Day 18 Saskatchewan Crossing to Banff

It was cold in the morning as we ate breakfast around the motorhome after crawling out of the motel rooms. Everyone had arm and leg warmers and there were lots of riding jackets to be seen.  If you let out a big breath of air you could catch sight of your breath as exhaled. Never the less everyone as keen to get going as it was a second big day  in a row at 135 kms and we were going to climb the Bow Summit which is the highest point on the tour at 2088 m.  The climb is not particularly hard compared to the Icefield Summit as it is more of a big long grind.

So we were off down the road and a couple of miles down the road my hands were frozen as I had not worn full fingered gloves. Thankfully Julie was down the road who lent me Ed’s spare jacket. Even the climbing wasn’t enough to overheat me.  There wasn’t any wind which was a big help.  However the road surface had not improved and the transverse cracking was terrible. 

About half way up a caught up to Earnie and the two of us ground away together all the way to the summit. The summit is actually a little of a disappointment as there is no sign to mark the spot and no spectacular view.

With the summit behind us it was a 50 kms downhill to Lake Louise where we were having lunch in the parking lot where we at lunch 16 days earlier. By now the sun was up and it was a beautiful day.  Even better we were headed for the Lake Louise Parkway.  This ride takes us high above the TransCanada Hwy. It has beautifully smooth pavement, very little traffic, fabulous views, a tail wind, and is downhill to Banff. This is my favorite ride. So everybody was just sailing along.  

Today was the last ride day for Ed and Julie as Ed was off to join Cycle America for a 6 weeklong tour.  Ed is doing routing for the last part of the National Parks tour.  It was also the last day of the ride for Liam and Siubhan who were going to take an extra day to enjoy Banff.  So were had a good celebration with rider awards after supper. It was great fun and there were several very clever awards.   

It has been a very excellent tour. The riders have all had a great time and we have enjoyed absolutely excellent trip.

Terry