Day 3 crossroad to Johnson canyon

So after riding two days and feeling under the weather I woke up feeling a little better and optimistic about today's ride.

 After a 630 breakfast we headed out on the road. Soon after we started we came across a section that had been burnt by a forest fire. Then we started to climb. Today's climbs came early and we paced ourselves a little better. 

We ran into Rudy and Shirley . 

The nice part about the climbing today was the slopes of the hills were less then the last couple of days.  At least the lowest gears we have were low enough to allow us to climb. 

We rode in the shade for a few hours because the mountains were so close to us that they cast a huge shadow. Jane was bundled up but I was dressed normal. I kept thinking thoughts of being in Florida , it kept me warmer. 

You could tell we were getting higher in altitude because the snow was getting lower on the mountains.  Carrie , Todd's wife said the temp was 7 degrees during the morning ride.  In the shade it was cold. Good thing we were working hard and staying warm. 

The glacier lakes were blue, cold  and breathtaking. Everywhere you looked it was amazing. At a certain point we started to climb, and climb we did. Everyone just went at there own pace. I say you just have to pedal and find your happy place.

At the beginning I had a smile on my face.  

Near the end of the climb it was Ralph de Boer and I. No more smiles just pain and the determination to get to the top. One more corner. Maybe the next crest will be the top. 

More glacier lakes. It's hard not to stop. We did a lot of stopping. 

We stopped at carries rest stop, chips, granola bars. There were a lot of nice descents in the second half of the ride. We made our way to lake Louise. It was super busy with long weekend traffic.

  Lots of picks. I think I took 40-50 

  We made our way down the bow valley parkway all the way to the campsite. 

After eating a great dinner we sat by the glacial river and shot the breeze. 

We cooled some cheese and pop in the river. That was handy. That's it for tonight. See you all tommorow