Over the Elk Pass
Today started out on am uncertain path. As I wrote yesterday, Jerry’s heart went into A-fib, casting a cloud of doubt over the entire enterprise. We wouldn’t know how we would proceed if he couldn’t rides. Specifically if he couldn’t climb, which is extremely difficult when your hearts only pumping at a fraction of its capacity.
We got an early test as we started the day with a bang. As we ascended the first big hills of the day we realized that no one was going to ride this one. My GPS said it was greater than 15%grade, meaning really steep. It was also nothing but loose rocks, a good combination for “let’s walk, carefully, up this hill. For the first miles all we did was climb, climb, climb. Eventually we came to a little gateway that I didn’t photograph, that announced we had crossed the Elk pass, the high point of this area before going into the Elk valley. Realize that there are a lot of elk in this area. Read my post from yesterday about the one walking down Banff avenue.
Once we got through that area the terrain eventually started to go down more often than up. We still had climbs, but not as often as downhill runs, which is of course a smile maker. Perhaps it is my horrible condoning regimen prior to doing this ride, but it just seems like we’re going nowhere fast. Or, it seems like we should bed accomplishing more miles but we seem to be stuck on a very slow treadmill. We rose and rode today, more down than up, and when we looked at the mileage at lunch (1:30) we had gone 25 miles. What? I’m used to doing that in about an hour and 15 minutes at home. But we’re not at home. These miles are hard fought.
I was feeling a bit frustrated today as this fact was evident and this could make for a much longer trip than we’ve been planning. If we average 50 miles a day like we have four days 1and 2, this means a minimum of 56 days with no days off. And we’re going to need days off, for sure.
The good news has been that Jerry’sA-fib did not allow him down today at all. As a matter of fact I started trying to look at my Apple Watch to see if there was something wrong with me. I actually know why: lack of preparation. I realized that the last long rides I did was in late 2021 when I rode from Tess’s apartment in Richmond to Oak Island in North Carolina. I think I need to give it some more time to acclimate to the new environment where we’re riding heavily laden wide tired bikes, like mountain bikes with loads, on loose pavement, mostly gravel, up mountains. I’ll give myself a break, at least for the first week. Then I’ll see how this going to go.
Todays ride ended up in Elkford( must be where all the elk cross the river) BC. We left Alberta behind, so I guess that’s an accomplishment as well. Yay us. The last 6-7 miles were mountain bike single-track paths that would have been fun if I hadn’t put about seven bags on my bike. I spent the time working that something was going to shake off the bike. It didn’t, thank goodness, and we made it to town, booked a room in the combination bar, restaurant, hotel , and liquor store. We ate like 2 meals each at their restaurant, and are happily sleeping indoors tonight.
More to follow
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