Leaving

July 19 was my proposed departure date. I was really not thrilled about riding down Highway 2 right before the weekend, as the road gets pretty busy with plenty of stupid drivers, but I didn't want to delay.

I got away at about 6 a.m.. Here is a quick snap of me before I left. I was actually feeling a bit of anxiety, nervousness at this time... the reason for the fake smile maybe??

I headed out of town and it was about 11kms before I actually fe
My first rest came at 50kms into the ride. It was starting to warm already and was supposed to be a high of somewhere around 33 degrees for the day. I propped my bike up against some garbage cans at a road side pullout and sought some shelter from the sun beside a rig that was parked there. After a light bite to eat and a bit of time to get off that saddle, I was back at it.
lt like I was out of the city. The shoulder just outside of Edmonton, although wide (11foot?) only had about 3 feet that I could ride on due to all the gravel and crap left from the previous winter (I assume...). So for the first part of my journey I was cycling along, on the left side of the shoulder with cars speeding past at 120 km/hr+.

As I said, I really had no idea how far I was going to be able to go in a day. I do lots of downhill mountain biking and have to exert a fair amount of energy riding up to the trail heads but I have never done anything long distance like this. I was hoping for about 100 kms a day at least. Today I was shooting for Red Deer for the night.

After another break for lunch I reached Red Dear and had a bit of a rest at the Mohawk Gas station. It was good to take my shoes off and let them air out for awhile. I decided to bring sandals at the last minute and man, am I glad I did. As I sat and drank my gatorade and snacked on a granola bar I contemplated my next move. I was already past the campsite at Red Deer and it was still early enough I could still get a a fair bit of road out of the way. I decided to move on some more. I had already done more than 140 kms....why not keep going?

I pulled up to this rest area/campground at Bowden and decided to call it a day.202 kms for day one was definitely enough. I had gone much further than planned and would be able to reach Calgary around noon the next day. I was quite pleased with myself and surprised at the distance I covered in a day. Here is where I spent night one....