Day 13

Looking back at fifty, I realize that our time in Banff was the "eye of the storm"—a beautiful, stationary moment before the vastness of the Prairies truly began. Shayne and I started the day early, walking through the crisp mountain air to find a bike shop that didn't have a week-long waiting list. Finding Unlimited Mountain Bikes was a stroke of luck; they promised to have our gear ready by evening, which felt like a green light for the rest of the trip.

We spent the afternoon playing tourist, but with the perspective of people who had just crawled over the mountains to get here. Walking around the Banff Springs Hotel, we definitely didn't look like the typical guests, but the majesty of the place is undeniable. The highlight for me was the Cave and Basin—there’s something humbling about seeing a unique life form like those endangered snails that evolved in such a specific, tiny pocket of the world. It made our 125km ride to Calgary seem small by comparison.

The evening was a reminder of why we were doing this: good food and family. Jim and Chip treated us to a spectacular salmon and roast beef dinner, followed by an apple pie that I can still practically taste. When we retrieved our bikes and felt brakes that finally didn't feel "squishy," I felt a surge of readiness. We’ve mapped out the two-day push to Calgary, and knowing we have a campground waiting at the halfway point makes the start of the next phase feel manageable.

Ever since that cold night we spent on the Coquihalla Summit, I have had a bit of a sore throat. I wake up this morning to find it has migrated to sinus congestion and a runny nose. Blue and I go for an early morning walk around Banff to see what there is. I bring my bike in hopes of finding a bike shop; Unlimited Mountain Bikes says they can get them back to us by this evening.

We follow a walking trail along the Bow River to the Bow River Falls. We walk around the Banff Springs Hotel where we stop to have some lunch. From there, we walk over to the Cave and Basin which is Canada's first National Park. It is awe inspiring to think how long this Basin must have existed for a unique life form like the endangered snail to have evolved. We follow a boardwalk down to marshlands where tropical African fish survive year round in water that is a constant twenty-seven to thirty degrees centigrade.

We walk back to Jim and Chip's for a fabulous salmon and roast beef dinner and a delicious apple pie for dessert. After supper we retrieve our bikes; it is nice to have brakes that do not feel squishy anymore. We spend part of the evening looking at a map of the Trans Canada Highway from Banff to Calgary. It looks like about 125km to Calgary. We have decided it would be best to divide that distance into two days.