Day 87, 88 & 89 (Rest Days)

We decided to rent a car in Banff on Sunday and take a little road trip. We arrived back to snow on Tuesday evening and are staying with Kenneth and Michelle. Weather permitting we will be back cycling tomorrow on our final leg to Vancouver.

Snowy Banff

Dinner with Kenneth and Michelle 

Day 86 Radium, BC to Banff, Alberta 135km

Today was very tough. We had two passes and a lot of distance to cover. It was a chilly morning and the descent after the first pass meant that I lost the feeling in my fingers and toes. Luckily the day warmed up nicely after this. We cycled through the Kootenay national park for most of the day. It was a very nice park with lots of great scenery. We made it to banff at around 4pm and are pretty exhausted. Luckily we have a few
days off planned.

Entering the park

The water in the lakes and rivers was so clear.

Glacier

Back in Alberta 

Near Banff

Dinner in Banff

Day 85 Invermere, BC to Radium, BC 17km

Today was a short one as we rested up for our long haul to Banff tomorrow. It was a beautiful day and the town of Radium has some great views. We met a woman from Sligo this morning in Invermere. She is the first Irish person with an Irish accent that we have met on this trip.

Lake Windermere 

Lake Windermere 

Snow capped Rockies 

Looking towards Radium

Radium at dusk

Long one tomorrow

Day 84 Kimberley, BC to Invermere, BC 120km

We had a chilly day today. We are really noticing the drop in temperatures. After about 40kms we noticed that Brian's new tyre wasn't running true. After initially trying to hitch hike back to Kimberley, Brian managed to true the tyre after a couple of hours of loosening and tightening spokes. We cycled up the kootenay valley to the scenic town of Invermere.

Checking the spokes 

Kootenay River 

Columbia Lake

Fairmont Hot Springs

Invermere

Day 83 Kimberley BC (Rest Day)

We awoke this morning to some heavy rain. After checking the forecast and seeing that it wasn't going to clear quickly, we decided to stay here for another day. There was actually snow forecast for last night but thankfully it never came. Parts of Alberta including banff did get some snow. We are looking forward to getting back on the road tomorrow.

A wet day in Kimberley

Day 82 Kimberley, BC (Rest Day)

We took a well earned and also well timed rest day today. Brian left his bike in for a service and they discovered a crack along his rear rim. So he now has a brand new rear rim. I spent most of the day cleaning and repairing my bike. Kimberley is a nice small sking town which has a real European alpine feel. We discovered a nice Indian restaurant and are enjoying the variety in food that we can get here. It's better than the burgers and fries we lived on in the US.

Some on street table tennis

Brian doing his ice bucket challenge 

Kimberley 

Kimberley

Vegetarian samosas. We have changed so much.

Day 81 Cranbrook, BC to Kimberley, BC 31km

We decided to head to Kimberley today and take our rest day there. We had a great bike path all the way. Kimberley is a nice quiet sking town. We have a lot of work planned for tomorrow including bike repairs and laundry.

The bike path