As I have mentioned before, when cycling I have ample time to ponder whatever comes to mind.

For example, tailwinds. As a cyclist, a tailwind always seems like a bonus. You can let yourself think that you have become a stronger cyclist (“Wow, look how fast I can ride without much effort” one thinks.) And when on the lookout for bears, one is much less likely to startle them (which is important to avoid) because they can smell you coming.

But is there a downside? Why yes. When climbing, one can end up in a veritable dead zone of air as the “wind” created by your forward motion is negated by the tailwind. “Why does this matter?” you might ask. Well, you can get quite hot as there is no cooling breeze but even more importantly in the Northwoods, insects can now freely buzz around your face enjoying the pocket of still air that you have created. Go figure!

Another conundrum that I have pondered is ” getting away from it all”. In particular, I am referring to escaping constant access to information, news, and people by having no cellular or internet access. On the positive side…ahhh! No need to deal with random bad news, no obligation to keep up. One can actually experience solitude in a way that we rarely have these days. One’s environment actually is one’s reality ( for better or for worse) without the availability of easy distraction.

But then, we are so accustomed to being able to stay connected to friends and family that it can be hard to do without. How did I manage when connection meant timing a landline call and paying long distance fees? And how do you plan the next day’s travel without a weather report? What? Rain again? What about when a random question pops into your head? What is that plant?, when was this area settled?, or heaven forbid you and your significant other don’t agree on a fact and you can’t resolve it by looking it up? Oh my! Nevermind when something breaks and you can’t Google on how to fix it. My, we have become so dependent on our information technology.

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This train of thought came to me yesterday cycling the glorious Icefields Highway. Sooo spectacular but regrettably there was a lot of traffic to try to ignore, especially after weeks in the unpopulated areas of Alaska and Northern Canada. But of course it was Labor Day (yes, Canadians celebrate Labor Day, a fact that I didn’t know since I had no internet service 😏). Who goes to a national park on a holiday weekend? Well, not only did I not realize that there is Labor Day in Canada when I was plotting our route, I didn’t know the date, or for that matter, the day of the week 😇. See the problem?

Despite the crowds, it’s beautiful here and the weekend has passed. The route is chock-full of fond memories of our cycling companions from two summers ago. We also managed to grocery shop and get our laundry done in Jasper while we waited for the crowds to dissipate. Jim had a close encounter with a bull elk just outside the door of the laundry. Who would ever think of laundry as a risky activity??

Most of my wildlife encounters of late have been with these fuzzy little guys:

Sorry for all the meandering ( the blog, not the travels 😎). Thanks as always for riding along