Alberta

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Fri May 21 - 10 km - Rest Day

Rode up the hill to Lake Louise just to say we saw it. It was frozen and looked just like any other frozen lake. Relaxed and drank a few pints of Big Rock Traditional Ale in the hostel. Yumm!

Sat May 22 - 92 km - Lake Louise to Thomson Creek Park

Spent the first four hours climbing out of Lake Louise up Bow pass. A park permit is required for use of the Icefields parkway, but the warden said that we could go for free since we were just passing through. Traffic was pretty light, but bursts of RVs pulling commuter cars and tour busses would pass sprorattically. There was a nice wide paved shoulder for riding on though. We passed a whole slew of kids riding mountain bikes spread out over several km going the opposite direction. One group of three girls asked us where we were going and when we told them, they all chorused 'Oh my god!' in unison. To warn bears and other wildlife, we spent the whole way singing stupid things at the tops of our lungs. My throat is quite sore after the ordeal. When we got to Bow Lake there was a hotel and restaurant so we pulled in to warm up (there is lots of snow at 2000m) and eat some over priced vegiburgers. Another 5 km we finally reached the summit at 2068 m. Our highest elevation for this trip. Then came a 5 km 8% screaming descent. Continued a gradual descent for a while with occasional uphills and we met a couple of women going the other way who were travelling to St. Johns. They were pretty heavily loaded, one with a trailer. We did not mention the 8% that they were about to face. Finally we got to Saskatchewan River Crossing, where we had to climb a very steep hill for about a km while battling a severe cross wind. Turned east onto hwy 11 and the wind was now at our backs. We flew out of Banff park and stopped at the first campground we came across. This is the nicest of all campgrounds we have stayed in so far. It was only $11 and you got a free bundle of firewood. If you did not take the wood, you got to enter a cash draw. I took the lottery. Maybe I will get lucky! Second day of riding without rain in a row now!

Sun May 23 - 124 km - Thomson Creek Park to Jack Fish Lake

Hwy 11 to Nordegg was a beautiful ride. Nice smooth road surface and the Saskatchewan river was really neat looking. It was really hot and dry. T-shirts and shorts were the clothing today. We also had a tailwind which allowed us the distance we accomplished, even though it was hilly. We saw many herds of animals. First a group of about seven or eight big horned sheep, then later a group of about four elks, and a couple groups of deer. Each were standing right at the edge of our side of the road, so we rode down the left side as we passed. The sheep and elks just stared at us as we went by, but the deer took off as soon as they realized that we were there. Just before our lunch break, we came across a burnt out section of woods, still smouldering, and a whole battalion of firefighters. I guess the dry weather is having consequences out here. It seemed most of the streams we crossed were either completely dry, or just a small trickle of water down the centre. At one point we got hit by such a sudden cross wind that it blew us both clear off the road into the ditch. Luckily it was a smooth grassy slope that we easily managed to ride down and come to a stop on. Thank goodness we were not in BC where the road often drops away for hundreds of meters. Made it to Nordegg and stocked up on supplies at the gas station. Rode to a campground a few km down the road, but decided to go an extra 28 km to take advantage of the tailwind and the fact that it was only about 1600h. The campground sucks. We are stuck beside a bunch of yahootees who will probably keep us up all night. There are only five spaces (we got the last one), no water, and some crappy outhouses. At least it is only 7 bucks. Maybe I can convince Wendy that an outhouse is not worth $7 and a bad nights sleep so we can camp out in the woods by ourselves more often. Water is low, but we hopefully should be able to make it Rocky Mountain House tomorrow before we run out. Wendy's suspension seat post has also come apart (a couple of days ago). It is just sort of sitting in place, but the bolt and innards fell into the seat tube. Hopefully we will be able to fix this at Rocky Mountain House as well.

Mon May 24 - 76 km - Jack Fish Lake to 25 km North of Rocky Mountain House

Started the day with a clear blue sky and a hot sun. Rode into a medium strength headwind to Rocky Mountain House. Although our water supplies were low, we made it with a little to spare. Traffic was a little heavy, with pretty much constant RVs. I guess everyone was driving home from the parks as today is the last day of the long weekend, which is a problem as most stores in RMH would be closed. Wendy's seat will have to wait until Edmonton. The yahootees by the way, stayed up drinking till 0300. Luckily we were too tired to care and slept through it until they finally went to bed and woke us up while singing lullabies to each other. At least we were not kept up all night. Stopped in RMH for pizza at some fast food joint. Had a couple of slices left over which we packed away and enjoyed for supper with our Kraft Dinner. Stopped at a convenience store for some groceries and then headed to the campsite in town. Wendy said that she would not mind sleeping in the woods, so we left and headed north to where hwy 22 went back into the forest reserve. It was really hot going, but we made it 25 km out of town where we found a nice spot to camp, off of a cleared swath where a gas pipeline had been laid. Relaxed for a while in the shade before setting up camp, cooking supper, and heading to bed. Yay! No chance (well very remote) of yahootees tonight!

