Anchorage to Phoenix Bike Ride: Day 36

Paul woke up early and made breakfast and left before anyone in the group because he was excited to see more of Banff National Park. At this point we had 6 people in our group: Frantz, Mike, Kosuke, Eric, Paul and me.

We started riding and soon hit a 10 km climb. We saw a black bear from a distance. We stopped at a the Glacier View Inn and took pictures.

There was a fast, steep, curvy road that was exciting to ride down. We stopped at The Crossing Resort and met some guys making a documentary film about Irish people all over North and South America.

We got into a headwind and hill climbs as we approached Bow Pass. I rode with Eric for awhile and got to know him. Being from opposite sides of the US, we had differing views on politics, economics, and pizza. We got to talking and he was actually a nice guy.

I kept doing pushups periodically. I took a turn off the road to Peyto Lake. It was a steep climb to get up to the observation platform but I made it, took pictures, and enjoyed the scenery.

At one point I was riding and I dropped my phone. It was usually mounted in it’s case on my handlebars but I didn’t secure it properly and when I hit a bump in the road it dropped to the ground. It was run over by my back tire and trailer tire. I stopped my bike and ran back to the phone. The Otter Box case was in 4 pieces on the road and my phone was laying there undamaged. I put the case back together and it was fine. It was a true test of the durability of that cell phone case.

I started riding down from Peyto Lake and I saw Bow Lake which was beautiful. I met the guys at the Mosquito Creek campground. Kosuke had left a bike tire on the road so I know where they had stopped. We set up camp and made dinner.

We met a guy on a motorcycle tour named Pete. He was cool and he talked to us about fitness and camping.