Down hill
Door: Lieke
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Lieke
21 Juni 2017 | Canada, Calgary
Day 18: Mosquito Creek - Banff 88 + 8 km
I had a much needed deep sleep in the cabin. When I got up, it rained a little bit but I decided to leave my raincoat in my bag as the weather forecast looked fairly good. I was still dressed more or less like I was going on a ski vacation because it was about 6 degrees when we left. It warmed up soon enough though. I arrived in Lake Louise village around 8:15am and decided to bike up to Lake Louise (the actual lake). It was only 4km but the first 2km were really steep. This would be a real bike day after all. Because I arrived so early, it wasn't busy yet and I took a few pictures at the lake. Then I continued my journey, downhill, back to highway 1. The 25 km on the highway weren't great because of the traffic but the views made up for it. Fortunately, the route would continue on a quieter side road soon. Later on I learned that I should have taken this road directly from Lake Louise village already. I guess this is what happens when you bike without guide (dad had taken the van directly to Banff to play golf). I'm pretty good with maps but too impatient to read directions. But eventually I got on Bow Valley Park road, which was beautiful, in green landscape, lightly going up and down hill. I arrived at the lunch truck at 66km (+ my 8km detour to Lake Louise). Meanwhile it had become a really nice and sunny day and I was boiling hot in my winter running tights. I got rid of one full layer of clothing, hat and gloves, and continued for the last part of this beautiful bike ride. A few kilometers before the campground, I ran into Mike. He told me the dinner truck with our daily bags had just passed him so he turned around to have coffee in Banff. I wanted to do some hiking in the afternoon so I continued and found the truck at the gate of the campsite.
I made two hikes in the afternoon and after dinner. In the afternoon Max and I hiked on the trail near the campsite, exploring a rock climbing area. It was pretty challenging (steep and small trail) but eventually we found the viewpoint, or at least, decided that a spot with a view was the viewpoint. In the evening after dinner, we biked to Sulfur mountain with the intention of hiking up and taking the gondola down. That was a little too optimistic as the gondola closed at 9:30pm whereas we were there at 8:30pm and it would take us at least 90 minutes to hike up. We decided to just start the hike and see how far we would get. In the meantime it had started to rain. When we turned around after an hour and got back to our bikes, the rain had turned into a thunderstorm with heavy rainfall. It was getting dark and the road was covered in water; optimal conditions to climb back up to the campsite on the hill. I was as wet as the day I stopped biking and took the truck to the campsite in McBride; even my underwear was soaked. After a hot shower I managed to stay warm in my sleeping bag during this very cold night.
Day 19: Banff - Calgary 135km
Another cold morning, about 3 or 4 degrees. My gloves, jacket and shoes were still soaked from last night. Fortunately, dad had two pairs of gloves, and dressed in four layers of clothing, we started our final bike day. The sun was out though, and it warmed up soon enough. The views on the impressive mountains in and around Banff were amazing. We biked to our first stop of the day at 40km, where two former TDA riders who live in Exshaw were waiting for us with homemade cookies. After a quick stop and delicious cookies, we biked on to lunch at 77k through rolling hills, leaving the the mountains behind us. The kilometers flew by due to the tail wind and because the road was more down hill than up hill.
After lunch there was a 3km climb, and then most of the route was down hill with strong tail or side wind to the suburbs of Calgary. There, a real scavenger hunt started, following the orange flagging through Tuscany, a suburb of Calgary, over a bridge to cross the highway, then on a trail connecting suburbs and, finally, over a spiral bridge and the university campus trails. I didn't really read the route notes (again...) that we get every night at the riders meeting, but with google maps to get an idea of the directions and the flagging we managed to find the hotel.
In the afternoon we arranged everything for our departure. Putting up the tent on the parking lot to dry it, booking a taxi, boxing our bikes, and rearranging our bags. At night we had a nice dinner in downtown Calgary with the group. It was strange to walk in the normal world again where people wear other clothes than bike shorts or sweat pants. I finished the night with drinks with Max and Will and then I really had to accept that this amazing vacation and adventure had come to an end.
