The Summer Adventures Begin

As mentioned in our last post, May and June were rather quiet months, cycling wise. With all the windy days, we only managed to get out on our bikes once or twice a week. Initially, that wasn’t too bad, as we needed to adjust to the altitude change. After spending the winter at 40 feet below sea level, we found ourselves a little winded and with no power in our legs during our first rides back home at 2200 feet above sea level. 

We spent some of the resulting time on our hands out kicking tires as we decided it was time to replace our Honda Odyssey van. Back to Toyota we went, and settled on a nice new Highlander. The colour, you ask?  Ooh la la rouge mica; ooh la la for short. 

Introducing Scotty, the Highlander

Since we weren’t riding every day, I had lots of time to get some books read. My sister couldn’t believe that I read this book … but then, after giving it some thought, she wondered if there was a role for the sister!

Of course, we took some time to watch the Royal Wedding. At least Rockie and I did. I love pomp and ceremony and no one does it like the Brits! One year, Sandy came with me on one of my work trips to England. We spent a week of holidays after my work commitments were finished, during which we spent a day at Windsor. It made watching the wedding that much more interesting when we had been to explore both the castle and St. George’s Chapel.

 Rockie watches the Royal Wedding

We planned our first bicycle adventure of this summer to be a trip to Kananaskis Country, about an hour west of Calgary, to ride to the Highwood Pass. In preparation, we got out for some rides in the country side around Edmonton. The scenery is lovely here in cattle country, and there is always something interesting to see.  We highly recommend a visit if you have never been here before.

Old farm building

Cattle being fed

We thought this veterinary group had a pretty good sense of humour, although all the young bulls about to become steers probably don’t think so!

We hope the veterinarians are a lot more skilled at their work then this sign composer is at theirs!

Proffessional?

Finally, with a few rides under our belts, we headed south to Kananaskis Country the second week of June to take on the Highwood Pass. With Boxy loaded up and the dogs at the kennel, we checked into the Mount Kidd Provincial Campground. On the way in, we saw one grizzly bear that was being tracked by a conservation officer; sorry no photo.  

Entering Kananaskis Country

Seeing the bear was a pretty good reminder to keep all our food and garbage properly stored.  The campground was beautiful and the setting, at the foot of Mount Kidd, was spectacular. 

Our bear-proofed campsite

The highway up to the pass is closed through the winter until June 15th each year.  Once the snow is melted off the highway, cyclists can access it and make the journey to the pass without having to worry about vehicular traffic. At an elevation over 7000 feet, we were very concerned that this would be quite a challenging ride for us as we had really let our fitness level decline since we left California. 

Mount Kidd, in the eastern slopes of the Rockies

The day we arrived in Kananaskis was perfect, calm and warm. Of course, the day of our ride, the wind had to pick up. From our campsite, it was 23km to the gate where the highway was closed to vehicles.  Uphill all the way. With wind. And wildlife. We saw a few white tail deer and had to stop while some Big Horn sheep ewes crossed the road in front of us. Sorry, again, no wildlife photos.

Mountain stream along the way

Once through the gate (well, actually, we had to lift our bikes over the barrier) the pitch increased and it was a further 17km to the pass. Oh, and the wind just kept getting stronger.  Always, it seemed, the wind would pick up even more when the gradient increased, or just before the top of a hill. Sandy said she could tell when the gusts were coming as she could see my windbreaker billow out when they hit me, or she would watch as my bike and I got pushed around by the wind. Uphill and wind. If that doesn’t make your lungs and legs burn, nothing will!  Total distance from our campsite to the pass was 41km. And did I mention that it was all uphill? Total elevation gain was 3,080 feet.

Sandy crests the pass

So, there it is. We have conquered the Highwood Pass, up the steeper side, I might add. We were even pleasantly surprised that we didn’t find it as difficult as we thought it would be. Well, until we started the trip down. 

A long downhill, now that should be fun, shouldn’t it? Nope. The cross winds barreling down through the avalanche runs would slam into us like someone was trying to push us off our bikes. We had to keep our wits about us and constantly scrub off some speed in order to be able to keep our bikes under control when the next gust of wind attacked. To make matters worse, Sandy suffered a number of very painful muscle cramps in her legs on the way down. 

Highwood Pass achieved!

When all was said and done, we felt a real sense of accomplishment that we were able to tick this ride off of our bucket list. Now, onto the next adventure!

Columbian ground squirrel