A Single Bound

Our long drive was quickly co-opted with the need for an authentic Canadian Lunch. We quickly determined that the car's gps app was no good at finding that, so we searched nearby restaurants. ORANGE JULIUS came up on the list and nostalgia once again won the day. We followed the directions and ended up at a mall. The strip mall directory had no listing and so Orange Julius was abandoned in favor of what smelled good. However, we did get our Canadian food wish by stopping by Tim Horton's in the mall.

Timbits were purchased. Apple Fritter deliciousness was had. I recommend them if you're ever in Canada.

Resumed driving and visible across the valley was the Olympic Village that dad had been regailing us with stories about. We went and as he remembered, they were running attractions out of the place.

We first tried the "Luge" go-kart experience.

Mom likened it to Mario Kart. They sit you down in a sled with wheels and send you down a track. Roger was pretty certain this wouldn't have passed liability requirements in the states. SUPER FUN! We got going pretty damn fast and every had a smile on their faces at the bottom.

We were going to also jump in the lines for the zip line and bobsled rides, but time requirements prevented and so we plan to come back.

Drove the rest of the way to Banff, where our first hotel is. Pretty views ensued.

I snagged the first wildlife sighting of a deer, but as we were going so fast, no one else saw. They suspect my truthfulness. :) We stopped by some local attractions such as Bow Falls,

the Banff Springs Hotel and the nearby golf course.

Dad touted this course as field of elk, but unfortunately we saw nothing. Headed back, checked in and ate dinner at the hotel. Were headed back to our rooms just as a torrential thunderstorm started.

It cleared up in about an hour. Just what I wanted out of the trip. Would have been nice to actually see the lightning though. :/

Mileage: 1,920.0 km

6/30/2013 : The First Ride, or what the hell have we gotten ourselves in to.

Had breakfast at the hotel with lousier than usual service. Then it was off to the parking lot to pick up our bikes. This went without incident save for the COMPLETE LACK OF PEDALS on my bike. Jokes were had and I got them after all. Tried drop handlebars for the first time and was wobbly but Roger advised and I got started. Obligatory pic of me geared up...

Headed out to our first scenic destination of Bow Falls and were *WRECKED* by the first major uphill. A combination of altitude and being unfamiliar with the bikes had all of us gasping for breath. We sucked it up and got to the downhill. I spotted the second wildlife of the trip as a coyote tried to cross the road before me. He chickened out and headed back into the woods. Just after that, we got to the overlook for the falls and the Banff Springs Hotel again.

The picture doesn't do the view justice. (this will be a running theme of the trip)

All this time, my hands had been killing me from the drop handlebars adjustment. I figured it was just pain from learning a new thing, but at the bottom of the downhill, we had the tour guide take a look. He made several adjustments to the bike and it was much better after. The family had gone ahead and the guide, Cam and I took off to catch up. My proudest moment of the day was turning down his offer to let me draft the way there. I said I wanted to earn it. :) He approved.

Got to Lake Minnewanka without further incident. On the way in, Dad spied a Bighorn Sheep at least a 1/3 of a kilometer away. We caught a glimpse, but as we got close enough to verify he had already taken off into the trees. The lake sported more gorgeous views of the spillway, the lake itself and the surrounding mountains. Jess also got very artsy with our bikes

But on the way to all these we ran into our first major (non-squirrel) up-close family creature sighting. On the way over the dam, we ran into a small herd of lady sheep and one male. He had the characteristic massive curly horns around his head.

They also smelled as bad as you'd expect of wild sheep.

On the way back from the majestic views, the sheep had taken to blocking the road. Roger and I tried unsuccessfully to herd them onto the shoulder with our bikes.

We headed back to the picnic spot for lunch and after some meandering, finally found it. Lunch was great and accompanied by some tasty sparkling lemonade.

Afterwards, everyone had the minor gripes about their bikes adjusted. Mostly gear shifting issues and after the guide looked at mine I took it for a test drive. Bear in mind, I'd been having issues with the gears not getting hard enough to be good on downhills and so was pacing with Mom. Well, as I tested the bike, I played with the front gears and learned I had been shifting them wrong. Or I should say backwards. I had been riding all morning in the easiest 1/3 of the gears and thusly not able to get any speed up. Boo.

So, we headed back along the road towards Bow falls and the golf course. Family as normal. Me as a BAT OUT OF HELL!!!

