Day 38

I wanted to wake up early this morning so we could get into Lake Louise and use the chateau as much as possible! Unfortunately, the two rowers don't like mornings. Actually, to be fair, Travis had a BIG day yesterday and so was obviously tired! But they also like to sleep in. But, not having a big breakfast, we hit the road around 9:30. Although we were camping out on a gorgeous site, with mountains all around, all we could see was the lake. The clouds covered ALL of the mountains. It would have been so much more scenic if we could actually see the mountains we were cycling through! But they never cleared the entire day, so we just had to cycle uphill without any (or at least without most of) the scenery! Our first 17km were uphill. We had to summit the second peak of the Icefield parkway. It was a higher altitude than the Columbian Icefield, but it was definitely a less steep incline! On the way up, we were stopped by a car of Americans who told us that there was a grizzly with her two cubs up ahead, if we wanted to take a look! We were really excited to see a grizzly, but kinda scared that there was a grizzly with her two cubs (that's like in the handbook of what to avoid!). Before we hit the grizzly area, we did a side trip to Peyto lake (pronounced Pee-toe). At the start of the hike, there was a sign explaining the lake and the area. It said that this was the bluest lake in the area. I didn't actually know what that means! The least green? The darkest? The brightest? Is baby blue more blue than navy? Right when I saw the lake I knew. It was definitely the bluest. It almost looked fake. It was a bright, unreal tarp-coloured blue. It was so cool! As we hit the road again, we thought the grizzlies might be gone because we passed a lot of cars. Turns out they were still there! They were FAR in the distance, so we were a safe distance away. There were tons of cars parked at the side of the road, and tons of people were out with their telephoto lenses. We stopped to take pictures, then headed over to the service station where we hoped to dry off (as it had started to hail and rain), warm up, and get some food (we didn't have a big breakfast at all!). It was a small log cabin type hotel with a cafe where we could warm up! Bow lake was still frozen! It was literally still winter! We were wearing all our winter gear we brought (hats, mitts, scarfs, etc). We had a bowl of chili, and some tea. Then we hit the road straight to Lake Louise. The weather was miserable, but we were heading to the Chateau so it was only a matter of time before we warmed up! It was a net downhill into the town, which was nice! We saw another grizzly at the side of the road, and another black bear. This was the most amount of bears we've seen in one day so far! Five in one day, four of which were grizzlies (which count for SO many more cool points!). That brings our tally up to 13! We bought some food in town, then headed straight up the 4km solid uphill to the chateau. Michael was VERY tired, and only later realized his brakes were rubbing the entire way up! Michael and I waited (in the rain) by the lake while Travis checked in. The lake was gorgeous (a really cool, unreal light blue colour). We couldn't really see the mountains around unfortunately because of the clouds. Travis' friend was able to get us a discount, which was wicked! We didn't want to clutter up the front of the hotel with our bikes. The bell boy brought all our (very wet) gear up to our rooms for us and they put our bikes away in their storage. The first thing we did was get out of our wet gear, and then we showered! Then we went swimming and went in the hot tub. It was so nice! The hotel was gorgeous! The rooms were really nice, and the bathroom had a double door so every time you were done in the washroom, you felt like you were making an entrance back into the room! It was funny (and posh). We wandered around the hotel and shops for a bit before we met up with Travis' friend for dinner. It was crazy expensive, but what do you expect? At the table beside us was a group of guys, around 50ish years old who were watching the game (last game of the stanley cup it turns out). One guy was from Thunderbay who told us about the roads in northern Ontario. We've heard a few horror stories, so it was good to get more info! He said the main route that goes through Dryden was more direct, more hilly, and more dangerous (because of all the trucks), but probably more scenic. He said the other route was mostly through the forest, so boring. The lonely planet disagrees. We'll probably go the route through International Falls because it's safer, and we're assuming more scenic. Turns out, this guy was also a HUGE Pittsburgh fan (always has been). It was so funny because he was out of his chair cheering and taunting his friends when the Penguins tied the game, bringing it to overtime. He was so funny! Then we went to our super comfortable beds and planned not to wake up early at all tomorrow!

