This morning Margaret walked up again at 6:00 a.m. and were treated to a spectacular sunrise, complete with an almost full moon (look carefully at the second photo upper left corner.
Our ride today was to Banff starting straight out and down the hill from our hotel. We were all amazed at how steep the descent was and could not believe how we all managed to make the climb the day before. And it was so long and so very very steep! Wow, I guess we are ROCK STARS!
Total miles ridden today 40 miles and mostly downhill with just a few climbs. Since our legs were still talking to us from yesterday we were grateful for the gentle pace of this ride today. Left behind were the Icefields as we entered the forest and the Bow Valley Parkway. Finally a photo of Christopher riding and this is he chose to pose!
We had a stop at the Storm Mountain Viewpoint for a a quick break.
This day was all about easy beauty and we took in the sights on this very quiet road and saw more wildlife than cars. We passed by Castle Junction - these mountains really do look like a castle perched high on a mountain top.
We had our last rest stop at the Muleshoe parkway where we all met for final goodbyes before riding the last few miles into Banff. However, we did see a few male Big Horn sheep, one of them appeared to to be having a conversation with a bald eagle!
As we rode into town we passed by the Vermillion Lakes with Mt Rundle in the distance. This distinctive mountain is ever present in the town of Banff.
After doing laundry, having a rest and some food we went for a stroll about town and walked down a lovely trail on the edge of town to the Bow River that ended at the Bow Falls.
No bears today, but we did see this sign in a store window on our way back to our hotel that puts "staying away" from the bears in perspective.
Our overall experience with Rocky Mountain Bicycle Tours this week has been outstanding. Good food, nice accommodations and experienced guides and cyclists. The route we took through the Rockies is highly is recommended to all either on a bike, motorcycle or car. We were lucky with the weather because we only had one rainy day. If you want the best weather one should probably plan to come here in August. The locals say the weather in the Rocky Mountains is 11 months of winter and then there is August.
WHAT'S NEXT?????
Tomorrow we head to Penticton and will meet up with Patti, do some wine tasting and perhaps some cycling. Stay tuned!
2 comments:
What a great experience. Great weather, got to see bears and had a great ride. The Bow Valley Parkway is the best. We would often drive up to Canmore then unload bikes and ride up to Lake Louise for lunch before heading back to Canmore You got to ride the Parkway twice. Great blog and pictures. It sure brings back memories.
Really enjoyed your blog and you tackled some pretty tough hills. Well done!! That is such a beautiful area of our country. Glad you got to see it, and even better on a bike.
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