Today might’ve been the scariest ride of the trip because I was 90% sure I’d see a grizzly bear and I was 100% wrong.
This morning was freezing cold. I woke up all nice and cozy in my sleeping bag and (for whatever reason) decided that it was going to be a nice warm morning. I basically ran out of my tent because I had to pee so badly, and quickly realized I’d need to hang around camp for it to warm up before taking off. After a glorious pit stop in the bathroom, I casually took down camp and had breakfast while chatting with Robert.
After the sun started to heat things up (and I stopped complaining) I finally finished packing up and jumped on my bike. Today’s ride was the first day of the entire trip where I actually had a net loss of elevation!
Instead of taking the Trans Canada onward, and thanks to Max Tejera’s strong recommendation, Robert and I headed off to take the Bow Valley Parkway (1A) into Banff. Normally Robert and I go out separate ways during the day, but today we stuck together because bears are apparently very common on this road.
Once we started riding I realized how few cars were driving through, and how quiet our surroundings were. This meant that Robert and I were listening for any sound that would indicate a bear was in the bushes. After about 15km Robert stopped for a snack, so I kept going solo. That was a bad idea. This turned an otherwise scenic ride into a stressful cycle until River caught up and we started to get on the more popular section of the road.
All worries aside, this road was probably the most scenic part of the trip. I found it ironic that I could’ve biked this road any day I wanted to while growing up in Cochrane, yet never did!
