5th June Arrival
You pack your fears
5th June 2017 Derby to Calgary
A very apposite adage, and often borne in mind when considering what kit to take on a trip, irrespective of whether it’s hiking or bikepacking.
On this trip I had two major fears:
- Bears: Get bear spray, hang food, trust to luck
- Lack of drinkable water: Platypus, water bottles, ‘Go’ bottle, steritabs
I also extensively researched water sources in the Basin as time spent on reconnaissance is never wasted and research doesn’t weigh anything.
In addition to the above I had the old concerns regarding keeping my torso sufficiently dry and ensuring my hands and feet didn’t get so cold I would be unable to ride the bike (which happened to me en route to Madrid in March).
With this in mind I packed several tried and trusted ‘old friends’ from Mountain Marathon/ Bob Graham days dating back nearly 15 years!
Fully appreciative of the fact that no-one will be interested a comprehensive kit list is provided separately in Appendix 2. Instead I just show the stuff laid out prior to packing. After all a picture paints a 1000 words.
The only things missing are food, bear spray and sun tan lotion.
Mindful of the fact that foreign credit card purchases frequently incur a transaction fee I had sourced the Santander credit card which does not levy this charge. Only to discover, when I went to pay for petrol in Allestree (2 miles from home), en route to the airport I discovered that that the card would not work… Good omen I thought!!
Several fruitless discussions with Santander staff on the phone on the way down to London resulted in me having to utilise back up ‘charge incurring’ cards for the trip.
The journey down was otherwise uneventful and needless to say we arrived with loads of spare time at Heathrow. Jackie had arranged a parking spot in the short stay car park and tried not to laugh as I negotiated my trolley, loaded with both bike and ‘carry on board’ cardboard boxes, from the car park to check in.
The bike box had been meticulously packed, weighed and measured to ensure it was within the BA sporting goods baggage requirements. It counted as my single checked in bag and as such did not incur any additional charges.
The cardboard box represented my ‘carry on’ bag and this was also sized to comply with regulations. My rucksack completed the ensemble. I wore my cycling shoes
The advantage of using cardboard boxes was that I could simply dispose of them in Calgary. It seemed to me a sensible solution to the problem. Jackie still thought they were risible.
Anyway transit through check in went seamlessly, in fact we went through faster than usual as we were directed to bypass the queue because of the box.
It was strange seeing my bike disappear into the outsize baggage port knowing the next time I would (hopefully) see it would be in Canada.
After that we had a bite to eat and a drink – Jackie fattening me up for the fray. Then a quick goodbye and off I went.
Flight over was like all long distance flights. Slight delay by someone deciding after we had all sat down that they wanted to get off!! I didn’t really snooze, had a couple of wines and arrived in Calgary tired and dehydrated.
Customs official was rather gruff/stroppy and wanted to know where I was staying. I showed him the downloaded bumpf and was reluctantly allowed to proceed.
Welcome to Canada I thought.
The bike box eventually came through, seemingly unscathed and unopened, and I proceeded to my booked accommodation in downtown Calgary in an outsized taxi which could have accommodated the bike and the whole of Duffield it was so big.
Taxi driver got lost despite professing to know the route, and even using Google maps we seemed to arrive from the wrong direction. I was supposed to be met at the door with the key but there was no one there. I found the key in the mail box but the door was not locked so went in and bedded down quickly – jet lagged.
Slept fitfully; glad to have started on this project.
