Day 12 – Cluny

Day 12 – Cluny, AB (May 13, 2014)

I packed up at the hostel in Calgary and was on the road a little before 7am. Apparently the hostel served breakfast at 7:30am as part of the cost of the room. It would have been nice to take advantage but I find the continental type breakfast insufficient (waiting 40 minutes translates to too long) and I wanted to get started.

Eventually I had my breakfast at a retro Harley Davidson place and ordered the breakfast staple, “Pain dore”. Katie would appreciate it.

After breakfast I weaved my way through the bicycle trails that followed along a dyke of one of the canals.

When I left Calgary the wind started to pick up from the East by South East I as predicted. I knew that if the wind continued I was going to have a hard time making Bassano.

As the hours wore on working against the 20 km head wind a number of things occurred to me.

There is this ‘stinking’ effect somebody came up with. I think it was Beroulli or some other sick person. Basically it says that the air travels faster over a hill. I’d like to tear that out of the text books.
Truck drivers are too nice in Alberta. Imagine this: I get this huge shoulder lane all to myself on the transcanada. Along comes a truck pushing air and the drivers, thinking they are doing me a favour, pull over the passing lane increasing the distance between the truck and me to about 30 feet.

As the day wore on making it to Bassano became a bigger and bigger obstacle. At the first sign of a gas station I stopped and bought some chocolate bars and beef jerkey – no real food.

In Cluny, about 50km from Bassano, at about 4pm, I decided to call it a day.

The was a gas station at the corner at the trancanada. A restaurant was advertised but the restaurant area was cordoned off. It looked like it had been that way for years. The lady at the counter explained there was place to eat at Pete’s Cafe in Cluny “just down the hill”. That worried me since hills in the prairies are up to 5km long but I took the risk.

The population of Cluny was around one hundred. Pete’s Cafe and Bakery was in the center of the town. I was served by a friendly girl in her 30s who scurried about with a low center of gravity. Another lady came by explaining I could camp down the road and wouldn’t be charged. She was a kind magnanimous person who seemed to run things. She could well have been Cluny’s mayor (or should have been.)

After chatting with some local guys about bikes I settled in for the night in an open field by a baseball diamond (the town camp site.)

My bike pointed east with a flag pointing straight out toward the west. 10:39 am 2015/05/13

Pete’s Cafe and Bakery in Cluny. 7:51 am 2015/05/14

BikeTracking, BikeRoute

Day 11 – Calgary

Day 11 – Calgary, AB (May 12, 2015)

It’s 105km from Canmore to Calgary. Because the forecasted wind direction was from the NE I new it was going to be harder than I had planned. I was up at 6:15am. Later than I had wanted.

I had decided to have breakfast 14km down the road in Eshaw. The morning was about the coldest yet. My thin gloves were insufficient. As it turns out it appears all that exists in Eshaw were a number of Lafarge Cement Plants and, praise the Lord, one truck stop that served breakfast! The place was run by a couple of tough looking Filipino guys who didn’t say much but served a good breakfast.

After breakfast it was earlier enough that the SE wind hadn’t yet picked up and I made good time. I noticed that the roads away from the TransCanada were more protected from the wind. At about 10am when I merged onto the Transcanada the wind had picked up and it was hard slugging.

I arrived in Calgary about 2:30pm. It was pleasant to see that Calgary had excellent bicycle trails and bike lanes. Perhaps the best bicycle aware city yet.

On the way I passed by BowCycles which is the biggest bicycle shop that I have seen. I thought I would stop and take the opportunity to have my front derailer fixed. They immediately took me in and bumped me to the front of the repair line. They switched the front and rear brake, switcher combinations and all the cabling.

While I was waiting I had a long conversation with an employee (who could have been the owner). He did all the talking. I guess he was in his 50s who was a former engineer, a graduate of Carlton, who had worked in the oil business. He told me a bit about his time in Saudi Arabia and how his wife wanted to come back to Canada. It was mixed in his comment about the “no alcohol” policy. Then he smiled and said everyone made their own anyway “the grapes were there right beside the sugar. All you needed is some yeast which somehow almost everyone had.”. He has since retired to work in a bicycle shop. Hmmmm – interesting thought. He had done bicycle touring in Europe including the eastern block before it was opened and kicked himself for not paying more attention. “East and west was like night and day back then. Now you hardly tell the difference.”

It was 6pm before the bike was ready. The fellow who did the work treated it with a lot of respect and care. All the cables had been carefully rerouted around my lamp. Everything worked now just like it was new.

The bike trails in Calgary are just about the best I have seen anywhere so far in Canada. Generally they are all paved, well marked, have center dividing lines and even have speed limited. As I was riding I was overtaken by another man on his road bike. He was a big man in his 50s with calves at least the size of my thighs. He rode with ease on his light bike as I laboured. I will call him “BigCalves”; I may refer to him later. He talked to me about his trips across Canada. (By the look of him it would be like a short Sunday ride.) He confirmed for me that biking in Ontario and specifically north of Lake Superior are the worst in Canada. He recommend a route south of Superior through the states. “Better roads and more towns”.

