July 17, 2005
Day 61: Canmore to Castle Mountain
It sure was nice to be inside since it rained most of the night. It started to clear off in the morning, though. The Three Sisters were visible through the mists and there was even some blue sky!! After repacking my bike, I discovered that my back wheel was in bad shape. Broken spokes from climbing up the steep dirt - actually mud - switchbacks to the hostel last night I'm guessing. I found a laundry just a block away from the bike shop in town so I rode on in. It turned out that the first bike shop couldn't look at my bike, so I went to church instead.
The chapel was a tiny matchbox built in the 1920s. A little jewel - but absolutely packed. Canmore is maybe ten times bigger now. Don at the Bike Cafe did my wheel first thing so I could get on the road. I washed my clothes and put all my gear out in the parking lot to dry. That's all my things - camera, cell phone, panniers. Everything was still soaking wet.
When Don finished my bike, I loaded up and left for Banff. It was almost 2:00, but the sun was out. Monday was supposed to be clear and hot, so I was really psyched for riding in the parks.
The stretch from Canmore to Banff is on the Trans-Canada - busy, but with a shoulder. After stopping by the visitor's centre in Banff I got on the Bow Valley Parkway - fabulous wildlife! I was 10 feet away from a bull elk grazing in a meadow of daisies.
The daisies were everywhere. Mom would have been delighted. I saw a bear browsing in the brush - just an adolescent black bear - but wonderful none the less. Nobody driving saw it. Once the cars stopped, the bear ran back into the woods.
I got to Castle Junction, sat out on a picnic table, and called Ann and Tom. The evening light on Castle Mountain was enchanting and I decided to check to see if there was any space in the hostel. There was. My Brit friends, Steph, Rich and Bill from last night, were there, too. I had a great laugh with the manager and her husband about extravagances of our younger years. Since there was a huge group of young people from Belgium who were going to be up late, I took my sleeping bag outside and bedded down under the stars. Susan came out to see if I was O.K. How sweet!
Today's ride: 36 miles (58 km)
Total: 3,267 miles (5,258 km)
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