Day 3 horse is in the barn and dried out.
Can someone go on Google and find out the physics of why the first 50 km are shorter and takes less time to travel than the last 50 km?
Left Morley this morning at 7:45 in the perfect bike weather, cool and slightly overcast. Had to travel on Hwy 1 for the first 3km put then got onto 1A which is way more pleasurable for riding on. Highway 1 is very busy and really isn't that great of a road to bike along.
It is far easier riding as a group as each of you can take a turn in the lead and the others can draft off the leader. Four of us did the first 34 km to Can more in under 90 minutes where we had to get back on to Hwy 1 until we got to Banff. Rode through the town of Banff with a stop at the Starbucks for coffee. Amazing how good that caffeine feels to the system.
5km out of Banff we got onto the Banff Parkway which again is great for riding on with very little traffic and great mountain scenery. We saw lots of game including a black bear. Had a small shower before we stopped for lunch.
After lunch I rode with the FRB (front running bastards) and managed to stay with a group of 7 riders. We had a number of small showers just enough rain to get you damp and make the road slick in places. Ended up getting in to Lake Louise at 1:35 with a total riding time of 4hr and 55 minutes to cover 115 km.
With the slick roads one of the ladies (Erin) doing the ride went down hard. Laurie and the girls showed up just after it happened and said she didn't know where she was or why she was there and her hip was hurting. The ambulance showed up and took her back into the Banff Hospital. Looks like a concussion plus. I haven't fallen yet and there has been a couple times during those long steep climbs I was wondering where I was and why I was here.
Will keep you posted on how Erin does. She is doing the ride with her 28 year old daughter and put in lots of training and had rode real strong the first 2 days. So not only does it look like she will have some injuries to deal but also the disappointment of not finishing. Hopefully this will be our last crash and injury.
We are nestled in the heart of the Canadian Rockies for the night and have a grueling 129 km tomorrow to the Columbia Ice fields (Billy this where I took Jonathan up the glacier). This is a Category 2 climb with 3 passes and 5 other significant climbs. Looks like our great weather may not hold for tomorrow so it could be cold and wet.
I will take on a bunch of carbs tonight at The Post Restaurant and will be ready to take on whatever tomorrow brings.
