It took a few years, but I finally fulfilled my dream this September. I joined my friend Terry who I went to college with. The peloton was completed with the addition of Bert and Mary. Terry and Bert went to high school together in Colorado. Terry has become a Canadian citizen and now lives in Victoria, B.C. Bert and Mary live in Colorado Springs at the foot of Pike's Peak.

I was the first to arrive on Saturday morning, flying into Calgary via Denver. I picked up a Ford Explorer and waited for Terry to come in from Victoria a few hours after I arrived. Terry and I went to the "Budget Host Motor Inn" in Calgary off the Trans-Canada Highway where the first order of business was to assemble our bikes. The Bud Host staff gave us a few questioning looks as we brought in our bike boxes and enough equipment to conduct a para-military operation large enough to take over Calgary, if not all of Alberta. With a few minor glitches Terry and I put together our bikes and were ready to meet Bert and Mary on Sunday.

Sunday morning came and Terry and I headed out the door for a run along the Bow River. The morning was chilly, but we didn’t know better, coming from the very toasty Bud Host. Everyone we passed looked at the only two guys in Calgary running in shorts. From what I saw Calgary is a great city for running with miles of trails and large parks.

We met Bert and Mary at the airport and picked up a GMC Safari van that would become our sag-wagon. Time to get out of the city! The two vehicles headed West about 100 km to Canmore, where we stopped to get groceries.

Canmore was the venue for the nordic events for the 1988 Olympics. It is just outside the Banff National Park and there are two ski areas near-by. Canmore seems to becoming Canada's Moab, as mountain biking has become very big. In fact, I believe the World Championships were held there this year. I would guess Canmore has more than doubled in size since I was there in 1994.

As we continued to the day's final destination we passed the town of Banff. Banff is about 20 km west of Canmore, and is inside the National Park. Banff is famous for the Banff Springs Hotel, which is part of the Canadian Pacific chain. Banff was our first day's destination. About 40 miles north of Banff on the Trans-Canada Highway, is the village of Lake Louise.

The Trans-Canada is Canada's major East-West Road. As might be expected, it has a fair amount of traffic. Fortunately there is a road that parallels the trans-Cananda called the Bow Valley Parkway, which can take you the majority of the way from Banff to Lake Louise.

Off the Bow Valley Parkway, a few miles South of the Village of Lake Louise, we stayed at the Baker Creek Chalets. The four of us shared a single cabin. The cabins have no telephone or TV, but they are open all year, and suited the four of us perfectly. We were able to leave about $12,000 of bikes unlocked on the porch, and we didn't give a single thought about theft.

Monday morning brought our first ride. Our cabins were actually a few miles south of Lake Louise, so our first day's trip was to go to Banff via the Bow Parkway; a distance of a little over 30 miles. The Parkway, the Trans-Canada and the railroad all follow the Bow river through a beautiful alpine valley. On the ride, everyone stayed together for the leisurely trip down to Banff. We had lunch at the hotel, checked out the town and the falls. The day's biggest bike-hazard were the Elk guards that you have to cross to get into the town of Banff. These are the same a cattle guards except the distance between grates is double a normal cattle guard. We could barely walk our bikes across. Forget about taking a road bike over them!

The next day's plan was to go to Radium Hot Springs, which would bring us into Kooteney National Park (Parc Nationale) and into British Columbia. That is approximately 80 miles of riding (one way), so the sag was indispensable. We also "cheated" by using the sag to site-see the Marble Caynon and the Paint Pots, so we had less than 60 miles of riding facing us. We also missed a formidable mountain pass by starting at the Paint Pots. We started at noon, and found ourselves riding down another beautiful valley. Terry and Mary traded driving the sag. Frequently, they would drive ahead and then ride the bike back to meet the rest of the group.

It was clear that the group didn't have much experience riding the pace-line since we had a 20 mph head wind and we were all over the road. It was time for Terry's first pace-line lesson. I did my best to pass along all the things that Steve has taught me and soon we were flying. Free speed is wonderful.

The most difficult part of the day was near the end. Sinclar Pass is about a thousand feet of elevation gain with about an 8% grade. Just about at the top of the pass, we saw our first bear. This must have prepared us for the steep descent into Radium Hot Springs. The descent was the first time I have ever smelled my brakes --- they don't smell very nice. It was also the first time I rode my bike through a tunnel which I shared with a bus. I "enjoyed" the climb more than the descent. I was ready for a nice soak in the pool!

