Glacier-Waterton: cycling Eureka to Fernie

We started off early today in order to avoid traffic along the highway and border crossing as well as to try to finish before hitting 90 F again today. At 6:15 am, the weather was perfect. Cool 50s with a bit of morning dampness. No issues crossing the border into Canada. Then, we were cycling through a lush valley bounded by mountains.

At the end of the valley, there was a 1 kilometer descent at 8% grade to a bridge spanning the Elk River. Unfortunately, that also meant a 1 kilometer ascent at 8% grade on the other end of the bridge. We took a short breather at the top before continuing onto the best section of the day: a quiet paved road through a few scattered farms/houses. We saw people strolling on the street and a group of ~10-15 kids cycled excitedly past on their mountain bikes. We might have seen two cars on this stretch. Idyllic!

Eventually, though, we had to get back on a busy road. By now it was getting hot. Overall, drivers were very courteous about giving us a wide berth if no cars were coming in the opposite direction. We saw a few loaded bicyclists coming from the other direction, presumably cycling the Continental Divide from north to south, starting in Banff.

Next, our route put us back on an even busier highway. At least there was a shoulder as we tackled our final climb of the day. At the top, my back tire went flat. Thankfully, we were very close to a gas station. I pushed my bike across the highway to the gas station and set about removing the tire. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my bike pump to inflate the replacement tire. At this pump, another cyclist arrived and was eating some lunch. We invited him to come sit with us in the shade behind the gas station; and, he had a working pump for a Schrader valve! It was fun to hear about his adventures cycling the Continental Divide over the last 38 days, starting from New Mexico.

By now it was even hotter; and, we had to get back on the highway for another 20 miles into Fernie. While the scenery was becoming more and more breathtaking, all of the traffic (definitely going faster than the 100 km posted speed limit) was started to wear on me. Mostly, it was a gradual downhill with a shoulder in this section. There were no services from that gas station to Fernie: no convenience stores, restrooms, water. If we hadn't stopped at the gas station for the flat, we would have run out of water. A blessing in disguise. 

Once we reached Fernie, we went directly to a bike shop, where I bought a working pump, as well as more spare tubes. Then, off to our hotel to clean up before supper. 

Tomorrow, hopefully we'll be able to leave early again but avoid any mechanical issues.