Day 129

September 18 - 58km (Lake Louise)

I didn’t have a great sleep last night, and coupled with the freezing temperatures outside (down to -2), I had no motivation to cycle today. I was planning on taking a scenic detour to Jasper after talking to Kirsten and Lyle, my Warmshowers hosts in Canmore. It was going to be an extra 200km+ of biking, but I was assured that the views would be worth it. Making distance has been extremely important to me, but I realized I should also try to see the beauty of Canada when I can.

I’ll be honest - I wasn’t really appreciating the beauty BECAUSE IT WAS SO COLD! I had all my layers on, but I was shivering especially as I zoomed down the hills. I was losing sensation in my hands, and even though I put my gloves on, it was too late. Then, it started to hail. I couldn’t fully look up because my face was getting slashed up. By the way, did I mention it was cold? But none of these were good enough reasons for me to quit. I signed up for this, so to turn back would be failure to me.

But then - I started to get some knee pain. I paused for a good five minutes, having an intense internal debate. I had a legitimate out now - it would not be wise to continue biking on this isolated highway, especially since it was so hilly and would exacerbate my pain. After further deliberation, I realized that this was a detour and I was NOT enjoying it. Shouldn’t I be taking this detour only if it’s worth the extra distance? It’s not like I was cheating because I would just be taking the main route to the Pacific coast.

This helped me make up my mind. It was time to head back to Lake Louise, but I still had 27km to bike back. Thankfully, it was mostly downhill. As I zipped down, I appreciated all that climbing I did in the morning and realized how far I have come as a cyclist since Middle Cove Beach. That felt like a lifetime ago.

After getting back into Lake Louise, I found a license plate. It wasn’t a legitimate one, but I had no other options considering Lake Louise was the last Albertan town till the border and they had nothing.

I reached a hostel. After meeting my dormmates (Marko and Marko from Germany!), I tried to get some work done and sleep.