting for a short day tomorrow, followed by another 100-miler all the way to Raymore. We'll see.

PS. We passed the 1000-mile mark today as well!

6/24/08 Oyen, AB

128km/1543km

We ended up sleeping in a bit this morning because it was raining. You could see rain coming down in all four directions with no end in sight. Even so, we still got out of camp by 7am.

It wasn't a bad rain, just enough to require rain gear. Mostly we got wet when the semi's passed us but after we passed Hwy-36, traffic thinned out a bit. We had rain for most of the morning from Hanna to Youngstown. It's a good thing we didn't keep going yesterday as there was no services in Richdale. And even though Youngstown was pretty good size, we couldn't find any businesses, even away from the highway.

The storm close on Mike's heels

After that, the rain stopped but it was still threatening. There were two giant storms both to the left and right of us. The trouble was judging distances as you could see for miles and miles. There was no way to really tell how far the thunderclouds were. So, for the most part, we just dipped our head and pushed on.



Our original plan was to go into Oyen three kilometers off the highway, but there was an RV campground at the turn off. We stopped at the restaurant to have some lunch but by the time we came out, one of those storms that had been following us hit Oyen. So, we hid in the laundry building until the storm passed.

Now the sun is out and it is hot. Most of the RV's here are for people working in the area, so very few tourists. It's just not a tourist kind of place. [smile] But the lady at the hotel next door (where we registered for a campsite) said that with all the rain, the land around here is beautifully green compared to it's normal dry brown.

Later, we rode into Oyen, which is about four kilometers off the main highway, to get a bite to eat. What we discovered was that Main Street is as far from any of the highway roads as can be. Not sure why that is, but maybe that explains why we couldn't find the business street in Youngstown.

For the next few days as we cross into Saskatchewan, everything will depend on our tailwinds. Services are few and far between, so we'll either have short days or some very long days. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

6/23/08 Hanna, AB

89.3km/1415km

There must have been a conspiracy of sorts to get both Mike and I up at 5am. There were the sea gulls (why in Alberta?) here and they were very loud, especially when fighting over scraps from the dumpsters. And of course, the sun was up already. But don't forget about the trains heading through town blowing there whistles at every intersection. We were able to break camp and be on the road by 6:30am.

Remember that 8% downhill grade we had coming into town yesterday? Well, we had just as steep climb to get back out of the canyon. I think it took us thirty minutes to reach the rim and see open country.

Hwy-9 goes north from here for about 20kms. Since that was the direction we had the worst winds from yesterday, I wanted to get through that section as fast as we could before the winds picked up today.

We had hoped that the 'normal' winds out of the west would give us a huge tailwind but we just are not that lucky. Besides headwinds, the road had lots of ups and downs. Mike's GPS said we climbed 1550' today. What made it hard for me was my stomach was a bit queasy, which didn't help.

The land is so open here. I mean you can see for miles and miles. Most of the fields don't even have fences. There seems to be a farm every couple of kilometers but other than the cars on the road, we didn't see anyone. Plus all the towns are built at least a kilometer from the highway.

As far as the eye can see

We reached Hanna about 11:30am. Over lunch we decided to stay here because the town had all services and to do more would require a huge day and there was no way to know what we would find in the next couple of towns. Plus, I think both of us would rather wait a day to see if the winds would change direction.

We stopped off at the Hanna Inn which also had an RV Park out back but they adamantly refused to have tenters, even if we were cross-country cyclists. But while getting supplies at IGA, a woman approached us and asked about our trip so far. "You probably need the free internet at the library." she said. Turns out Mary is the Library Director.

I got caught up with my blog and uploaded all the latest pictures, while Mike checked his email. I asked the other librarian Colleen about places to camp. When I told her about being refused at the Hanna Inn, we walked next door to the city offices. Gwen told us to head down to the Fox Lake Park outside of town and they would make sure they had a spot for us there. By the time we left the library, the sky was covered with black clouds as we raced to Fox Lake.

Catching up on a little email

Turns out Gwen had called ahead to the campground hosts and they were expecting us. Because of the impending thunderstorm, they suggested we camp in the shelter of the pavilion. Good thing too as it started to rain.

What a show by Mother Nature!

Mostly we took naps during the storm since we would get drenched walking to the shower building. But by dinner, the skies were empty of clouds and the sun was a shining. This is a nice quiet place. Mike saw a few pelicans down at the lake and I thought I saw a blue heron. The camp is only half full and with the rain, most people are keeping indoors. Since we stopped so early in the day, I was able to do a bit of yoga and practice on the technopipe. A pretty good ending to the day, don't ya' think.

