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| Day 12 - July 9 - Banff to Cochrane 115km |
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| I leave camp at 7:30 this morning with Aggie and Dave. Going down Tunnel Mountain Road is a fun start to the day. Then we get on Highway 1 and stay there until the Tim Hortons in Canmore. Aggie sees she has a flat tire just as we're pulling in. We slip in a new tube and we're good to go. Several others from our group show up for a bite to eat so we chat with them for awhile. |
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| As we get back on the highway, we have a nice tailwind for another 10km or so, then Aggie gets another flat. We patch the tube and we're on the road again in 10 minutes. Our thinking is that we're out of the mountains and it should be flat. Are we ever wrong. |
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| There are so many hills on that highway that it seems to go on forever. They are very long, tiresome hills because the wind is against us the whole way. We finally get to Cochrane at 2:00 only to find that the truck isn't there yet. We sit at the picnic tables exchanging tips on topics only a cyclist would find interesting like how to deal with sunburns, mosquito bites and saddle sores. Then my brother Lloyd (who lives in Calgary with his wife Kamini) picks me up at 3:30 and drives me back to their apartment so I can change out of my bike clothes. |
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| The three of us head to Mountain Equipment Co-op (aka MEC) because I have a list of things to buy for people who heard I'd be going. My big purchase is a new tent because my old one leaks badly and tends to collapse in high winds. Duct tape isn't doing the job. I figure I need something a little sturdier for those Prairie storms. |
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| Lloyd and Kam take me out for a nice dinner at Kelsey's, then we stop at the grocery store on the way home because I have a craving for skim milk. I don't drink much milk anymore; it's a challenge to get enough calcium on this trip. |
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| It's wonderful to sleep in a real bed again, even if it's just for one night. Although, it's a bit like getting just one lick of an ice cream cone. Having a little bit just makes you want it more. After just 12 days, I had forgotten how nice it is to sleep indoors. |
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