Day 37

This morning, we woke up at 6. Mike had a pot of coffee ready for us as we packed everything up. He offered to drive our gear up to the Icefield station so we could tackle the hill without all the extra weight (which was so nice of him, and made the cycle so much better!). He told us that, without pushing too hard, and without gear, it takes him 2hrs to cycle to Icefield station. He called ahead and found out that the glacier hike (the glacier tour he recommended. He said you really get your money's worth, and because we're active to do that one rather than the one where they drive you out. He said it's so much better) started at 11am, so Michael and I planned the day accordingly. We ate oatmeal (he had oreo oatmeal, which was wicked! And delicious!), loaded our things into his truck, then had a go on his recumbant bike. It was so funny and such a novelty! I realized (as I realized with downhill mountain biking) that I'm not good at non-road biking! I fell. Michael made sure to document that in picture form. I tried a few times and kinda got the hang of it, but not really. Michael caught on much quicker. But it was tons of fun still! Then we hit the road at about 9:30. It was a really nice, fairly flat route up until the start of the hill (since we saw the route yesterday, it was really easy to plan our route and know how much time to give ourselves for each section. It also really helped that Mike told us how long it takes to cycle to the base, and up the hill). We kept stopping to take pictures and videos because it was just so stunning! Then we got to the hill. It wasn't so bad because there were a lot of lookouts along the way, and we didn't have the gear. That being said, the hill was steep and fairly long (especially for being so steep), but totally doable! At the first lookout, a bus pulled in just after us, and a group of older men and women came off the bus and crowded around us, asking about our trip. They were so impressed with the fact we were cycling that hill, and the fact we were cycling across the country. It was kinda funny and cute. It was almost as if we were celebrities for a minute (without the fame, fortune or anything else really). Then we continued up and made it to the Icefield Center with ten minutes to spare for the tour! While Michael locked up the bikes, I ran ahead to sign up and pay. The woman behind the counter said that that group left 10 minutes ago, and that even if we showed up an hour ago, it didn't matter. It was full. We were so disappointed. We told her we cycled all this way and called ahead and timed it so we could do the trip! She took pity on us and offered us the other tour (where we take a monster truck type thing onto the icefield...so kind of the lazy person's way of seeing the glacier) for half price. So that's what we did. It was a lot of fun! We learned about the glacier on the way up, then had about 20min to walk around (the designated area). Our first order of business was to fill up our water bottles. Then we went looking around. It was so fun! And it started snowing (which continued the trend of us not really seeing summer yet!). When the tour was over, and when we got back to the Icefield Center, we were starving. Since Mike had not yet arrived with our gear, we decided to have lunch upstairs in the cafeteria and then go down to get our stuff. We talked to him for a bit as we loaded our gear. We were about to do the hike he recommended, and he was off to check on an outhouse on one of the mountains beside the glacier that had apparently blown away. He said he has not yet seen Travis, but that's not really a surprise because it would have taken Travis a bit to get up to the Icefield, but he probably wasn't too far off, we reckoned. We then said bye to Mike and went to do the hike. It started to rain and it was very cloudy. Since we knew the weather in this area changed every minute, we still went up and hoped the view would be nice when we got there! Turns out, we made the right call! It was clear and beautiful! We went as high as we could until we came to a small stream crossing. We decided not to cross because we didn't want wet feet for the rest of the day (we still had another 80 or so kilometers to do before the day's end!). It also started snowing at the top! We made a quick Inukshuk for Mike and then headed down. We randomly happened to see Mike as we were getting onto our bikes again (and apparently the toilet DID blow away!). We talked for a bit, then he said we had better hit the road if we want to make the campground (as we had a while to go and it was 5pm already! We didn't realize it was so late! He also warned us that we would probably see some bears near the Saskatchewan River Crossing as a Ranger was sent out to scare them away earlier.). We said our goodbyes again and then we were off! We had a bit of ups and downs until we hit the killer downhill! It was SO fast! I had my brakes on and was still clocking over 60km/hr! Then at the bottom, we hit this wall of wind, which slowed us right down until we finished the loop around so the wind became a tail wind, and subsequently, our best friend! We just flew! Not long after the downhill, we saw two bears ahead crossing the road. They looked young enough (not cubs, but not quite adults). We were careful when passing in case the mother was around, and decided to tag behind a car for safety. There were rolling hills, but before every up there was a down and a wind that just pushed us easily over. We saw another bear at the side of the road as well! That brought our tally up to 8 bears! All black though, but still quite a bit! We made such amazing time that at the Saskatchewan River crossing, we decided to take a break and buy some chocolate milk and cookies at the little store they had there. We also decided to stop off at the Banff warden's office to let them know to keep an eye out for Travis (there is no cell reception on the parkway so there was no way for us to get in contact with him! I was worried about him all day!). Unfortunately, the warden wasn't there and there wasn't a number to contact him, so we kept going. Not long after the office, we were cycling and a deer just bolted out in front of us (far enough away to not be dangerous, but close enough to scare/impress us!). Just past the deer, there was a hike that we decided to do. It was only 300m down, so we decided not to change out of our bike shoes. I forgot my valuables in my pannier, and although I've done that before, this was the first time I had a bad feeling about it. Michael must have thought I was so annoying because I kept saying how worried I was, and kept asking if he was sure it would be alright. He kept assuring me it would be fine, and on the way back I told him to run ahead and check on the bikes. He said he didn't want to run ahead and not have me in sight (as we just finished seeing three bears in one day in the area!), which made sense to me. So when I could have him in sight up to our bikes, I told him to run ahead. Then I saw him sprint and yell "they're gone!" Panic struck! I screamed out "I knew it!" and smashed my helmet on the floor! It was such a horrible feeling! The image of a pickup truck with an opportunist of a driver loading them up and just bolting flew through my head. There was no cell reception to call anyone, and the warden's office was a km or so back, and no one was there right now anyways. We were freaked until we saw someone come out of the bushes saying the bikes were there. It was fucking Travis! All day I thought when I saw him I would hug him because he was safe. Now when I saw him, I hit him. What a jerk! Funny in retrospect, and the perfect opportunity, but he's still an ass! (also, when I slammed my helmet, I broke the light on it.... I realized it later). But once I knew my bike was safe, I was glad to see Travis was safe! We sat and rested for a bit (poor boy didn't have any breaks all day! He was gunning it because he left late. But he had a BIG day of uphills so was tired! I would have been more sympathetic if he didn't hide my bike!). Then we finished the 15 or so kms to the campground. It was also closed, so again, we had the place to ourselves! We picked a spot right on the lake, made tea, tried to find phones (to let mike know we're safe, but there were none!), and went to bed! Now that we're all together, we can make it into Lake Louise and just relax in the chateau tomorrow!!!

