who put that Hill there !!

Province # 2

Golden Travelodge - Banff (the Y Hostel)
Day 11, Dist., 126.7km., Avg. spd. 20.4, Sadde Time, 6:11
05 28 2011

Climbing out of Golden saw road construction (just as my reliable source (Kerry P Marshall) had warned me of. This was a hairy ride down narrow twisty dirty roads. Once it opened up, though, it was nice. Spectacular views of the Kicking Horse River and surroundings. One hell of a bridge too. I caught up to a pair of travellers also heading to NFLD. Two young lads both riding "Surly Long Haul Truckers" also (mine is nicer) They each were pulling "Bob Trailers". Cool setup, but a tad slow. Maybe they were simply on "Veg. Mode".  I descended into a little town called Field.  A product of the railway line. I didn't look around but went to the Info Centre and asked the lovely ladies about camping in Lake louise. They stood quiet with an "Are You F***'n Nuts !" look on their faces.  So I guess it's Banff for sure.
The climb outta Field was Biblical.  At 1661 metres it's the most notable climb of my entire trip. I was caught off gaurd, but was happy for the cooler temperatures.  Sometimes the road plays tricks with your eyes. After staring at the tarmac for extended periods of time it can appear to be levelling off when in reality, it is still climbing. This drove me insane as it seemed to go on forever. AAAAAAARRRGGGHH !
Finally, it levelled off at Lake Louise (was freezing here) From this point, it was a smooth gradual descent into Banff which was an awesome reward. I think I even had a bit of a tail wind.  AAAAAAHHHH !!!

The town has an animal security fence around it and a "cattle gaurd" or "Texas Gate" at the entrance and  then another one further down. I thought it might be cool to ride with speed over this thing. A road bike weighing 100lbs, plus 190lbs rider hitting a series of 6 inch steel cylinders laying across the roadway and spaced 4 inches apart for about 10 feet is less than enjoyable. Maybe similar to driving a tireless car along a railroad at 40 km/hour. You may spill your coffee.
Banff is a nice little town, but obviously capitallizes on the tourism industry as everything is expensive. As far as "mountain towns go, I preferred Revelstoke. It had charm but without the Bling. More down to earth.
I got myself a private room at the Y for $ 88.00. (like I said, expensive) The room seemed more like a jail cell, but it did the job. After settling in, I did the tourist walk around town and took a few pics.
I bumped in to the young lads that I met in Revelstoke. They were going to stay in the campground. I should've done that too, but I am a wimp who is afraid of the below zero morning wake up call. Yes, I feel guilty.

Anyway, my room had wi fi so I could update things and I found beer to aid in that task.

Messy map

Ready to blow Golden 

Looking down at Golden as I head out, thankfully. HWC is still sleeping. Notice how patient my gloves are. Just sitting there waiting quietly. Nice.  

Ready to get the hell outta Golden !!

Beyond the Construction around Golden

Interesting Rock formation

Kickinghorse River

..."Let's put a road, ... Here !"

I love the name "Yoho" My next cat will be adorned with this designation.

Two more SURLY LONG HAUL TRUCKERS with BOB Trailers !! Sweet

Didn't stay long. Didn't know about the big hill that was to come very soon.

Anyone for a dip ?

Not stayin here. Damn Bears !

Lots of these along hwy.

Banff's back yard

Marcy and Donna

Texas Gate, not cool for cycling. Downright Nasty actually.  Yes, from experience. sigh...

Yup

Home. SUPER OVERPRISED ! I got a jail cell for $ 90.00

Well... the closets are dandy and the marble concrete floor is to die for and the industrial self - slamming and locking door is very intimate indeed.

View Larger Map  A very interesting ride

Rest for the Wicked

Day 10, Travelodge Motel Golden-Travelodge Motel Golden
Dist., 0km Saddle time, 0hrs:0min. Avg. Spd., 0km. Rating: crap
Rest Day #1 !!!


Well, yes, after a lot of debating with highwaycat, we finally agreed to take a rest day. I suppose that I'm OK with this decision, after all, we have 1057 km logged during the 9 days pedalling. If the weather hadn't forced campground closures and all went according to plan, we would be in Banff or East of said town. Oh well, what's done is done. Besides, yesterday's Evil Headwind from Hell was fresh in my brain.
Raining and a bit chilly in Golden today. Don't care.
I took some time to walk around the town and see what's up. Not a whole lot, but at least I got to use some different muscles for a change. I checked out Golden Municipal Campground- Camp - This was where I had planned on staying originally before pulling out the "Get outta hell whimp card". It is situated along the Kickinghorse River and in a semi-residential area across fom a rec. facility. What I found interesting, was that they had a bike rental setup with a vending kiosk that allows payment and retrieval of a funky bike. There were around 6 bikes available. Very progressive Golden !
I had my second encounter with wildlife as I left the campground. It was all black except that the end of the tail was white. It came towards me from behind a bush at blinding speed. I mighty hunter indeed ! This beast was about the size of a house cat. That's what it was, a house cat. Noisy little fuzz and super friendly. We chatted for a minute or two, then we both went on our seperate paths.
Meoooowwww...
Today, was also a good time to clean Surly Shirley, as she got all muddy from the snowshed earlier.

