Oh what a lovely feeling to cross a border having cycled across a country! Canada has given up under the awesome fury of my relentless pedaling. When you finish a bicycle journey from ocean through a country of this size then it is a joyous feeling to cross the border.
A few years ago in Bolivia I spent a couple of weeks slogging through some of the most challenging tracks that I’ve encountered on a touring bicycle. Riding Bolivia south-west of the world famous salt-plains was both ridiculously difficult and exhilarating at the same time. Each day you plow through sand and gravel on ill-defined tracks across a sublimely beautiful landscape, all perfectly clear at 3,500 metres in elevation. When camping up against the wall of a remote hotel I met a couple who were cycling the same way towards the Chilean border and the Atacama Desert. We drank coffee together and the girl related that her father always said, “You have to earn a destination in order to really appreciate it”. That evening we both could feel the essential truth of that statement to the very core of our aching legs and fatigued souls.
To arrive having earned that arrival is something completely different to having been passively deposited somewhere. From the top of Canada I invested heart and soul into every one or those climbs, bought-in completely and committed to every kilometre and lived every bison-dodge, suffered every camp meal and felt every drop of rain.
The last part of the Canada ride takes me onto parts of the ‘continental divide‘ mountain bike ride, past a very large truck, more than a few places with ‘elk‘ in their names and the USA border at Roosville (where I’m charged $6 to process the USA visa waiver – really?). Now I roll on into Montana and spend an introductory evening in the back yard of the charming HA Brewing Co. for a cool and refreshing pint of IPA. Lovely.
Banff to Cranmore 20km
Cranmore to Canyon Campground 80km
Canyon to Elkford 95km
Elkford to Sparwood 37km
Sparwood to Campsite south of Eureka 130km
buff3ysbicyclingblog 
Great post Buffy! If you have time to take a detour I would highly recommend doing a day ride back up the “going to the sun” road out of west glacier. One of the nicest rides ever. We took all our gear off the bike and rode up to Logan pass.
Some top tourin’ going on! I totally agree with earning a destination. I remember riding into Villa O’Higgins after the Austral and renting an entire house to myself as a reward. Haven’t had that feeling in a while now!
Hey Ian. Get back on that Surly! The long road awaits you! If you would like a significant upgrade I understand there is a Co-Motion for sale in Buckinghamshire.