Day 1 = Day 0

​Well, the new cross country trip is starting out just like the last one did, with a”strategic retreat.”  Last trip we started out in Tillamook, OR with a 2 day hotel stay in Neskowin, OR on the coast. That time it was because of torrential rain, this time for torrential tardiness. 


Jerry did catch the late flight to Calgary, eventually getting through customs about 2AM. He spent the night sleeping on a bench in the airport waiting on the first shuttle of the day at 10AM. That shuttle arrived in Banff about noon, and then it was time to put the bike back together. When Jerry takes his bike apart he really takes it apart. He was pouring his brakes back together, his aero bars back on, his derailleur, etc. It was a miracle putting it together that fast if you ask me. It would have taken me twice as long and a a whole lot more swears to put that thing together. 

Jerry hauling his bike off the Banff Airporter


So now it’s after 2PM, we need to eat, and then get on the road. We decided to go back into Banff, find s restaurant and study the map to see where we needed to go. Seeing as though we weren’t going to get going until after 3, the 50 miles to the only campground we could find on the map didn’t seem like a good choice. No matter what we would have ended up riding on the dark, on our first day, on shaky legs on the mountains. 

The Dinosaurs getting ready to roll… downhill about a mile

That’s when I called for the strategic retreat. I had inquired about staying an extra night at the HI Banff Alpine Center, but they had none available. But as we are our lunch and made our decision I was determined to find something. A few calls to some Adventure Cycling recommended places yielded the YWCA hotel, a simple place that was only $220. I took it. We checked in after riding a total of about a mile and a half, downhill, and pledged to get a good start, an early start, in the morning. 


How did it turn out last time in Oregon? Well, we stayed dry, had a nice stay, and never worried about it again. As a matter of fact, that’s where we met our traveling companion (Poor)Pat, so named by my daughters because Pat had to spend the better part of a month riding with the Ryan brothers as a punishment for something he did wrong in his life. It turned out fine last time and I hope the strategic retreat works again for us. 

downtown Banff -worth an extra day

Tomorrow:Day2=Day1


By the way, if you want to support a great cause, supporting cancer research, please think about donating to the Velosano event on behalf of Dinosaurs on wheels. give here and thank you!

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