One of Golden's fine folk

The town climber

Golden Municipal Campground, no security here  

Bike rental system

Local wildlife

Travelodge

Surly Shirley gets all sudsy

Bicycle vending machine, Golden Mun. Camp 

Golden Municipal Camp

 Golden
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Batterred, but not Beaten

Day 9, Glacier Park Lodge - Golden (Travelodge motel)
 Dist. 81.5 km., Saddle Time, 4 hr., Avg. spd 19.6 km/hr. Rating: Deplorable
Thursday, May 26, 2011
After waking to a cold wet morning, I decided to drag my heals and wait for a rise in the thermometer. after checking some road and weather stats., I headed to the vast, empty dining area for a healthy plate 'o' vittles. I secured the 3 egg ham/cheese/veggie omlette (combination pizza basically) and a few cups of Joe as I stared blankly out the window at the cold rain... sigh. I think I saw Jack Nicholson limping around the grounds outside...
   Last night I heard strange noises out my window. A cross between an Owl and a Wolf. Perhaps it was the ellusive Owlwolf . No one has ever seen a live one, however, there is a famous grainy photo circulating amongst people in the know.
   I finally rolled out at 11am !! Turns out,  I'm way overdressed.  It was cold as hell earlier...
The road out was a downhill, then a mix of rolling slopes and flats.  Finally there was a worthy
downhill. The road conditions are great except for a Debris Field  that was being cleaned up by workers and their machines. More climbing, then across a river and all Hell broke loose...
    Dark grey clouds moved in. Winds picked up and so did the freezing rain. After seeing the "22 km to Golden", things got much worse. The gusts were so powerful that I could barely keep from going over the edge or into traffic. I was riding on a flat stretch of road parallel to a river. This roadway acted as a conduit for the winds. Periodically I would be delivered a gift in the form of wind break generously offered by the odd stand of trees. Otherwise I was dealt fluctuating cross winds that kept me guessing.    At first, I was afraid, then I was annoyed, then I was angry. I tried to use my anger as a power motivator. Turns out that swearing at the headwind has no effect. This was depleting my energy stores quickly. I was getting worried. I tried walking, but that was too difficult. Also, every time I came to a distance sign, the numbers seemed to increase as I forged onward. It was like a sadistic prank. Was I heading to an infinite finish line ?

Anyway, after powering through 20km in 2 horrendous hours, I found "Tim Hortons" on my horizon line. How fitting eh? There's always a Tim Hortons at the entrance or Exit to a town. Or both. After around 30 min. sitting there,  my hands warmed up  enough to order food. I drew some attention as I was the only person with "Crazy-Eye Syndrome". The violent shaking was eye catching too.

Once ready, I went back out and skipped the Municipal Campground, securing the Travelodge Motel. Mother Nature had me beat.
The location was prime, as the liquor store was acoss the street. .. BEEEEERR ! !
A bike shop (Summit Cycles) and the Grocery Store were down the street also.
Here are some gloomy pics... I didn't take any during the storm because I was focused on surviving instead.

                   Are you the guy making those strange noises last night. Are you "Owlwolf" ?

Leaving Rogers Summit and the Evil Lodge

Shed 5 of 8

I love snow sheds ...

Sunny day

Party in a Snowshed

Tunnel architecture

Black bear lunching

Brutal headwind and freezing rain. Chasing windbreak to windbreak. A bad situation. 

Wimping out ...

Lovely

Across the street. Too easy

A bad day yields poor behaviour... or does it.

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Going Up ?

Day 8, Lamplighter Camp - Glacier Park Lodge (Rogers Pass Summit)
Distance, 73km., Saddle time, 4:49 Avg. speed, 15km/hr

So, I was up early this morning to ensure a proper prep. and pack up. I was nervous about today's ride because of the uncertainty around road and weather conditions. It's a lenghty winter, so there is a good deal of avalanche aftermath and a high concentration of hungry bears. All camping is closed until Field BC which is too far and risky for my level of touringness.  So, today will be a short ride...
I took this ride as I have done all previous rides, slow and easy in case of unplanned misshaps. I took around 3.5 hours to climb from the Mount Revelstoke National Park entrance sign.(4:49 from camp) The road conditions were good, with a wide shoulder for most of it. The 3 snowsheds that I passed through were not as dangerous as I thought they would be. (not to say that they are fine for cycling either) I took some time to take a few pics and stopped for a sandwich break 2 thirds of the way up.
Once I got to within around 10km out, the conditions changed. It turned much colder, and a headwind materialized. At 1 km out the cold rain hit, so, now I was ready to pack it in. Took some pics and got myself a room in the near empty Lodge. It had so few guests that it was kind of creepy, reminded me of the movie "The Shining" with Jack Nicholson. ... Shining Trailer
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” 
" Here'sssssssssss Seannnyyy !! 

                                                     Leaving the hamlet near Revelstoke

Bye Bye Revelstoke

Mount Revelstoke Park entrance. All's quiet

Scenery

Going up ... 

Snowshed 1 of 3 (5 more later)

With bike lights. I took oncomming lane. Highwaycat crapped on the handlebar.

Inside. This one has lights. Lights are goooood.

Glacier Nat. Park start. Was a good climb out of Revelstoke to here.

"Head for the white stuff" The air is so crisp and clean.

No Camping for you.  Crap !!

Bad tree planting

Hurray! Shirley didn't enjoy this photo op ( was hard to get the bike into position)

Me and a typical Grizzly (pic taken by the only other tourists here)

Glacier Park Lodge

A sketch I did depicting the plight that I had been going through for a few days. It was tough getting things done when the fingers hurt at the slightest touch. The bleeding was annoying too. I guess that I may have been ultra-dehydrated. or the result of Alien abduction experiments. 

Today's 2 National Parks

 The real map

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