June 5, 2017, Day 15, Canmore to HOME!!!!!!! 130km

HOME!!!! That word is one of my favourites in the English language. In any language, really. That saying, “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home” rings true in my heart. Home, to me is where, when you walk in the door, everyone there is on your side. It doesn’t matter what kind of a day you’ve had, when you get home, you can safely collapse in a heap and know that everything’s ok. Or will be.

So as we got up this morning and said our goodbyes to our awesome hosts, Nola and Paul (and we got to meet their other son, Jack), home was on my radar. I could hardly wait to get there. It loomed just ahead of me, like a carrot, or better yet, a carrot cake, motivating me to just keep going.

We’ve cycled Canmore to Calgary before, (and vice versa) but on the previous occasion we took the Ctrain as far to the north west as we could get. This time, in the spirit of riding EFI, we rode all the way home, setting a distance record for both of us of 130km. The route is not really too difficult. Oh yeah, there is Scott Lake Hill, but hey, we’ve just come through the Rockies! It just felt long.

I saw a bit of wildlife. A fox passed right in front of Charlie and disappeared into the brush to our right. Somehow Charlie missed it! I saw a heron, some very vigilant geese, a dead fawn with blackbirds picking at it (the only dead animal, other than a few birds that we saw anywhere on the highways!) and several mountain goats perched precariously on a rocky precipice. They stood there like super models as I took photos, but unfortunately, due to the angle of the sun, the pictures did not turn out well at all. (Notice how I use the excuse of the sun as opposed to the skill of the photographer?)

Charlie has had some fish tailing occurring, especially when going downhill, so we stopped at MEC, where the bike mechanics checked out his wheels, etc..  The verdict was that he was carrying too much weight on the back. I bought some lighter waterproof sacks for our sleeping bags. The ones we have now are heavy rubber and submersible. I have no plans to be submerged so these will do.

We got home finally, ordered delicious Indian food. I fell asleep right after and woke suddenly when my beer bottle clanked against my plate. Oh, to be home……!!!  Laundry! Our own shower! Our own bed! Fantastic!   ZZZZzzzzzzzzzz