Day 1- Leaving Canmore.

I was able to leave the hotel at 7 am, and was able to get on the official GDMBR route just a block away. It was overcast and cool when I set out. I forgot breakfast, so I stopped at a McDonald’s at the edge of town. McDonald’s you ask…. Yes, Linda and I never eat there when we are traveling. I just know that it will be the only “fine dining” option in many of the places I go through, so I might as well get acclimated..

I had only made it down the road a couple miles when I noticed that my bike computer screen was frozen in the same spot. Strange.. 🧐 I had to reboot the unit, and the same thing happened just a couple miles further. Anyway, I tried multiple times with no success. I was already regretting not taking my Garmin bike computer instead of this new fangled one that didn’t seem to work for navigation 😡. It started raining at about the same time, so I pushed down the road towards Banff, where I hoped I could buy a replacement.

Banff is the Aspen/Vail of Canada. Very nice looking, but expensive as well. It was still raining pretty hard, so I looked for a coffee shop to stage “Operation fix or replace bike computer “. Guess what all the tourists do in Banff on a rainy day.. Yep, they all go to a coffee shop. I finally was able to get my latte and muffin, and found a place to sit on the ground near an outlet to keep my phone charged. I called a couple bike shops, but they are mainly in the business to rent bikes to visiting tourists, not to any more serious bikers. They mentioned that I might have more luck in Canmore, but no way was I going to bike 30 miles back for that. I still have my phone with digital maps downloaded, and paper maps as well. So, I decided to leave that warm and dry coffee shop, and venture back into rain with Mexico as my destination. Ok, there will be a few other places before then. 😁

I rode past the majestic Banff Springs Hotel, or that is what it was called 45 years ago when a friend and I stayed there to ski for a week. It cost us each $500 for a week stay and meals, ski lift tickets, and ski lessons for the whole time. We thought we were spending a lot of money at the time 😆.

Banff Springs Hotel

I finally was able to find the start of the trail that the GDMBR uses, no thanks to my lousy bike computer that I had turned off. The trail was ok despite the wetness. Luckily no “peanut butter mud”. It was a bit eary with nobody else out on the trail (for good reasons), except me and the grizzly bears lurking in the bushes. I had my bear bell ringing, but then I thought they may think that is a signal for lunch time..😫. I also sang some songs, which surely would scare the baddest bear ever.

Anyway, I never saw anyone else until I got to the campground I planned to stay at. I was standing next to my tent at the edge of a small lake, when the sun came out. It was still raining over the lake, but right at that time a most beautiful rainbow appeared. Also a rider rode up and in a thick Irish accent said his name was Keiran. I told him it must have been the luck of the Irish for that rainbow 🌈 to appear at the same time 🤣. Really nice guy. Also heading towards the Mexican border, but looked to be faster than me.

Rainbow! I have seen one that low..

Keiran the Irishman.