Good times in Canada

Randomly enough, I am writing this from a carpark, outside the Bomber Command Museum of Canada (full of  old fighter planes etc)...I have no idea where we are, but Brent screeched to a stop to go in and have a look.  And oddly enough I found a free WiFi connection in their carpark.  Oh, the things we do!!

Hello Canada, Bye bye Canada...a flying visit, but we enjoyed the stay! We only stayed in the new country for 4 nights, but enjoyed every minute. After we visited Radium Hot Springs, we drove northeast to Canmore, on the edge of Banff National Park. A spectacular area with sheer, rocky mountains that just command your attention! Lots of fast-flowing rivers full of glacial melt that glow a sparkly pale blue that is reminiscent

of Tekapo Lake near Mt Cook in NZ. And oodles of pine trees! Very beautiful in summer and possibly stunning in winter with all the snow, I imagine. Although didn't stay long enough to find out unfortunately:-)

We stayed 3 nights in Canmore. Definitely a very pretty, trendy and popular (read, expensive) little town – although nowhere near as touristy as Banff. We stopped at Banff on the way through to Canmore, and we were scared! The volume of bustling tourists was a bit daunting. However, you can see why they visit there, with the town surrounded by stunning rocky mountains. Sort of reminded us of Queenstown.

Our friend Brendan was staying with some mates of his in Canmore, and they very generously offered for us to use one of their car parks in the back of the house, to sleep in Alby and use their house facilities! Thanks heaps Meghan, Alex and Finn!! The 1^st day there, Alex and Brendan took us on a ride that they warned us would be 'possiblty quite tiring & long'. UMMMMM....well, they were accurate in their description, although 'super epic' and 'f-in difficult' might have been more appropriate.  Haha :-) Seriously though, we really enjoyed it, and appreciated having 2 locals show us the most adventurous ride in town! Lusk Pass, JumpingPound Ridge and Cox Hill Ridge, I think the trails were called. 56 kms and 7 hours we were out, which included 1800 metres of climbing. Seriously technical, tricky climbing with big rocks, switchbacks, tree roots and loose gravel (difficult for me anyway!). And a few gnarly descents to keep it even more exciting! I had a nice fall on the 1st bouldery rocky descent, which was totally dumb, but had me a little shaken up. Nice few bruises in random places, and a broken thumbnail which spurted blood, and an attractive lumpy grazed knee....but nothing broken! PHEW. Onwards and downwards. Had some superb (well- deserved) views on the way too, and Brent / Brendan came across a black bear cub on the way down too! An absolutely fantastic ride, full of blood, sweat and (nearly) tears – so a big thanks to the boys for taking us on a memorable adventure!

After the epic ride, we all

went out to a BBQ at another house – the home of Christy and Joel, who also live in Canmore. Nice evening and had a BBQ'd chicken with a can of beer up its bum (a Canadian tradition or something haha). Yum, and thanks to the hosts for feeding our hungry tummies.

Rest day (obviously) on Monday, so visited some of the popular local tourist sites, including beautiful Lake Louise and picturesque

Moraine Lake. Had to get the obligatory photos! Saw an elk on the drive back which had the largest antlers we've ever seen.  Also visited the Banff Hot Springs which was lovely but a tad jammed with tourists. A soak was much needed for the aching body though.

Today is Tuesday. Started off by going for a cheeky little 2 hour spin with Brendan. Up in to the Canmore Nordic Centre, where cross country skiers train year round, and local mountain bikers go riding after work. Nice, fun trails, but I think I rode like a nana, thanks to the bruises and memory of the fall. Brent and Brendan were very difficult to keep up with! Speedy gonzalezes.  Thanks Brendan for showing us around!

So, off down south again now. We have a date in about 4 or 5 days to get to Bonneville (northern Utah) for the Salt Flat racing! So, next stop is Glacier National Park which is just inside Montana. Meant to be stunning. Ta-ra for now!