Beautiful Banff...you HAVE to visit here!

Words and photos by JK

Sunday I rested and then rode up to Calgary for a light meal and goodbyes. Monday: I was not keen to ride this day. Whatever bug had decided to set up house in me was not cooperating. The cure was obvious. Speed! Oh I would make such a great doctor! We rode north a bit to find Garrett a Wells Fargo bank but the offices were mortgages only. They told us Canada does not allow private banks. ??? Airlines, booze, banks, and petrol all government owned? It can't be. Sounds like communism to me. I think I need to find out the facts. Canada is too big to be so obscure. South Park teases Canada all the time so somebody must know what's going on. All I know is that it is almost as expensive as Rip-Off Britain. Garrett said "of course no Americans know where Canada is...we haven't bombed it yet".

The ride to Banff was stunning and I was beginning to feel better. Sun and threatening rain alternated. Lake Louise is truly one of the world's greatest settings and in spite of the drizzle it was fabulous. On to Emerald Lake as the sun obliged us. Way back in '92 I brought my family here and we rented a canoe and paddled this greenest of lakes. As you can see I went crazy with photos as every turn of my head made me ooh and aah. I did an abstract of Lake Louise. Brill' innit?

We made Golden by 8pm and grabbed a clean motel, a meal and crashed. At the restaurant 4 lads pulled in on sports bikes. A Blade, an identical R1 to mine, and 2 Gixxer thous. This very funny big bloke chased down his mates who had missed them at the stop and on his way back did a massive stand-up wheelie at about 80mph. I was SOOO jealous! We had a good laugh and they all asked about Sage and ACT! Being a British company, Sage is quite well known here in Canada and that interested me. I need to do more to make the Sage name known known in the States. Hmmmm, maybe if I set a new record for speeding fines? I suppose I'd better not...The internet did not work and neither did my mobile. I was too knackered to care. Only 187.9 miles but full focus and a fair bit of walking in full gear should have knocked me out but as usual, just when I need it most I sleep escapes me. I think I need to fly back to the office to play catch-up for a week then fly back to my bike and carry on. It proves a strange sort of self-imposed pressure I wish I could shed.