Day 36

We woke up this morning planning to make it all the way up to the Icefield, if not further. We were up fairly early (around 6) in order to bust through the day! Our first stop was the hotel we stopped at last night to fill our water bottles (so much easier than to filter!). They were very nice and let us fill the water with ice water at the bar! Then we went to check out the Sunwapta Falls. We didn't realize they were so close to the hotel at first, so we overshot the road at first and had to backtrack. The falls were nice, but not overly spectacular (don't get me wrong, they were really nice, but not as stunning as some of the other falls we've seen so far). It was really cloudy out (you couldn't tell we were in the mountains, which sucked! Since we saw where we were yesterday, we knew what we were missing out on! Not long after leaving the falls, it started raining! We only cycled like 10km before a white SUV type vehicle stopped about 200m ahead of us. As we cycled past, we said hello and he asked if we were the people who called the warden last night. We then realized his car said "Parks Canada" on it. We stopped and started talking, and he asked if we drink coffee. We said we did, so he said to come to the warden's office, which is just down the road (no more than 10km away) and he would have a pot of coffee ready for us, and that way we can talk out of the rain! We got there and he asked about our plans for the Icefiled, and for our cross-canada cycle. It turns out, he cycled across Canada about ten years ago, so he went over our route with us and made some suggestions and told some stories. He also pointed out some suggestions for the Icefield, and told us that some of the hikes we planned on doing were a no go because it was still covered in snow (which was good to know!). We also told him about Travis, that he would be traveling on his own, and meeting us in Lake Louise, and asked if he could look out for him. He took our info, and Travis' and said he would keep an eye out for him! He then said that he didn't check on us because he was obligated, but because we were honest and decided to call in to let them know we were there. He then said because of that, he will make a suggestion. He said, if we wanted a day off (especially in this rain), we are more than welcome to stay at his for the night. We can eat, do laundry, watch tv, call home (he has a good long distance plan), shower, do some bike repair, etc. the offer was way too good to refuse! He showed us around the house, and told us to keep our food for the road, and just eat his. He was so nice! He then went to work and let us hang out. We first made lunch (we were so hungry!) then did laundry, called home to let them know we were safe, wrote in the journal, showered, and then watched a movie! Neither Michael or I have seen "Million Dollar Baby" and I thought it might be a good movie (I've heard good things, and they reference it a lot, and I thought, I'm a girl who does karate, she's a girl who wanted to get into fighting, maybe I could relate). What a depressing movie! Oh my god! And I do NOT want to relate! What a brutally depressing movie! Not going to lie, I cried. Just as the movie was finishing, Mike (the warden) called and asked if we talked to Travis. He offered to pick Travis up from Jasper and bring him over to his house so we could all three be together for the rest of the ride down the Icefield (for safety reasons, and so we don't miss each other along the way). But, since Jen still had another day off, he decided to stay in Jasper for the night and leave early. Fortunately, since we didn't cover too much distance yet, it would make it easier for Travis to catch up to us sooner (when Michael and Travis talked on the phone, we told him about the first National Parks booth, and where to meet up tomorrow night. We would stay at a campground called Waterfowl Lake). Mike then came back with food for dinner. He was such good company! We were so glad we stayed for the night and got to meet him! For dinner we had burgers and sausages (Michael was in charge of the bbq), and home made potato chips (which we burned) and fries (to make up for the chips). He offered us beer (he had President's choice beer, which was actually pretty good! I had no idea they even made beer! What don't they do?! And he also had Budlight lime, which was SO good! That's what I opted for the rest of the night!). Dinner was really good! We talked about our plans, and listened to his stories about his cross-Canada trip, and he told us a bit about his job. He is essentially getting paid to do what Bruce does with the North Shore rescue team. Apparently the rescue where the victim is air lifted by helicopter was invented (or started) in the national park, which is really cool! But he said in the winter he does the avalanche reports, closes roads, etc. His job sounds really cool! He's such an interesting person! Then, after dinner, he brought out his bike stand and his tool box with everything we would need to clean and lube our chains and do any other maintenance necessary. Just as I was starting my bike, I was called off it so Mike could take us for a drive and show us the hill we would meet tomorrow. Not too far from where we were staying tonight was "the hill." It was a pretty steep 5-ish km hill up to the Columbian glacier. We drove up, and the clouds had more or less cleared. It was gorgeous! We were so glad we waited the day out at Mikes so we didn't have to miss the scenery! He also pointed out a good hike for us to do tomorrow and took us to the base of the glacier. We walked up to it (but not on it). Along the way, he pointed out an Inukshuk and said those things breed and multiply. So, he kicked it down. He said he has to otherwise they would be all over the place (and by had to, I think he more meant he really enjoys it). It was so funny! We helped with one or two! But along the glacier, he told us about some of the glacier-related deaths and rescues. The glacier can be one scary place! But we had a really good chat on the way back, where he left us with some words of wisdom for our trip, and life in general. And he said in return for his kindness, he asks only that we do the same for someone else when they are in need, and we would know when that time came (and he said he was doing this and had this same philosophy before the movie "pay it forward
" came out). He also lent me "Three cups of tea," which I have wanted to read for a while! He said I can mail it back to him when I'm done. I can't wait to read it! When we went back to his house, I finished cleaning up my bike, he gave us some frozen yogurt, and then we went to bed (and set the alarm for 6am).

Day 35

We woke up at 8am this morning, showered, and packed up all our gear. Because Travis wasn't coming with us when we hit the road today (he was staying back in Jasper with Jen while we hit the road so we could do hikes and not waste too much time (we don't really have many days to waste because Michael needs to get into Montreal sometime between the 5^th and 19^th of July so he can get his thesis signed off to graduate!), it took a while to rearrange and redistribute the gear. We met Travis and Jen in town for breakfast (more like lunch). We went to Loulou's for pizza (which was really good!). Travis and Jen were spending the night at the Fairmount Lodge, so we didn't have too long of a lunch (they needed to check in and return the car by 2:30 or something). We went grocery shopping and then hit the road MUCH later than initially planned (around 3:30). Fortunately, we were meeting Travis on the 9^th at Lake Louise, so we had some time to play with (which is what we wanted to really properly see the Icefield Parkway!). So we thought we would enjoy it! We were initially trying to aim for the campground just after the Columbian glacier, but since we left late, we were thinking the Jonas Creek campground, but then decided to camp even earlier at Honeymoon lake. Just outside of Jasper (like, not even 5km outside of town) there was a National Parks booth. We showed our parks pass and told them that Travis would be coming through Tuesday afternoon, and he's part of our family pass, but he won't have a card with him. They said it wouldn't be a problem at all. We then decided to take the 93A when it branched off because we were told it was more scenic. It was definitely more hilly (it must have been!). But it was a nice route! There weren't a lot of cars on the road at all, which was nice! And there was only one area of 5-10km with rough concrete, and there were a lot of lakes, and the Athabasca River alongside the highway at times! That highway led us straight to the Athabasca Falls. They were really nice (they were falls that carved their way into a canyon). We just enjoyed the ride the rest of the day, and got to Honeymoon with tons of daylight left. Unfortunately, there was a sign saying the campground was closed. We didn't know why it was closed (because it wasn't safe for some reason, or because it just wasn't open yet). We noticed on the map there was a hotel only 4km away so we cycled to it to ask if we could hopefully camp out on their lawn, or somewhere nearby. We were warned that if we camp illegally in a national park, they fine heavily! We didn't want that, so were really hoping to be able to camp at the Sunwapta Falls hotel. Turns out the manager was not very sympathetic at all to cyclists. He told us we can just walk our bikes around the barricade in the national park and just stay there. So, that's what we did. I felt safer to call the warden and let them know we were there (in case the park was closed for a reason, or in case there was a bear warning, or a forest fire or something, then they would know to look for two cyclists on the road). Michael also thought it was probably a good idea (and that way they knew we did what we could to be legit so hopefully we wouldn't get fined if someone drove by). The woman who answered the phone was lovely! Turns out it's not peak season, and that's the only reason some campgrounds are closed. She also explained where everything was in the (small) park and told us we could light a fire and she would let the warden know. We picked a spot right on the water. The lake was gorgeous! It was like a mirror, where the mountains in the background were reflected so clearly in the lake. It was stunning, really. It was also weird and cool to have the ENTIRE place to ourselves! And it made me feel much better to know that the warden knew we were there! We lit a fire, had some tea, put our food away in the bear lockers, then went to bed!

