Canadian Bike Tour, July 2005

In July of 2005, we took a bike tour of the Banff area of the Canadian Rockies. This was a guided "inn to inn" tour very luxurious and not at all rugged. Our trip coincided with the height of wildflower season. These are Indian paintbrush; apparently, the Canadian Indians use brighter paint than we do:



The first part of the trip was along the Bow River Parkway:



We rode our bikes up the hill to the Lake Louise resort. The lakes in this area are turquoise because of the "glacial flour" in the meltwater:



Although the roads were fairly level, the mountains towered over us on every side:



This is a yellow columbine:



The most challenging (and exciting) ride was up Highwood Pass in the Kananaskis area:



This is the same shot, edited eight years later in Lightroom -- it really conveys the emptiness of this road, with the mountains looming over our heads in the chilly morning air:

This is the same shot, edited in Lightroom -  the early morning light really etched the chaotic layers of rock:

The moose were not impressed with the scenery:



In this shot, I am holding up my bike with my left arm -- I had shattered my elbow in a bike accident the previous October:



That evening, the moon came up over the Rockies:



We took a walk early the next morning:







Our last day was in Calgary. There was a terrific bike path along the river, and we came upon (surprise!) white pelicans:



(Copyright Dan Schechter 2005 -- All rights reserved to all text and pictures)