alberta - part 2 (the mountain part)

[scroll down for part 1]
From Lethbridge, we drove our packed little rental car to the Rockies, stopping only on the outskirts of Calgary for a quick lunch/gas break. Not much to report, other than the drive is breathtakingly beautiful. Is there anything prettier than the mountains?

We made a stop in Canmore to pick up race packages and to check out the course for Sunday. Lots (lots) of climbing, and some pretty tricky (for me) downhills. Most of the single track is totally do-able and really fun. The climbing, though - holy smokes! I consider myself to be a somewhat decent climber, but my legs and arms were jelly, and my heart was pounding. Ah, elevation! The highlight was seeing a bear on the course, followed swiftly by the lowlight of realizing that the camera was in the car.

We spent our first night in Banff, where our accommodations were the Banff YMCA. I had stayed there once before with friends about 6 years ago (Hetti: I am sad to report that the cute guy from the front desk isn't there anymore. Or had the day off.). When we first brought our bags in on the ground floor, we were bombarded with what appeared to be a large tour group comprised of kids. I briefly worried that I am no longer age-appropriate for the Y and similar hostel-type accommodation. Luckily, we got up to our room (with private bathroom, because I am kinda done with dorms and common showers) and it was quiet and relaxing. Played it pretty easy that night - a little walk up to the Banff Centre, and I think that was it.

The next morning, we went to Sulphur Mountain. Although the hike to the top would be nice, I don't think either of us wanted to subject our legs to that kind of walking two days out from a big race. So we opted for the gondola. The Boy had never been in a gondola before, so it was worth it for that alone, although the views from the top were also worthwhile.

And the cute, friendly little wildlife!

I liked the squirrels just fine, until they got really close and I started to wonder how hungry they might be, and how sharp their little claws must be to fend off predators...

Afterwards, we hustled back to the Y to check out, and then were back to Canmore. I made lunch while the Boy set up bikes for another pre-ride. Love the outdoor kitchen/workshop!

Then we checked into the Bow Valley Motel, which is awesome. In addition to having a great location, right in town, we have a small kitchen, which makes food so much easier. After settling in, we split up - the Boy to have a proper RMT try and work some magic on a shoulder injury from Bucky, and me to my first ever Nationals rider meeting. After, the Boy tried to ice his shoulder by taking a dip in a glacier-fed reservoir (that didn't work so well), and we got to play "spot the bike racer" at the grocery store, where several cyclists were seen stocking up.

Today were the Elite races, so there were no opportunities to pre-ride. Ok, I'm lying - there was one, but it was at about 7am, and I am still on vacation, so that wasn't happening... We hung out in town for coffee and breakfast, and then went for a short spin up the road. We stopped by a small lake where the Boy did manage a dip (I think it's still glacier-fed, maybe just by a smaller glacier?), and we saw about 2 minutes of the elite women race before realizing we needed to get back into town to make lunch ASAP. We ran a few errands in the afternoon, followed the Elite races on Canadian Cyclist, and generally relaxed. We made another pre-dinner trip to the lake for another "ice bath"/dip.

Time to prep bags and bottles for the racing part of this trip.