July 20, 2010 – 50 miles

We rose to another very beautiful morning.

After a short stretch on the Trans-Canada Highway, we turned onto Highway 93. It had a good shoulder, but cars and RVs didn’t move over much. The road had a rumble strip dividing the two lanes of traffic.

We climbed gradually for the first 30 miles of the day to Bow Pass. Along the way I passed a group of bike “tourists” – the folks that are shuttled to Point A and picked up at Point B (point B being mostly downhill). I thought back to how I was first introduced to the crazy notion of living out of bags attached to your bike. I was one of those tourists in Alaska and I saw a man pedaling up the pass I was cruising down. The tides certainly have turned.

I caught the group on one of the climbs and made it my goal to surpass them. Their lightweight road bikes were no match for the thousands of miles in these legs. I proudly passed them with ease! Later I even passed other recreational roadies. I was proud that my legs had powered me though so much.

At the top of Bow Pass, I was treated to an amazing view. I could see for a vast distance through the valley in front of me.

We encountered sporadic showers during the last 20 miles, but nothing as serious as yesterday.

We arrived at Sascatchewan River Crossing and found it to be a tourist trap. It wasn’t a town at all – just a motel, restaurant, and gas station. We ate a late lunch/early dinner at the restaurant. It was all horribly overpriced.

A hailstorm rolled in and we decided to stay the night in the hotel. The rooms were expensive and bargaining wasn’t getting us anywhere. Finally the desk clerk offered us $20 off if we took a room that shared a wall with the bar (with live music late at night). We were glad to take it!

We went back to the restaurant for a buffet dinner. Although it was expensive, we ate our fill. I made sure to eat extra food as fuel for tomorrow’s ~100 mile ride to Jasper.