Sunday, July 9, DAY 8

Slept fairly well, although woke up cold and didn't want to disturb the others in the room by digging out my sleeping bag. We were back to the Lutheran Church for breakfast, but as usual I was in the back of the pack getting seated. Lots of food though. They were bussing us out of Golden, 14 km to avoid the construction. As we drove through it is quite something to see what they are doing...building a 4 lane road, carving through the top of a mountain. After travelling through by van, I am glad that we didn't have to cycle that section. No shoulder, lots of debris and dirt from the construction and endless back to back traffic. As it was, we started today's ride at the base of a mountain....not a great start to the day. Bob and I were in one of the last vehicles to arrive, so it was 9:15 before we got on the road. I was a bit antzy because I knew it was going to be another 154 km day. The climb was a killer with breakfast fresh in the belly!!! We made it and the legs were a burning. Bob was pacing, trying to get my speed up and I was struggling...and then I got a flat, only 18 km into the ride. I picked up a staple that went right through the tire and was well embedded. The staples must come from the transport trucks that haul packaged lumber? Actually having stopped and getting the tire changed, improved my mood....as someone had said earlier "breathe out with the old and in with the new"...and it actually worked. Praise the Lord!! We traveled along through some beautiful scenery, as always. The rivers and lakes are the lovely aqua blue colour, from the glacier run off. Splendid. We followed along and could hear the trains. One thing that I have found constant on this trip....the flow of trains, shows how they connect hauling goods. We arrived and followed through the parkland at Kicking Horse Pass. Then up a steep 6.6 km climb...it was just like North Mountain... I could have used a kick up, but I did make it and it wasn't that bad. Just took time. At one point we pass the spiral tunnels which were made for the train traffic. The trains cannot climb the steep grades of the mountains so these spirals were created to allow passage. Neat. We come in to Field for a break and then on to Alberta!! We made it through British Columbia..yipee. Wonderful sights and memories. We stopped at a turn off to a lake for lunch. When I arrived there were people sitting on the tracks eating, then the bells to the crossing sounded as everyone scurried away. The train was long....really long. At lunch, Mary, a native of Alberta and familiar with the area gave an informative talk on the types of trees, animals and named the mountain ranges that we would be seeing. From there it was on to Highway 1...with a tail wind!! Honestly, what a blessing. We were travelling at ease cruising at 42 kph for over an hour. The mountain range changed again. These were the Rockies...all rock, high, rugged, wierd shapes. It appeared as if they had a story to tell. Man, they surrounded us and my head ached from looking side to side. Bob is doing great with the camera and he stops frequently to take pictures. He is quite organized with them as well, numbering them and keeping a journal. Unfortunately we cannot post them to the blog as we don't have our computer with us, but we will have them for later to show everyone. The tail wind shifted and we had head winds for the final push into Canmore. Really neat spot and I am glad that we have rest day here tomorrow. We are staying at the Senior Resource centre, but a few churches are feeding us and they had a grand spread for dinner. As usual, I pigged out. We joined them for their Friday night service, praise music which is wonderful as most people on the tour can sing. Bob is even adding his voice!!! Caroline, look out, we may have a convert to the choir come September!! I will admit, that I fell asleep during the bible talk...not only me, but I would suspect that over 3/4 of our group did the occasional nod. I woke up when someone knocked over a chair!!
This group that we are with have become family. Even though it is day 8 and we are tired and a bit cranky, we have tolerance for each other. We really had an amazing week, hard to believe that we have covered over 1000 km in the past 8 days. Today's ride was 154 km. I do look forward to having tomorrow for myself. The hardest part of the tour is keeping organized as we are constantly moving. Despite trying to organize my suitcase, I can NEVER find the things when I need them.
Tomorrow we will clean the bikes, they are full of grime from the busy week. I just want to wander around Canmore as it is such a neat place. I would recommend it for a stopping place on a vacation.
To Jean, thank you for posting my blogs...you are not out of a job, but I happened to find an internet cafe to do this one....you will be getting plenty. The pocket mail is a great source, but a bit slower.
They were moving our bicycles to a more secure location, closer to where we are, so that is good.
We have completed leg one of the tour. There were 73 cyclists on board for this leg, and 57 of them will be doing the full tour. We pick up 4 new riders on Tuesday to begin leg 2. Some of the roadies will be leaving us and more will join. The roadies for this trip were Linda Lloyd, Donna and Dean Perkin, Engeline, Margaret, Andrea, John, Len and Iona...Len cycles as well but spits time as a roadie with Wendy. They are from Saskatchewan and know Don and Louise Cochran, friends we made when we lived in Saskatoon. Becky Best is 18 and a roadie. Her mom, Sandy and her dad, John, as well as her brother Luc are cycling the entire tour. She is remarkable for a young gal to manoever the vehicles and give direction. Cudos Becky. Art and Betty and another Margaret make up the roadies. They have the toughest job of all. They have to prepare our snacks, breakfasts (when they aren't provided) purchase the food, drag the containers in and out. You can imagine how much that would entail to feed 86 people!! 40 gallons of chocolate milk a day alone. They have to be up early and are still in meetings at night to plan the stops and arrangements for the following day. Truly they have the hardest job and I admire and appreciate everything they do.
I must find my way back to my bed. The lack of sleep seems to be catching up. I thank the Lord for our safe journey thus far!! We have become quite accustomed to sharing the road with the vast amount of traffic.