Alberta south, the land of cow-boys

Tuesday, 19 October 2010 23:51

Oh that's hard to get going again after a stop like that. Our muscles are rusty and the sun that's supposed to appear hasn't even managed to break through the clouds.

We stop for a coffee and a plate of cakes. Outside it's three degrees.Later on, not long after Calgary, we stopped again to eat and ended up being invited to stay the night a few kilometres further on. We had a wonderful evening in a big, beautiful house owned by Shannon and Lloyd and their four children. Once again we didn't need to put up the tent!

In the morning, Shannon made pancakes and muffins and insisted we stay a bit longer. It was tempting but we resolved to press on, the sun having finally started to shine. We wanted to make the most of it to continue riding south.
It was magnificent. We basked in every ray of sunshine. And the road, too, was wonderful; it went up, it went down, up, down - a wonderful treat for our stiff muscles! We were tired. We looked for somewhere to pitch the tent before the camp ground in the following town. Brian and Angela offered us a big room to sleep in out of the cold and we left next morning with an ovenful of cookies.
We rode barely four kilometres before stopping at Longview, a tiny little town that nevertheless had a library. And there we stayed for the rest of the morning. News travelled fast and the town's school asked us to join them at midday to take part in Terry Fox Day, a fund-raising event on television to raise money for cancer research in memory of Terry Fox, a runner who crossed almost all the country despite cancer. Wade, the French teacher, looked after us and explained that the school's challenge was to climb the hill overlooking the town and then collect sponsorship money.
That was how we came to be in the sports hall with all the school, ready to climb. The view from the top was wonderful, with fields as far as we could see in one direction, hills and distant mountains in the other. Well, time had pressed by the time we got back and parents accompanying the children invited us home, fifteen or so kilometres away. Excellent. That made for just a short riding day. But those 15km were so hard that they took two hours, all against the wind.
Scott and Stacy have a ranch and they'd made us a meal: tasty local beef and a delicious chocolate mousse. Scott is a cowboy, with a real cowboy hat. He let the children try it on.  Thomas and  Maëlle spent the evening and the start of the following morning playing with Roy and Claire, untroubled that they didn't speak the same language, while the grown-ups spoke of journeys in Colorado. We spread out maps and looked through photographs and enjoyed the anticipation. And big event of the evening: Maëlle managed the first turns of the pedals on a big bike!
What awaited us, Mike and Lloyd warned us, was the Big Country, huge open spaces where there was nothing just cows, horses and a few ranches. That's all ! Bare hillsides and a few clumps of trees. And from time to time a camp ground where we may be the only people. Proper cowboys we're going to be!

We climbed to a plateau 1500m high. It's immense and all around us were mountains. We advanced against the wind, manageable at first, but then we gave up. A storm had been brewing since morning and now gusts of wind were blowing us off the road. We were forced to walk. To ride was far too dangerous and we felt minute in this immense countryside. Riding against that wind was a battle, a war. And then finally, a pick-up stopped and a woman offered to take the children. We weren't sure but we didn't have much option, so we entrusted her with the three smallest and part of the load. We met up later, much later, safe and sound.
Thank you Stefany!
We found out later that gusts had reached 100kmh and that Cowley, on our route, is reputed to be the windiest town in North America. No surprise, then, that everywhere there were gigantic forests of wind turbines that turn at impressive speed.
We spent three days at Pincher Creek waiting for the wind to subside. It was a pleasant town and we liked the municipal campground. We were the only people there and it was due to close three days later. It's properly the end of the season and it's essential we get further south as soon as we can.
The weather for the moment was fine and we could even wear T-shirts. But cold and snow aren't far away. It has already snowed near Banff and that was where we were not so long ago.
We managed to pass between two storms to finish with Canada - but not before taking a little detour through Waterton national park. The mountains were beautiful but it was oh so cold at night!
The American border isn't far away, right in the middle of a lake, but our bikes aren't Pedalos, unfortunately. There's a direct route through the mountains but it closed on 30 September and today is 1 October. When I tell you the season has ended here, I'm not joking.
Well, nothing to it but to take a detour through Cardston, a town without great charm but with a library, a supermarket and a camp site. What more could we ask? We all count up our remaining Canadian coins: just enough for four ice ceams and a pretty Indian postcard.
Bye-bye Canada.

Translated from french by Léo

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