Another thousand kilometers, or behind the border.
Hey world ! Yeah, that's it ! We are in the ducking United States of America !
After another thousand of kilometer, we crossed the US border. Easy !
But before that… there is still a lot of thing to say about Canada. And who says Canada, says poutine. This amazing dish consists in fries, covered with (almost) melted cheese covered with brown gravy. And if you eat it after 50km up hill, on a sunny day on the side of the road when it is the only food in all directions for at least 40kms… maybe is it even better !!
So, we were enjoying the poutine when Laverna stopped right next to us, inviting us to stay at her home at Grande Cache the next day. Okay !! No problem, very nice of you. Unfortunately, this next day was long and rainy, with huuuuge elevation profil, rainy, though, rainy, difficult ! And we broke the chain. But we learned one thing : bad times will always end… well, sometimes, it can take some time, but they will.
So Laverna and Chris hosted us, and Chris, who was a bike traveller gave us advices, and help to fix Sublime. It (Sublime, not Chris) needed a new, more robust rear wheel. Good to know ! So we decided to wait for the border to contact Tandems East, an american company. In theory, that was a good idea… in theory. Never try to plan anything when you are on a bike trip, it will never work the way you expect. We spent 2 nights at Laverna's home. Chris showed us pictures of his trips around the world, by bike, by canoe, by kayak… and we had the chance to test Karren and Craig's (Laverna's friends) hot tub, under the canadian stars in the middle of the night.
Then, we were ready to attack Jasper National Park, with its slopes threatening us from the begining. Yeah, mountains involve slopes. Good to know ! This park was awesome ! We have broken 3 spokes in 2 days but the view was worth all those problems. Mountains, lakes and forests combine all the colors of the rainbow. The turquoise lakes are lost between green forests, or hidden between light brown rocks, surrounded by yellow-to-red grass. The summits are either black rock on the blue sky, or covered with snow and ice from glaciers... Actually, the highway through the park is called "Icefield Parkway" or "Promenade des glaciers" in french. We made one small stop to enjoy the Athabasca glacier, and another one, longer, to hike until the Wilcox pass. Our legs are still able to walk! Good to know!
After our great adventure through Jasper, I had the opportunity to taste something that maybe all cyclists know... it was crispy, salty,... it was a mix between what comes from my nose, my sweat, the gravel of the road expelled by the wheel and the water from the rain. And when you are cold, wet and still sweaty, having something to eat is really good to keep you okay! More seriously, at this time, it was a little bit difficult, with the combination of up hill road, rain, and mechanical problems. Luckily, we met Kaisee from Albuquerque, who made us try the hukkleberry liquor. It gives you strength for a month (at least).
Several days later, we wanted to reach Radium Hot springs to warm us up a little bit in hot water...there was a huge up and down hill before. Super cool! The up hill is difficult but we will enjoy the down hill right after! Just kidding, our hub broke halfway... It was impossible to continue like this so we walked to the hot springs, had our lunch there and decided to buy some chips as a consolation. Well, we could... if we had not lost our wallet (with only canadian money in it, not my passport, don't worry mum and dad) at the last stop. So? What do we do now? Ah! We can call Stephen, this guy met some hours before that we can call in case of problem. Well, we could... if our canadian phone contract was not over this same day. But I had still some money on my belgian phonecard. He finally took us to Invermere, where his parents offered us a great dinner and a warm shower. After that, Stephen found us a place to stay for one or two nights, with Mark and his roommates. There, we ordered the new wheel (from the US company) by e-mail and had it shipped to Missoula in the US. There is the Adventure Cycling Association at Missoula, which make amazing maps for cyclists (thanks to Cheryl and David, tandem riders, who told us about it). As I am writing, the wheel has arrived and we are currently 3 days away of Missoula ( but as I said, don't try to plan... it will change anyway...). Well, let's come back to Mark and his roommates. One of them, Max, made a lot of cyclistsitting. He took us for an incredible hike with his friends to Bluster Lake. The view, atmosphere, weather, jokes were excellent. That was a very good moment, making us happy that Sublime was "ill" (still no hub).
After the effort, we enjoyed the evening in Nick's garage, drinking some beers, trying his daughter's bike. Lio and I were the worst on a children bike... still some skills to learn. Because they (Max, Nick and James) didn't succeed to pronounce our names, I am glad to introduce ourselves to you as Lionel Richie and (because of my blue fluffy sweater) Cookie Monster (no links with my love of cookies, I promise!). We had a great evening! To finish our adventure at Invermere, the day after, Max and Mark took us for a ride... 2h, with only 20min on road. Otherwise, that was rocks, creeks, holes, etc... BUT (after having thought we would die 5 times), we reached an amazing glacier, at the roof of the world, surrounded by summits of rocks. I didn't even know it was possible to go so high and far by... car. Good to know!
So, to summarize, we were at Invermere, we ordered the new wheel and it should arrive at Missoula 5 days later. Okay! Let's go to Missoula, off Sublime, by hitchhiking then. (Not so easy to find people willing to take us, and cars willing to take Sublime). We reached Cranbrook in one day, but then, Frank feeling bad for us (he had seen us next to the road the day before) and he took us in the wrong way, but his son offered us a new wheel as a standing for the real one, waiting in Missoula. We were on the road again! So exciting!! Especially when you know that you can reach the border this very day and say "yeah, you know, we crossed Canada by bike... no big deal!" (wich made us ride 120 km on that day, not very smart) Finally, we are one day away from Missoula, our wheel is already there, and I think we will go to the theater once we get there.
This city sounds like heaven on Earth, the world is beautiful, I love you!
See you after another border! (Or in another thousands
kilometers!)
Thanks again to my sponsors : TraKKs Syemens cyclo Genval Le journal du raid - 123Ecole Berghen Lasne Optic