Day 32

Today is a very special day. It was exactly one month ago that Michael and I left home for this trip. It is also the day that we crossed the B.C./Alberta border, the last day before we can get our bikes fixed, we hit the most Northern point on our trip (just above the 53 degree longitude), and we biked past the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies (Mount Robson), and crossed a time zone. We were trying to go fast for the remainder of Hwy 5 (the start of the day, the first 20kms), but had crazy headwind. When we turned onto Yellowhead (Hwy 16), the winds kept changing back and forth from head to tail. So although the cycle itself was faster than on Hwy 5, we actually went slower because we were so stunned by the gorgeous mountains, that we took quite a few picture breaks! We were especially slow around Mount Robson (as it was so stunningly beautiful! All the other mountains around it were also quite nice, but they were unfortunately in the shadows of Mt Robson). We took a little break to check out the info center, and then hit the road again (Travis started heading in the wrong direction without realizing it, but turned back around the right way after we called after him). Along the way we did two side hikes to see two separate waterfalls (the Rearguard Falls and the Overlander Falls). Only after the Overlander Falls did we decide to start to gun it to the border (we didn't care how far we got today (ideally all the way to Jasper), but as long as we crossed the border, we were happy!). We had two passes to summit after passing Mount Robson. The first wasn't labeled, so we never quite knew when we officially passed it (but guessed when we were “over”). The second was such a gradual incline it didn't really feel like a pass. But the ride was very scenic, and not very hilly (especially compared to our expectations! Tom was saying this is where they should have put the trans-canada because it's way easier than the Roger's Pass!). We made some really good time to the border, and since Jasper was only 20km away (and the National Parks border woman said the closest campground was the one just outside of Jasper), we decided to head all the way to Jasper. It was a really nice, net downhill cycle into Jasper, and the mountains were gorgeous! We cycled a total of 126.8kms today. We stayed in Whistlers campground, and were told the Elk were calving so be careful, as they tend to be very aggressive (and are more dangerous than the bears right now). We saw two and thought they were pretty cool! (don't worry, we kept our distance!). We had a campfire, dinner, and drank some BC wine to celebrate the end of the BC chapter and the start of Alberta! It only started getting dark at like 10:45, which was wicked! So we had a nice long evening to relax before heading to bed!

Day 31

We woke up today at 5:30 and hit the road at about 7:30 (just a bit before). We figured we would make the (approximately) 35km to Blue River, then take a long break and then make the 90km journey to Valemount. That way, we would split up the day a bit, and if we made it to Blue River by 9-10am, it would be as if we were on schedule, with a latish start from Blue River (not like we started from Avola). Then stop in Valemount for a bit and visit Tom then decide if we should go to Tete Jaune or not tonight. Turns out the stop in Blue River was necessary! Not long after we started cycling it began to rain. It rained a lot! We were SOAKED. There was a pass to summit just before Blue River, which wasn't so bad, although we were drenched, we were fairly warm. Unfortunately, the downhill was brutal! The cold and wind cut through all our wet clothes! It was not fun! Right when we got into Blue River, we stopped at the first thing we saw (which happened to be a Husky restaurant). We were hoping to dry some of our clothes, but the washrooms didn't have air driers so we just changed into dry clothes (not socks though because our shoes were so drenched (you could hear them squish as we walked), we figured it was pointless to get our dry socks wet). Travis opted to not even wear clipless shoes for the rest of today and changed into his hiking boots. At the restaurant, we all ordered a hot drink and a BIG burger (the biggest one on the menu!). We had a nice, relaxing time where we dried off quite a bit (considering). Then we hit the road for the 90km stretch to Valemount. We thought this would be a really tough ride, but it turns out it wasn't at all! We had a wicked tail wind, which helped a lot! But it was a really good ride, and the rain held off pretty much for the rest of the day (although the temperature did fluctuate). We made really good time and got into Valemount at around 3pm. We called Tom but he wasn't yet off work. We decided to go for a late lunch and had A&W (that's right, the second burger of the day). When we got a call from Tom saying he was home, we headed over (and stopped off at the liquor store to buy him a “thank you” bottle of wine). Tom was very friendly and let us hang out all our gear to dry. Initially we were planning to head up to Tete Jaune Cache for the day (especially since we got into Valemount so early) but Peggy (Warm Showers from Tete Jaune) wasn't in yet, and we didn't know when, or if she would be in tonight, so we figured we would stay with Tom. It was a good decision because we had a really nice evening with him. He told us a bit about his trip, a bit about the area, and gave us some advice for our tour. He also told us about some of the people that have come past on tours (sounds like it would be really interesting to open up your home to Warm Showers!). But we were very well fed, we did our laundry, and had a really good evening! (and yes, Travis and Michael thought it would be a good (or at least funny) idea to have burgers again, for the third time in one day. Although I really didn't want burgers again, I must say that the last burgers of the day were the best tasting!). But we were really grateful for Tom's hospitality, and we really felt that our first Warm Shower experience was definitely a success!

