August 18, 2024
Day 0 Vancouver to Banff
I was up early at 5 AM for the last hot shower for a bit. I had everything ready to go and tried to eat something. My bike box was in my shed and it rained overnight. Some water came into the shed but fortunately the box was still dry. My good friend Larry showed up right on time and I made it to the airport with lots of time.
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I was hoping that I’d slip through without having to open the bike box but that wasn’t the case. Fortunately they didn’t make me pull everything out because it was a super tight squeeze to pack it. I only had to pull out the box with some parts and bike bags.
Peter boarded on time from Victoria so we are all set to meet on time in Calgary for our shuttle to Banff.
Things worked out great with the flight. Every flight should be an hour. I find long flights intolerable, although mostly I think it’s due to the jealousy I have for people who can fall asleep on planes.
When we touched down I was able to connect with Peter who arrived 30 minutes ahead of me. And he had good news that baggage was quick and he already had his bike box. We repeated the process for me and then caught our first break of the trip loading onto the shuttle an hour early.
Going through Canmore on the way to Banff triggered good memories from 2012. Mom and Dad drove out from Ontario and I headed to Canmore to meet up with them with the kids. I had a good strategy for then 6 YOs. I loaded them in the car at 3 AM and they slept 4 plus hours to a diner for breakfast. Then our next stop about 4 hours later was a hot spring. I think we also did a short hike along the way. I was proud of that effort. 13 hour trip and everyone was happy all the way.
We were dropped off right across from a high school with a nice covered entrance. We lugged the bike boxes across the street and got to work. Nobody seemed to take notice of us on a busy tourist area and we worked away for 2.5 hours.
The biggest challenge was my derailleur hanger bolt. The threads were covered in lock tight so it wasn’t going in easily. Worried about cross threading it, Peter worked away with a knife etching the threads of the lock tight. Bingo! The rest was fairly straightforward and we had it done in 2.5 hours.
After the bikes were together we headed to Atmosphere to buy all the things we couldn’t take on the plane (bear spray, bear bangers, bear horn, insect repellent etc.). And then over to the grocery store. I think we’ll learn fast that there will be a lot of things to do on this trip besides riding. I headed into the store knowing we needed 1 breakfast, 2 lunches, 2 dinners, and snacks. Beyond that there was no plan so I went up and down the aisles creating meal ideas. It is certainly less efficient than shopping in bulk at your home store.
We made camp by 6:15, got set up, and cooked a dinner of pesto pasta with sausages with a prepared salad. It’s going to be more challenging to eat nutritious food on this trip. My plan is to grab a prepared salad every chance we get and eat canned vegetables as well. I don’t think any of our meals will be Pinterest worthy but hopefully they fill the holes from long days of riding.
It’s been a good day. Super happy how everything worked out.
Highlights:
-approaching Banff from Vancouver and seeing the mountains again
-everything arriving quickly and no damage
-quick bike assembly
-luxury bus ride was chill
-amazing weather with sun and about 22 C
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