Our cozy, dry! campsite in the pavilion

6/22/08 Drumheller, AB

133.3km/1326km

Judy and Pete served up a great breakfast of as many waffles with maple syrup we could eat, along with turkey sausage, scrambled eggs and orange juice. Judy passed the time by telling about growing up on a dairy farm north of here. Mike and I got packed and along with everyone else, George wished us a safe journey.

It was overcast when we left but everyone said it would be a great day. Little did they know!

Riding off into the wild blue yonder

Almost immediately we were out of Calgary heading east with a great tailwind. At Hwy-9 we turned north, stopping to put on sunscreen. But the winds were out of the northwest and soon it became a fight to keep the bike from being blown into a ditch. I ended up putting my jacket back on because it was definitely cooler than when we left Calgary.

It felt like we were pushing into the teeth of a bad storm. And we were. As the clouds darkened, we put on rain gear not a moment too soon.

Not only did we still have to contend with a brutal combination of headwinds and cross-winds, but now we were soaked to the bone because of the freezing rain.

It seemed like forever before we stopped at a truck stop in Beirserker. Inside it felt so good to be out of the rain and warm. The place was run by an Asian extended family. I wasn't very hungry, so just got a danish before heading back outside.

As luck would have it, the rain had stopped. But getting back onto the highway, we rain into 10-miles of road construction. By the end, we were covered with mud head to toe, including the bikes.

The storm had moved on, but with it any chance of a tailwind had vanished. We still made good time as we crossed the open plains of Alberta.

I think this is what Mongolia looks like

A few places I just marveled at how the grass moved like an ocean with these strong winds. With the sun out, it made it much more enjoyable to just stop and watch the waves.

The last kilometers into Drumheller had a nasty headwind that tried to in vain to unseat us as we took the steep descent into town. Drumheller is built in what some people call the 'Bad Lands' of Canada. It's claim to fame is extensive dinosaur fossils in the area. So, as a theme, you find dinosaur statues all over town.

We are camped at the Dinosaur RV Park and got a tent site with a luscious grass, a first for us. There's a New Zealand couple camped next to us with their two little girls. For some reason, neither Mike or I are hungry but we did anyway.

Camp in the Badlands

Tomorrows plan depends almost entirely on the winds, so keep your fingers crossed for strong tailwinds taking us east.

6/21/08 Calgary, AB

132.5km/1193km

Mike and I must have been real tired as we both slept late. George woke up early but didn't want to wake us, so we got a late start.

Alot of climbing to get out of Canmore (but I think Mike was temporarily lost) but what struck me was how fast the scenery changed as we left the mountains. The evergreens thinned out, leaving space for other types of trees. The land was dryer and we passed more and more ranchlands.

A last look back at the mountains

More open land for farming and ranching

Compared to what we'd been biking through for the last week, the scenery wasn't the best. We passed by several cement factories plus a few rock mines.

The road wasn't in good shape and there wasn't a shoulder. Unfortunately for us, there was a ton of traffic because of the start of the weekend. We must have passed several hundred motorcycles on this secondary road.

We stopped for a quick lunch in Cochrane. And as luck would have it, there was a bike shop nearby. I asked Michael at Bike Bros. (www.bikebros.ca) to take a look at my handlebar stem as I thought I needed a new one to improve my position on the bike. Instead he saw immediately that my seat had moved way too far back to be correct. A quick adjustment and the bike felt a thousand times better. And it saved me from buying a new stem. Michael was great and I highly recommend the shop to any cross-country cyclists who find themselves on this route.

Much to our shock, there was a huge, steep, long climb out of Cochraine. It seemed to take me forever as I watched Mike and George speed up the incline. It was just one of many 'environmental' challenges we had trying to get into Calgary. We had a strong headwind and Mike tells me we had climbed almost 3000 feet today. And, in the end, it would be our longest day, both in mileage and time in the saddle for the whole trip.

Traffic in Calgary was murder and it wasn't even the weekday rush hour. A lot of the busier streets had on and off ramps which proved quite dangerous to us. You just can't move or change directions fast with a loaded touring bike. And to top it off, I had a slow leak in my front tire. Decided to take a chance and just keep pumping up the tire instead of changing it with all this traffic speeding by.

Finally, after almost eight hours on the bike, we arrived at Judy and Pete's house out past the airport. What a relief. Judy and Ellen had everything prepared for us so all we had to do was shower, change and find a chair so we could eat the feast they had prepared.