Day 30

Today is the first day of June! The park warden was really nice and offered to drive us into town to get our bikes sorted, then we could just ride back to the campsite and then head out! That was the plan.... Travis only brought his wheel and realized when we got the the shop that he had no way of getting back to the campground after. So I told him I would get his wheel looked at and then strap his wheel to my rack and then bike back and meet him at the site (and he would go back with the warden to the park now). The bike shop was a nothing shop on the second floor of a tiny strip mall (if you could call it that...). They had NOTHING to fix road bikes. After a while of trying to figure stuff out, they used two of my spokes to fix Travis' bike. They did the best they could to true the wheel, but recommended that he goes to a shop in Jasper or Calgary to get them to do a better job. They couldn't do anything for me (they didn't have a wheel to fit my bike and didn't have any racks). They also didn't have the tools necessary to remove a cassette (for sale. They had the tools for their shop, but there wasn't enough demand for them to stock the tools for sale). But they were very nice and called places in Blue River, Valemount, and Jasper for me to see if anyone had parts for me. Turns out I'll have to wait for Jasper (and I REALLY hope I can put another 300-350km on my bike without it breaking!!!). It took a while before Travis' wheel was done, so I ended up cycling back to the campground around noon. We packed everything up and then made one last stop at the bike shop before hitting the road (there was something wrong with Travis' brakes and he tried but wasn't able to fix it. The guys at the shop were able to fix it up pretty quickly!). We ended up leaving Clearwater around 2:30. We wanted to at least make it to Avola and anything past was bonus. We figured if we made it at least to Avola, we could have a big day tomorrow and make it up toValemount or Tete Jaune Cache (we had an option in each town for a Warm Showers place to crash). We ended up making it just a few kilometers outside of Avola (so we made our goal!). We camped out at the side of the road again on the lake. It was so pretty! There were mountains all around, and the lake was so peaceful! We cycled a total of 80.5km today, and had an early night so we can wake up early tomorrow for our big day! (Tom, the guy from Warm Showers from Valemount told us that tomorrow will be our hardest day from here to Jasper, and seeing how we want to do about 150km on the hardest day, we hope to wake up around 5-6am tomorrow).

Day 29

We woke up early today to make sure we could make it up to the campground (North Thompson River Provincial Park) just outside of Clearwater. It was a gorgeous day, and we were making amazing time! We had a wicked tail wind and were going 27km/hr on the uphills! We took our first real break in Barriere (we saw a liquor store and thought we would buy something for around the campfire!). We ended up talking to the woman working in the liquor store (Jazz) and the woman who worked in the hotel next door (Brenda). They were very nice and seemed really impressed with our trip! They told us to send them a postcard from Newfoundland (which we intend on doing) and gave us a business card with the hotel address to send it to. Probably just over 5km out of town Michael clipped a piece of metal and I couldn't avoid running it over. It slashed my tire (the tire had a gash in it from one end to the other). I didn't have a spare tire, so used a tire boot on the inside (and obviously had to replace the inner tube) and used duct tape on the outside (to prevent anything going into the obvious hole on the outside of the tire). With every rotation the tire made, The bulge in the tire would rub against the brakes (which made it annoying to ride and made it a bit slower too). I tried calling the number on the business card Brenda gave us, and a guy answered who told me there wasn't a bike store in Barriere that he knew of, so we decided to go forward, and hopefully there would be something in Little Fort. Turns out there wasn't. The guy working at the gas station said there was a home hardware in Clearwater that might have my size tire (we called and the only size tire they had was for a 26” rim, and mine is a 28” so there was no way it was going to work! We continued onward, hoping there would be something in Valemount or something along the way tomorrow or the next day. Seeing as how we were cycling an average of 120km for the next few days, I was really nervous about my tire. I was hoping it would last!!! But there was only 30km from Little Fort to our campground (probably just uner), so we gunned it. About 10km later we had to stop again because Travis broke a spoke. Upon closer inspection, he actually broke three (which you could not bike on! His wheel no longer had any structural stability!). At this point, Michael also broke a spoke, and ran over a staple of sorts. Luckily, he was able to make it to the campsite with one broken spoke (decided he would change the spoke at the site), and he had Armadillo tires and self-sealing inner tubes so you heard the air escape, then slowly stop. He didn't actually need to do any bike maintenance at the side of the road! Travis on the other hand, did. He has had a broken spoke already on this trip, but this time we could only fix the one. In order to fix the other two spokes, we needed to first remove the cassette, but unfortunately didn't have the tools to do so. So we stuck out our thumb. Eventually a really nice man named Grant stopped and gave Travis (and his broken bike) a ride to the campground (right to the site!). Grant lived in the area for a while and told Travis a bit about the area (and showed him where the bike shop was for tomorrow morning). Michael and I cycled the rest of the 20km and met Travis at the site. We made a campfire, had dinner, and celebrated our day of technical difficulties with some rum and coke! But regardless of our bike troubles, we still make the 114.8km scheduled, so we were still on schedule!

Day 28

This morning I woke up and realized that my bike rack was broken (severed across the part that attached to my brakes (the part attached to the axle is still fine though...don't know how it broke and for how long it was broken, but it wasn't safe the way it was). We duct taped the rack to the bike to prevent the bags from moving around (causing me to go slow or creating a hazard). We figured we would get a new rack in Kamloops, or at least get some zip ties. Approximately 10km from where we camped out, we found a small truck stop restaurant where we could fill up our water bottles (as we were all out). It was so cute and authentic (pictures of trucks EVERYWHERE, and everyone eating there was stereotypically what you would expect). We had a BIG feed! Michael had the steak and Travis and I had the trucker's special. And it was so cheap! Then we hit the road. It was a pleasant ride (the weather changed quite a bit from kinda rainy to hot and sunny and back). About 20km outside of Kamloops there were TONS of T-Birds that passed us (there must have been about 50 of them!). It was so random, but cool to see. About 10km down the road, we stopped off at a gas station to use the washrooms and randomly enough, all the T-Birds were there as well, taking a break. They were all part of some T-Bird club and it was their annual road trip. Earlier today, Michael and Travis were talking, and Travis misheard when Michael mentioned “Kamloops” and thought he said “Fruitloops.” That inspired our Kamloops activity: Fruitloops in Kamloops. We bought groceries and went to Riverside Park for our cereal. We were SOOO full by the end of it! It's hard to eat THAT much cereal between three of us! But we did it! When we were done, we wanted to find a bike store or somewhere to buy the zip ties. That's when we met Kevin and Lisa. They thought it was laughable that we would think anything would be open in Kamloops on a Sunday at like 4-5pm. But, they asked what we were looking for and were nice enough to give us some of their zip ties they had at home. So we walked with them over to their house, and had a really nice conversation. They gave us advice on how to get out of Kamloops and filled our water bottles and REALLY helped me out with the rack! We ended up cycling about 5-10km outside of town and pitched a tent at the side of the road again. It was perfect timing too! Just as we stopped the winds changed from a tail wind back to a headwind!

