Day 381
The Good, The Bad and The Mosquitoes
Tom and I could have gone one of two ways on leaving Jasper – onwards and west or we could have retraced our route back to Banff and then headed west from there. The decision had been made, cycle onwards, however we were beginning to regret our choice. Canada has massive reserves of crude oil and Highway 5 that we were on is also the crude oil highway! A new pipeline is under construction, so the traffic is so much busier than normal and clearly time is precious for the drivers. The noise of the vehicles is relentless. Though we have a decent wide shoulder to ride on so many of the vehicles are ‘wide loads’ eating into our precious space. Our least-liked vehicles were the logging and gravel trucks, the feeling was clearly mutual. They had a job to do and though we were not in anyway slowing them down they drove at us if we were.
We had limited options to escape this nightmare of a road. When we left Blue River we had stopped for breakfast and a fellow diner had invited us to call at her house for water and a rest, and told us about a fab place to get pizza, just 100 miles up the road. We couldn’t miss it, there wasn’t a lot of places to miss on this road! The pizza was awesome but the lady who told us about it was out, thanks though! Here we had a backroad route option and took it gratefully. It was slower going, rough in places, a fair few hills but no vehicles and no TRAFFIC NOISE. Ten miles of bliss. Then we got to Jean’s our Warmshowers host. Finally, we could relax, after tea Tom just went to bed and slept 12 hours straight. Jean and I chatted until late, a fascinating lady. In the morning she made us a traditional family breakfast, pancakes. She made a stack and we ate the lot. Oh yeah, we had fresh strawberries, cream and maple syrup too, so good!
We had 2 nights at campsites, though fantastic, hot showers, shelter, even a fully fitted kitchen, they also came with free mosquitoes by the thousand. To say Tom and I have been bitten a lot is a massive understatement, and boy do the bites itch!
Back on the road we were soon been driven mad by the thoughtless drivers. They seemed to have confused the 100k an hour for 100 miles an hour. No gap was too small for them to squeeze through. It was difficult at times to control the bike due to the wind drag as they passed. Then we heard a noise we hadn’t heard for days, a truck going at ‘bike speed’ waiting, yes actually waiting, for a safe gap to overtake us. As he passed, giving us a wide berth, I waved and waved trying to convey our thanks. I can’t explain what this simple action did for us, so considerate, it gave us strength to carry on. Twice more over the next day it happened, though amongst 1,000 trucks that didn’t. We also got a fair few toots of support and a lovely camper van, slowed, waved and shouted encouragement.
Not long after leaving Jean’s we decided we needed a break from the road and I thought a coffee would calm our nerves. I spotted a diner called High Five. Well, it is simply fantastic. Despite still been full of pancakes, coffee became lunch. Tom ate the best burger he has ever had, and I had their speciality of meat loaf. Oh, my it was awesome. Making it even better was the music. None stop 1950s classics. I didn’t want to leave, after a couple of hours Tom dragged me away. Back on the road, dam.