This was the same route as the drive the day before, but we wanted to see wildlife again. Rode all the way until road closure. Bikes were allowed past, so we continued until it was washed out. Didn't see any wildlife there, but had a nice view of the Bow River.

On our way back however, we were pleasantly surprised. At the road closure intersection, we happend upon a herd of 15 elk moms and babies. Very cute, but dangerous enough that we kept our distance.

The road back to town afterwards was steep but blessedly brief. We split up at downtown, Jess, Roger and me to shop for stuff and the parents to head to the hotel. There were cute stores.

We were there for about 30 mins and then I headed back alone. As I arrived back at the hotel, I saw Mom pulling in to the parking lot on her bike. They had taken a wrong turn on the way back and done an extra 2 kilometers of the HARDEST HILLS OF THE DAY. They got credit for being awesomer than the rest of us.

Mileage: 32.48km

Parent's Mileage: 34.48km

7/1/2013 : Happy Canada Day!

Packed up and started the trek to what will arguably be the fanciest hotel of the trip... The Post Hotel. Morning was a simple ride. Went along this minor lake.

Notable for the toddler splashing around with her dog wearing nothing but a biking helmet. Canada is very serious about safety.

Arrived at the lunch stop. Optional hike here was to a local waterfall, so Jess, Roger and I decided to go. Mom decided poorly and stayed behind to provide lunch for the local mosquito population. I led us onto a sketchy trail that ended up deadend in a landslide. Jess and Roger wisely dismissed my advice halfway through and so I had to jog back to catch up with them. Along the way, I was accosted by one of the local begging-chipmunks. It came right up to my feet looking for food. Not quick enough on the camera to get a picture of it even after I coaxed it back to a nearby rock.

We arrived at the waterfall and the accompanying cave leading directly to the splash pool. It was FREEZING in there, but felt nice after the heat of the day and the long hike.

After lunch, we set off on the uphill horror of the rest of the day. Fun part of this was the roads were still closed from the recent rains. Backroads got a pass for us to travel it so there weren't any cars.

Found a very scenic site to celebrate Canada Day in our proper local garb.

The hills ended up wrecking us and by the time we reached the end of the closure, we gratefully grabbed the shuttle. Carly was nice enough to drive us up to Lake Morraine so we could see the attraction that was too steep for us to bike.

Very pretty.

Dinner, however, was the highlight of the trip so far. The Post Hotel's restaurant is as high-class as they come. Yes, I'm looking at you Lawry's. The appetizers we ordered consisted of Lobster and Champagne risotto, a delicious melon soup, a King Crab salad and Foi Gras. Main course was Veal Medallions in a stroganoff sauce, Duck, Bison steak and Halibut. Really wish I'd been that guy who takes pictures of his meals. It's my new favorite restaurant.

The rest of the family opted for a tour of the wine cellar after the meal.

It apparently sports $2 million in total wine dollars. However, it has segregated rooms for Whites and Bordeauxs. So much for progress...

Mileage: 48.0km

7/2/2013 : The Long Ascent

Had breakfast and left the Post Hotel. Dad and I on bikes, Roger, Jess and Mom on the van. The ride up to Lake Louise was a fairly brutal uphill for 2km (hence the shuttle). But Dad and I survived! The lake itself was very pretty.

It was very warm. I needed to cool off. And all that climbing made for an amazing downhill on the return trip. The rest of the day continued with pretty much no downhill sections. Still punishing, but not as bad as the morning. Got to the lunch stop at the Hector Lake viewpoint. As picturesque as you'd expect...

Continued up and the first really interesting thing of the day happened. I had stopped to rest, but noticed traffic and blinking lights ahead. Figuring this meant wildlife, I high-tailed it to the crowd. By the time I got there, it was just Wildlife Patrol, but they pointed out the BLACK BEAR that they just coaxed off the road. Bear was just shuffling through the meadow, but Roger and I both got to see it.

Further biking was buoyed by the bear-sighting and we quickly arrived at the Num-Ti-Jah lodge. A gorgeous hotel right on the bank of Bow Lake.

Here's the view from my room.

I had planned to ice my legs after the day's ride but as we're right off the shore of this incredible glacial-fed lake, Roger and I went swimming.