Tue May 25 - 116 km - 25 km North of RMH to Pigeon Lake Provincial Park

Got up to a warm morning. Riding out along 22 was nice as there was little traffic and the sun was blocked by a light cloud cover. Ate lunch off the road at one of the oil lines, where there was a small patch of forest. Turned off onto secondary road 616 and headed east towards Breton. Wendy broke a rear drive side spoke, so we stopped to remove it and trued the wheel. I replaced it later that evening. Stopped in Breton for some food supplies. Asked the woman running the grocery store where we could get some water in town. She said that she would fill our bottles for us in the back room, which she did. Continued on to the campground which is pretty junky, and full price ($15) was charged even though the showers do not work and there is no water. Thank goodness we filled up earlier. There is only one other group here, a bunch of yahootees, but they are quite far away so hopefully will not be a bother.

Wed May 26 - 108 km - Pigeon Lake Provincial Park to Edmonton

Today was sunny again, but remained cool. The wind was pretty strong from the west, so we flew while heading east and battled the crosswind while going north. Stopped for lunch at some restaurant in Calmar. Turned onto hwy 60 north which was really busy, so we got off of it onto a very poorly maintained local road which we followed into Edmonton. The pavement was worse than most gravel roads I have travelled on. Got into Edmonton where the traffic was extremely heavy. We rode through to the north end where we found my friend Jordan's house. He was not home so we left a note and went down to Tim Hortons for coffee. Jordan showed up about an hour later and drove us and our bikes back to the house in his truck. He took us out for supper and then we bought some beer which provided the entertainment for the evening.

Thu May 27 - 0 km - Rest Day

Bought some supplies and bummed around Jordan's house. Went out to see the West Edmonton Mall and then went to a pub and drank crappy cheap beer for the rest of the evening.

Fri May 28 - 0 km - Rest Day

Fixed Wendy's seat post by improvising tools. Bought a spare tire. Unfortunately I could only find a 23mm width with a kevlar bead. I guess it will work alright in an emergency. Went out to a pub in the West Edmonton Mall in the evening. Drank a little bit too much so we decided not to leave tomorrow.

Sat May 29 - 0 km - Rest Day

Bummed around the house again and slept off the previous nights activities. Went back to the mall and I rode the roller coaster. Wendy and Jordan would not ride because they felt too sick. Watched some movie rentals and relaxed in the evening. Wendy was complaining a bit about some pain she was experiencing while urinating.

Sun May 30 - 40 km - Edmonton to Beaumont

Wendy was still in pain so we decided to postpone leaving and went to see a doctor. Turns out she has a bladder infection and was prescribed some pills. It was still early so we decided to hit the road at 1300h and rode out of Edmonton to a free campground on the edge of Beaumont. On the way, we were cycling along a fairly busy road and an oncoming car had its front left wheel seize up. It skidded into our lane with smoke firing from the tire as we drove off the road into the ditch. Luckily the woman got control and managed to pull over to the side of the road. While we waited for her to get out and survey the damage, she started revving the engine to get the car going again, which finally did, with a cracking noise, and she drove away. We stopped at a free Lions Club campground. There is one other group here, and as usual they are a bunch of drunken yahootees. But we could not ride any further because it was late and we were battling a very severe headwind. The yahootees are completely drunk at 1800h so hopefully they will pass out early. Luckily they left around 1900h.

Mon May 31 - 43 km - Beaumont to Miquelon Lake Provincial Park

Got up and ate breakfast. Wendy was feeling really sick over the night and after breakfast as well. She believed it to be an adverse reaction to the medication, so she biked into Beaumont to see a doctor while I remained in the tent to keep out of a light drizzle. I read for a while and dozed a little until she returned with some new medication. We ate a light lunch and then finally hit the road. Truck traffic was pretty heavy until we got through New Sarepta where we tried to buy some groceries at the general store. Could not find any bread, but bought some KD and beans instead. After getting off of the highway the traffic situation improved, but the road became complete crap, and we bumpety-bumped all the way to Miquelon Lake Provincial Park. The park is empty (at least the section we are in) so we should get a good sleep tonight. We share the site with a little red squirrel who keeps begging for food.