Day 27

Today the plan was to just wake up and head out. Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties. Travis needed to go to a bike shop to fix his wheel. We ended up leaving Terry and Linda's around 2:30pm. Linda gave us a LOT of food for our journey, which was amazing! We really enjoyed their hospitality and were sad to leave, but excited to hit the road! Terry recommended taking the road that goes along the west side of the lake up past Vernon rather than taking the 97. He said it's far more scenic, and less busy. There are some ups and downs, but a much nicer ride. He was right! It was a really enjoyable cycle! Just about all the ups were preceded by a down so none were overly difficult. We ended up cycling a total of 85.6km today. So although we left late, we did roughly as much as we wanted to do today (we didn't want too long of a day, and wanted to split the ride between Kelowna and Kamloops in half to make sure a) my knee was fully up to par, and b) to ease back into some intense cycling coming up ahead for the next few days. We pitched a tent at the side of the road (up on a hill away from traffic obviously).

Day 26

It was a nicer day today! I got a ride to Winner's to hopefully buy a dress (so I don't have to walk around in either spandex or sweatpants all the time. and dresses are good because it's easy to pack, and then i don't have to buy separate tops and bottoms. all in one convenience!), and a frame. Unfortunately all the dresses were ugly and expensive and all the frames looked REALLY cheap. Since it was such a nice day out, I walked downtown to the art store. Kelowna is a very nice place! I can see why Linda and Terry like it so much! (It also helps that they live in a wicked house on the lake and have a dock in their backyard for their boat so they can REALLY optimize on what Kelowna has to offer!). I bought a frame (to draw a picture as a thank you because both Linda and Terry really went above and beyond for us!). When I got back Michael was still doing work on the computer, and Travis was on the phone. While I was out the company that Travis had an interview with offered him the job! Which is wicked for him! (But that unfortunately means he will only continue until Calgary). We decided to go out and watch a movie (something we haven't done at all since we started). We watched Robin Hood and really enjoyed it! We walked around for a bit, then went back to the Sturgeon Hall and the two boys had dinner and beer and I just had beer. Then we went back to Linda and Terry's and went into the hottub before bed! It was a really nice night!

Day 25

We had an amazing sleep last night! Don't get me wrong, the air mattresses and tents are nice and luxurious and all, but the bed was SO comfortable! We were out like a light! We woke up to a nice breakfast of bagels (Linda had everything all laid out for us already!). The weather outside was less than ideal so we stayed in and did some work (ie. Michael was replying to e-mails from his prof and updating the blog as we were very behind (as per usual since we have limited internet), I was updating my journal and working on the budget and uploading pictures, etc). The plan was to ship the wine we bought as gifts home to people, then Travis was going to visit his grandparents, Michael was going to do some school work, and I was going to go out with Linda and some of her friends. The wine-sending fell through because they charged A LOT of money. After they finished packing it all up and then rang up the total it came to $270! For 6 bottles!!! The shipping was WAY more expensive than all the wine combined (although the wine TASTES like it's worth more than that... for everyone reading who is getting a bottle....). We were able to get back the shipping cost, but since they already packed it (and didn't say how much they were charging to pack), we had to fork out $80 (that's right, to pack 6 bottles!!!! ridiculous in my opinion!!! Damn UPS!). But Linda was wonderful and is helping us out by having her daughter bring wine back home to Ontario with her after the wedding in early July. It was such a relief to have her help! It would have REALLY put a GIANT dent in the budget otherwise! That night Travis went to visit his grandparents, and Michael and I stayed back and did some work (Linda didn't end up going out after all so we had a night/dinner in). Right as dinner was being served Travis walked in just in time for second dinner. Then Travis, Michael and I went into town (to Sturgeon Hall) to have drinks with Travis' cousin Pat. It was our first night at a bar this entire trip (the only other time we were at a bar was in Osoyoos for the Habs game). We only stayed for one or two drinks then headed back. It was a nice, chill night.

Day 24

This morning we woke up in OK Falls, where we camped out right on the lake! Instead of taking the highway (which ran along the west side of the lake), we took the route that EVERYONE recommended on the east side. It was fairly flat and very scenic! We were making really good time and were really glad we took everyone's advice! There was way less traffic as well, so it was really enjoyable! (although the shoulders could have been a bit wider at times!). We made it into Penticton fairly early, had a quick stop to de-layer (as it was getting quite hot mid-day) then headed north along the 97 to Kelowna. We had a headwind for most of the trip, but we were still making amazing time! The entire trip followed the lake, which was very pretty (there were only a few times we couldn't see the water). We stopped off at a winery along the way (Greata Ranch Winery just outside of Peachland) to buy Terry and Linda (Travis' aunt and uncle) a thank-you wine (we would be staying with them for the next few days). The woman who worked at the winery was very nice and told us about two detours which were far more scenic, and far less hilly than the highway. The first detour was lovely and flat, so we were excited for the second. The second was horrible! It was very hilly with NO shoulder! Horrible advice! We should have stayed on the highway (there would have been a larger shoulder and it would have definitely been less steep and much quicker). But you live and learn! We made it into Kelowna. It was overcast, and along the way there were little periods of light rain. It was easy to find Terry and Linda's. Travis didn't think Linda would be there, but she was (she just came back from Korea where she was visiting her son, daughter-in-law and grandson)! We met Terry first, then as we were finishing unpacking our gear from our bikes and coming into the house Linda met us. She showed us how to do the laundry (and did our laundry for us!), and brought us towels to shower. She let me use the master shower which was so nice!!! (especially since we haven't showered since Osoyoos, words cannot describe how wonderful the shower felt!). She had snacks ready for us and was making dinner. We felt like we stepped into a 5 star resort! Terry was very nice and funny (with a touch of sarcasm!). It was such a nice night, and I can't express how wonderful and generous both Terry and Linda were!

