Day 13: Wow, It Really Is That Good

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With only 76kms to ride today we could afford a slightly later start. We made good use of the breafast bar and headed off about 9:15am.
Heading off from the Great Divide Lodge we were travelling east. The road was wet as it had rained most of the night. The sun was reflecting off the road creating a bit of glare but we were being escorted by mountains on our left and the river on our right and it was all down hill. What a way to start the day.
We arrived at Lake Louise Village 15kms later. It was busier than Bourke Street. People, cars, buses, traffic wardens - it was chaotic. We locked up our bikes and decided to take the free shuttle bus the 7kms (up hill) to the Lake. After waiting 20 minutes we gladly paid the $2 each for the paid bus instead.
Not sure if you've seen photos or postcards of Lake Louise but it is truely a grand scene when you first set sight on it. Mountains either side give way to Mt Victoria as the back drop which is draped with a glacier on top. And the colour of the water, a torquise blue - just extraordinary. We sat and walked and explored the area trying to take in as much as we could. For those who could afford the pleasure, the Fairmont Hotel was lake side with the rooms all facing the lake - what a way to start the day - for a price!
We caught the shuttle bus back to the village where we got some lunch and fuelled up for the ride to Banff. It was after 1pm and we still had over 60kms to ride.
The ride from Lake Louise to Banff was amazing. Majestic mountains either side of us. Grand pine forests climbing up the sides of the mountains until they reached the snowline and then the stark rock of the mountains above that. We road on the main highway and the bike lanes were very wide and clean. It made for an easy ride and best of all it was basically down hill all the way. We averaged over 30km/h for this part of the ride.
On the way in to Banff you are stopped in your tracks by the awesome Mount Runddle at 2943m with the Vermillion Lakes in the foreground. You just had to pullover and soak it all in.
We got to Banff and I plugged in our hotel to the GPS. 3.4kms to go. At 2.3kms to go I got my second puncture and am now the clear leader on that front. Our hotel is actually a resort and is a steep climb out of the main part of town, luckily there is a bus service that runs between the two. We have 3 full days here to recharge our batteries and look around, after 1100+ kms, we're looking forward to it.

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