Peter Lougheed Park to Banff

Strava: 83.4 km, 900m, 5:10, 351 shifts, 54 kph max

July 18, 2026 started like any other recent day. We got up at 6, packed and ate breakfast. We cooked up oatmeal with trail mix and hot drinks. We made sandwiches for the day.

We took off from the campground before 8, and headed up the big wide gravel road to Banff. It was Saturday and there were so many cars on the road. It was actually sort of horrible because the speed limit was 80 and each car made a spectacular amount of dust. There was zero wind so the dust just lingered. About two out of a million cars slowed to reduce their dust.

We climbed gently for 20 km to a small pass and regrouped on top. I was thinking of unpacking to extract my Buff to put over my mouth and nose but it was not quite bad enough. Somehow though, as we descended, the traffic reduced to almost nothing. The route continued into Spray Valley Provincial Park and we rode the length of Spray Lake.

At the dam, we regrouped again and Wytze and Daniel swam in the lake. The last 30 km from here was a really awesome singletrack ending right in Banff! It was mostly downhill and we had a tailwind. We saw a number of very clean and eager people starting up the trail. “We used to be like that!” Even though it was only one night without a shower, we were the opposite of clean, that’s for sure! Some of them were struggling mightily, pushing their bikes up the steep grades. We know exactly how far they have to go!

I was feeling joyous inside as we swooped down and up the steep little fun parts. Not only was my bike working perfectly, like part of me, but the fact that we had all made it the whole way, without any injury, it just felt so great. We saw our first sign to Banff, only 18 km left. Then suddenly it was only 9, then 3, then we arrived. The first building I saw was the famous Banff Springs Hotel, a gigantic thing. As we rode by we were impressed but not really prepared for downtown Banff.

Banff in summer is insane. The sheer number of people is just amazing. At a red light I typed “brewpub” and of course there was one in the next block. We stopped for beer, water, soda and snacks. It was only 14:00 but we still needed a place to stay. All attempts to book a hotel or apartment, starting over a week ago, had failed. So we rode out to the giant Tunnel Mountain Village complex of campgrounds. There was a long line of cars waiting to check in and of course the Full sign was prominent. But they graciously let us ride up to the exit side and with some work, found us a site for two nights. It was only 75 small dollars so our budget for dinner would be large.

The site was pretty nice, but after we set up our tents on the shaded grass and had showers, the same pleasant woman who checked us in drove up and got really mad that we weren’t camping on the shadeless gravel. We didn’t know that was a rule but we had to move.

Then we took the bus back downtown and relaxed at a coffee shop. The internet didn’t really work at the campsite so I wrote up Stage 48 there. We headed over to the restaurant Wytze had reserved, Brazen. Just walking in was sort of a relief, from the crowds. We’re just not used to that I guess.

We stayed for a few hours, the staff were fantastic and the food was amazing. Appetizers with sparkling French wine, delicious hazy IPA from Calgary, delicious entrees, a red wine from BC… Wow! We finished by ordering every dessert on the menu with some after dinner drinks, Amaro and Limoncello. We talked about how fun the trip was, more varied day by day than any previous trip I had done.

Elkford BC to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, AB

Strava: 93.6 km, 1590m, 6:28, 443 shifts, 56 kph max

We had a pretty normal morning getting up, eating breakfast and packing in the campground. We headed out and right away the route went up an intricate set of singletrack trails. It was steep and twisty and fun to ride.

After a while we came out on a gravel road and took that for a long time. It was always gently climbing then for the last few km to Elk Pass, it turned steep. We entered Alberta at the pass, almost 2000m high with impressive mountain views in all directions.

The descent down to the park was short and steep and suddenly we came out on a paved road. It was called Kananaskis Lake Trail so we were surprised it was a paved road. It led us to the Trading Post which was crawling with people. We were able to get a “site” at the hiker/biker “campground” plus drinks and ice cream. We also got camping gas and a little more food for dinner.

It was eight km down to the campground, right on our route. The site had toilets, water, bear boxes but no tables. We set up and cooked dinner at a winter ski cabin nearby that had a couple of benches. The ranger came by to check on us and warned that this was now the overflow camping as every site in the park was full. We should expect tons of people camping in their cars very soon. Luckily that never happened. We went to bed early as the mosquitoes were quite active. I slept like a rock through a thunderstorm.

