Jasper bike tourists
These were the first folks we ran into who were also multi-day riding. We spoke to them at Sunwapta Falls briefly. They were being supported by a van. Curiously, they lived in Jasper, which is almost purely a resort/tourist town.
They were pretty senior and very quick to pass on the road. Time makes weaklings of us all.
Travis
Staff at the sporting goods store in Lake Louise who sold me a 350mm 27.2 seatpost that I needed and talked to Matt interminably and enthusiastically about astrophotography locations, oblivious to how little time we could spare to get to these locations, all the while Matt nodded along.
Banff camp neighbors
Leading into Banff, we were struggling to light our large solid logs on fire, thanks to the regular showerings they were getting in the exposed log pits features at Canadian campgrounds. At Banff, we asked our neighbors for a hatchet to split open our logs. They not only loaned is the hatchet, but also kindly dropped off plenty of their own dry firewood. Another neighbor saw us setting up and walked over with a blowtorch to start the fire. His quip: "I know we've all been in Scouts, but we don't have to do [starting from tinder] out here."
Continental Divide riders
We met two groups of mountain bikers doing the ACA Continental Divide trail route from Canada to Mexico.
The first was a trio of Brits, all with very nicely appointed gear. They'd been planning their trip for as long as T1P had, and were 200mi in (to our ~400 at that point). I noticed that the girl had her bear mace holstered to her hip. I think they were shooting for ~50mi a day.
The second trio were two Americans and an Austrian (?). Ralf had started all the way up in Anchorage, and was going to Patagonia! On top of that, his equipment was decidedly less modern (though likely no less rugged), probably done to a budget.
Continental Divide riders
We met two groups of mountain bikers doing the ACA Continental Divide trail route from Canada to Mexico.
The first was a trio of Brits, all with very nicely appointed gear. They'd been planning their trip for as long as T1P had, and were 200mi in (to our ~400 at that point). I noticed that the girl had her bear mace holstered to her hip. I think they were shooting for ~50mi a day.
The second trio were two Americans and an Austrian (?). Ralf had started all the way up in Anchorage, and was going to Patagonia! On top of that, his equipment was decidedly less modern (though likely no less rugged), probably done to a budget.
French touring couple
We ran into these two in BC on the backroads. Their English was somewhat limited, so it wasn't clear where they were headed or what their schedule was. We had that moment where we all stood and looked out at the scenery and nodded in wordless appreciation at the view.
They were going pretty slowly on the road, so we assumed that that was the last we'd see of them. But when we got to Glacier National Park a few days later, we saw them again, mysteriously riding the other way, back north! We had one shot to ask them what was up, but it was a pretty minor mystery.
Greg
A very generous neighbor at Island Lake Recreational Area, by Magic Island. Gabe went up to him to ask for some water, since he wasn't keen on drinking the chemically-treated stuff. Greg gave us freen reign to his big bottled water supply and chatted about the camp. Greg was traveling with his wife and dog, fly fishing at the lake. He was quite curious about our trip and even asked how he could follow our progress. We gave him some blog links and a copy of the zine.
Harold the Lion Hunter
As we were riding through Montana ranch country, a Mustang convertible with the plate MYLION drove by us. I thought it was a Delicate Arch Utah license plate, so figured it was some sort of Mormon reference.
Later, we ran into the car and its occupants at our lunch stop in Babb. The driver was quite gregarious and chatted Gabe up quite a while. The conversational covered our previous trip to South Africa. The man said he'd gone four times to ZA. Later, he said something like, "you're really into biking, I'm a big hunter." It's easy to imagine, without any confirmation, that Harold had gone back to SA a few times to hunt big game.
As we were riding through Montana ranch country, a Mustang convertible with the plate MYLION drove by us. I thought it was a Delicate Arch Utah license plate, so figured it was some sort of Mormon reference.
Later, we ran into the car and its occupants at our lunch stop in Babb. The driver was quite gregarious and chatted Gabe up quite a while. The conversational covered our previous trip to South Africa. The man said he'd gone four times to ZA. Later, he said something like, "you're really into biking, I'm a big hunter." It's easy to imagine, without any confirmation, that Harold had gone back to SA a few times to hunt big game.
Jack
A dyed in the wool outdoorsman whom we ran into outside the restaurant in Babb. He had a lot of respect for us putting the miles on bikes out on the road, and asked us about our gear setup, particularly its waterproof properties. I took him as an archetype of the kind of person who enjoys life in Montana, someone who relishes the Big Sky Country.
We'd later meet other folks who had that modern day cowboy vibe, but Jack was definitely the first.
A dyed in the wool outdoorsman whom we ran into outside the restaurant in Babb. He had a lot of respect for us putting the miles on bikes out on the road, and asked us about our gear setup, particularly its waterproof properties. I took him as an archetype of the kind of person who enjoys life in Montana, someone who relishes the Big Sky Country.
We'd later meet other folks who had that modern day cowboy vibe, but Jack was definitely the first.
California Dani
Right after we rolled past the US border crossing and were regathering to push on, this girl broke from her hiking group to ask us about our ride, clearly in the know about what bike touring was. She was on a short break from her solo Minneapolis to Seattle ride. Of all the folks we talked to, she was by far the most excited and impressed by the zine when I handed her a copy. Her whole excited outdoorsy demeanor and big time tan gave me the impression that she was from California, so Dani was the handle I gave her.
After she followed us our tour account on Instagram (cued by the zine, of course), we found out her name was Erica.
Right after we rolled past the US border crossing and were regathering to push on, this girl broke from her hiking group to ask us about our ride, clearly in the know about what bike touring was. She was on a short break from her solo Minneapolis to Seattle ride. Of all the folks we talked to, she was by far the most excited and impressed by the zine when I handed her a copy. Her whole excited outdoorsy demeanor and big time tan gave me the impression that she was from California, so Dani was the handle I gave her.
After she followed us our tour account on Instagram (cued by the zine, of course), we found out her name was Erica.
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