Day 2 - Into the Rockies (July 1)

July 1 - Canada Day (formerly "Dominion Day"). Happy 140 years!

Moonset over the Rockies.

I entered the front range of the Rockies when I got to Canmore. The ride was generally pretty easy except for one hard climb.

They have to put the garbage somewhere, even in the mountains!

Almost to Canmore and just entering the front range of the Rockies, I saw a lot of industry - landfills, rock quarries and industrial plants. Who would have thought?

Here is an interesting contrast between the beauty of the Rockies with a Natural Gas Plant.

In the foreground is a monument to the cooperation of American and Canadian Soldiers in the Second World War. In the mid-ground, a natural gas plant and in the background, the Front Range of the Rockies.

The ride was generally easy, until I arrived at a lake. A mountain loomed over the lake. Pretty dramatic. I ate while watching some people attempt to fish while being attacked by gnats. The climb from my picnic spot at lake was the hardest part of today's ride.

I stayed at a small campground in Canmore between the main road and the railroad tracks, but the view was nice.

Why do I ride?

So the bike shop grommet . . . (def. grommet: 1) a clasp or latch, 2) a younger mountain biker, surfer, or snowborder, a “newbie”) . . . So the bike shop grommet in Canmore asks me “why do you do it, man?” He meant, “Why do you bike tour.

Over the next few days after I was asked this, I thought about my reasons for touring. The bike shop grommet even offered me this: he said, “why don’t you just drive from destination and cycle around each day's destination." So here are the answers:

I bike tour to tour, as in journey, as in travel. I am trying to travel from point a to point b (where ever those points may be) using my bike for transportation. I’m not totally limited to using my bike, but the intention is to ride as much as possible.

Why not just drive and bike? The point is to use the bike as transportation. Additionally, driving from location to location would require gas (and car maintenance or rental car fee) and this is not in my budget. The tour is a combination of doing a lot of cycling and trying to get somewhere. That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the scenery along the way. There are times that I spend a lot of time enjoying the scenery, even going as far as to go on a hike or other adventure off of my main cycling route. Then there are times where I am just riding, with my head down, looking only straight ahead or behind me (to watch the traffic coming up behind me), and I am just pushing myself to cycle.

This trip is a journey. It is a chance to take a break. To clear my head (or not). The goal is not to just to get as far as possible, but to be involved and immersed in the country as I ride. See Day 7 for what a ride is like and how it is different than travelling by car.

Day 2 - Cochrane to Canmore (60 Miles)