Judy had also invited her sister Janelle and her family to join us. Her husband is Jerry, and she has two kids, Logan and Taylor. Taylor is a few years older than Sedona, so they spent most of the evening together doing crafts. Janelle also brought her and Judy's mother to help us eat all this food. Also, Ellen's nephew Jason is with us too.

George with Ellen and Sedona

It was a great end to a long day, complete with good food and good conversation. Tomorrow, Mike and I take off without George who is going back to Sacramento with his family. It will definitely be different without him.

6/20/08 Canmore, AB

0km/1060km

After breakfast of Eggo waffles, we all loaded up in the car and headed back to Lake Louise. When the guys and I stayed there the other night, we didn't get a chance to see the lake because it was five kilometers uphill from the campsite and the weather was pretty bad. But Ellen, Judy and Peter said it was a must see while we are here. So off we went.

Oh, my god, what a sight! A huge expensive chateau was built along the shores of Lake Louise in 1884. All the hotel staff still wear turn of the century nickers. The lake is filled with glacial green water below a massive wall of mountain and snow. It was impossible to get it all into the pictures. Even this early in the season, it was teaming with tourists.

Lake Louise

We had decided hike up to Lake Agnes, about 3.7km up into the mountains. None of us were in that great of hiking strength so we took lots of rest breaks. There was an avalanche cut about half way that gave us good views of Lake Louise below. Almost to the top is Mirror Lake where we could see the hut way above through the trees. I think everyone was relieved when we finally reached the Tea House, a total climb of 1,260 feet.

The Tea House is a hut run by summer workers live on the mountain serving tea and other simple food. Water comes from lake, there is no electricity and no plumbing except the outhouses, but the kids working there seemed to be having a blast. Today there was a constant unloading of a helicopter for their supplies for the whole summer. After a chocolate chip cookie, I took a long walk along Lake Agnes.

Winter still hadn't let go of Lake Agnes yet. There was ice still in water and snow surrounding the shore. It really was an awesome sight. I envy the kids who worked up here, especially the times in the morning and evening when there were no tourists making demands or too much noise. It must be a magical place at those times.

Lake Agnes

Even though it seemed like less work coming down, everyone was genuinely sore when we got back to Lake Louise. Besides being tired, we were all famished, so it time to go and eat.

That's Victoria Glacier above the lake

Judy and Peter suggested we all go to The Keg in nearby Banff. It was Friday night and we were lucky we got a table. The food was good and in generous portions. We were all stuffed but satisfied.

Back at the house in Canmore, Mike went over our route through Canada with Pete and a few new arrivals, John and Paul who are family here on a photo expedition for the weekend near Lake Moraine. Our plan tomorrow is to bike the 120km to Calgary and spend the night at Peter and Judy's. We will say goodbye to George who will stay and spend some of his vacation with Ellen and Sadona before heading home to Sacramento.

Remember, to see more of the photographs,
click on any picture and it will take you to
the WanderingTheWorld photo site.
There you can look at individual photos,
thumbnails, or even view a slideshow.
You can also get to the photo site
from the Index at the top of the page.

6/19/08 Canmore, AB

86.6km/1060km

Well, without a thermometer, I couldn't exactly tell you how cold it was this morning, but I don't think -5C was off by much. Not only was I using my sleeping bag, but a silk liner, plus I had on socks and shirt and a fleece jacket, and I was still freezing.

I think it was by consensus that at our usual wake-up time of 6am, we all rolled over for another thirty minutes of sleep. Even then it was hard to pack with numb fingers. Even though it was a beautifully sunny morning, I had my rain gear on because I thought it would hold the heat in better.

We stopped off at Logan's Bakery in town before heading out on the highway. We had a bit of tailwind and it was pretty flat, but I was reluctant to go very fast because it would just make me colder with the wind-chill factor.

Jim bundled up for some cold riding

Again, the scenery was beyond words. The highway was lined with snow-covered mountains, with the river alongside reflecting like crystal. At one point, we stopped to watch an elk graze alongside the highway.

At Castle Mountain, we were finally warm enough to strip off a few layers and get off the main highway. We took Hwy-1A which parallels Hwy-1. It was a great decision. It meandered through the woods and traffic was light, and even when we did have a car or RV pass us, it was going so slow I figure they too must be in awe of the views.

