Wednesday, August 17, 2022. Tara read somewhere that we should “pack for our fears”. Hunger, cold, bears, exhaustion- where to start? And with all those fears, how do we keep the weight manageable? After packing all the gear, bags, water, food, I took Blixen around the block and he was shaking in his spokes. Quaking with fear and anxiety and being over-burdened on the back. Road riders call l it the death wobble. We returned to the Airbnb and took off all the packs, moved all the heavy stuff to the front panniers, added another bag on the front and he was much less wobbly. Phew! Tara had anxiety around her new tubeless tire set up and adding the right amount of tire pressure. Mimi was worried about the hills. We said Bye to Larry, left the BNB around 10:30 am, and made one last stop for 2 additional straps and one additional dry bag on Banff. Mimi loved the bike with the pink umbrella. We rode about 22 miles. We started behind the Banff Springs hotel about noon. The trail was mostly like a mountain bike trail, a couple bridges, followed the Goat Creek trail quite a bit of the way. It was quite difficult and the bikes are heavy! We ended at Spray Lakes which was man made with a Three Sisters Hydro Site. We are at the Spray Lake Campground which is very small, with pit toilets. The shark fin mountain profile is shark mountain. Along the way got water from a green pump labeled “boil water”, only because they haven’t tested it. The campground hosts drink it so we did too, eventually. We boiled a few pots but after talking to the ranger’s wife, and considering the amount of fuel we were using, we decided to drink it straight up. Delicious and cold. Tara made the first trip to the pump for water, then Mimi and I made a trip. As humans, and especially when riding in the dry heat, we use a lot of water. We’re also eating dehydrated meals, which require more water. We took bear spray and wore our helmets. On Tara’s last trip she saw a very big, black bear. She returned to our campsite, with water and singing loudly. We washed up in the lake, had dinner and zzzzzzz. Good first day.
6 Comments
Jen Schoen
8/21/2022 05:16:28 am
Love the narrative and pictures. Question- why did you wear helmets to get water? Would that help with the bears?
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Celia Murray
8/21/2022 06:03:03 am
Great shots and excellent setup for this blog. Thanks for the work that you did so the rest of us can share vicariously!
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Barbara
8/21/2022 07:57:14 am
Love the narrative! Take good care of Blixen! Scenery looks absolutely beautiful! Enjoy each pedal ladies! Look forward to the next update. 👍😊
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Mary and Vern
8/21/2022 09:01:59 am
How many miles do you plan to do a day? Is the plan to finish in 2 months?
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Jen
8/21/2022 11:48:27 am
Initially we planned to follow the book-70 days. We will modify as we go. After 3 days we were a bit ahead. We will add rest days.
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Laurie
8/21/2022 06:03:29 pm
Love the Canadian Rockies! So spectacular! Glad you are having great weather. Looking forward to reading about your adventure.
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