Day 23: Banff to Canmore

With only a short day on the cards today, I took the morning off to check out the town of Banff.
I walked down to Bow Falls then back into town. It was a scorcher today!

Banff

I left the hostel at about 1430 and headed down to Canmore to meet Wilma. While on the road I met a cyclist from Columbia, dressed in the Columbian national cycling kit.
He and I chatted all the way into Canmore, and he assured me that Froome would win the Tour de France, with Quintana, from Columbia, finishing second.

Banff

One of Wilma's friends had invited us over for a bbq and a firepit. It was a beautiful evening, with the sun only setting at 2215.
Long forks with sausages dangled over the hot coals, the conversations ranged from my trip across the country to photographing rocks in Namibia. A very interesting crowd.

We were back at the house and was in bed by 2300, my body collapsing into a coma-like sleep.

Distance: 27 km
Time: 1:12:31
Height gained/lost: 206m /-200m
Calories: 925

Bow Falls

Day 22: Lake Louise to Banff

Today was supposed to be an easy/rest day after the Icefields Parkway, but that wasn't quite how the day turned out.
Alex and I were hoping we could extend our stay in Lake Louise for another night, as Alex wanted to see the lake itself, as well as Moraine Lake, and I just wanted to chill.

Lake Louise

There was no chance of an extension so we eventually packed up camp, cycled the 4km to Lake Louise, took some photos and then made out way to Banff via Highway 1A.

It is a beautiful road, narrower than the main highway, but it has a speed limit on it, so what traffic is on there is travelling quite slowly.

1A eh

Being the weekend, there were quite a few other cyclists on the road, mostly going in the opposite direction.
A few did ride past us, going easily twice the speed we were, which was quite depressing.

Further on up the road, we rounded a corner and met the same guys that had passed us, so we stopped for a chat and a photo.
Max Marchand has invited me to stay in Calgary should I need it. Canadians are pretty cool like that.

Alex and I saw another bear, at last!

Max

Lunch stop - 1 pump town

The little hills on the run into Banff took the last out of my legs. Every little effort was killing me, I just wanted to stop.
There are no sites available in the 5 campsites in Banff tonight, it seems that everyone is in town, so I checked into a hostel, the same chain as I stayed in in Revelstoke.

As Alex and I were checking out the hostels, the group of cyclists we had met earlier in the day rode past us again, Max giving me a "Hey, go South Africa!" shout as he went by.

Banff

That made me, and a lot of other pedestrians smile.

Here Alex and I parted ways, he went on to Canmore and eventually Calgary.

Poutine and beers were had at the Beaver, the bar attached to the hostel. I am feeling quite relaxed now, and there is karaoke in the bar later, let's see how late I stay up tonight.
A hen party arrived at the bar and turned up the party a notch or 2, then promptly left.

I was in bed by midnight, and slept soundly until 2am, when the other dorm mates came back and continued to 'party'.

Distance: 69.5 km
Time: 3:20:36
Height gained/lost: 764m /-946m
Calories: 2434

As you do...