The pool at Radium is actually several public pools at different temperatures. After the pool, it was time for dinner in the town of Radium. The town has mountains to the east and an open valley with the Columbia river to the west. We finished dinner as the sun was setting and that meant we had a long trip home in the sag --- Bert had 8 eyes helping to make sure we didn't hit an Elk or Moose!

Wednesday morning was again very cool, about 32^oF, and the plan was to see the Hotel Lake Louise, ride the bikes to Moraine Lake, go over Kicking Horse Pass into Yoho Park, in B.C. and visit Emerald Lake. The Hotel Lake Louise, is also a Canadian Pacific Hotel, and has to be one of the world's great hotels by any measure. The hotel is on the open side of an emerald lake surrounded by mountains with glaciers hanging on for dear life. In the winter, there are ice sculptures on the lake and the extremely adventurous can ice climb the frozen water falls. It is a magical place.

So it was off to Moraine Lake, about 10 km from the hotel. The road to Moraine Lake had a fair amount of traffic and there was a 800 foot climb, but the Lake is spectacular. The scene used to be on the back of Canada's 20 dollar bill. Like Lake Louise, the lake is glacier fed giving the lake an emerald hue and it is set in a mountain valley --- The Valley of the 10 Peaks. It was at Lake Moraine we learned that we had just experienced the best 3 days in a row of the summer. They were perfect.

The afternoon trip took us to Emerald Lake. Once again, we had a huge descent on our trip at Spiral Mountain. The descent to the town of Field was a significant problem for the railroad so some Swiss engineers came up with an incredible solution: The railroad snakes into a tunnel on one side of the valley and comes out of the tunnel on the other side of the valley making a 9 km figure eight. For the bike riders it was straight down at 45 mph, with big time cross winds and bridge expansion joints making the descent more exciting than it needed to be.

Before we headed home, it was time for a quick stop at Takakkaw Falls. Takakkaw means "magnificent" in Cree. Once we learned that, everything was "Takakkaw" for the rest of the trip!

Thursday once again started cold, but for the first time, the clouds rolled in. Thursday's ride, was going north in the direction of Jasper. We would start at Peyto Lake and if we were energetic, we would end at the Columbia Ice Fields --- a ride of about 60 miles. Peyto Lake was a good place to start the ride, since our first hour was basically down hill so we averaged 28 mph. When the downhill ran out, the head-winds and the rain started. As you go north toward Jasper on the Ice Field's Parkway, everything gets more and more wild. The bear warning signs are the size of inter-state highway signs as are the unexploded ordinance warnings. As the rain and wind started to pick up, I found myself as the only one still out on the road. I had Sunwapta Pass, the "Big Hill," to face with its 1,200 feet of elevation gain at 8% grade. I pressed up the hill, until I was cold, out of gas, and finally, out of enthusiasm. When I stopped, I probably had another 200 feet of elevation gain, and then it would have been a quick 10-km down to the Ice Fields Visitor's center.

The Ice Fields is an impressive site. Perhaps the most startling part of the fields is seeing how much the glaciers have recessed in the last century. Glaciers, that at the turn of the century were right along the road, are now about a kilometer away. The glaciers feed river systems that flow into 3 oceans, the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Artic. This glacier is also the head-waters for one of America's most famous rivers, the Columbia. Unfortunately, we were all too cold and the rain discouraged us from exploring too much of the area.

Friday was partial get-away day. We decided we would do a trail run up by Lake Louise before we had to check out of our cabin. Somehow we went on the wrong trail, which was taking us right up the mountains surrounding the lake. After about 20 minutes and who knows how much elevation gain, it was time to admit that this was not the route we had hoped. It was time to get some hot chocolate in the hotel, shower, and get back to Calgary.

Terry and I were back at the "Bud Host." Bert and Mary were leaving for Seattle later in the evening. Terry and I spent the rest of Friday afternoon taking our bikes apart and making final preparations for our very early Saturday departures.

When I try to describe the scenes, I find I over-use words like "spectacular." But how else can you describe an area of the world that is so beautiful, so remote, and so powerful? By the way, the biking was Takakkaw!