The Japanese tourist group all took pictures of the stupid Americans. It was the best horrible-idea I'd had so far. Not sure if it does, but I'm hoping this qualifies us for honorary Polar Bear Club membership.

Mileage: 47.5km

Roger/Jess/Mom's mileage: 43.2km :)

7/3/2013 : The Cold Wind Blows

Packed up our bags and said goodbye to the shifty moose and forlorn bear at Num-Ti-Jah lodge.

The beginning of the day was 4k of uphill to the Peyto Lake viewpoint. Took some pointing out before I could agree it looks like a wolf.

While there we were accosted by bugs and the local chipmunk population. They've apparently grown brave and strong from previous victories over the asian tourists who visit. This one guy snagged a banana peel from us and refused to be shooed away.

And then followed the day of downhills. Which had too much uphill to live up to its name. Roger and I enjoyed blistering speeds of 60kph on some stretches. And there were, again, amazing views of the Rockies. But mostly uphills. And afterwards the satisfaction of finishing. But mostly exhaustion.

We decided to skip the optional crazy climb to the hotel and the hike at the end of today. Instead, taking the tour of the glacier at the Columbia Icefields. Very fun trip. They bus you up to a staging area on the rocky morraine next to the glacier, then transfer you to a massive "ice explorer". In effect a bus with really large tires.

Must resist temptation to say the glacier was cool... It was humbling sitting on top of a thousand year old moving chunk of ice. But also refreshing. It was a warm enough week that the glacier had been melting and so streams of pure water were everywhere. Hands down the best water I've ever had.

Dinner followed. Round table Chinese food, plenty of good stories and nice group of people.

Mileage: 65.4km (I've besmirched Jess' good name by forgetting that she did hills today and so I owe her a public apology. SORRY!!!

Parent's mileage: 59.6km

7/4/2013 : Metric Century!

Left the Icefields early. Spent a nice hour and a half talking to Jess during the beginning portion of the ride. Saw some nice lakes and views, but nothing namable.

Spotted a deer sitting in the woods as we neared the picnic spot.

I took off to get to the picnic and apparently missed the best sighting of the day. The rest of the group got treated to a black bear trying to cross the road! (yes, I know, it's brownish)

Which was rather perfect, since they missed the first one.

We arrived a the picnic spot just as it started to rain. Everyone's else's plan was to hop the shuttle back to the hotel. I decided to keep going as there was another 30k of doable ride before the major uphills. So, I did. Went to the next landmark which was the Athabasca Falls.

And that's where the trouble began. I interpreted the instructions wrong and got back on the same highway to Jasper. Which was totally where I needed to get. Just not the route they intended. 2k out, I questioned the decision. Gave it some serious thought 5k later. Fortunately, when I decided to check the instructions a third time, 10k from the falls, the support van finally caught up to me. As I guessed, the road would get me there eventually. So, once again, I set out... rain be damned... and rode a metric century.

The initial route included about 2.5k of uphills at the 90k mark. I figured I'd quit then, but my route instead had minimal hills. Ended up being able to ride the whole thing. Awesome way to end the trip. Leave it all on the pavement.

This last biking night ended at the Jasper Park Lodge. Super fancy hotel. The parents have a pool table in their shared common room's basement.

Mileage: 106.34km

Everyone else's mileage: 68.4km

7/5/2013 : Freezing river adventure!

And we had an even earlier morning today to get ready for the rafting tour. They drove us up the river, gave us wetsuits and life preservers and began the canned patter. (The glacier tour had better) After the safety lecture, we were in the water. The rapids weren't terribly difficult, but still extremely fun.

And there was lots of paddling for Roger.

After drying off, we all piled into the vans for the 4 hour trip to Banff. We stopped at a mystery lake for lunch. Then we took another stop at Num-Ti-Jah for drinks. And then made it backk. We said goodbye to everyone at Banff.

And for dinner, Carolyn joined us for Sushi Train. I'd done conveyor belt sushi before and this was just as fun.

A good way to wrap up the official trip festivities. The 6 days seemed just the right amount of time.

Mileage: 150km

7/6/2013 : Day off

No pictures for this one. We took the day off. Dad stayed in to rest. Mom, Jess, Roger and I went to see Despicable Me 2.

Okay, one picture... Then they did some minor shopping around Banff. And we had an early dinnner at The Bison. Again, delicious food. Then Ocean's 12 while trying to pack.

Mileage: ~0km