I had a much needed deep sleep in the cabin. When I got up, it rained a little bit but I decided to leave my raincoat in my bag as the weather forecast looked fairly good. I was still dressed more or less like I was going on a ski vacation because it was about 6 degrees when we left. It warmed up soon enough though. I arrived in Lake Louise village around 8:15am and decided to bike up to Lake Louise (the actual lake). It was only 4km but the first 2km were really steep. This would be a real bike day after all. Because I arrived so early, it wasn't busy yet and I took a few pictures at the lake. Then I continued my journey, downhill, back to highway 1. The 25 km on the highway weren't great because of the traffic but the views made up for it. Fortunately, the route would continue on a quieter side road soon. Later on I learned that I should have taken this road directly from Lake Louise village already. I guess this is what happens when you bike without guide (dad had taken the van directly to Banff to play golf). I'm pretty good with maps but too impatient to read directions. But eventually I got on Bow Valley Park road, which was beautiful, in green landscape, lightly going up and down hill. I arrived at the lunch truck at 66km (+ my 8km detour to Lake Louise). Meanwhile it had become a really nice and sunny day and I was boiling hot in my winter running tights. I got rid of one full layer of clothing, hat and gloves, and continued for the last part of this beautiful bike ride. A few kilometers before the campground, I ran into Mike. He told me the dinner truck with our daily bags had just passed him so he turned around to have coffee in Banff. I wanted to do some hiking in the afternoon so I continued and found the truck at the gate of the campsite.
I made two hikes in the afternoon and after dinner. In the afternoon Max and I hiked on the trail near the campsite, exploring a rock climbing area. It was pretty challenging (steep and small trail) but eventually we found the viewpoint, or at least, decided that a spot with a view was the viewpoint. In the evening after dinner, we biked to Sulfur mountain with the intention of hiking up and taking the gondola down. That was a little too optimistic as the gondola closed at 9:30pm whereas we were there at 8:30pm and it would take us at least 90 minutes to hike up. We decided to just start the hike and see how far we would get. In the meantime it had started to rain. When we turned around after an hour and got back to our bikes, the rain had turned into a thunderstorm with heavy rainfall. It was getting dark and the road was covered in water; optimal conditions to climb back up to the campsite on the hill. I was as wet as the day I stopped biking and took the truck to the campsite in McBride; even my underwear was soaked. After a hot shower I managed to stay warm in my sleeping bag during this very cold night.
Day 19: Banff - Calgary 135km
Another cold morning, about 3 or 4 degrees. My gloves, jacket and shoes were still soaked from last night. Fortunately, dad had two pairs of gloves, and dressed in four layers of clothing, we started our final bike day. The sun was out though, and it warmed up soon enough. The views on the impressive mountains in and around Banff were amazing. We biked to our first stop of the day at 40km, where two former TDA riders who live in Exshaw were waiting for us with homemade cookies. After a quick stop and delicious cookies, we biked on to lunch at 77k through rolling hills, leaving the the mountains behind us. The kilometers flew by due to the tail wind and because the road was more down hill than up hill.
After lunch there was a 3km climb, and then most of the route was down hill with strong tail or side wind to the suburbs of Calgary. There, a real scavenger hunt started, following the orange flagging through Tuscany, a suburb of Calgary, over a bridge to cross the highway, then on a trail connecting suburbs and, finally, over a spiral bridge and the university campus trails. I didn't really read the route notes (again...) that we get every night at the riders meeting, but with google maps to get an idea of the directions and the flagging we managed to find the hotel.
In the afternoon we arranged everything for our departure. Putting up the tent on the parking lot to dry it, booking a taxi, boxing our bikes, and rearranging our bags. At night we had a nice dinner in downtown Calgary with the group. It was strange to walk in the normal world again where people wear other clothes than bike shorts or sweat pants. I finished the night with drinks with Max and Will and then I really had to accept that this amazing vacation and adventure had come to an end.
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
