Day 363
Banff
When we mentioned to anyone we were off to Canada, they all immediately assumed we would be off to Banff. So as not to disappoint them we decided we best go there. We were to ride shorter days so we could have a sort of summer holiday in Canada. Still cycle touring but not as we know it. Today it didn’t quite work out to plan, as from Mark and Jen's to our campsite in Canmore was 49 miles. We were on the old highway which was pretty quiet but still a much bigger and busier road than we had become used to. The Wapiti campsite was much better than we had expected though. Hot showers, somewhere to do the dishes, firewood, a camp host and bear boxes! We do love a bear box. Even better it had a pair of fellow cycle tourists, Steve and Sybil from Switzerland, about to start riding the Great Divide. They were great fun, Steve played Stevie Wonder singing Happy Birthday to us on the morning of the 18th, Tom’s birthday, and it seemed entirely natural for all 4 of us to dance around the campsite like a bunch of 20 year olds at a rave. They insisted on treating us to a night in a campsite to show their support of our round the world ride. Reluctantly we accepted their gift, much touched by their thoughtfulness.
Then finally to Banff. A mere 14 miles to our campsite at Tunnel Mountain Village. A stunning place with awesome views of the mountains, bliss. Tent pitched, sun out, we headed into Banff, we visited the Hot Springs and were soon stinking of Eau de Sulphur. We then went to see the remains of a Merman, basically a fish with a rather unattractive head of a man, which were said to reside in one of the local lakes. Not a patch on Darryl Hannah, I’ll stick with our Mermaids thank you.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, meeting me a few years ago you would have found an obsessed mountain biker, well if you’d met Tom you would have met an equally obsessed trail runner. ‘Hardmoors’ was his middle name! Now camped opposite us were 2 rather fit and toned young men, I barely glanced over I can assure you. They like Tom love running and had put their hobby to good use. With a group of like-minded friends they had set up ‘Fundraising in Motion’ to raise money for 2 charities. Over the next 48 hours they were to run 100k on some technical trails. To say Tom was envious is a massive understatement. You can take away his running shoes but you can’t take away his desire to run! Tom chatted with them as they rested between laps, and I admired the view. The mountains obviously!
