The big day has finally arrived. Months of planning and work and here it is. Riders have assembled from all over the world; South Africa, Switzerland, US, and Canada. I am so honoured to have such great people to ride with.
Bright sun greeted the riders as we prepared to depart the morning of July 3. The excitement was intense as everyone was making last minute preparations. Some people were loading of groceries from the fridge into the motorhome. Others were hauling of bags from the house and packing of them into back of the truck. Don and come over and was going to ride us out of town. Doug came over to see us off. Finally all of the tires were pumped and the last of the bags was loaded and we were off. The first incident coming at the end of the block when Agnes cut the corner too sharp with the motorhome and hit the mail box, tipping it over and putting a scrap on the motorhome. However that wasn’t going to dampen any ones spirits as this was just part of the big adventure.
Don lead us out this route which he and Jennifer had conceived which lead us through a lot of residential neighbourhoods and we were able to avoid riding up the busy Crowchild freeway. I was sure glad of that. If I had of been doing the lead that is where I would have gone. Just put your foot to the pedal and go for it.
After clearing town we rode along until we came to Cochrane, where we stopped at a bike shop. Dean had discovered a major crack in his helmet, just as were leaving. So he needed a new one. The shop was quite small and the helmet chose was a pink one with little flowers, a green one with dinosaurs, and a white one. Dean finally choose the white one as it was closest to his size. Several of the riders thought the green one was the best choose.
The campsite was out at Willowrock campground just after the Seabe turnoff to Kananaskis. The bike tour support consisting of Agnes, Sandra, Rita and Vicky had prepared a fabulous evening meal of barbequed burgers and salads. Although the day was only 88 kms everyone was glad to be in camp and in a great mood. My son Kurt drove out to join us bringing extra beer and an extra cooler. He even remembered to put the beer on ice!
Bright sun greeted the riders as we prepared to depart the morning of July 3. The excitement was intense as everyone was making last minute preparations. Some people were loading of groceries from the fridge into the motorhome. Others were hauling of bags from the house and packing of them into back of the truck. Don and come over and was going to ride us out of town. Doug came over to see us off. Finally all of the tires were pumped and the last of the bags was loaded and we were off. The first incident coming at the end of the block when Agnes cut the corner too sharp with the motorhome and hit the mail box, tipping it over and putting a scrap on the motorhome. However that wasn’t going to dampen any ones spirits as this was just part of the big adventure.
Don lead us out this route which he and Jennifer had conceived which lead us through a lot of residential neighbourhoods and we were able to avoid riding up the busy Crowchild freeway. I was sure glad of that. If I had of been doing the lead that is where I would have gone. Just put your foot to the pedal and go for it.
After clearing town we rode along until we came to Cochrane, where we stopped at a bike shop. Dean had discovered a major crack in his helmet, just as were leaving. So he needed a new one. The shop was quite small and the helmet chose was a pink one with little flowers, a green one with dinosaurs, and a white one. Dean finally choose the white one as it was closest to his size. Several of the riders thought the green one was the best choose.
The campsite was out at Willowrock campground just after the Seabe turnoff to Kananaskis. The bike tour support consisting of Agnes, Sandra, Rita and Vicky had prepared a fabulous evening meal of barbequed burgers and salads. Although the day was only 88 kms everyone was glad to be in camp and in a great mood. My son Kurt drove out to join us bringing extra beer and an extra cooler. He even remembered to put the beer on ice!
Just a quick word on the pictures. The group picture is one of the riders and our support staff and the other is of Rita giving Juerg a hair cut using Phantom's clippers (Phantom is the big dog).
What a great day for a bike ride!
Terry
What a great day for a bike ride!
Terry
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