Disclaimer!
Ken is writing today's post without Cam's assistance, because Cam's wife Sue came to Banff tonight so they could celebrate her birthday with dinner out and a night in a FANCY hotel! Isn't that nice? So forgive me if today's effort doesn't equal the collaborative efforts you've become accustomed to! And now to the blog we go....
Ken is writing today's post without Cam's assistance, because Cam's wife Sue came to Banff tonight so they could celebrate her birthday with dinner out and a night in a FANCY hotel! Isn't that nice? So forgive me if today's effort doesn't equal the collaborative efforts you've become accustomed to! And now to the blog we go....
Hey everybody! We made it! We are finally through the worst the Rockies has to throw at us. But let me back up a bit to the beginning of this day. We got off to a shaky start with the "free" continental breakfast at our motel. Let's just say it was "underwhelming" to say the least. There should be some sort of standard for breakfasts, even free ones, don't you agree? Suffice to say it didn't compare with the ones we've had up to now. For example, the Orange juice machine was "out of order" so instead there was a pitcher of some orange fluid that reminded me of Tang, but with less flavour! Normally this would just be considered "whining", but when you are about to climb several thousand feet on a bike, breakfast is VERY important!
But relatively speaking our bad start was nothing compared to the poor guy driving this semi-trailer West just outside Golden. The signs telling drivers to SLOW DOWN around those curves are there for a reason! This happened just a minute or two before we rounded the corner, as the driver was still in the cab. He was able to climb out on his own so we assumed he will be OK. His career as a trucker is probably over though.
 The driver exiting the cab on top. |  Luckily he was not carrying flammable or hazardous materials. |
I'm sure this created a traffic nightmare for most of the day. But we left it all behind us, and continued climbing.
The rain started coming down just as we crossed the recently built bridge at"10 Mile Hill" (so named because it's 10 miles from Golden). This impressive structure was part of a major rebuild in this area that eliminated the steep slope down to the river and back up the other side.
The rain started coming down just as we crossed the recently built bridge at"10 Mile Hill" (so named because it's 10 miles from Golden). This impressive structure was part of a major rebuild in this area that eliminated the steep slope down to the river and back up the other side.
The bridge at "10 mile hill"
The old road is still visible from the bridge deck. Cam prefers the old route! (He's anti-progress!)
So as you can see from the elevation profile, today's ride was mostly climbing, mostly in the rain. But we aren't made of sugar so we persevered until we hit the Continental Divide at the BC/Alberta border, and things were primarily downhill from there all the way to Banff. The sun even started shining around Castle Mountain so all in all it was a pleasant ending to another very long ride. (Can you tell I am tired and want to go to bed?)
Ride Details:
- Distance: 140.0 kms
- Riding time: 7:18 minutes
- Average speed: 19.2 kms/hour
- Climbing: 4,520 feet
For more ride details, see Strava and check out today's riding pictures in the Photo Gallery.
We are looking forward to arriving in Calgary tomorrow and our first rest day!
Ride Details:
- Distance: 140.0 kms
- Riding time: 7:18 minutes
- Average speed: 19.2 kms/hour
- Climbing: 4,520 feet
For more ride details, see Strava and check out today's riding pictures in the Photo Gallery.
We are looking forward to arriving in Calgary tomorrow and our first rest day!