Blairmore to Fort Macleod
A very cold night last night as it was -2 as we got up. Rather 'chilly' in the tent! 0 degrees when we began to ride at 7:40. Today was a transition day. We left the mountains behind. Again a little bit sad to see the mountains gradually disappear. However, Alberta brings a whole new set of experiences. Day 1 conclusions: Alberta is all about 'big'. Big pickup trucks, big shoulders on the roads, big wind turbine developments, big ranches, and 'big sky'. After riding for 34 km we stopped at the Mill View Restaurant (not a mill in sight) for our second breakfast. The restaurant had some locals in it , one gentleman being a rancher who had spent the weekend branding calves. Even the 'Big Breakfast' that I ordered lived up to everything being big. 3 pieces of ham, 3 pieces of bacon, 3 sausages, 2 eggs, hash browns and toast. What a great breakfast for touring cyclists!!!
Today we saw a huge yard (feed lot) full of horses. Conservative estimate would be a 1000. We think it was a horse auction business. They were feeding them just like a cattle feed lot.
The foothills of the Rockies are a quite a change for us. Finally some 'flat' riding. Our fear of bad winds never materialized today. The Pincher Creek area has a huge number of wind turbines, the first in Canada (1983). The wind most days blows up to 80 km. We lucked out at least for today! The ride was really good.
We are staying at the Red Coat Inn Motel in Fort Macleod partly because the campgrounds are about 5 km outside of town and not in our direction and partly because we screwed up. (We actually missed the fact that most of the campgrounds were on Hwy 2 towards Calgary until we were well past the turnoff).
Daily Distance = 94.75 km. Time on the bikes = 5 hours 18 minutes. Average Speed = 17.84 km. Maximum Speed = 46.24 km. Wildlife Sightings = Magpie, Western Meadowlark, Coots, Red Headed Duck, Yellow Headed Blackbird, Kestrel.
Kevin = 2 Sue = 0.
