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Banff to Calgary
Depart: 7:15am
Arrive: 6:00 pm
Daily Dist: 130.97km
Time: 8:08.42
Odo: 1112.0km
Max: 45.7km
Avg speed: 16.1km/hr
I left Banff and had a leisurly 25 km cruise into Canmore, cool, overcst and mostly downhill ,perfect conditions.
I stopped at the information booth in Canmore and asked about hwy 1a which runs through Exshaw and Cochrane, parrallel to the Trans Canada. The girl in the booth said it was good and the prefered route for cyclist. I had read that this was a quieter route and it came into Calgary just a few blocks from my Moms place where I am staying.
I got on the 1a and like most secondary routes it was quieter and slighty more hilly, but again I was quit happy to take it and it would give me a chance to focus on my quads this time, (I have to be sure I focus on each muscle group so I don,t become mis-proportioned)
About 10km down the road a truck pulls up in front of me and a guy waves me over, "I need to warn you, the shoulder disappears and this road is dangerous" he goes on to tell me he is a touring cyclist and that he has travelled through most of the west coast of the States and. All through BC and how he hates seeing bikes on the road with all the truck traffic. The guy was about my age so I knew he must know everything, I took his advise and took the Seebe turn off and got back onto the Trans Canada, Hwy 1.
I had been very fortunate to make it through BC with only one small shower as I entered Golden and that was just sent to give me an excuse to stay in a Motel, my luck was about to come to an end. About 50km from Calgary it statred, not much at first, just enough to make me glad I was getting use of the $ 12 front fender I had installed prior to leaving. I pulled over, put on my rain jacket, and grumbled along. Shortly after the skies opened up, it was pouring hard and the spray from the traffic made it difficult to see or more importantly, be seen. I was lucky enough to be passing a weigh scale so I pulled in and ducked into a shed that was under construction. After providing the Ministry of Highways with a. complimentry building envelope condition assesment, I was again on my way.
As I approached Calgary the hills started levelling out and I was making better time than I did when I was coming. through the foot hills east Canmore.
Since the rain had given me a shower and washed one set of biking clothes, I only had one small bag of laundry to take to Mom's.
We had a perfectly done prime rib roast for dinner with an apple pie for desert. While we ate the same thing happened here that happens at home, like magic, when I got up from eating laying cleaned and folded in a basket was my laundry..
Calgary was a milestone for me and I had complted it in the 10 days planned including the one day un-planned rest in Salmon Arm.
I'll be revisiting my rear wheel troubles while in Calgary for 2 days and will resume my trip on July 9th, just 9 more provinces.
