Hi everyone, well here we are in Banff, CA on Saturday, August 22. We actually arrived here on Thursday. Today we are packing the bikes in boxes, tying up lose ends and plan to take a shuttle to Calgary tomorrow. Our flight back to Ohio is Monday morning. I haven't been able to post a note since Sparwood so for now I will tell you what has happened since arriving in Banff. We are in the Banff library and time is limited. On thursday we rode into Banff. The trail into Banff was called the GOAT TRAIL. It was mostly downhill BUT it was also MOSTLY ROCKS! Try that with a mt bike and Trailer or with bags on the bike. Poor Hap didn't have a full suspension bike like mine. Sorry about YOUR luck! I can only say my new Giant Trance bike has been awesome. It has really made a difference in my back. Which by the way is still attached. Back to the story enough about my new toy! The trail was beautiful. I will be posting pictures when we get back to Ohio. So stay tuned! The mts are awesome and the weather was great. It was a good ride into town. We only got lost or should I say had a view "do overs". There were several waterfalls and bridges lining the trail.
We arrived into Banff behind the Banff Hot Springs Hotel. (An impressive sight!). It was very odd to go from riding in the middle of nowhere to a hustling, bustling tourist town. It is very beautifully nestled in between the mts and alongside the Bow River. The first thing we did was to ride to the bike shop to make sure our boxes we had arranged for were there. And yes they were. So Plan A was in force for the moment...... PLAN A: We had arranged with Sister Sonnie who has a Parcel/Post store to have our stuff sent via Fedex to Ohio. We actually arrived in Banff a day earlier than we thought we would. The reason..we ran out of clean clothes and hadn't had a shower for two days! And there was no campground or shower in sight. I called the Driftwood Inn and they said we could check in a day early. OK. PLAN A still a go!
Friday we got up, ate breakfast in the room (oatmeal, bananas and peanut butter). And took off to ride a trail that was recommended by the bike shop. Rundle River Trail. He said that it was very rooty and rocky and you would either love it or find it very frustrating. Doesn't that sound like fun! Of course that's the trail we want. After all we have just ridden 400 miles pulling all our stuff, that should be easy. We took off on our LIGHT, no gear mt bikes. We decided to ride to Canmore Nordic Center. That is where the 1998 Calgary Olympics held their Nordic events. And it is the Olympic training center. The trail was 10 miles long. Piece of cake........... off we go...the first thing that happened was we couldn't find the trail. I hate it when someone says "you can't miss it!" Doesn't he know who we are? We finally found the trail and started UP. Although we didn't realize we were climbing. It was a beautiful trail along the Bow River. And he was right there were lots of rocks and lots of roots. But other than that it was perfect. We rode through tree lined trails with lots of moss on either side, across rock fields, over bridges, one section of very narrow trail just on the EDGE of the river (Jill you wouldn't have liked it!). The last 3 miles or so was in the Nordic Center series of trails which was more double track. But uphill Of course. We went to the Nordic Center for a snack of Pita bread and Hummus (mmm good) and an apple and coke. Then we headed back. Oh did I mention we are still in bear country and there are signs everywhere of watch out for the bears? That makes it alittle more interesting. Hap had his bear spray though so we were safe. He left his noise makers and knife at the hotel (you'll have to wait until the next post to see what that means!). The ride back was even better. We started with a neat, fast downhill (watch out for those roots!). I kept leaving Hap behind on the downhills and then he would catch me on the ups. Remember the full suspension that you said you don't need Hap???? About half way back a girl (and guy) passed us......uh oh .... game on! (does anyone know me very well.. the part about the girl "passing me?" Let's just say that I passed them back in short order and had to wait for Hap at the end of the trail. It was one of the best mt bike rides I have ever had. It was awesome. I wish we had trails like that in Ohio. Oh and the girl......mmm...where did she go? We stopped at the grocery for dinner supplies and headed back to the room. Dinner was a salad, nuts and a turkey sandwich.
So back to PLAN A. Today we called FED EX just to double check what we needed to do. They first told us that they would email us the info, fill out the form, there you go.... Hap got the email, printed it out but didn't quite understand how to fill out the customs form. So he called back. This time they said we could't even use FED EX in Canada unless we had a CANADIAN account. Uh OH! So now what? PLAN B: Take the bikes on the plane with us. We have done this for 20 years. Usually just ride to the airport and they sale you a box for $10, no problem. We thought why are we taking a shuttle why not ride to the airport. It's only 80 miles. We had an extra day to do that. OK. PLAN C: Ride to Calgary Airport, box up the bike and the BOB trailer and fly home. Should we call to make sure they have a box at the airport? Remember that time???? OK, so Hap calls the airline! NO, we don't have any boxes. Now we are at PLAN D: Box the bikes and trailer in Banff, shuttle to Calgary Airport, shuttle to the hotel, shuttle back to the airport at 5am Monday morning. Are the shuttles big enough to carry the bike boxes? Remember that time...? We call the hotel first.....let us check and call you back....yes, but that shuttle doesn't run on Sundays......mmmm....will they fit in a mini van?? Of course we say.....mmm.....yes that will work. Now we call the Banff shuttle....do you take bike boxes? Yes that will be $10.30 for each bike....Alrighty then. Now we have $175 to fly each bike, $175 for the trailer, plus the shuttle......
So here we sit in the library. Everything arranged, bikes in boxes, trailer boxed. Only a few questions left to answer. How do we get three boxes through customs? Can we take our bear spray? What about our stove and fuel bottles? Remember that time....................?
