Author: Rich

NR09: Crowsnest Pass

Posted on August 11, 2017October 7, 2017 by Rich

I meet Phil and Jack at the continental breakfast this morning and Phil’s twittering about something. He’s gotten Facebook-messaged by the girl that beckoned to us to have a beer at The Bull Run pub 2 days ago. Something about how she wants to hook up with him. Phil investigates and surmises that she is a working girl. Wow. Phil decides the only way she could have gotten his contact information is through the credit card transaction. Jack and I convene this morning to examine our ride plan. The original plan has us riding 15 straight days but we

NR08: The Elk River

Posted on August 10, 2017September 13, 2017 by Rich

A great sleep here by Lake Koocanusa. Chipmunks are buzzing outside our tents in the morning. Breakfast of champions – Starbucks coffee and Pop Tarts. It’s 2.5 miles up to exit the park, but nothing too bad. Jack wonders aloud what the word Ponderosa means. We know it as a type of pine, oh yeah, and that ranch in Bonanza. [I later looked it up – it means “heavy” in Italian, as in strong and powerful.] Out onto Kikomun Newgate Road and we find a not-so-subtle headwind. We plow straight into it, adding in some hills. Maybe 15 mph in the

NR07: Christmas Lights

Posted on August 9, 2017September 24, 2017 by Rich

Today was simply a great day on the bike all day. Snack breakfast in camp, iced coffee from the c-store. Fifteen miles down the road we stop in Skookumchuck at its lone store. A pretty Scandanavian blond all dressed in black sells me 2 candy bars, and we end up playing with a cat out front for a while. We decide to ride 11.5 miles further to Wasa for lunch. Nope. Both restaurants there are closed. The pub there is supposed to open at 11am but the hour comes and goes and no one shows up. A c-store is the

NR06: Columbia River Valley

Posted on August 8, 2017September 11, 2017 by Rich

After settling in last night, adjacent campers arrived who were, you know, the kind of neighbors you pray you don’t get. Nit-wit noisy novice inexperienced. Fussing with every little article, bleating out endless stupid questions and banal answers. “Where did you put the ketchup?” “Didn’t we bring toilet paper?” “How does this table work?” “I can’t find the water.” They complained that Jack’s tent, located well off their setup, possibly encroached their campsite, that their boundary was defined by a tree they arbitrarily selected, so he shouldn’t be there. They played bad music. Quiet hour at this campground didn’t start until

NR05: Smoky Kootenay NP

Posted on August 7, 2017September 12, 2017 by Rich

As planned, up early, and out by 7:15AM. I’m running slowly this morning. I slept well, but once up, I just felt sluggish. Sluggish packing up. Sluggish on the bike. Jack and Phil are soon far ahead of me. No worries. In those situations I just relax, relish where I am and make sure to enjoy the roll. A sign for Numa Falls had me pull over to examine, but the site is closed due to renovation of a bridge. I dilly-dally anyway, taking photos, stretching out the morning. We all knew we’d encounter smoke today and had talked about

NR04: Change of Plans

Posted on August 6, 2017September 10, 2017 by Rich

Awoke about 6AM and connected to the bcdrive website. 93 is still closed but an updated report is due at 6:27AM. Lo and behold when the report was issued, they’d opened up the road on an hour-by-hour basis. Hmmm… Eggs, potatoes, sausage, toast, and coffee at the cafe. Alpine Centre hostel is a very fine place to stay when you’re in town. At breakfast we set our day’s plan: . take the Bow Valley Parkway out-and-back to Banff, as originally planned, but… . take a look at the entrance to 93 at Castle Junction to see if it was open

NR03: Lake Louise

Posted on August 5, 2017September 6, 2017 by Rich

Man, real cold this morning! Gotta be in the low 40s. Don’t wanna get up! But we’re out by 8:30 or so for a snack breakfast and tear down, and off we go. The original ride plan had us going 80 miles today, but our efforts the past 2 days have reduced that to less than 40. A nice easy day for sure. We stop almost immediately at the other Waterfowl Lake a little south of us, and hike a few hundred yards down to the lakefront. Absolutely stunning. The still waters reflect a beautiful steep mountain (Howse Peak) illuminated

NR02: Banff National Park

Posted on August 4, 2017September 4, 2017 by Rich

Nice last night – rain on the tentfly. Makes the sleeping that much better. Seems like it cooled things down a lot too. We’re all up by 7 and ready to go by 8, and I bet it was in the high 40s maybe. In checking our maps, we note “only” 17 miles to breakfast, but oh my. This segment takes us up on a brutal climb to the Glacier Skywalk tourist attraction. We’re talking a sustained 9-10% grade, actually one of the toughest I’ve encountered. The views around here are stunning, including lakes, icefields, glaciers, alpine forest, monstrous mountains. It’s hard

NR01: Jasper National Park

Posted on August 3, 2017September 11, 2017 by Rich

The four of us get up early, pack the vehicles, and complete an hourlong drive to Jasper. I kept watching the car thermometer, noticing it dip into the low 40s in the low spots. Brrr. We soon find ourselves in the town of Jasper. Touristy but not nearly as crowded as I might have imagined. Bikes are readied and panniers loaded. Time to get this thing started! Linda takes a group photo and heads off on her own, with a plan to golf and spa her way around British Columbia for a couple weeks. I know she’s going to love this

Six Days to the Start

Posted on August 2, 2017August 25, 2017 by Rich

Finally on the road and headed north in the SUV. We met with Phil earlier this week and he brought over his bike and almost all his gear, holding back just enough to fly with. Jack will fly from Atlanta with his boxed bicycle and gear to Calgary. Phil will fly from Chicago to Phoenix to Calgary as well. From there we’ll all meet up in Edson Alberta, not far from our start point in Jasper. Linda and I took our sweet time, taking six full days of driving and golfing to get there. Non-stop drive the first day to Provo