Day 12 June 19th, 2011 (Sunday) Golden B.C. to Lake Louise, ALBERTA!

Happy Fathers Day Brian! And WOW, what a day!! I had no intention of cycling to Lake Louise, but that is where we ended up! It was raining when we got up.  We hit McDonalds and had a coffee and updated the blog.  I hit the road at 10:45 a.m.  It was 13 degrees, overcast and raining! My first challenge was a brutal 8 km climb out of town.  To make things interesting....there was construction.  Bright orange pilons moving lanes of traffic.  I think I looked like a moving pilon, as I had on bright orange rain pants and a red rain jacket!  The winding road, appeared to cling to the side of the mountain.  It was so beautiful all around me.  I remembered my father and Howard with the fondest of memories.  Giant mesh screens were in some places, trying to hold back boulders from the roadway.  At the end of the climb there was a glorious downhill, over the Kicking Horse River.  The next signs advised of 10 Mile Hill.  Really?  Yes really.  Up went Flo (my bike) and I.  Parts of the mountain had beel blasted to put the road through.  It was here that I saw  a long horn sheep.  After riding 17.9 km, it started to pour.  I hooked up with Brian and had a little lunch break to warm up.  The rain let up and out I went again.  Good timing.  I met up with Neil, (from Scotland) and a fellow Trans-Canada cyclist.  We chatted away the miles and before I knew it, 55.1 km were done and I was in Field, B.C. which was our goal for the day.  I was soaked and Brian made us a fabulous lunch and we warmed by the fireplace in the information center.  Neil was moving on, through Kicking Horse Pass towards Lake Louise.  Insanity took over and I was heading up the highway with Flo and Neil.  Kicking Horse Pass was all uphill, but mind over matter.  I rolled into Lake Louise at 4:38 p.m.  I had climbed over 1000 m today.  Brian and I saw bear and elk.  Apparently they don't mind the rain.  Neil actually went on to Banff, as he had to be in Calgary the next day.  Brian and I found a nice campsite at Lake Louise. Total ride today was 82.9km