Perhaps you will sense a different feeling to this post when compared to the earlier ones from the ride. Of course, one of the reasons this post is different is because of what I did to myself at the end of the day. The other reason is more sentimental. I want to acknowledge my travel companions. The focus is not just on the scenery but on the people who accompanied me. I am going to break my own unspoken rule and specifically mention names. I am hoping that nobody minds. We start in the morning as we get ready to depart Lake Louise.
Being his usual helpful self, Rick had packed our luggage into the back of Ben’s van for the last day’s ride. He was quite proud of his effort. Rick also did his bit to keep us entertained as we rode every day.
Here is Ben giving us instructions for the last day. Ben was very thorough in his support. Go ahead and take a tour with him at Mountain Madness Tours. You will not be disappointed!
We had been riding thus far on the Icefields Parkway. From now on we are on the Bow Valley Parkway. The funny thing is that my bear sighting was pretty soon after we saw this sign. 
The road ran beside the Bow River.
Here is a picture of the riders on the move. You may notice that the road markings here are very different from those encountered on the Icefields Parkway.
A freight train awaits beside the road.
Koushik, the heart and soul of our riding team.
One way to smell the flowers, perhaps on another planet (get it!?).
Nancy and Stacy, old college mates.
Ben in his vehicle, after overtaking one of the riders.
I stopped with KP at a memorial point for the Castle Camp internment camp. Even though this episode happened during WW1, it is not difficult to imagine something like this happening even in our modern times.
The last paragraph in the wayside marker for the internment camp below reads “In total, eight thousand five hundred and seventy-nine men became prisoners of war in twenty-four camps located across Canada during the internment operations of 1914-1920. Most were foreign nationals, a few were British subjects or Canadian citizens. The majority were non-combatant, unemployed civilians – victims of the 1913 depression, racial prejudice and wartime hysteria. Many of the internees came from western regions of Ukraine, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.”
Stacy, Nancy and Sally.
The Bow river.
Ben’s van and trailer at the last stopping point.
Resting before the last push.
Sally and Bob, our riding leaders. They were the youngest and the oldest in the group. Bob, a former triathlete, took on the hills we encountered as if he was on a mission. Sally was not too far behind.
A squirrel observing the goings-on at this last stop.
This was the last picture I found on the camera after the trip. I did not take this picture. The time stamp on the picture leads me to believe that it was taken after I fell off the bike. I suspect that Bob, who had retrieved the camera and eventually delivered it to my home, took a picture to see if the camera was working. A great picture from that perspective. The camera ended up in better shape than I did!
That was the end of the ride, but not the end of my adventures.
If you want to continue to read about how I got home from Canada, start with this posting.
Splattered Brains 