Fernie to Elkford

Strava: 85.73 km, 963m, 5:09, 251 shifts, 68 kph max

I slept well maybe because I achieved a new level of sound isolation with my ear plugs. The loud fan in the living room was not audible at all! And I have no idea if Andrew snored or not. Packing up was simple and we rode to the bagel store in town. The world should have more fresh bagels.

We rode out of Fernie on the bike path then the highway for a little while but soon the route headed onto singletrack. It was curvy and steep, swooping through the forest with some quick and surprising turns. One long section was narrow (30 cm) with plants coming in from both sides. The squirrels or badgers or whatever had dug deep holes, big enough to swallow a tire, sometimes the whole width of the trail. I was wondering how this section would be in the race, at night, at top speed.

Another section was on the Elk River Discovery Trail, very fun and almost like home swooping up and down, skinny trails with multiple options, right next to trees, not Redwoods though. It was really fun and then we came out in Sparwood after 40 km. We bought lunch at the supermarket and picniced outside in the shade on the grass.

As we left I noticed The Big Truck exhibit, part of the Sparwood Museum. I pulled in for a quick photo then everyone else stopped too. We ended up staying a while, reading the signs and shooting lots of photos.

We weren’t even halfway and it was already after noon and Hot! We had a nearly 10 km section on paved road but mostly it was gravel or singletrack. Some of the trail was crazy steep but somehow I managed to not only ride it all but do every section clean, first try. My bike is amazing and I guess my legs are somewhat stronger than usual now. There was lots of climbing, up to 1500m, then a super smooth descent to town on pavement, all at over 60 kph.

I pulled into the Elkford gas station and joined Wytze and Daniel and a SOBO rider. An ice cream and a liter of lemonade was just the thing for me!

After a while we rode across the bridge to the campground and got a couple of sites. It was expensive at CAD$75 but they’re small dollars. After showers and laundry we walked across the street to the Blend Bistro which was modern and very nice, not what I expected but I don’t know why not. We had a round of Fernie Brewing ‘Hit the Deck’ Hazy IPA and appetizers. Burgs for dinner with salad; mine was an Impossible Burger, very good. Then we shared the two desserts.

After dinner we hit the supermarket next door. We were hoping to buy a last gas canister and cook up a final mashed potatoes with tuna feast tomorrow night, but they didn’t have the right gas. So we bought non-cook foods then got the potatoes and tuna anyway. Maybe we can make a fire or beg some hot water tomorrow.

We had dessert back in camp and it included Whittaker’s Peanut Slabs from New Zealand. I checked and we hit a latitude milestone today: we’re over 50°N now. As I wrote this after 21:30 in my tent it was still hot.

July 15th, 2026 was our seventh rest day.

We’ve intentionally slowed our pace a bit since we have plenty of time to make it to Banff, but staying there is expensive and difficult to make reservations. Fernie seemed like such a nice town we decided to rest a day here. We’ve ridden 4081 km and climbed close to 50000m. It’s looking like three more stages to Banff but that could change.

We rode into town for breakfast at the White Birch Café. What a great place! Three of us had Smoked salmon Bennies while Wytze had French toast. We relaxed for quite a while after eating.

We headed downtown and spent some more time at the bike shop’s cleaning station. We looked in but didn’t need to buy anything. All around town we keep seeing people cycling, more than any other place on the trip.

Afterwards Wytze and Andrew went for coffee. I rode home and bought some snacks. I watched some disc golf, got my bike ready to ride and did a little more laundry. Andrew and Wytze came back, afternoon naps… It’s a rough life on these rest days.

We all met Daniel at the Fernie Golf Club for dinner. We had a nice Indian dinner outside with a great view. The mountains around make it look like the Dolomites here. We rode downtown for dessert at a fancy ice cream shop. We noticed here again that the signs show one more scoop than can actually be ordered. In this case quadruple.

After dessert we rode home and watched a weird movie, Poor Things, then went to bed. I guess I’m ready to ride tomorrow but my legs feel a little tired.