Tue Jun 1 - 119 km - Miquelon Lake Provincial Park to Sedgewick

Slept in a little and finally got on the road at about 0930h. Rode with a tailwind to Camrose where we picked up some food. Got onto hwy 13 and got hit by a rainstorm so we suited up. Continued to Bawlf where we stopped for lunch at a tiny little cafe and bakeshop. They had amazing apple pie. The rain had stopped so we undressed and continued down 13 with a pretty good tailwind. Soon we got hit by another big rainstorm so we did the rain dance again. Wendy got some abdominal cramps so we stopped for a while beside the rode until she felt a little better. At about the 90 km mark we stopped for a snack, at which point our tailwind switched to a headwind which we fought all the way to Sedgewick where we stayed at the campground. The people running it were very nice and told us we could pitch a tent wherever we wanted because there was no one here. We are surrounded by noisy cows in neighbouring fields, but they probably will shut up when it gets dark.

Wed Jun 2 - 78 km - Sedgewick to Czar

Got up to fog which lifted as we were breaking camp. We headed east on 13 into a stiff headwind which kept up the entire day. Had to climb over a barbed wire fence for one nature call, as there were very few places to stop. Traffic was light to moderate, unfortunately most of it being trucks. Got several herds of cattle running as we passed because the young calves spooked and the caused the whole herd to start running. We found this amusing as there was not much else to look at. If your next steak is tough, blame it on a couple of cyclists riding through Alberta! Stopped for lunch beside the railroad tracks. For about 20 km the road turned hilly, which was a nice change, although some of the climbs were difficult when combined with the headwind. Stopped for groceries in Hughendon where the lady in the store told me about three guys who had stopped there yesterday who were travelling from Victoria to St. Johns. As we left, it started snowing. Not snowflakes, as it was about 20 degrees, but seeds off of trees. This fluff was really annoying as it would stick up your nose and get stuck to other parts of your body and tickle. Due to the time and the wind situation we decided to stop at a free campground about 5 km north of Czar. There is nobody else here, except for a bunch of bulls in an adjacent field. Hopefully it will stay that way. The fluff storm was quite strong here so we retired to the tent as quickly as possible.

Thu Jun 3 - 85 km - Czar to Consort

It rained a little at night so the fluff situation was brought under control. We headed south down 41. After about 30 km we stopped for a snack and it started to rain. It continued raining as we rode, but we had a little bit of a tailwind, so we were making reasonable time. We had lunch in Consort where we decided to head east towards the Saskatchewan border because there was many more towns and we would be more likely to find somewhere to crash for the night. After our usual grilled cheese and fries, (there is not much else to eat for vegetarians in cattle country) we headed east into a complete downpour, which stayed with us for the rest of the day. We stopped for a nature call and Wendy threw her back out while lifting her bike. She was able to ride, but she said it was very painful. We had learned from the waitress in the restaurant that there was a really cheap hotel above some bar in Altario, about 50 km up the road, so we decided to head there. While climbing one particularly long hill, a pickup truck stopped. The farmer inside asked us to stop at his house to warm up a bit, get dry, and have some coffee. We graciously accepted the offer as we were pretty wet and miserable. We had coffee with him and a couple of his sons and talked about our trip. It was getting late and the wind and rain had not abated, so I asked him if we could pitch the tent on his property. He offered us the pullout couch, so we ended up sleeping there. His wife came home and made supper which we ate a little bit of (we had already eaten) and then watched TV with the family until everyone went to bed.

Fri Jun 4 - 111 km - Consort to Kerrobert, SK

Got up early and hit the road by 0730h after thanking everyone. We declined breakfast, but accepted another cup of coffee, and then headed out with a tailwind. We stopped in Altario at a free campground there and cooked a breakfast of beans and cheese buns before continuing. We gave each other '5' as we crossed the border into Saskatchewan. It felt really good to be in another province. Two down, three to go, we had a tailwind, and the sun was shining. The road got much narrower and bumpier, but traffic was next to nill so this was not a problem. There were lots of rolling hills. This section for about 30 km was not flat like it is supposed to be! It eventually flattened out and we rolled into the town of Major and stopped for a grilled cheese at the Ok Kafe. Lots of stares and a few waves from the locals as we rode through town. We kinda felt like aliens, but everyone was nice. We continued on and saw a machine ripping up track from an old rail line and reached todays destination of Kerrobert at about 1530h. We picked up a few groceries and then stopped at a bakery where we enjoyed some most delicious danishes. We inquired about a place to camp, and learned that the motel had a camping spot. Turns out it is pretty much a parking lot for RVs, (which there are three here), but we found a patch of grass to pitch the tent. Not a nice place to camp, but if you look at it as accommodation for $6, it is not too bad. No yahootees to worry about, and the town noise should die down after dark. Called my Grandfather and told him that we should be at his place on Tuesday.
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