Tipsy wine tour

I towed Travis into town today while Nicole was getting her knee checked out, so we hit the road a little late. But that was ok since today was going to be our tipsy wine tour! As we were cycling along the 97, all we saw were vineyards after vineyards, all next door to each other. There were wine tastings at the wineries we stopped off at, so we managed to stop off at plenty of them: Golden Beaver, Rustico, Cassini Cellars, Inniskillin, and Jackson-Triggs. Neither one of us were anything close to a wine connaisseur, so we were joking around by swirling the wine, smelling it, tasting it, and thinking hard before saying "this wine is... good". The people selling the wine were nice enough to answer many of the questions that we had, and I think we learned a lot today about the wine industry. Too bad that we were drinking too much wine to remember it all! We all had a lot of fun on this tour!

We stopped in Okanagan Falls (or OK Falls, according to the locals) for ice cream at Ticleberry's for some crazy flavoured ice cream flavours like carrot cake, cinnamon bun, paydoh, apple pie, etc. We camped in town, had a large fire and roasted sausages, drank some more wine, and listened to Johnny cash all night.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned

Distance travelled today: 62.06 km

Total distance travelled: 939.13 km

Starting point: Osoyoos, at a private campground

Our Route: Highway 97 north the whole way. The shoulders were excellent all day.

Ending point: Okanagan Falls, at a private campground

• Oliver is the wine capital of Canada because it has the highest concentraition of wineries
• Apparently, Inniskillin put Canada on the map for Ice Wines
• Ice wines grapes need to be picked and processed at temperatures below 8°C.
• There are no falls in OK Falls. There used to be a small one, but it has since been dammed.

Rodeo! Yeeehawww!

We started cycling today into a very strong headwind. We were drafting off each other, but we were going pretty slow so we decided to stop off in Keremeos for second breakfast at a fruit stand. Unfortunately most fruits aren't in season, and I'm sure this area would be much different if we were to do this in July or August. We still feasted, though, with blueberries, cherries, bread, locally made jam, sugar cane, bananas, and apples. We noticed that there were signs for a rodeo that was happening in town this long weekend, so we went to check it out.

Nicole and I have never been to a rodeo before, and Travis had only been to the Calgary Stampede and we all wanted to see what a small town rodeo would be like. Luckily, it was just getting started as we got there. It was quite the scene. It seemed like a stereotypical rodeo with cowboys everywhere and everyone dressed in such attire - but this is how they live. It's a strange though to compare this to the concrete jungle and think that this is the same country. We were wathcing the bull riding, which was very entertaining, and I was wondering how this event came about. How people thought that it would be a great idea to jump on a beast and try to stay on as long as possible while it tried to launch you off. It was cool to watch, but we left at 2pm so we could try to catch the Habs game in Osoyoos. Unfotrunately the wind didn't really die down and it was very brutal. We were drafting and killing ourselves to maintain 20 km/h. Nicole's knee was acting up, so her and I went slower and Travis sped up to try to catch the game. It was nice going slow and enjoying the views along the rolling hills, and even stopping by the spotted lake, which is very strange. There were also many crosses along the way, and it's a scary thought to think about all those accidents and unfortunate events.

As we were biking, someone stopped th their car and told us that our frind had bike troubles (his chain was wedged in between the chainrings) so they gave him a lift into town and we could meet up with him there. Nicole and I walked into the pub to meet Travis just in time to see the Habs lose, and we stayed, had a few pitchers and chatted with the bartender about Osoyoos. We ended up spending the night at Waterslide campground (the water slide wasn't open then - what a shame), had some great pizza and had some more beers with someone else staying on the campground.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned
Distance travelled today: 83.41 km
Total distance travelled: 877.07 km
Starting point: Just before Keremeos, by the side of the road
Our Route: Highway 3 (Crowsnest) the whole way. The shoulders were excellent all day.
Ending point: Osoyoos, at a private campground

• Mountain goats aren't actually goats at all - they're antelopes.
• Osoyoos is Canada's only desert.
• The poulation of Osoyoos triples during the summer time.
  

Along the Crowsnest

After yesterday's summit, we were expecting a day of downhills, at least into Princeton, but little did we know that there was another summit up ahead. It wasn't as big, but when you're expecting downhills, it seemed like a slap in the face. On the downhills, however, we were drafting again and maintained above 40 km/h. We were flying! After the summit, the mountains suddenly opened up to a valley below - Princeton. There was a great downhill, winding in circles to reduce the grade, but it was still very steep. As we were circling around, the road was in the middle of steep drops on either side, a valley to the North and mounatins everywhere else. The view was phenominal! We even crossed a family of deer along the way, which was pretty cool to see.

We decided to have a large lunch in Princeton and let our stuff dry out. We stopped at a park, and the sunshine was very kind to us, especially after the snow only a few hours ago. The meal of ham sandwiches, grapes, strawberries, cookie dough, and of course, chocolate milk really filled us up.

The ride out of Princeton was magnificant. We went along the Crowsnest towards Osoyoos, and we passed a buch of ranches, so we thought it would be a good idea to stop and pet the horses. They're formidable animals. I've never really had many enounters with them, so it was a cool experience to pet them by the side of the road. We were cycling along a river in a valley, surrounded by mountains and cliffsides all around us. Some of the mountains even seemed fake - almost as if they were models or paintings. It was both calming and humbling to be within this area, and it was probably my favourite landscape so far on this trip.

We set up camp early today by the side of the road (read: free) and we were just lying in the tent and chatting for a bit before bedtime. All I was thinking as I went to sleep was that I'm very happy being here and I'm glad to be doing this trip.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned
Distance travelled today: 126.78 km
Total distance travelled: 793.66 km
Starting point: EC Manning Provincial Park, by the side of the road just past Allison Pass Summit
Our Route: Highway 3 (Crowsnest) the whole way. The shoulders were pretty bad until we were just outside Princeton, where they got much better for the rest of the day.
Ending point: Just before Keremeos, by the side of the road.

• It's amazing how quickly a headwind can turn into a tailwind & vice versa when winding through the mountains.

Let it snow!

