1996 - The Big Cycle Part 3

Day Nine - Saskatchewan River Crossing to Lake Louise
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Our route

August the 11th and clear again. Up at 6:15, breakfast in the cafe at 7:00 and we were ready for our 80 km run to Lake Louise. We had to climb up to Bow Pass so in essence we had to gain all of the altitude we lost the day before. Gorgeous views. Climb, climb, climb.

Keith with Mt. Chephren

About 2 km from the top of Bow Summit I was taken out of my mindless rhythmic pumping by the sound of screaming tires. When I looked up I saw a small green truck and trailer sliding sideways down the 6% hill about 600 meters in front of me. It was in the process of turning as one unit around about a total of 140 degrees so that the trailer ended up crossing the oncoming lanes first, and the truck with screeching locked tires reluctantly sliding after the trailer across a shallow ditch and into a gravelly bank. Clouds of light brown dust about 7 or 8 meters high created a backdrop to this horrifying spinning spectacle. The brakes must have been locked up during this time on both the truck and the trailer for the sound of the tires were like screams of agony. I hadn't heard anything like it. Ken was above this scene and could hear it and see the dust flying up and motioned downhill traffic to slow. The unit tipped slightly toward me as it was slowly pivoting about a central axis and I was fearful it was going to roll, but I guess the spinning action was swift enough to avoid this. The trailer went onto its side, and the truck, while its rear plowed into the trailer, remained upright. I was in no danger and viewed this horrible scene from a safe distance. It was with mixed emotions and some dread that I cranked up the hill to the accident scene. A mother with her two young sons stood on the gravel bank while the person who I took to be her husband tried to get the truck going. The metal-work that joined the trailer to the trailer hitch was torn away and the impact had damaged a lot of the trailer. They wouldn't be sleeping it that night if ever. As I climbed up to them I asked if everyone was okay. She said yes and having scene a parks truck on the scene shortly before I got there, there was nothing I could do so I continued on to catch up with Ken.
We had lunch at the lodge on the north end of Bow Lake. We fed a Clark's Nutcracker its lunch and ran the recent events of the morning through in our minds. We never talked about it but I think the dramatic difference between the idyllic scenery and the good times we had been experiencing and the terrible accidents that can happen to people were on both our minds. The fact is though if you let what might happen stop you from doing things, you'll die in bed for sure.
From Bow Summit it was mostly down hill, but as we had been noticing, we were experiencing a head wind. I wonder if that is the reason why commercial bike tours do this stretch of highway from Lake Louise to Jasper and not the other way around.
We camped at the Fairview campground in Lake Louise and cycled the 1 or 2 km into the little mall beside the visitor center for ice cream, people watching, and supper in a second level restaurant. Teriyaki burger with baked potato and the best raspberry/loganberry pie with ice cream I've ever tasted.

Day Ten - Lake Louise to Golden

Ken in the campsite in Golden

After a night rain, we were up at 6:15 again and were met with clear skies again for our 83 km run to Golden. It was August the 12th. We had decided to have breakfast at the West Lake Louise Lodge and so peddled against a cold headwind for about 20 km before we ate. It was beginning to look as if we had used up our quota of tail winds on the Yellowhead. Ken saw some elk up above the highway at one point. We paused where we entered British Columbia.
The run through Kicking Horse Pass was one I had thought about, and at times had worried about. Information I had gained through the bike touring newsgroup on the Internet had indicated that it was best to go through during the early morning hours before the lumbering motor homes began their weaving through the narrow confines of the canyon. This section also consisted of some serious downhill grades of 8% with little or no run outs. It also had sections of very narrow shoulders. Passing through it my car on our way back from skiing into Mt. Assiniboine last spring had made worry about it. I shouldn't have. It's not to say it's not serious, because it is, but with a bit of thought, letting traffic by as you wait on the shoulder for a minute, allowed us to do it and find it enjoyable exciting.
The first big hill that went down to Field was about 5%, but because of the headwind, was almost anti-climactic. The feared headwinds at Field, perhaps because of the early hour, were minimal.
What followed were idyllic runs down into the Ottertail Valley. We then swung right and started heading for Kicking Horse Pass and the dreaded hills.
Without good brakes, it is true that a person would be in serious trouble, but the run down the first big hill of 8% and an immediate left turn onto a very narrow bridge went very well. In fact I slowed down at the bottom to allow a bus to cross before me. There is no shoulder at all on that first bridge.

