Day 365
One year down
Today was Day 365 on the road! Quite a momentous achievement for us. We let ourselves have a lie in. Had a fantastic natter to Kris and Rihanna, a Canadian couple touring in their camper, who were keen to donate anything we needed. We assured them we were fine, though Rihanna and I hatched a plan involving scissors and my wardrobe, Rihanna, I’m ready and waiting girl!
As soon as they left we remembered we needed food for lunch, doh! So we headed off for a mini tour round Banff in our search for a food shop. Shopping done we headed for the 1A. Until next weekend it is closed to all motorised traffic so were really looking forward to this part of the ride. Only we weren’t going anywhere. It was the Banff Marathon and our road was barred to us cyclists too, well until at least 3.30pm. We ate an early lunch and decided there was only one thing to do. Cheer on those runners. 4 hours later the final runner passed and we were now the official UK supporters club for the Banff Marathon.
Finally we hit the road. We had to pass through an electrified gate to help keep the bears in and away from the traffic on the main road. So that’s in with us right?! Apparently 2 rather big and mean Grizzly bears are fighting it out to become King Bear of this patch, they had been spotted earlier today so we were keeping a wary eye out for them. The route took us past a beautiful lake, and we soon forgot about the bears and started enjoying the stunning views.
Within a few miles all the other cyclists had disappeared and it was just Tom and I with a fabulous road all to ourselves. Then Tom yelled, ‘BEAR!’ and our beautiful road was transformed into a lonely dangerous place. Where had all the other cyclists gone? Now we had seen grizzlies in Yellowstone but it had felt relatively safe. There were always plenty of cars about to hide behind. Usually a Ranger or two to calm us down and lots of people for the bears to munch on before they got anywhere near Tom and I. This time though it was just us. This very big black bear was casually strolling along the traffic free road towards us. We dismounted, bear spray grasped in our sweaty palms. Now what? Black bears are scared of us humans, wave a bit, make some noise and they will run for the hills we had been told. Not this one, oh no it carried on towards us, owning this road! There was nothing for it, we would have to play our joker and sing!
Over the past few weeks Tom and I had written our very own bear song, now it may have been the words but most likely our out of tune voices, but as soon as we started to sing our bear turned tail, gathered up her 2 offspring and retreated to the woods! It was brilliant and frightening all at the same time. We were very happy to reach Johnson Falls campground, safety in numbers, right?!
Day 366 dawned bright and sunny. Year 2 on the road has begun! Tom was up at 6am to get some photographs of the falls before the first coach load of visitors arrived. I followed at 7am and it was still quiet as I climbed up to the top waterfall, by the time we retraced our steps the path was busy. Our first year we always seemed to have arrived just as the tourists had left, today we realised just what being here at the height of summer was going to mean. I even had to queue in the toilets!