I have to say that even though the cost is higher than expected. This trip has been awesome and worth every penny. We have had an amazing two weeks of just riding and being together. In spite of the cold, wet weather it has been wonderful. We have decided though that it is much easier just to ride home. So look out for the next trip! We don't need no stinkin aeroplane. We for sure would have ridden back into the US if we had known all of this hassle was going to happen. But when you travel like this you just have to be prepared for PLAN A, B, C, or D or ??? But remember it's all good!
I will be posting pictures when we get home and also more about our last four days of riding! So stay tuned.
We arrived into Banff behind the Banff Hot Springs Hotel. (An impressive sight!). It was very odd to go from riding in the middle of nowhere to a hustling, bustling tourist town. It is very beautifully nestled in between the mts and alongside the Bow River. The first thing we did was to ride to the bike shop to make sure our boxes we had arranged for were there. And yes they were. So Plan A was in force for the moment...... PLAN A: We had arranged with Sister Sonnie who has a Parcel/Post store to have our stuff sent via Fedex to Ohio. We actually arrived in Banff a day earlier than we thought we would. The reason..we ran out of clean clothes and hadn't had a shower for two days! And there was no campground or shower in sight. I called the Driftwood Inn and they said we could check in a day early. OK. PLAN A still a go!
Friday we got up, ate breakfast in the room (oatmeal, bananas and peanut butter). And took off to ride a trail that was recommended by the bike shop. Rundle River Trail. He said that it was very rooty and rocky and you would either love it or find it very frustrating. Doesn't that sound like fun! Of course that's the trail we want. After all we have just ridden 400 miles pulling all our stuff, that should be easy. We took off on our LIGHT, no gear mt bikes. We decided to ride to Canmore Nordic Center. That is where the 1998 Calgary Olympics held their Nordic events. And it is the Olympic training center. The trail was 10 miles long. Piece of cake........... off we go...the first thing that happened was we couldn't find the trail. I hate it when someone says "you can't miss it!" Doesn't he know who we are? We finally found the trail and started UP. Although we didn't realize we were climbing. It was a beautiful trail along the Bow River. And he was right there were lots of rocks and lots of roots. But other than that it was perfect. We rode through tree lined trails with lots of moss on either side, across rock fields, over bridges, one section of very narrow trail just on the EDGE of the river (Jill you wouldn't have liked it!). The last 3 miles or so was in the Nordic Center series of trails which was more double track. But uphill Of course. We went to the Nordic Center for a snack of Pita bread and Hummus (mmm good) and an apple and coke. Then we headed back. Oh did I mention we are still in bear country and there are signs everywhere of watch out for the bears? That makes it alittle more interesting. Hap had his bear spray though so we were safe. He left his noise makers and knife at the hotel (you'll have to wait until the next post to see what that means!). The ride back was even better. We started with a neat, fast downhill (watch out for those roots!). I kept leaving Hap behind on the downhills and then he would catch me on the ups. Remember the full suspension that you said you don't need Hap???? About half way back a girl (and guy) passed us......uh oh .... game on! (does anyone know me very well.. the part about the girl "passing me?" Let's just say that I passed them back in short order and had to wait for Hap at the end of the trail. It was one of the best mt bike rides I have ever had. It was awesome. I wish we had trails like that in Ohio. Oh and the girl......mmm...where did she go? We stopped at the grocery for dinner supplies and headed back to the room. Dinner was a salad, nuts and a turkey sandwich.
So back to PLAN A. Today we called FED EX just to double check what we needed to do. They first told us that they would email us the info, fill out the form, there you go.... Hap got the email, printed it out but didn't quite understand how to fill out the customs form. So he called back. This time they said we could't even use FED EX in Canada unless we had a CANADIAN account. Uh OH! So now what? PLAN B: Take the bikes on the plane with us. We have done this for 20 years. Usually just ride to the airport and they sale you a box for $10, no problem. We thought why are we taking a shuttle why not ride to the airport. It's only 80 miles. We had an extra day to do that. OK. PLAN C: Ride to Calgary Airport, box up the bike and the BOB trailer and fly home. Should we call to make sure they have a box at the airport? Remember that time???? OK, so Hap calls the airline! NO, we don't have any boxes. Now we are at PLAN D: Box the bikes and trailer in Banff, shuttle to Calgary Airport, shuttle to the hotel, shuttle back to the airport at 5am Monday morning. Are the shuttles big enough to carry the bike boxes? Remember that time...? We call the hotel first.....let us check and call you back....yes, but that shuttle doesn't run on Sundays......mmmm....will they fit in a mini van?? Of course we say.....mmm.....yes that will work. Now we call the Banff shuttle....do you take bike boxes? Yes that will be $10.30 for each bike....Alrighty then. Now we have $175 to fly each bike, $175 for the trailer, plus the shuttle......
So here we sit in the library. Everything arranged, bikes in boxes, trailer boxed. Only a few questions left to answer. How do we get three boxes through customs? Can we take our bear spray? What about our stove and fuel bottles? Remember that time....................?
I have to say that even though the cost is higher than expected. This trip has been awesome and worth every penny. We have had an amazing two weeks of just riding and being together. In spite of the cold, wet weather it has been wonderful. We have decided though that it is much easier just to ride home. So look out for the next trip! We don't need no stinkin aeroplane. We for sure would have ridden back into the US if we had known all of this hassle was going to happen. But when you travel like this you just have to be prepared for PLAN A, B, C, or D or ??? But remember it's all good!
I will be posting pictures when we get home and also more about our last four days of riding! So stay tuned.
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