Eureka, MT to Fernie, BC

Strava: 101.1 km, 988m, 5:13, 339 shifts, 67 kph max

Today was an exciting and fun day. We completed our crossing of the entire USA and rode a bit in British Columbia. We also hit the 4000 km milestone.

We packed up as usual in the morning then rode across the street to the Fire and Slice right at opening time, 8:00. We were the only customers but they made us great breakfasts. Then we took the back way around the airport 15 km to the Roosville port of entry into Canada. As we approached, the road came within 10 meters of Canada and the barrier was a tiny fence, the exact opposite of what we saw at Antelope Wells, so far away now.

We pulled into the line behind a tourist bus and a couple of cars but in less than five minutes we were up. The guy was polite and quick and then we were through. No big deal at all. The only question was, “Where’s your final destination?” We took photos at the Welcome to British Columbia sign, then headed up the highway.

We stopped at the service station the border guard recommended, “after about seven clicks.” We tested our phones; Wytze’s didn’t work so he used the WiFi to install a new eSIM. We had some snacks and drinks and headed on.

We didn’t take the first detour the route follows as it seemed too silly and the highway was uncrowded and easy. That saved a couple of km but then we took the second one, on small roads, a couple unpaved, very nice. We rejoined the highway at Elko and spied the Dairy on the other side. There was a big ice cream sign so we carefully blasted across the highway lanes and up an embankment for more snacks. I tried ordering what was on the sign, a giant triple cone, but the sign was for illustration purposes only. Large is two scoops. But when I saw what Large actually means here, I was glad! So huge and so good! We had siix grapefruit sodas and yam fries too. Two cyclists from our motel were already there and as we ate another half dozen arrived including three we knew from way back in Wyoming.

The last 30 km from Elko was on dirt, going up a valley, next to a river and a train track. Sometimes it was a big wide smooth road and sometimes not. There was a right turn halfway up onto a super steep skinny rocky trail. I was thanking my legs for getting so strong from over seven weeks of cycling as I climbed that one.  There were some dusty parts too, but all in all it was very scenic and fun.

We came out into Fernie, a town of 5000 that had been recommended by many people. We had booked an apartment but stopped downtown at a coffee shop first; check in time wasn’t until 16:00.

We rode over the bridge to West Fernie then the last few km. We found the place and it’s pretty luxurious. After showers it was soon time to ride back to town for our reservation at the wine bar Bramasole. We arrived and it was super nice. Our British waitress was able to make our decisions for us and bring us great salads, appetizers and pasta dishes. We started with a sparkling local rosé, then a local red, then a pear cider and finished with a round of port with our desserts – we ordered every dessert on the menu!

Tuchuck Campground to Eureka

Strava: 54.75 km, 408m, 2:33, 154 shifts, 58 kph max

I kind of didn’t want to get up in the morning thinking we’d be fighting off mosquitoes during breakfast but at 6 I heard Wytze, “The mosquitoes are still asleep.” So we had a peaceful breakfast of oatmeal with granola then packed up unbitten. Nobody saw or heard an “aggressive deer” or a bear at night either.

We started out and right away I couldn’t shift down. I had laid my bike under my tent fly to shield it from the deer and must’ve left the shifter triggered. After I replaced the battery it still didn’t shift and my Garmin said “Low derailleur battery”. I replaced that too and then all was good. More lessons learned. It seems to me that SRAM could detect that case pretty easily in software and not drain the batteries…

We had a bit of climbing, then descent and hit a beautiful paved one lane road after 20 km.

We stopped at the Bicycle Station, a remote hostel that looked idyllic. We had just passed a few riders coming the other way and assumed they had stayed. It was deserted but we had snacks & drinks and used their excellent Wifi. Andrew was behind and soon it was obvious he had passed by. We texted and before long he said he was in Eureka, 20 km ahead. Turns out he had asked a local about us at the gate and was told we had passed onward. Andrew: “But I think he had dementia.”

The three of us enjoyed a quick ride to town and we all met up outside in the shade at Café Jax. We had lunch; Andrew and I again went for thick and delicious huckleberry milkshakes. I called the motel and yes they had rooms. After a coffee stop, we headed a couple km north of town to the Silverado Motel and checked in.

