Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Best of Banff – Part II

Wow, it turns out that between the running and all the walking I did on Saturday I was sore!!!  Oh well, Sunday arrived, the skies were reasonably clear so it was time to ride.  We headed out to the Bow Valley Parkway, the more scenic highway that connects Banff and Lake Louise

I rode this last year with my friend James the weekend before the Lake Stevens 70.3.  The scenery is amazing out here, plus the ride is a lot of fun.  The speed limit is fairly low along here and the ride is a fun one with some hills here and there, plus a net elevation loss on the way back.  Last year I rode the entire parkway and it was about a 3.5 hour ride.  This was a little more than what I and my riding partner were looking to do, so we parked at Johnston Canyon.  DSCN3311 DSCN3309 Along the way to Johnston Canyon we spied some elk!  Apparently there was a bear out along the way too, but we didn’t spot it.  The road was in pretty good shape – patches of gravel here and there, but definitely rideable.  While there were patches of sunshine here and there, there was also a pretty wicked wind coming out of the west.  It also looked like it was storming around Lake Louise.  After riding for about 40 minutes there were teeny tiny flakes of snow in the air.  We made the decision to turn around rather than risk getting caught in a possible storm.   DSCN3317 DSCN3322 The net downhill on the way back sure was nice as it only took 28 minutes to get back to the car!  And with that it was time to head back to Calgary…  We did manage to spy some goats on the way, but they were a little camera shy…DSCN3323

14 comments:

Nicole @ Geek Turned Athlete said...

Very jealous! It looks gorgeous there! I've been enjoying the rides here except now it's gotten cold again (like in the 30's). ;(

Julie said...

Good call on turning around -- you just never know in the mountains...

Downhills and tail winds -- gotta love 'em! :)

Petraruns said...

Beautiful place to ride - gorgeous! Can't believe it started snowing - good call on turning there as you don't want to get caught in that. How far did you end up going?

Rainmaker said...

Continues to look awesome up there...and the snow would have made for an even more entertaining story. :)

Wes said...

loverly :-)

Marlene said...

Sounds like a great ride! I love the shot of your bike in front of the sign with mountains in the background.

Heather said...

beautiful!

Alisa said...

Nice ride!

I loved both of these posts. When I was about 5 my parents took me to Banff and there are some super cute pictures of me with mountain goats. LOL

Ali said...

WOW ... so beautiful

Yuri said...

I'm so jealous. I was just out in Lake Louise about a month ago for some skiing. It's such a beautiful place and I can only imagine even more so in the summer time. Keep up the great work!

Yuri
Treadmill Trainer

Badgergirl said...

Sounds like a great ride!

ShirleyPerly said...

Wow, just gorgeous, Leana!!

You are lucky to be able to train in such beauty.

J said...

Haha that last picture of the goats made me laugh! Looks like it was a great ride!

Alexandra said...

That is gorgeous scenery you have to enjoy along your ride!