Day 65: And the Journey Continues....

Day 65 - 7/20/08
Start - Banff
End - Banff!!
Because we're done! First full day off after finishing the ride- and it was rather nice to not be sitting on a hard, small, violating bike saddle for 7 hours. Around 11:30 am while sitting in the coffee shop, it hit me that I wasn't continuing on with the trip. Good and bad feelings- nice to be able to relax, but this lifestyle is also just so damn appealingly simple. What can you do? The day was spent at the coffee shop for a few hours, and then I went to .... church. I can't really remember the last time I went to church- but Mark was going today, so I decided why not? It was actually quite nice and we met another Dutch bicycle tourer named Samuel. Super nice guy and we've been kicking it all day. The rest of the day was filled with napping in a grassy park- I'm just as much of a sucker for a good nap as anyone. Then I finally got my bike fixed up, the pannier rack supports were falling off, but now they should last. Following that laziness, we rode a few miles out of town to Lake Minnewanka to camp, probably illegal to pad down here, but who's going to say something. Disregarding the touristy nature of Banff, it certainly boasts some beautiful scenery very close to the town. Swimming in the lake was done more out of necessity than desire, seeing that I hadn't cleaned myself in a countless number of days. I would have to say that the shrinkage occurred-! A super cold dip, but worth it. Dinner was superb with fresh veggies from town- carrots, broccoli, garlic, tomatoes- delicious. Now all of the people have left and Mark, Samuel, and I have the place to ourselves for the night. I'm still figuring out future plans- but the idea now is to take a couple of days to do some hiking here, relax with Mark before he kicks it over to Vancouver, and then I'll be riding another 150 miles or so to see Lake Louise and end up in Jasper. I guess I just haven't had enough of this riding thing. It's quite addicting, so watch out anyone being teased by merciless of the bicycle demon. The roads up to Jasper are reportedly stunning and who knows when I'll be in this area again. That's the way it goes. Mosquitoes are building a little and the Frodo's ring is calling my attention for a little reading. So I must sign off. Eat well, ride hard, live long.