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!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Seeing old friends

Image
  Today was Saturday, apparently.  In only a few days I have already started to lose track of “real” time.  In my world it is simply “Leaving Elkford.” Leaving Elkford today, we realized another good move made, as last night we heard terrible thunder and rain crashing down on little Elkford.  We were dry and mostly comfortable in our little haven by the liquor store.  We did get going fairly early, and immediately scrambled for breakfast and something to pack for lunch.  We went to the convenient store at the local gas station to get sandwiches, and asked where we could get breakfast.  Mel’s Diner was located about a mile away, so we rode off, only to find Mel on holiday.  Back we went, another mile, to find micro-wavable breakfasts at the same convenience store, plus coffee.  I wish Mel would have posted his holiday on Google, or whatever. The top of a very early and long uphill first thing today Finally got going, a bit later than expected.  The first thing was a 2.5 mile climb strai
Read more

Getting the band back together!

Image
For anyone who has followed the (mis)adventures of the Dinosaurs on Wheels, you know that the Dinosaurs on Wheels, or the Ryan brothers, bicycled across the US during the pandemic summer of 2020.  This trip started in Oregon at the Pacific ocean and ended in Virginia at the Atlantic.   Since that time, we have done some other, shorter trips with different levels of success.  In '21 we traveled the Ohio to Erie trail across Ohio, and I did a trip from Richmond to Caswell Beach in North Carolina along the Outer Banks.  In the spring of '22 we set out to do the GAP, or Great Allegheny Pass, which along with the B&O canal, leads from Washington DC to Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, a broken bike prevented our finishing.  Now in 2023, we are preparing to do another cross-country route.  This one, however, is almost 100% off-road, traveling from Canada to the Mexican border, along the continental divide.  As a matter of fact, the route is called the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, o
Read more

Saying Goodbye to the Suffer Fest

Image
  Saying goodbye to the suffer-fest I am heading out of Butte, going to the Bozeman airport, and heading home this morning. I’m ending my time on the Great Divide Trail, perhaps for a while, perhaps more likely, forever.  Bozeman Airport as I leave Montana What lead me to decide to end this trip for me?     Lots of reasons, most of which venture around one main thing: my heart was not in this ride, and this is a ride you must dedicate your heart, your lungs, your comfort, and humility to complete it. I wasn’t really doing so, so in turn this ride wasn’t really any fun for me.   I think I agreed to this trip a few years ago, when my world was completed different. We were delayed by Jerry’s health, and then Patty’s. I’ve spent almost the last two years taking care of her, only to lose her about 90 days ago. In that time I’ve pushed off work, home and family obligations. Right now was not a good time to push them off again in order for me to do something like this. During every ride these
Read more