Day 41

I am writing this blog from a laudromat in Jasper, AB. We have been camping for the past three days in Banff and now almost the entire team is camped out doing laundry. The past week has been beautiful. Banff has been my favorite place so far. We spent three days riding through the national park. The first day we rode on gorgeous bike trails--it was the closest I have felt to the mountains on the whole trip. The next day should have been Lake Louise, but because of lots of wind and cold rain we got in really late and had to set up camp before dark. We decided to go to Lake Louise the next morning for ride dedication and after all the rain the day before, we were lucky to have such perfect weather the next morning. The dedication circle was especially emotional that morning--I think it had a lot to do with the breathtaking view surrounding us.

Postcard worthy photo of Lake Louise

Rockies girls!

Yesterday was a perfect example of how even though each day's route is planned months in advance, there are always new surprises. We got a later start that morning because our travel notes indicated a 40-mile day to the ice fields. However, we soon learned that it was actually 80 miles, not 40. We had beautiful scenery and great weather, so no one really seemed to mind. Around mile 40, we also learned that there was a steep mountain pass ahead--the last 15 miles of the day--that was a consistent 8% grade. At this point we were fighting daylight, which is saying a lot considering the sun sets around 10 p.m. here. At around 7:30 we made it to our last rest stop and were given the option of driving the last 15 miles up the pass or biking it. I was so proud that our whole team decided they wanted to climb! Jack and Mahek were driving the van that day and would meet up with us every 2 miles or so playing fun music and cheering us on. We finally made it to the campsite last night around 9:30! We still had enough daylight to set up our tents and cook spaghetti. It felt really good to have finished the climb and as a reward, our campgrounds overlooked the Colombia ice fields. It was a chilly night and morning, but so beautiful. Our ride dedication this morning was at the Ice Fields--I dedicated it to everyone back home because I've noticed our team has been a little more homesick lately without cell reception and internet. Since entering Canada it has been hard for most of us to stay connected to home. 

We have seen a lot of elk and yesterday I saw my first black bear! I was riding with Kelsey and it just walked casually across the road right in front of us. I was pretty nervous, but we decided to cross the road to ride in the opposite shoulder and sing loudly as we rode by so that we didn't sneak up on it. It didn't seem to care that we were there. Among the 27 riders, 4 different bears were spotted yesterday!

The black bear. I didn't get my camera out in time to get him crossing the road.

We are in a cute town (Jasper, AB) tonight and cross into British Columbia tomorrow morning. We will be in BC for a while after that. Our next rest day is on Monday in Prince George, BC!

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