Day 57 – Cardston,AB to Babb,MT

Date: 24.06.2018

Altitude: 4025.6 ft (1227 m)

Distance: 59.81 mi (96.25 km)

Total Altitude: 97693.6 ft (29777 m)

Total Distance: 3833.85 mi (6170.06 km)

Back in the USA and in Montana, after one night in Canada. Without the border control and the street signs along the road being metric, I wouldn't have noticed that I left the USA and am in Canada. There wasn't really any difference. Of course I only have been a really short time in Canada and I don't know how it would have been in other parts of Canada. Coming back into the US was a breeze. The guy at the border was really nice and it took only a minute or two to get across. I guess, I was only a bit unlucky, when I came into the US in Boston.

After the rain and the strong headwinds yesterday, today was a great day o be on the bike. There was almost no wind and the sun was shining. Still it wasn't too warm, which was perfect for the first day in the Rocky Mountains. Even though the route today was quite short and there wasn't any strong headwind, I still got an early start into the day since I wasn't sure how well I will do on the climbs. So I started right after a full breakfast. I ate plenty for breakfast, since I knew I will need the energy for the day and I wasn't sure when I will get something else to eat.

I finally reached the Rocky Mountains, today. I'm so happy to finally have a change in scenery and in the terrain. Reaching the mountains means that I have to deal with quite a few climbs, but it is still better than cycling through pretty much flat countryside with nothing but farmland/grassland around. I still enjoyed most of my time in North Dakota and Montana, but after a while it just gets boring. After I left Cardston this morning I was still surrounded by grassland but the terrain got already hillier and I had to deal with the first few short climbs. On my way I could see the mountains getting closer and closer. What a great sight. I reached Waterton Lakes National Park after about 30 miles into today's route and here I also reached the Rocky Mountains. Right after I reached the park, the first climb started. At the base of the first climb, I met a couple getting ready for a ride on their road bikes. They were going the same way, they wanted to cycle to the border and than back. They got started a little bit ahead of me but about halfway up the first climb, I passed the guy on his road bike. After the first climb we talked a bit and than continued on downhill and up the next climb. As the border was getting closer, they stopped and waved goodbye. It was great to ride a bit with them. After I reached the border I only had one short climb ahead of me and the rest of the way to Babb was downhill. On my way to Babb, there was lots of cattle along the road and I really had to be careful. On a few occasions there was a cow just standing in the middle of the road. The cows were the only bigger animals I saw today, I didn't see a bear. Although after the first climb, a guy on his motorbike mentioned that a bear crossed the road in front of him. I really enjoyed the ride in Waterton Lakes National Park and later in the USA in Glacier National Park. The scenery was just amazing. Being surrounded by trees and seeing the peaks of the mountains was great. At the end of the day, I left Glacier National Park on my way to Babb, again. But I will return to the park tomorrow, Babb is just outside the park.

Conclusion for the day:

Going uphill with the fully loaded bike is going better than expected.