The previous evening I had briefly met another cyclist, a German guy who was set up in a camp site near me, and we had briefly chatted before I lurched off to find some dinner.
In the morning he had left, so I didn't necessarily expect to see him again. He seemed like a nice guy ... in his 40s ... professional ... no names at that stage, just the mutual admiration of anyone else silly enough to take on touring a bike through the Canadian Rockies.
It was another hot day in the low 30s, but it wasn't long before my German friend ranged up alongside me. It seems he had thought to take a more 'scenic route' that ended up not being a route at all, so he had to backtrack to the highway.
Turns out his name was Holger and he is an IT Manager who had taken a few weeks off to ride up from Vancouver, through the Parkway to Lake Louise, and then back through Revelstoke to Vancouver. He told me that his next scheduled stop was at the Log Inn Pub in Avola, a 'biker pub' that had a few rooms and cabins available for visitors, and served good beer. (A German pre-requisite, apparently)
Not sure whether it was a language thing, but my idea of a 'biker pub' conjures up images of Harley Davidsons, tatts, big guys with big attitudes and big beards ... not touring cyclists.
Turns out I was right. We rolled into Avola in the early afternoon and proceeded to look for The Log Inn Pub. The Pub is a labour of love by its owner Larry, an old biker from wayback. When we arrived he advised that he did, in fact, have an extra available 'cabin' that I could sleep in, because there had been a cancellation that morning. So we had a shower, quaffed down one of his 'World Famous Log Inn Burgers' and then had a look around town.
15 minutes later we had seen all the sights of Avola - not exactly a big place. Walking back towards the Pub we noted a sign pinned to a power pole that simply said 'Burgers'. We thought it remarkable that Larry had managed to pin his whole menu to that pole.
Back at the cabin I had a bit of a rest. Despite it not being a particularly long day (about 69km), the previous day had been big and I was quite weary.
For dinner we had another burger and met a couple of the locals. The Pub is quite iconic, with lots of character, and Larry was great. We had a couple of beers and then turned in for the night.
Rob, Holger and Larry at the Log Inn Pub.
What is it about Canada and trains that rumble along right next to your bed ... all night?
I am obviously still in need of some serious cultural acclimatisation. All of the locals tell me: "you get used to it". Probably like you get used to "industrial deafness".
The next morning I awoke to yet another glorious day in the mouintains. The weather forecast was for 'showers later in the day' but the only evidence of that was a little extra cloud, as I strapped all of my gear onto the bike for another day in the mountains.
Holger was travelling considerably lighter than me and although he had a tent, sleeping bag, a (very) few spare clothes, and some muesli bars for emergencies, his trip had assumed he could find reasonable accommodations each night. Apart from having to push less weight on his rather flash mountain bike, he is also a bit younger and, I suspect, quite a lot fitter than me. So I encouraged him to forge a path through the mountains for us and I would just dawdle along behind, catching up for our next stopover at Summit River.
The scenery everywhere is really quite mesmerising at times, and there is something about the amount of physical effort involved in cycling that makes you feel like you have earned the right to this much enjoyment - totally immersed in these amazing mountains.
It was a good days riding, nearly 110 km to Summit River, with some reasonable hills and descents, but nothing too paralysing. I kept having this feeling that I was following along behind a rain shower that was just a little ahead of me as we wound our way up the valley. Occasionally there would be a sprinkling of rain and I would start to think about whether I should stop to put on my rain gear, but then it would clear a little and so I would decide it wasn't worth it. The air was getting a little more chilly though, so the 'sprinkling' made for cold riding conditions at times. I couldn't help thinking about Holger who was a little further up the road and probably getting a lot more rain than me.
There is something about snow covered mountains shrouded in cloud that make you feel like you are deep into the Rockies. Stunning!
Eventually we made it to Summit River where we discovered that the Campground had not yet opened for the season ... but that they were happy for us to stay the night. These guys were amazing and so hospitable, and the Campground had excellent facilities.
But check out the view that we woke up to ...
Next stop Mount Robson, via Viewmount, and only 2 days to Jasper and the start of the Icefields Parkway.
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