We have a pretty easy ride in store today, which is fine with me. Since our back to back rainout days in Valemount and Jasper, and counting today’s ride, we’ve averaged 53 miles per day with about three thousand feet of climbing for ten straight days. Even without carrying much gear on these day rides, the miles are starting to add up. It probably wouldn’t hurt me to have a rest day, and the good news is that I’ll get one in just another ten days, on the long drive back to Portland.
Radium is a small place, with not all that much to choose from for facilities. It does have the nice Big Horn Cafe near our motel though, and they open at six. I walk over soon after they open and catch up on the journal over coffee and a scone, and Rachael walks in to join me not long after. By 8:30 we’re on the road, heading south toward Fairmont Hot Springs on busy Highway 95.
Riding on 95 is fine, but not the best of rides. There’s a good shoulder, but it’s just highway riding. Soon after leaving Radium though, we come to the best view of the day: a look over the Columbia Wetlands. It’s an impressive sight, with the Columbia River meandering below us looking like not much more than an overgrown stream. A roadside plaque placed here in 1997 describes the valley below as the longest undeveloped wetland in North America, stretching 180 kilometers between Canal Flats and Donald. That’s old news now though, because certainly the stretch from Fairmont Springs to Invermere can no longer be considered undeveloped.
We didn’t stay in this motel in Radium, but I’m sorry we didn’t. Pretty cool looking place.
Overlooking the Columbia Wetlands. Rachael wants you to know she’s not a cellphone junkie. She uses it to write down notes when we stop, so she won’t forget them before we get back from the ride.
At Invermere we turned off highway 95 to cycle the west side of Windermere Lake, with the plan that we would double back north at Fairmont and ride on the highway, fashioning a loop into our itinerary. The Westside Road provides a much quieter, slower alternative to the highway. Soon after leaving Invermere though, we stumbled upon an even better option: The Westside Legacy Trail. This is an new development in the last few years, and still incomplete. The short term goal is to create a paved multipurpose recreational trail connecting Fairmont and Invermere, with the longer term vision of extending it north to Radium.
The trail is over halfway complete now, and active construction work was visible as we biked along. I’d say it’s somewhere between half and two thirds of the way complete at this point. From what we saw of it, it will be a wonderful ride when it’s complete. It generally follows the Westside Road, but takes a much more contoured path through the woods and steeply down and back out of ravines. Great fun, and challenging.
Looking west across the north end of Windermere Lake. Visibility is poor today, with the sky hazy from the smoke of nearby fires.
At the beginnings of the Westside Legacy Trail. This one isn’t like the gentle Legacy Trail between Canmore and Banff. On this one, you definitely need all your gears.
Another technically interesting spot on the trail. This section isn’t striped yet because the trail is still under development. You should watch Rachael’s video of this section of the trail.
Just before reaching Fairmont, I spotted a find I’ve had an eye out for during the past week: a good antique rusting away in the fields that I could post as a submission in the July Cycle365 Monthly Challenge. I posted a submission earlier this month, with photo of the beautiful Cockshutt 30 tractor we found in Tete Jaune Cache. That submission was frowned upon by several nigglers because there was no bicycle in the photo, so I’ve been seeking a second subject to clear my stained reputation. Today is the last day of the month, so I was starting to feel some sense of disparity about the whole thing.
What a great find though! I’m no tractor guy, but this machine has some giveaway features (like John Deere on its grill, and some fierce-looking steel wheels). It looks to me like it must be one of the variations of a John Deere Model D, manufactured between 1923 and 1953. It looks to me from the steel wheels, the solid carburetor and the simple body design that this one probably dates between 1925 and 1939.
Wow, what a find! I’ve never seen a tractor like this one.
Rachael’s helping me out here. I have to include a bicycle in the photo for it to qualify for the Cycle365 July Challenge. I’m getting it in just under the wire.
After this, most of the excitement of the ride is behind us. It’s getting hot and smokier, which is unpleasant (and gives me some respiratory issues); and after we arrive at Fairmont we are left with 25 miles of straight highway driving. It goes fast though, because we have a fair tailwind the whole way home. After stopping at a Subway for lunch, we maintain a steady 17 mph all the way back to our motel. We arrive before 2:30, giving us a nice afternoon free to loaf around in our air conditioned room.
The Columbia River, at the highway crossing just south of Fairmont Hot Springs. I did a double take on the northward direction of flow, until I went back to the map to relearn that the river begins with a long arc north before turning south again. At this point, the river is on,y about two miles old.
It seemed like I should take at least one shot of the ride north on 95, so here it is. The whole 25 mile ride looked about like this, along with the occasional massive truck.
Radium bills itself as perhaps the best place in Canada for large wildlife viewing, with a herd of about 140 bighorn sheep that occasionally wander through town. Sure hope we see one.
Bruce LellmanIf this guy was on the grass I'd say it was a statue. You're having great luck sticking your head out of your hotel door for a photo of wildlife. First a rabbit and now a sheep! Reply to this comment 5 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Bruce LellmanIt felt pretty surreal, really. He wasn’t bothered in the least by us standing on the sidewalk 30 feet away. Reply to this comment 5 years ago
This doesn’t exactly match our route. On the west side of Windermere lake we biked the new Legacy Trail, which is still under development and not yet on the map.
