July 17, 2019
Vermilion Crossing, BC - Lake Louise, AB
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
I’m dressed in tights and a rain coat. Hoping for the best and knowing the inevitable. 1,100 feet and 21 miles to Vermilion Pass. Plus we have 8 km of road construction. It says paving. Wish us luck.
Later - The construction ended up being easy. It was right in front of the lodge. The flag lady had us wait until the end of cars and then sent us alone. She said the other end could wait until we arrived. The end was within sight distance, so it wasn't too far. They were laying fresh pavement on one side and we rode on the other.
This morning the temperature was 50 degrees, but felt cold because of the humidity. I wore tights to start, which I hated to do. I was hoping they would stay in the bag the entire trip. I also wore my rain coat and long gloves for warmth.
We didn't have much of a view this morning, with the low hanging clouds. I was feeling strong and had no trouble keeping up with Jim and Genny. I stopped not too many miles down the road to take off my coat. I was warmed up. Of course, I no more than took it off than it started to rain and I had to put it on.
Jim and Genny stopped at the Paint Pots and I kept going. I presumed they would catch me on the climb. This was a nice pass to climb. There wasn't any steep sections. In a couple of spots I had to drop into the granny, then I was back in the middle chain ring.
I was getting more moisture thrown up on me from passing vehicles than I was from the sky. I think I was on the front edge of the real storm. I was hoping to get off of the top and then maybe things would be better. I ended up descending in the rain. That's not my favorite thing to do. Canada has done a lot of work on this highway. It has wide shoulders and new pavement for virtually the entire length. It would be an even better ride in the sunshine, but that's not our luck today.
At mile 26 I approached Castle Junction. I knew from being through her before that I wanted to take Bow Parkway and not Highway 1. Why wasn't Bertha talking to me. Come on, Bertha. We need to go left! Are you asleep. I made the turn and then checked my phone. Darn. I had sat down at the office waiting for Jim and Genny this morning and when they arrived, I forgot to turn on navigation. I did not get credit for the first 26 miles of the day. Double darn. I turned navigation on. There's Bertha! She says take a left in 15 miles.
I didn't get far down the parkway and I decided to take my coat off and get a snack. I'm good to fuel on the climb, but have to remind myself to keep eating after the climb. That stop used up enough time that Jim and Genny caught me. We were on another short climb. So they did catch me on a climb, just not the pass.
We saw a loaded female bicycle tourist riding alone and then a few miles down the road, two men. We all just waved and kept going. I know I wanted to beat the rain to town. I bet they felt the same. It was not to be. It started sprinkling, but I was determined not to put my coat on. About four miles from town, the rain really started coming down. Really, really. The rest of the day it was just spitting on us and I think there was more spray from the cars than rain from the sky. Now it was raining. I took my speaker and Garmin off of the handlebars. Oh, well. It's four miles . . . .
We are at the Mountaineer Lodge. It's the cheapest place in town to stay except for the hostel. Which doesn't mean it's cheap. This is our most expensive room of the trip at $329. We have a room. A nice, basic room. Nothing special . . . it's all about location. Jacinto is definitely not impressed with the quality of the TV.
Speaking of Jacinto - he had Strava on today and was fast approaching town.
We decided to go straight to the lodge and see if we could check in. In 2016 we couldn't check in until 4 PM, which was a bad deal because we were all soaked and very cold. Today we had good luck getting in our rooms right when we arrived. We are in different buildings and the bikes have to go in bicycle storage. The storage is downstairs and around a corner. My recumbent wouldn't fit, so it's in the office, behind the desk.
We arrived at a strange hour. It's a little late for lunch, a little early for dinner. Although we are all very hungry. We ended up agreeing on a 5 PM dinner. I might order two meals and Jacinto had better not say anything!
It has been raining since we arrived. The desk clerk says it's been raining for a month . . . . I think I wouldn't like living somewhere that rains so much. My bike has developed a squeak. Poor thing. I did ask for a rag and wiped the bike down. Jim asked me why bother. But I wanted to at least try. I wiped the frame down and the chain. I didn't lube, so I guess I'll have a squeak tomorrow also.
Jim and Genny are taking a rest day here tomorrow. The lodging is too expensive for us, So we are moving on to Golden. We will regroup in Donald.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 43 miles (69 km)
Total: 391 miles (629 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |