Only in Canada

Day 18. Creston to Cranbrook. 68 miles. 1040 feet elevation. Weather warm.

This is a picture of my motel in Creston. People actually sit in these areas and talk to each other. It’s terrifying 🙂 Of course, they have time to sit and talk in these kinds of areas because everything in the town closes down by 8:00 at night. Even the fast-food places close at 9:00. It’s a very different and generally enjoyable pace if I can get to town in time.

Creston is a veritable garden. As I left it this morning, I rode through orchard after orchard. In some places, people’s entire yards were trees, beautiful vegetable gardens, and strawberry patches. Assumedly, the poppies above are the genetically modified version that does not produce opiates. But who knows? Maybe that’s why everybody’s so laid back.

The route basically followed the Moyie River Upstream. Thankfully, it was pretty gradual and generally an enjoyable and easy ride. In Moyie, a general store and gas station with some houses around it, I ran into a lady who was also bikepacking. Being the friendly guy that I am, I chatted with her and found that she was from New Zealand on her way to the start of the Great Divide. She was not racing, but the annual race starts this Sunday, so Banff will be a bit of a madhouse.

With the two spokes having broken yesterday, some grinding in my cassette, and an unbelievably early arrival in Cranbrook, I decided to get to a bike shop and have it checked out. About 10 km out of Cranbrook, I called a bike shop, and they said to bring it in; they would try to fit me in.

When I got there, they said they were too busy, but they had called around and found another shop that could help me. I headed out to the second shop, where they were happy to try to fix it. Since they were going to have my transportation, they decided they needed to take me to my motel. I threw my stuff in the truck, and they drove me to the motel. The whole thing is quite unbelievable and clearly only happening in Canada.