The run down to the second (lower) bridge went fine, and then we had to climb up a very narrow section with no shoulder. Cement abutments were on both sides serving to keep traffic from spilling over the precipice I imagine, and the other keeping rockfall from the menacing gravelly cliff from obstructing traffic. A bleak spot. But it went well. I lucked out and there was not traffic as I passed this section. And if there had been a lot of traffic, by waiting a few minutes I'm sure that a person could travel through quite easily as the traffic tended to travel in bunches - frustrated behind some slow driver I suppose.
The next section was curvy downhill with narrow shoulders. Because the traffic was going slowly as well, it wasn't that bad. The worst thing were the rocks falling onto the middle of the road from above. I braked, waited for them to stop, and then cranked quickly.
We arrived in Golden about 12:30! Lunch, showers, laundry, finished reading my book, and snoozed, and according to Ken snored for over an hour. Watched big horn sheep outside the restaurant while we ate supper.

Day Eleven - Golden to Revelstoke - 150 km and Roger's Pass!

At Roger's Pass

We thought we would go as far as Canyon Hot Springs which was half between the summit of Roger's Pass and Revelstoke. We were later to change our minds.
We got up at 5:45 as we didn't want to go cranking up to Roger's Pass in the heat of the day. After an early breakfast at the Husky in Golden we started the 20 km of flat highway to the Columbia River crossing and the first hills. It was chilly and in the shade. Then the hills started. Ken as usual was faster on the hills, but outweighing him by a lot naturally made me slower. Besides, he's stronger as well. The most important thing I think was the fact that we both had our mountain bikes with low gears which made these hills slow but easy to go up.

Before long we were at the base of the last hill - all 13 km of it! As it turned out we never used our bottom gear. The hill just isn't that steep - about 6% at the most. But it is long. The angle eased off as we approached the first snow sheds. Cycling through the sheds was a bit nerve wracking. I checked in my mirror even more than usual. Even though there was enough of a shoulder to cycle on, it was sandy and occasionally littered with a bit of debris. I turned on my little headlight and my rear flasher while in the tunnels. My big reflective yellow triangle that was always wrapped around my sleeping bag on the back of my bike also helped me to be very visible. There was only one tunnel that became narrow and there was always a little sidewalk you could walk on if you wished. The sound of a big transport truck coming up behind you in the sheds was intimidating though.
We had a nice break on the summit, took a few pictures, more video footage, and then started on the downhill run towards Revelstoke. We were met with headwinds again. We had to peddle down all but the steepest hills.

Mt. Sir Donald

Canyon Hotsprings was our late lunch spot. Its bathrooms were smelly and some of the teenage workers looked like day parolees. We decided to carry on to Revelstoke where we got a motel.


Day Twelve - Revelstoke to Salmon Arm - 100 kmFor a while we cycled towards Three Valley Gap at 35 km/h with little effort, thanks to a great tail wind. It soon petered out and we cycled on flat or rolling terrain to Sicamous where we had lunch. The rest of the day heated up and I got over heated cycling up the long hill after Sicamous. Cooling off in the shade and drinking my usually weak Gatorade fixed me up. The last few km to the KOA at Salmon Arm were just plain hot

Day Thirteen - Salmon Arm to Celesta - 70 kmIt was now August 15. We had left the car at a friend's place close to Celesta on the north side of Shuswap Lake and that was our goal for the day. We were up at 5:45, had breakfast at the ABC, and had a cool cycle to the bridge near Chase that spanned the Shuswap River. We crossed it, dumped our panniers at the road leading to Adam's Lake (closing our circular route), and went unencumbered to the car to finally give a long rest to my sore and tired bum.

Last Thoughts
We really enjoyed the ride and I had a real sense of accomplishment.
With our little side trips we covered a little over 1, 100 km.
Know how to fix things on your bike because bike shops can be very few and far between.
You don't have to be in great shape and young to do a long ride as long as you have a good bike, pace yourself, have a high credit limit on your credit card, and have low gears. ......... :-)
Our mountain bikes had 1.6 road tires and we never had a flat. I would leave the extra tire behind next time and only take on spare inner tube.
Stopping every 10 km or every half hour really helped to break up the daily rides.
Being able to buy meals or the occasional motel room was very appreciated.
My rear end had been tender for the last few days and suffered from a bit of chaffing. Daily showers and some medicated talcum powder helped.
The gel pads we had used on our saddles seemed to be worthwhile.
You get a totally different perspective on things cycling than you do driving a car.
Strangers come up to you to ask about your trip and so you meet more people cycling than driving a car.
We want to go on another bike tour.

We did the trip again in 1998.