This morning we tested drafting off of each other, which worked really well. We kept the speed above 30 km/h for a long time. It felt like we were doing windsprints though, and I was tiring myself out too much to maintain for the whole day. While drafting, I had my first real scare of the trip. I had just finished leading, and Nicole and Travis were passing me when Nicole cut in too early and he pannier knocked into my handle bar. We both lost control, and I had to swerve on the road to maintain balance. Luckily there were no cars coming, and we were able to stay on our bikes and there were no wipeouts.

We stopped in Hope for lunch, and looking at the mountains up ahead, there was a rain storm that was about to come in. This would be our first real outdoor day with precipitation. One of the guys in town was telling us that we should stay in town for a couple of hours to wait for the storm to blow by, but the three of us wanted to test out our rain gear and we were excited to were really excited to bike through it.

Just out of Hope and entering Manning Park, there was a great 6 km uphill. The scenery was great with the mountains and the clouds covering parts of the mountians (especially since we almost got level with the clouds). however, we did know that Allison Pass Summit was coming up. After the first big hill, the terrain was rolly, and we didn't want there to be any more downhills since we knew that we would be climbing right back up them and more. It was also difficult to regulate temperature since it was getting colder as we were getting higher, but we were sweating coming up the hills and freezing coming down them.

Climbing up Allison Pass Summit, Nicole's knee was starting to act up, and Travis and I were exhausted. It was such a long uphill, and to make matters worse, it started to snow! So there we were, chugging uphill at no more than 10 km/h for what seemed to be forever, and we saw a sign in the distance. It was the sign for the summit! I was so happy to see that!

Afterwards, the downhill was pretty painful and cold with the wind blowing so much snow in our faces (we wore sunglasses so we could actually keep our eyes open) that we had to stop early and set up camp by the side of the road. We got set up fast, had a large hot meal and went to sleep.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned
Distance travelled today: 105.10 km
Total distance travelled: 666.88 km
Starting point: Campground in Harrison Hot Springs
Our Route: We went back on Highway 9 to Highway 7 through to Hope. We then hopped on the Crowsnest Highway (Hwy 3) for the rest of the day. There was great shoulder and road up until Highway 3. There were great shoulders on the uphills for Highway 3, but it was very cracked at other points.

Ending point: EC Manning Provincial Park, by the side of the road just past Allison Pass Summit

• It's not always sunny in Sunshine Valley. Talk about false advertisement! I was dissapointed.
• Total black bears seen so far: 4
• Allison Pass Summit: 1342 m.

Mission for Hope

We were aiming to cycle a long way to Hope, BC today, but it took far too long to get out of the city. It's amazing how much a little traffic and traffic lights can slow down your average speed. Travis had his first flat tire and broken spoke just as we left the greater Vancouver area, which made for a great hour and a half rest.

The scenery through Highway 7 was amazing. There were meadows and farmlands surrounded by mountains. As always, the pictures never do the place justice. Our mission for Hope failed due to the delays, but we got close and ended up camping in Harrison Hot Springs at a private campground. There were tons of RVs there and a lot of families - makes sense due to the May long weekend. I don't know if it's just a BC thing, but there always seems to be more RVs than tents at these campgrounds.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned

Distance travelled today: 158.30 km

Total distance travelled: 561.78 km

Starting point: Bruce's place, in West Vancouver

Our Route: We went back through Stanley Park and went on Cordova Street, where there was a bike lane. When that ended, we went on Hastings Street which turned into Inlet Drive,and turned onto St Johns Street, which became Highway 7. We stayed on Highway 7 for a long time until we met up with Highway 9 that took us to Harrison Hot Springs. The roads were paved the whole way, and there were good shoulders at some places, decent at others, bad in other places, and nonexistent in some places (mostly through towns).
Ending point: Campground in Harrison Hot Springs

• Travis had his first flat tire and broken spoke
• My new max speed: 65.1 km/h
• I guess it's worth mentionning that, ever since Victoria, every single time we go to a grocery store, it's tradition to get a flavoured milk (chocolate, vanilla, chocolate orange, orange, strawberry, coffee, etc.) and drink it as soon as we leave the store.

Getting ready to leave Vancouver

Travis had his big phone interview today, and Nicole and I were sorting out our stuff to be ready to bike again. It's been so long since we've cycled, especially since this is a cycling trip. Bruce and Lori have been so great to us, letting us stay at their place for so long and being so hospitable throughout our stay! We decided to cook them dinner once again to thank them. A few of Travis' cousins came over, and we had a big pizza party with his family. We were now ready to cycle once again and put in some mileage!

Mountain Biking

Again, the weather was very good to us as we were outside. Today we went back to Whistler village to go mountain biking. The bikes they use are crazy! I've never seen such wide tires and I've never been on a bike with both front and rear suspension - I was bouncing up and down just pedalling to the chair lift. We were geared up in enough safety equipment that would suffice for ice hockey. I did a year of mountain biking at UofT, and although it took a few runs for me to get completely comfortable. They had some great runs, like "Oriental Express" which was very technically difficult with many roots, rocks, and narrow passages, or "Crank It" which was full of jumps, one after the next. I liked Crank It the best, and we were just juicing it on some of the trails. I had so much fun, and I was surprised with how much abuse these bikes must go through. While we were going, we kept on reverting back to our rule from the West Coast Trail, which was modified to be "don't get injured". By the end, we were riding some blue trails, but we ended up on a black diamond run for a little section by the end. On our way back from the mountain, Kevin had his sister's CD in the car, so we blasted "I've Had the Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing with the windows down and the four of us singing along as we passed people on the highway. It was pretty obnoxious, but hiarious nonetheless! I would like to say a huge thanks to the De Muszka family for letting us stay in their Chalet! We had a great time in Whistler because of them!

For lunch, we had ants on a log since Travis had never heard about it before. We're going to have to teach him the wonders of peanut butter before the trip is over. We headed back to Vancouver, and it started to rain. Kevin stopped by at some lookouts and at Shannon Falls to show us the scenery, but it was cloudy and foggy, so it was difficult to see too much. We ended up staying at Bruce and Lori's place again, which was really great. They're great people who are always smiling and seem happy.