Le Tour Part Two Day Three

Its Thursday May 31st 2007, I decide to sleep in a bit and leave a few hours later than Emma and Matt and catch up to them in Banff. I quickly through the panniers on the bicycle and proceed to attack the Rocky Mountains. Quickly passing threw Radium I approach the park entrance and notice six big horn sheep on the side of the mountain having a wee bit of breakfast. I then continued into the park and noticed two more families of sheep having their breakfast. After a quick ascente up the first pass I am blown away with beautiful views of the Rocky Mountains in Banff National Park. It is simply breathtaking and possibly one of the most scenic days of my tour so far. I felt at times that I was in the Chamonix valley looking up at ancient glaciers and frigid rivers. My neck was so kinked at the end of the day from continuesly staring up at the beautiful mountains.

I was a little disappointed with the physical aspect of the ride, everyone I spoke with mentioned how difficult this pass would be. When I talked to the person at the entrance to the park she claimed that good cyclists only make it half as far as I intended to ride. I guess she was wrong, Sorry I just have to send her a big "Told you so."

After the first bear chase, Oh sorry that did not happen but it really introduced this paragraph quite well. I did pass by two black bears, which I was hoping would chase me so I would have a great story to talk about today. I also saw some deer and a few birds along the way.

I reached a new top speed on my touring bike coming out of the mountains a wopping 74.38kms an hour. I know it isn't comparable to someone racing down the Alps in a race but you have to remember this is a touring bike with a massive load on its back. I rode 152.67 kms through the Rockies and was amazed with the great views.

I then met up with my friend Jamie Oliver and his family in Banff Alberta where he and his younger brother Thomas taught Matt and Myself how to play WWF wrestling on his video game system. Oh if you were wondering it is a different Jamie Oliver than the celebrity chef. The Oliver family put us up on their back porch and were really hospitable towards us.