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bikes canada general trip reports

Solo bikepacking the 40 – Day 1

This was a bit of an impromptu adventure. I had vacation time to spare, but hadn’t had the energy to do anything with it earlier in the year. But the weekend bikepack out to Elk Lakes hadn’t actually felt too bad; sure I’d felt weak, and had to push up the hills, but I could keep going. And I didn’t have anything in particular going on at work in the coming week. So I turned up on Monday just to ask if I could disappear for the rest of the week… sure? Excellent.

Tuesday morning was spent packing (which always takes longer than you think it will) and then convincing someone to give me a ride up the pass. If I had to ride up the Whiteman’s Gap hill, I probably wouldn’t have actually gotten much further that day. In the end I found a lift, and started riding from the pass at 2pm. I rode slowly, and it felt hard.

Twenty kilometres in I stopped for a nap, and wondered if I should call it a day. But I should be able to do this. And I wouldn’t get very far this week if all I could manage was twenty kilometres per day. I snacked, and rested, and kept going.

A couple of hours of slow riding later I had another rest at Buller Pond. There had been occasional traffic, and it was kind of dusty, covering familiar terrain on an overcast dingy day. There was even a chance of snow in the forecast. It felt great to be out riding my bike, but it didn’t feel great to find such a slow speed so exhausting.

Then finally, joy of joys, the road started trending downhill, and things got a little easier, and I realised I really would be able to make it to Kananaskis Lakes.

After coasting down the final hill to the Lakes I stopped to cook on the dam wall. It had great views, some wind shelter for the stove, and seemed pretty defensible – at least bears wouldn’t be able to sneak up on me.

 

I’m always a bit tentative about getting the stove going, it’s just one of those things that’s hardly ever been my job when getting set up at camp (at least not since the good old days when I had a Trangia), and I’m always a little concerned I might do it wrong and it’ll take it personally and explode.

The stove did not explode. I cooked and ate my dinner in a perfectly ordinary fashion, and nothing went wrong and no bears ate me.

The light was fading from the sky and tendrils of cold were infiltrating the air as I found a camping spot and settled into my bivy. I was feeling just warm enough, and finished listening to the audiobook of Tina Fey’s Bossypants as I settled in to sleep – she’s impressive, and I enjoy her feminist rage, even if I’ve never really loved her comedy.

Overnight the wind blew on and off, and when I was woken by the wind I pulled my bivy down, feeling the cold on my nose as I peered at the silhouetted mountains and the stars filling the cloudless sky. My toes wiggled and I squirmed for warmth, but I’d made it this far at least.

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bikes canada general

Cheering squad: Alberta Rockies 700

Another in the ‘race report from the sidelines’ category, as the Alberta Rockies 700 rolled around, and the two Ryans came up with the plan to set up a neutral support station outside Rebound Cycle for all the AR700 riders  who would be rolling through Canmore.

It’s possible that some of the supporters were a little more biased than others though!

A good crew had assembled and the BBQ had been fired up with Adam and Kyle rolled in, covered in dust and looking hot and hungry. See the death stare that burger is getting?

While we waited for riders to turn up, the kids entertained themselves. Puddles can keep you happy for hours.

Then Kyle and Adam rolled out…

And Kat rolled in, looking magically less dusty than the guys.

Richard wasn’t too far behind her…

Followed by Dean…

Then Katrina headed off, accompanied by Zion – or perhaps she was just going to stock up on food while she waited for some of the guys to keep her company on the 1A out of town.

And then Tim, who was in and out in no time (ok fine, he stopped to chat to Ryan for a bit)

Greg was the first of the riders to take up the offer of a free beer, generously supplied by the Canmore Brewing Company.

As the evening wore on, more supporters wandered by to visit, and the riders coming through seemed more inclined to settle than to push on.

I headed home after 10pm, meaning to just lie down on the sofa for a bit, and then go back out to say hello to the next bunch on in-bound riders. But when I opened my eyes again, it was morning.

I went in hunt of riders, and managed to find Richard outside Rusticana…

And then Brian, with tales of roadside stealth camping, conservation officers, and breakfast beer.

The morning crew was a little more sociable than the evening crew, and there was a lot of standing around and chatting going on.

Then the lanterne rouge crew, Guy, Penny and Tracy rolled into town. Also covered in dust, but still in good spirits.

And so the riders kept heading north towards Hinton along the 40, and the support station packed up for the year. The final results? Adam in first, followed by Dean on his single speed, then Richard and Kyle riding together, Katrina in fifth, followed closely by Tim in sixth. And more still behind them :)