A great ride on a peaceful road

Eventually we had to join back up with Hwy-1, the Trans-Canadian Highway, outside of Banff. It was like riding on I-70 back in Kansas City, and we had to ride about 30km (19-miles) of it. But here we had a strong tailwind and a gradual downhill so I could easily maintain 25mph with no effort.

On the highway near Banff

We met George's wife, Ellen, and his daughter, Sadona, along with Ellen's nephew, Jay, for lunch at a local pizza restaurant where we proceeded to stuff ourselves. We are all staying at a family condo in Canmore. Canmore is the home of the Canadian Cross-Country Team and the Biathalon Team. We have great views of the surrounding mountains from the deck.

Dig in Mike!

Also joining us tonight is Judy and Pete. Ellen grew up with Judy in Calgary. And we got to celebrate with Judy and Pete there 30th wedding anniversary tonight with dinner and dessert. And Judy and Pete have offered to put us up at there house in Calgary when we ride through there on Saturday.

Judy & Pete

The plan is to take tomorrow off the bikes and let Ellen be tour-guide, showing us all the cool places she grew up with here. I think we'll even go back to Lake Louise to see the lake itself. But for me, I'm exhausted and am looking forward to a day off.

Remember, to see more of the photographs,
click on any picture and it will take you to
the WanderingTheWorld photo site.
There you can look at individual photos,
thumbnails, or even view a slideshow.
You can also get to the photo site
from the Index at the top of the page.

6/18/08 Lake Louise, AB - Canada

85.8km/974km

As you can imagine, after riding almost seven and half hours yesterday, loosing an hour with the time change, we had a difficult time waking up this morning, especially with temps in the 40s.

There really wasn't a store nearby and nothing for the first 54kms, so we decided to stop off at the hotel restaurant next door for a big breakfast. While waiting for your food, we talked to one of the employees, John. He as an avid cyclist and skier but was recovering from ACL surgery from a skiing accident. He recommended a few bike shops that we should pass by in the next couple of days including ReBound in Canmore.

We thought yesterdays climb to the campground was the end of it, but we had a lot more climbing to get out of town. But on the way up, what should we pass but a handful of bighorn sheep just resting along the side of the road. They didn't really like us stopping to take their picture, but they didn't spook either. Weird.

Bighorn sheep outside of Golden

Our route included the 10 Mile Hill which thankfully wasn't that long. Temperatures were still pretty cold but the sun was up, for now.

Just after the Ten-Mile Hill

Entering the Yoho National Park was a repeat of yesterday's impressive views. It's hard to capture the immensity of the landscape with pictures. You just have to see it for yourself. It became a bit overcast as we made our way through the park, as there is a forecast of rain for this afternoon.

We stopped for a quick bite to eat in Field, a cozy railway town built at the base of a huge snow covered mountain. There we met Dave and Tessa, Canadians who had just graduated from university and heading across country before they were to report for work in September.

Field, British Columbia

Canadians Tessa & Dave

Our immediate plan was to get out of town quick, racing the rain storm you could see coming in behind us. But first we had to make a huge climb out of the valley. Even from a distance it looked impossible. But with the clouds darkening overhead and a strong tailwind gave you the needed motivation to get to the top.

George racing the rain clouds in the distance

I didn't know it before, but we crossed from British Columbia into Alberta provence this afternoon. More great views as we rode the last twenty kilometers to Lake Louise.

At the campground entrance, I had one of those standing still crashes that are more embarrassing than painful. Our campsite is in a bear-proof compound with an electrified fence around the entire thing. There is a female grizzly in the area with two cubs, so even with the fence, we are supposed to put our food in a locker in a shed near our campsite. The ranger did tell us that they are expecting the low temperature tonight to be -5C (23F). Brrr.

The view near our campsite

Almost as soon as we set up the tents it started to sprinkle for the next couple of hours. After getting a shower, we all headed to a restaurant in town. Just like yesterday, the place with filled to the brim with Chinese tourists on a bus tour. Afterward, we mostly wanted to get to bed before the temperatures really started to drop.

The crazy thing is that it is 10:30pm and you can still see outside without a light. I guess we're approaching the longest day of the year soon. Tomorrow we go to Canmore and meet up with George's wife and daughter who have flow up to meet us and pamper us for a few days.

Remember, to see more of the photographs,
click on any picture and it will take you to
the WanderingTheWorld photo site.
There you can look at individual photos,
thumbnails, or even view a slideshow.
You can also get to the photo site
from the Index at the top of the page.

