I didn't sleep a wink last night, thinking about the miserable ride and how the weather was supposed to stay cold and rainy. All of the USA is roasting, and the relief is sitting on top of us here in Canada. Such irony.

Forget the fact we are missing the views of the most beautiful areas. Let's talk basic misery. I don't know how people ride day after day in inclement weather. I want the fun factor to be a little higher.

We are routed to ride all of the Bow Parkway, to the Kananaskis ski area and over the highest pass in Canada. Don't we sound tough? The only problem with this is, that's just how the weather is going - following the mountains down and out onto the plains. Ugh. We have two very long days on the plains, due to lack of lodging. If I'm ever going to be in shape for an 80 mile day, it would be now. Riding 80 miles in the cold and the rain sounds like fun, said no one ever.

Let's talk about Plan B.

Jim and Genny were taking a more direct route back to the USA. The forecast for them looks friendlier. Oren and I made a frantic set of phone calls. Amazingly we were able to secure lodging everywhere Jim and Genny are going. The Canadian Plains will have to wait for another tour.

I didn't know all of that last night. I tried desperately to turn my brain off. It didn't happen. I got out of bed, less than rested. We had agreed on a 9 AM departure. I went to breakfast at 7:30 - everyone was there. Oatmeal, fruit and yogurt, and milk was my breakfast. We agreed we would be ready a little early.

None of us voiced much optimism about the weather. It wasn't raining at the moment. How should I dress? I went for shorts with leg warmers. I had on my new $85. gloves.

The bikes came out of the bike shed. All tires still had air. None had been wiped down overnight. Poor bikes. All of this wet is not bicycle friendly.

Off we went. We had a 200 foot climb right from the start to get our legs warm. I had hardly started the climb when a woman pulled up next to me and warned me there was a big grizzly just past the turn. Is it good or bad that we were taking the turn? Jim debated riding up to take a photo, but decided it was up and he didn't need any extra up.

We took the turn onto 1A, or the Bow Parkway. My last trip through here I had seen more animals than I could count. This trip, I saw one bear running across the road. That was it. I think it was a combination of the late morning hour and the weather. All of the animals had already eaten breakfast and bedded down for a morning nap. Jacinto saw a bear grazing by the side of the road and got a photo. No one else in the group saw anything.

What we did not see is rain. Dare I say it? We had only a few drops of rain today. In different areas we could see that it had rained, but it didn't rain on us. Yay!

We stopped a couple of times for photos. We had almost clear views. Still, I didn't dally long, keeping an eye on the sky.

We rode 1A to the finish and expected to get on the Trans Canadian for five kilometers. Instead the Banff Legacy Trail started right at the exit. We had to go through a big gate and we were on.

A few kilometers later, Jim exited on to the street. ??? I'm just following, but I'm very confused. Weren't we supposed to stay on the trail to Canmore? I asked Jim what we are doing. Having a scenic tour of Banff. ?? Why?? I'm still looking at those black clouds and Banff looks very busy. It's not my scene at all. Oren had gotten behind, taking a photo. We stopped so he would see where we were. A man came dashing across the street, dressed in bike clothes and with a helmet on. He talked a mile a minute, saying he is a Great Divide rider, talking about the new equipment he had purchased and taking a number of photos of our gear. I'm afraid we weren't too interested in talking, being far more interested where we were going and staying dry.

Jim followed his GPS this way and that way through Banff to where the trail takes up again. See, this is just what I hate about bike paths. I wondered how Jacinto would ever get through here. The answer? He found a map posted and followed it. He is very good about taking things as they come. Me, I would have been a wreck.

OK. Now we were on the last leg. I felt a few fat drops. It certainly would be nice to get to town dry. Do you suppose we could? I kept watching Oren in my mirror. He must be part cat. At the slightest sign of rain, he stops and puts on full rain gear. Mentally I encouraged him. "Come on, Oren, keep pedaling, don't stop. We can make it." Telepathy must work. Oren did not stop. But I desperately needed to make a bush stop. The path ran directly adjacent to the Trans Canadian. It was very busy, no bushes. Then there was a climb. Great. This is a replay of yesterday. Climbing on a full bladder is so fun. Ah, ha! How about behind that bridge barricade? That will do. Jim and Genny were out of sight. I got back on the bike and pedaled hard. Up and down. Mostly a slight downhill. If we got our reservations changed around, we would be retracing 30 miles back to Castle Junction. Any downhill we have now, will be an uphill on Saturday.

Our trail dumped out right on Bow Trail Road where our airbandb condo was located. How nice is that? Our day ended up four miles short but I didn't hear anyone complain. We hiked our bikes up two flights of stairs to the condo. The regular bikes got to go inside. The two recumbents are locked up on the patio.

Genny wanted to eat NOW. I wanted a shower NOW. I quick got in. Genny yelled through the door they were leaving to eat. I asked for two minutes to dry off. I made it. I got a shower and I'm clean before we eat. We went for the closest food, a pub right across the street.

First order was finding out if we could get lodging at Kootney Lodge? Yes. Canal Flats? Yes. It was nice that the restaurant let me use their lightning fast internet. I closed the computer so I could enjoy my food. Everyone else ordered the sandwich and salad. The menu said the restaurant had won prizes six years in a row for their fish and chips. I ordered that.

We had just finished eating and were making phone calls reserving rooms on the new schedule, when Jacinto walked in. Yay! Oren continued making calls while I caught up with Jacinto's day. We walked back to the condo. Suddenly I was very sleepy. Lodging was taken care of, reservations and cancelations. Oren did the bulk of it - I just got the tricky spots. We had shared lodging four of the eight nights, but we did have lodging in a tourist area while making those reservations at the last minute. Yay us.

I had a nice nap. We are going to dinner now. Thai. Tomorrow is a day off. Saturday looks like more character building rain over Vermillion Pass. But once we get over the mountains, the rain stays behind.

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