When we book places 10 months in advance of a trip taken on a bicycle, it is hard to know what weather conditions we will be dealing with in making it to our planned destinations. Today was a planned day off and it rained half the day. Tomorrow will be a gruelling 100 km ride with major climbs.

This morning we were able to take a 4 km hike before it rained. Here are pictures from the day.

Two night stay at Beckers Chalet was like a dream. Chantel’s friend is the manager of the Beckers Chalet restaurant. This morning we enjoyed their breakfast buffet, complements of our daughter’s friend, before heading on the road again.

Will be staying here for two nights, taking another day off tomorrow. Before attempting to do 100 km’s on Friday that includes a Mountain Pass.

A day off (August 5th) from cycling, here are some day off pictures.

Today Amelia joined us for the 86 km ride. Chantel was the cheerful supporter who carried all our gear. She drove into Jasper to get lunch and brought it back for us. This made the day go smoothly. We had to deal with scattered rain showers all day.

Tomorrow we look forward to a day off. We have cycled 7 days in a row and need a break.

Being prepared when there are no services is important when cycling. 70 km’s is not a very long distance for cycling but it proved a challenge when our food and water was running low. Cell phone and other devices were also all running low on charges. We arrived in Hinton before totally running out of gas.

This is Gerald and Cheryl signing off from Hinton. Two of the cleanest people in town, after the first shower in 72 hours.

WARNING: content of this post stinks, read at your own risk!

Sometimes things stink when riding a bicycle. Last night we had a wonderful camping spot, but no running water. No showers to help clean our sweaty bodies, same thing for tonight. Hinton is our destination for Sunday, a warm shower will just have to wait

In keeping with the theme of this post being smelly and stinky. One often sees road kill while cycling. But this one broke our hearts. It was a dog, and it seemed fairly recent. The manner in which this dog died and how it now looked should not be described. His memory will be stored in our heads for a while.

Now the final thought on being smelly and stinky. The next picture is a screenshot of the message we got from the Airbnb place in Cochrane. A little shocking to read.

Yes we did see pictures, there is no context in those pictures. Close up shots of I don’t know what. I refused to pay the $280. She did appeal to Airbnb, but they shut the case a minute later. She has written a review for our stay, we have yet to write one back. I have no desire to do a revenge review, but just state the facts.

That’s enough of a stinky mess we need to talk about for now. Can’t wait for that shower.

Weary traveler

Beat down the storms you have weathered.

Feels like this road might go on forever.

Carry on.

Although these lyrics weren’t written with a cyclist in mind. It sure seems fitting to have this song sung by Jordan St. Cyr as our theme song.

Morning started with a debate to cycle back 6 km’s or to go forward for 40 km’s before getting food. Back tracking won out.

I had the big boy breakfast. 3 eggs, 2 sausage, bacon, ham, French toast and regular toast. Now that’s fueling up.

All totalled for the day we did 94.5 km’s. Tomorrow the plan is to have an easier day. Although wind could have a say in how easy it will be.

This is Alberta licence plate number 6AC7-89 signing off. Sweet dreams.

My years of cycling experience have taught me not to enjoy the wind too much. Wind can change direction at any time, and quickly become something you hate. Today the wind was a big help to the 123 km’s of cycling.

With a stop at A and W and to Coop for groceries we left at 9:30.

Our lunch break was right beside the road. We needed to dry out the tent as there is a lot of dew in the morning.

Cycling today reminded me of cycling to Thompson in bush country. Not much to see but a lot of trees.

Everything is very green here. Hay crops and pastures look very good.

Drayton Valley seems to be built on a hill. Climbed two km’s just before getting to town. We were just wasted and needed supper.

It’s time to relax and gather strength for another day.

A and W serves the best breakfast. Look at that mug full of orange juice. It’s also where all the locals hang out in the morning.

That sums up the day with all its different speeds. Not as many hills today. In total we traveled 94.6 km’s today.

Rocky Mountain House is our resting place for the night. Unfortunately when the camp site got booked we didn’t realize it was 8 km’s out of the town. We will have to back track in the morning to get our breakfast at A and W. Tomorrow will be our longest day at 117 km’s, now add another 8 to it.

Our campsite is near a River.

We have finally come up with a theme song for our trip. It is called “Weary Traveler” by Jordan St. Cyr. It seems so fitting for our cycling trip. We will continue to revisit this song as the trip goes on.

Finally our little side drama of our Airbnb stay in Cochrane. She wanted to charge us an extra $280 cleaning fee for the “terrible mess” we left. We declined the charge based on how we usually leave a place when we leave. Today she left a review on us, now it’s up to us to leave a review for her before we can see what she wrote about us. This one is going to sit on the shelf for a while. How does one respond to what happened? In a later blog post we will write what she said about us. You will need to hold your noses when you read it.

Good night from Rocky Mountain House.

With butterflies in our stomach and bikes attached to our vehicle we headed out to Alberta.

Stopped in Moosomin for night where we met the mayor who was pulling weeds in the public gardens. On behalf of town council he welcomed us to town.

On Monday we made it to Cochrane where we got welcomed with a thunderous ovation and a lightning show.

We stayed in what we thought was a wonderful Airbnb in Cochrane. Today we find out she wants to charge us $280. for an extra cleaning fee. I gracefully declined the charge. See where this goes. A little drama added to our cycling trip.

We are parking our vehicle at Allan and Pat Fuller’s place. We have not seen them for maybe 30 years. Allan went to high school in Winnipegosis. He is truly an inspiration in the ways he works at staying in shape.

Cycling went very well for our first day, of clear skies, comfortable temperatures and favourable winds. Had a clear view of the Rockies in the distance.

Cycled 86.5 km’s and will be sleeping at a campground in Sundre.