It took me to 7:30pm to find the HI Calgary. By that time it was too late to meet up with the Hunkas as I had planned. Apparently the USB adapter that Ann had sent had not yet arrived.

When I arrived at the Hostel there were only two beds left. The HI Calgary was just as well maintained as HI Canmore but much busier full of interesting people either transient or serious travelers. The girl ahead of at the reception counter was a smart, German girl, with a pack that looked as big as my four panniers together. I gather she was doing some sort of traveling article or something. There were others too. Mostly young people still in their twenties; an Australian, someone who was caring for their sick friend and older man who seemed in another world.

Tomorrow is another long day. Because of the wind I am thinking of breaking it up. We’ll see tomorrow.

Bike heaven! BowCycles in Calgary. (I believe the “Bow” is the name of the river and large valley running from Canmore to Calgary.) 4:37 pm 2015/05/12

A panorama of picture scanning the mountains in the west to the prairies in the east.

The last picture of my bike with the last view of the Rockies in the distant background. 10:27 am 2015/05/12

BikeTracking, BikeRoute

Day 10 – Canmore

Day 10 – Canmore, AB (May 11, 2015)

From Lake Louise to Canmore is only 88km. I thought this trip would be easy; the distance is shorter and there is a considerable descent. But nothing is ever easy. There was a considerable 20km headwind, stronger gusts, and it was too cold for shorts. The wind made what should have been an easy day much tougher. I hate wind! Panniers catch the wind like a sail.

On the positive side; it was sunny and not hot.

I had my lunch and Banff at about 12:30pm with only 25km remaining to Canmore. Banff was filled with tourists from all over the world.

Downtown Banff has tasteful architecture that fits the surrounding mountains. I still didn’t like the town. It was full of people visiting from somewhere with nowhere to go.

I had so many choices for lunch I ended up going somewhere really boring – Subway. It was the only place I could keep my eye on my bike.

I arrived at the Hostel International in Canmore at 3pm. Early enough to relax, enjoy the view and a cider. I’ve never stayed at a HI before. Hey – for $25/night you can’t go wrong. It appears that tonight at least I will have a room to myself. What a beautiful, well maintained place.

A plaque commemorating the interment camp of non combatants at Mount Castle during the first world war. 9:31 am 2015/05/11

An elk thinking he is king. He eventually walked slowly across the road without a care in the world unafraid of any cars that may pass. 11:39 am 2015/05/11

Rocky Mountains 11:50 am 2015/05/11

My feet up with cider on the table, taken from the Hostel International in Canmore. 4:12 pm 2015/05/11

BikeTracking, BikeRoute

Day 3 – Manning Park

Day 3 – Manning Park, BC (May 4, 2015)

I am stopping for a break beside the highway 40 km out of Hope and there is no cell coverage. It is as good a time as any to write a note, cell coverage or not.

It seems like the whole day will be climbing with short flat stretches in between series of steep climbs. Luckily it’s 11:45 am and I only have 20 km to go before I stop for the day.

I am starting to wonder if my body will adapt. They say it takes about 3 weeks. This gives me some hope. Besides, the mountain won’t last forever.

After riding uphill (mostly in first gear) for almost 2 hours I had a nice reprieve – flat roads and a nice view.

View of Sunshine Valley, a flat stretch. — View of Sunshine Valley 9:40 am 2015/05/04.

Nature was toying with me today. Not only did I have steep climb but there was a stiff head wind. At one time a gust stopped me. I am guessing it was 50 – 60 km/h. If it wasn’t for the wind though, the weather would be just about perfect: generally sunny with wisps of clouds as I got to the higher elevations. The temperature was a bit cool but good for biking.

Tonight I am staying at Manning Park Resort. I arrived here about 3 pm. I think I was supposed to stay in the park but there weren’t any entrances on the east side of the park that I could see. Anyway, since I camped for the last two nights, I figured a night of luxury may be okay. I get to wash my clothes too!

Day 1 – Sun Valley

Day 1 – Sun Valley Trout Park, Mission, BC (May 2, 2015)

I arrived in Vancouver this morning with my bike.

IMG_20150502_093129 — My boxes at YVR (Vancouver International Airport) 7:30 am 2015/05/02.

It took a few hours to put the bike back together.

I forgot what it felt like riding fully loaded. I had to find a parking lot at the airport to practice before I felt confident.

I had trouble finding my way in Vancouver because my first track started from Stanley Park (dumb). Stanley Park is 10 km north of the airport and it was pretty hard to work my way to the track without clear directions. When I finally reached the track I started going the wrong way. Luckily I happened to stop for lunch and took stock of where I was. That is when Michelle called and as I answered, the BlackBerry went dead.

Once I was on track (at about 2 pm) it was pretty straightforward. There were a few turns that slowed me down but I arrive at Sunvalley Trout Farm just about 6pm. It’s not a bad little private camping spot. I even saw fish jump.

The tent up at Sunvalley. — The tent up at Sunvalley 7:30 pm 2015/05/02.

Sunvalley Trout Farm. View of the small lake 7:30pm. — Sunvalley Trout Farm. View of the small lake 7:30 pm 2015/05/02.