Our second Adventures in Tandem (AIT) tour of 2023 was incredible because in the bicycle touring business, it’s all about the weather! We were lucky enough to have a rare (for us) seven days in a row with beautiful weather. The very last day it rained, but it was “bicycle breakdown day” so we didn’t “have” to ride and as Bubba would say, “it was all good”!

Tour Day One was a meetup of the ten teams in Calgary. A 15-mile ride was scheduled for 2pm. We thought it would be sort of a shakedown ride for those who has just put their tandems together. It was more of challenge than we expected with some serious climbing right out of the gate!

Our grilled (yes, grilled!) peanut butter and jelly lunch was not happy in our tummies.

Day Two featured a 31-mile tour of Calgary. In the previous post I marveled at the biking infrastructure that we continued to rely on for this ride. Mike (minus his stoker Caren, who unfortunately spent most of the tour in isolation after she caught Covid FROM MIKE) was our ride leader, riding solo on his tandem.

On Day Three we were on the move to Banff – a place that was long on our bucket list. It did not disappoint. We enjoyed a fun ride and a lunch at the Three Bears Brewery, where they have a retractable roof which they open when weather allows.

Some of you may remember us eating ice cream on a rainy, cold day on our PEI tour. It was at COWS which is famous in Canada. They have a branch in Banff with a constant line and at least a 30 minute wait! Worth it!

Many of us went for the meat at the group dinner this night, but the key lime pie was the star of this show. Dessert twice in one day? Why not?

Day Four took us on a loop ride in Banff. We did so many things that I could have written a blog JUST about this day! It started with eye-popping sights and a ride to Lake Minnewanka followed by a tour of a stunning golf course, more time at the brewery, and some shopping that culminated with the purchase of (highly coveted) Banff jerseys.

Our amazing day continued with a Gondola to the top of Sulpher Mountain, dinner at the Sky Top Bistro with panoramic views of the city and the mountains, and finally watching sunset before descending and returning to our hotel.

Coming up next: new jerseys, Lake Louise and Smoke!

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