The shower was pretty nice, as is the A/C in the room. It’s another hot day and we’ve dropped to our lowest elevation yet, 825m. The border is only 14 km from here – we plan to cross first thing tomorrow morning.

We did laundry in the washer then had a round of IPAs in the bar. I managed to hold off on napping but it was close. Dinner was across the street at a pizza place, Fire and Slice. I had a great Greek salad and a delicious pizza. We had to have to have dessert too. An easier day is really great sometimes!

Whitefish to Tuchuck Campground

Strava:  101.3 km, 1482m, 6:17, 344 shifts, 45.6 kph max

Up at 6 as usual then we left the campground at 7. We rode into town, first to the coffee shop, then to the grocery store. We bought enough for two lunches, a breakfast and a dinner. Then back to the Buffalo Café for another excellent but somewhat loud breakfast. Outside, we made sandwiches for the day, then headed out of town.

The road headed along the Whitefish Lake shore, and we turned off after a little while on a dirt side road. We climbed quite a bit, up to a beautiful lake called Upper Whitefish Lake. When I arrived Wytze was naked, drying from a swim. Daniel went in later.

We continued up and when I got to Red Meadow Lake, I found Wytze drying off again. There were some mosquitoes though, so we didn’t wait for the other guys. We went up to the turn onto N Fork Rd which had a “Canadian Border 16 miles” sign. We took that toward the border but turned off on  a rougher dirt road to Tuchuck Campground. It’s a nice campground but in the late afternoon there were lots of mosquitoes out.

We filtered water from a nice creek and made another 16 servings of garlic mashed potatoes with tuna dinner. It was maybe 18:00 when we finished and we all just headed into our tents to escape the bugs. I slept hard for a couple of hours, then read for a couple of hours, then slept until 5am. No reception anywhere around the campground.

We stashed just about everything in the bear boxes, not because of bears but this campground is famous for aggressive deer that eat anything salty. That especially includes bike helmet straps we’d been told.

July 11, 2026 was our sixth rest day.

It was our first camping rest day but the Whitefish Lake State Park campground is pretty luxurious. We’ve now ridden 3824 km and climbed over 46000m.

A funny thing happened as we were riding to breakfast downtown. As we left the campground, riding with some of the 11 Adventure Cycling riders starting their third day heading south, Andrew suddenly asked one of the riders, “Are you Suzanne?” And he was right! The four of us had ridden Paris to Dakar with Suzanne in 2023 and there she was!

After the photo at the train crossing we had a little rolling reunion and said goodbye downtown as we turned off to our café. What a coincidence!

We had a great breakfast then coffee nearby. I visited the bike shop again to get a spare master link and got to talk to the mechanic who fixed my bike yesterday. Leaving Wytze at the coffee shop, we rode back although Daniel stopped at the golf club to hit a few balls and check out their dining options.

Back at camp we chatted with two young guys who rode from Vancouver and hoped to reach Mexico City by the end of September. I checked my brakes and think they should last until Banff. We had to move our tents out of the overflow area into the main bike camping area, and were happy to find power plugs along with the bike repair stand there. Then I had a really deep nap, the kind where you don’t know where you are when you wake up.

We all relaxed in the afternoon, I waded in the lake, then around 5 we rode to the golf club for dinner. We ate outside, a good meal, with local hazy IPAs all around from Whitefish. Dessert was great too, then we headed indoors and watched the first half of the Switzerland vs Argentina quarter final. We had some port but the game seemed a little lackluster to me. We rode back, I had a shower and got ready for bed.

Swan Lake to Whitefish

Strava: 94.78 km, 624m, 4:01, 305 shifts, 61 kph max

The plan this morning was to first ride 25 km to breakfast. I got up about 6 and we were on the road at 7. I slept well again and felt ready to ride. Instead of backtracking 8 km and then doing a steep 500m climb, we diverted around Swan Lake on the highway. While the shoulder is pretty narrow there weren’t too many cars this early and they all gave us room.

