We had checked the night before and the A&W across the street opened at 7am, so we set alarms for 6:30am so we could get up, get ready, get an early breakfast and be on our way.
It worked!
After downing some cheese & eggers (3 on buns for me, and 2 on English Muffins for Marieka) we were on the road by 8:30am. The bike parking at the Canmore Downtown Hostel was great - there's a whole underground parking garage under the complex that's not used. The only issue is that you need a hostel staff person to let you in.
About half way to Banff we stopped for Marieka's stretch break before continuing on. Banff was an adventure. We had decided it would be good to go to a bike shop to check our tire pressures, as neither of us had a pump with a gauge on it, and our bike tires had presta valves, so we couldn't just go to a gas station.
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En route to Banff on the Legacy Trail
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Marieka saw this gallery name, so I made her post for a photo.
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All the bike shops we could find listed were on Bear Street, which was completed torn up with limited access, very confusing direction signs, and Google was also very little help.
We eventually got to Banff Cycle and borrowed their pump to inflate our tires, planning to grab lunch at the "artisanal" bakery/coffee shop on the corner (seriously, I think that "Artisanal" was in the name, or at least on the sign) when we heard a loud "bang!" and saw dust flying into the air beside my rear tire.
The rear tube had blown out, also causing one side of the tire to flip over the rim. I quickly borrowed the pump again, took the trailer off the bike, took off the wheel and got the tube switched out, right there on the street in front of the shop. I then got a replacement spare tube at the bike shop (being told they were getting amazingly hard to come by) and our plan continued, albeit slightly delayed.
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Beware of snowplows on the Vermillion Lake Road!
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It was interesting - on the way into Banff from Canmore, to prevent elk from getting onto the highway, they have electrified mats that you ride across at the gates in the fence. On the way out of Banff towards Lake Louise, they have big gates that you have to open by lifting a metal tab to allow the gate to swing open. Two days ago, when we saw the first one, we had no idea how to open it, but by the time we left the trail out of Banff to get on the 1A, Marieka was a pro.
This year, the South end of the 1A (Bow Valley Parkway), from Banff to Castle Junction was closed to motorized vehicles, and it had all been recently resurfaced, so this became a cyclist's paradise. I bet this really helped out the bike rentals in Banff. We saw all kinds of people cycling the roads on road bikes, e-bikes, and bikes of all kinds.
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Southern starting gate of the Bow Valley Parkway
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Marieka coming up a hill on the Bow Valley Parkway
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Getting to Johnston Canyon Resort, I asked a question I already know the answer to: "Want a milkshake?" and so we had milkshakes with the sandwiches we'd brought from Banff, sitting on a bench overlooking the creek. It was a beautiful, sunny spot, although we still had about 33km to go.
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Johnston Canyon Resort Entrance
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Our bikes just up from the creek
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Odd flowers with extra petals growing in the centre
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Giant bee on towering flowers
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As we rode North-ish, we got to see everything from the other side, and stop a few places we hadn't when we came down a couple of days earlier.
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Castle Mountain from the other side
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One of these was the Internment Camp Memorial. We had both expected this to be about the Japanese Internment during World War II, but it was actually about the internment of Germans, Austrians, and Ukrainians in Canada (and close to that very spot) during World War I! We learned lots at this pullout, and I also mentioned having learned, years ago, of the PoW camp for Germans in Riding Mountain, Manitoba.
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Internment Memorial
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Internment Memorial statue
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Elk on the road
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Next we stopped at Morant's Curve, which I had noted before, as it was almost a history of European travel in the area, as River, Rail, and Roadway all came and curved together.
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The view across Morant's Curve
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Morant's Curve - River, Rail, and Roadway curving together
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We got into Lake Louise a bit after 5pm and there was a surprise waiting for me. On the way down, when we got to Johnston Canyon, I thought I had left the pole & flagging tape for my trailer in Mosquito Creek, as it wasn't there any more (double-check for yourself by checking the photo of our bikes from August 8th, locked up at the bike rack in Lake Louise and you'll see no pole and flagging tape). Riding across the cattleguard/Texas gate into Lake Louise today, I saw it on the road. I quickly snatched it up with a joyful cry and carried it in my mouth as I rode.
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Final curve with the Northern gate in sight!
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Northern gate of the Bow Valley Parkway
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After checking in and dropping our bags in the room we set off to restock for lunches and road food (and desserts for dinner), having restocked our dinner and breakfast supplies in Canmore yesterday. Then, it was shower, pub hotel for dinner, and off to bed for an early morning tomorrow - 7am pub breakfast, an 8am run to the cafe to pick up lunch, then 92km to Rampart Creek (across the Bow Summit).
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When we checked in, they said we could bring our bikes to our room, so we did!
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