6/17/08 Golden, BC

119.4km/888km

It turns out our campsite was only about a hundred feet from the Canadian-Pacific Railway. I know because they must have run over a dozen freight trains throughout the night. No loud whistles but just the heavy rumble.

It was cold enough this morning, that I had to get dressed just to go to the bathroom. It was a bit after 5am so I just stayed up doing some updates on the computer.

Last night I got a chance to watch the latest episode of Battlestar Galactica on YouTube. Wow, what a shocking mid-season finale. If you watch the show, you know what I mean. But there are ten more episodes for the final season so almost anything can happen after this latest installment.

We got a good start out of camp this morning but it was pretty cloudy and threatening rain. We didn't want to put on rain gear as we knew it would be a sauna underneath as we made the big climb up to Roger's Pass.

As the day went, the clouds parted letting in the glorious sunshine. All I can say about our scenery was impressive, immense, spectacular, amazing, mind-blowing, etc. You just have to view the pictures to understand.

What scenery!

Even though it was a pretty tough climb, we made excellent time to Roger's Pass. About a hundred yards from the top, as we were taking pictures, George's rear tire exploded. It sounded like a gunshot. It sure made him jump. Not only did it destroy his inner tube, the tire itself had a huge rip in the sidewall. Good thing Mike had a spare tire. So, once again, we spent a while resting while George changed the tire.

We stopped in the cafe at the lodge there just before a bus-load of French-Canadian tourists descended upon the place. I talked to the attendant at the gas station next door and he said already business was worse than last year. Most children get out of school for summer holidays on the 28th and that's when a lot will be traveling. But to everyone we talk to, the season's prospects don't look good because of gasoline prices are keeping people closer to home.

Trying to keep up with George and Mike

It was a great ride down the other side of the pass but soon enough we had another climb to make. The difference being now the sun was cooking us a bit. So, it took us a bit longer for this one but we eventually made it over the top.

The plan was to stop at a campground about forty kilometers before Golden but Mike made a bit of an arithmetic error and thought we only had twenty more to get to Golden. So, we kept on going. So, we were coming in a bit late, plus we lost an hour crossing over into the Mountain Time Zone.

Riding to Golden along the Columbia River

The shocker as we neared Golden was the almost vertical climb we had to make a couple of kilometers to the Whispering Spruce Kampground. I know for a fact, that I was near exhausted but I kicked it into high gear just to make it to camp. What a relief.

After a quick shower, we headed off next door to a hotel restaurant that turned out to have an excellent menu. We checked over our itinerary for tomorrow and it looks tough. No services until the last twenty kilometers, just before a huge climb. And to add spice, there is a 40% chance of rain tomorrow afternoon. Yippie! NOT!!!

6/16/08 Canyon Hot Springs, BC

108.2km/768km

Even though we got out at our usual time around 8am, it was already getting warm. So no need for even a windbreaker, but that probably also means it's going to be a hot one this afternoon.

Almost immediately we started to notice snow on the mountain tops. I mean on all the mountain tops, event those below the tree-line. I don't know what it is about snowy mountains, but they do sort of touch a place in most people when they see them.

Taking a picture of George & Mike taking a picture

Our ride was slowly going uphill following the Eagle River so it wasn't too bad. Every lake we passed by was glass-smooth telling us there wasn't even a whisper of a wind. About the only steep climbing we had to do was when there was a bridge up and over the railroad.

One stop was the site of the 'last spike' of the Canadian Pacific Railway that connected the East and the West. I looked over at the tracks still in use but couldn't figure out which spike was the last one. You'd think they'd tell you. [laugh]

The Last Spike

Even though we gained in elevation, we made great time to Revelstoke. Stuffed ourselves on burgers at The Nomad Food Company. What a great little diner with everything you could imagine. Definitely a stop worth while for any cross-country cyclists.

Our dilemma was that none of the campgrounds were open in Glacier National Park. So we could stop here in Revelstoke but then the climb over Roger's Pass would be a 100km day. Or we could keep going up to Canyon Hot Springs to a private campground there and shorten our climb over the pass to about 70km. We stopped off at the store and headed out, hoping to get to the campground before it was too late.

A great day to ride

The climb wasn't too bad and the only difficulty we had was George got a flat and that was kind of an ordeal to get him back onto the road.

We can see snow covered mountain tops from our campsite which is great. A thunderstorm moved through just as we got our tents set up but then it was gone by the time I came out of the showers. They have WiFi here so I'm uploading all my pictures. Yippie!!!

Tomorrow looks to be a repeat of today with good weather and spectacular views but still more climbing.