I know, I know, I’m not very reliable and haven’t written for a long time. But to make a long story short: I’m in Banff now, in the middle of Banff National Park. I’m good but tired and there are mountains all around me.

Today, I went cycling for the first time in…ehm months – if you count only the „real“ moutain bike trips.
So, I got myself a map of the area and was a bit disappointed: most of the trails were simply road trips – or they were further away. Which isn’t a good idea if you’re not in the best shape.
Well, I chose a route, beginning with a 7.2 km uphill on the road with a 5 km downhill back to the Trans Canada Highway. Bike rental here is easy and not even that expensive (only 40 dollars for the day).
Suprisingly, the uphill part wasn’t that difficult, there were always some even parts and no extremely steep sections.
And I wasn’t very much slower than the guys on their racing bikes….yeah!!!! 🙂

That’s why I decided to do also the „difficult“ rated 2 km uphill to the top of Mt.Norquay.
This proved to be a bad idea: most of the trail was steep and covered with roots and stones: almost impossible to cycle. So, I walked most of the way up to the top.

Luckily, I bought a bear bell this morning to be a constant source of noise….besides my constant cursing and hitting the attacking mosquitos. Honestly, I don’t know how long this last „bit“ took me but when I met two Candian couples close to the top, I was ready to lay down and have a good long nap. We walked together to the top and enjoyed the view.

After that I started to cycle the rocky part down before I had to get off the bike again. I was just too tired to focus on the track. I also got myself a nice bruise when I touched a tree with my handle bar and fell to the side as a result.
So I walked a bit and then cycled a bit. The last bit was not as steep, so I started to sing to scare all the bears away. Although I was probably already heard in the whole forest with my brilliant bell and my squeaking brakes 🙂
When I was almost down I came across a nice lookout and could see rain clouds in the mountains all around me. I made it back to the bike shop just in time. Got a nice summer shower on my way back to the hostel which was much appreciated 🙂