We turned off and rejoined the route after 18 km and continued to the Echo Lake Café. We pulled in and sat outside. One look at the menu confirmed this was our type of place! We had a relaxed delicious breakfast with cobbler and ice cream for dessert. Yes, breakfast dessert is real.

We headed onwards, making lots of turns, either going north or west. It was paved until 55 km, then some roads were gravel but it was so smooth it almost felt paved. This part of Montana is not hurting for money. We stopped after 70 km where we had to take US route 2 across the Flathead River into Columbia Falls. Wytze and Daniel swam in the river, Andrew arrived, then it was time to go.

It was warming up and we were glad we got an early start. The route continued on back roads, mostly paved, to Whitefish. We diverted into town and pulled up at Glacier Cyclery. Wytze and I were both having shifting problems and Daniel needed more brake pads. When I asked about my weird issue (second and fourth gear not working, third and fifth semi-working, first and sixth through twelveth perfect), the guy said he could fix it. It turned out the Salida bike shop had not aligned the new derailleur hanger they installed. Also not noticed my master link was upside down. Plus not tightening my rear axle after the work, that’s minus a few stars for them. $6 for a new master link plus $10 labor for the alignment and I was back in business. Wytze’s issue was also solved and they had brake pads for Daniel. We had drinks across the street while they worked, then headed to the campground. It was amazing to have all 12 gears working perfectly for the first time since stage 3.

Check in took a long time but soon we had a great spot in the overflow area. Adventure Cycling’s group that started at the border two days ago is here taking the normal bike spots. Andrew and I opted for hot showers while Daniel and Wytze swam in the lake in their bike clothes. We had arrived by 3, so had plenty of time before our dinner reservation.

We stashed all our food in the bear box then ubered downtown to Beldi, a Mediterranean restaurant. It was our kind of place again, and we predictably went big. A round of beers and appetizers, then another round of appetizers with a bottle of Italian white wine. Then another bottle of the wine plus a glass of red for Wytze. With dinner of halibut (Andrew and me), gnocchi (Daniel) and pork (Wytze).

QOTD (Quote of the dinner), from Daniel: “I’m still jetlagged from my nap.” After dinner we went to Clydesdale Creamery, and indulged massively. For example, I had a triple cone of huckleberry, cherry and Kona coffee that was so immense it came in a cone and a giant cup.

We checked out the restaurant for tomorrow then ubered back to the campground. What a day!

Holland Lake to Swan Lake

Strava: 88.5 km, 974m, 4:56, 235 shifts, 46.4 kph max

I slept well after the jet skis quieted down around 21:30. We were up at 6:30, oatmeal for breakfast, and on the road by 8. The gravel started after less than 10 km. The track sort of paralleled the road but snaked up and down, sometimes singletrack, mostly pretty smooth.

We kept going non-stop until 40 km for lunch. I had a couple of cheese sandwiches plus a Snickers bar, then a nap. When Andrew arrived we were all asleep again. It’s a hard life.

A giant ant crawled onto my face and woke me up. As I slapped it I heard Wytze and Andrew laughing quietly, Wytze guiltily holding a long weed. So we had to get up and ride. The next 40 km was frankly a little boring because the trees were always obscuring the view. We just tinkled along, small ups and downs, didn’t see any bears and eventually came to the junction where we left the track and headed eight km off route to Swan Lake. An easy day of cycling today.

We got to the Trading Post before 3 and realized how hot it was. We had dropped below 1000m maybe for the first time on the whole tour. The sign on the highway said “Lock up your brakes for huckleberry shakes!” so naturally that’s what I ordered first.

We decided to camp despite the almost silly price of $34 per tent. It was the perfect location for us and had food and supplies. We pitched our tents in the beautiful tree-shaded back yard by a stream and a small lake. Showers were ok, low tech but warm eventually. We did laundry in the washer then ordered a first pizza and got soda and beers. Things were looking up!

The laundry dried in the hot sun really fast. I had an afternoon nap and then it was dinner time. We went with two pizzas and a bottle of white wine, plus the leftover two beers from before. For dessert Andrew and I had huckleberry huckleberry floats, that is, huckleberry ice cream in huckleberry soda.