max 66.7 kmh avg 19.4 kmh time 5:28 bears 1
A day of highs and lows. Torrential downpour in the morning turns into gorgeous sunshine by mid afternoon. A steady and finally steep climb most of the day is rewarded by the highest point of our trip- Bow Pass, at 2,135 metres. All downhill from here, right?!
July 11, 2004 Banff to Calgary 148.8 km td 1,604.7 km max 64.0 km avg 22.5 kmh
time 6:36 deer 2 bananas 4
We bid a sad farewell to Kim and Randy and set out on an only fitting rainy morning. A fantastic tailwind blows us out of the Rockies and onto the Prairies. At one point I manage to exceed the 60 kmh speed limit! We take a break in Cochrane when realizing our bodies are hitting the wall. The first sight of downtown Calgary is the high for the day followed by the low as we meander for 15 km and a couple of hours through busy streets and bumpy, windy bike lanes. We eventually arrive at Andrea's aunt and uncle Pat and Mike Petryk's house, exhausted and ready for a big meal--- of course.
Calgary to Beiseker
94.1 km td 1,698.8 km
A slow day as we spend the morning getting out of this ever growing city. Of course, we were slowed down by yet another stampede breakfast!
Out of the city we are instantly in the middle of the prairies. It is flat. The roads are straight. The traffic is quiet. I think we'll enjoy this!
beiseker to delia
115.3 km td 1814.1 km
Today we learn two valuable prairie lessons 1) the prairies are not flat and 2)the wind does not always blow east. We take the morning to go to Drumheller, after a stop for tea and to help a local move some antique furniture. I climb the worlds biggest dinosaur, and get a fright as the mouth shakes in the wind with 7 of us standing in the giant mouth. Our ride north is again hilly, and again against the wind, and hot. Boredom is interspersed by a herd of buffalo watching us intently, then running away in fear. We arrive in Delia, 2 km off the road, and your typical small prairie town. The dying main street, the one grocery, the one cafe. We met the big city entrepeneur trying to make a go of it here, and the small town farmer girl not impressed with the new blood. Out of the blue two other bikers arrive, Sara and Amy from NZ, they also are biking across the country, from Whistler to Halifax. We trade war stories until dark.
Delia to Oyen
144.9 km td 1,959.0 km
Hot. Hills. Headwind. That sums up today. We pass the time trying to get cows to stare at us (with great success). At one point I think we are back in Africa- a herd of gazelles to our left, wildebeest to our right---time to get out of the sun!
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