Day 72, Friday, August 26

It rained, hard, last night. That’s always a problem when I want to break camp and head out the next morning. If I’ve just got pack up the sleeping bag, air mattress, tent and fly then get some breakfast, wash dishes, and pack the trailer and motorcycle, it generally takes me just less than 3 hours from waking up to being on the road. However, if I’ve got to dry everything out as well, it can take a lot more time and be a real pain in the rump. That was this morning. I didn’t get on the road until nearly 11am. Thankfully, the ride itself was pretty uneventful, just long. In fact the weather even cooperated. It was prefect! Cool, clear skies, and beautiful scenery. Too bad it couldn’t have been like this when I pulled into Banff a few days ago.
My goal for today was to ride through Yoho, and Glacier parks and down to Oliver for the night. Not the longest day I’ve put in so far on this trip, but, at 500 miles, definitely a long day. I stayed just south of the town of Pendicton. When I pulled into Pendicton, I noticed that every single campsite in town was completely booked and busting at the seams. What I didn’t know is that this is the Pendicton Ironman weekend and most of the contestants and their support teams are arriving today. I managed to get the very last campsite in the campground I chose. The next problem I face is that triatheletes are always super early risers which means that I’ve got to get up and out super early if I want to have any hot water for my shower. When I plan to ride on any day, I always get 7 hours of sleep or more in order to be safe on the motorcycle. In order to get the 7 hours and still have hot water ensured, that means getting to bed by 9:30 and getting up before dawn.