Day 9 - Inveremere to Banff - Kitty's account

Submitted by Kitty Chavarie

Its done, over and through. We did it all.  1200 kilometers. Personally, it was a huge challenge. I can't believe I have done such a thing in my life.  I have sore muscles everywhere and really looking forward to my own bed, home and food and family as my whole life has been bike bike bike for so many days,  BUT I am also very very glad to have done this.

Kitty at the Kootenay Pass Viewpoint-->

<--Jill and Bob Payne with Kitty (middle)

Today for our last ride we had lots of wildlife show up to keep us entertained.  We saw a bull moose, white tailed deer, two bighorn sheep, a black bear, a grizzly bear and lots of little gophers - hilarious looking critters.  The scenery was amazing, from riding through a tunnel, viewing glaciers close up,


and riding past glacial rivers with water as turquoise as you can imagine.







It's so different from seeing the province from a car. The scent in the air a lot of day was like lilacs (?) - I couldn't see a lilac  anywhere but sure did like the smell.  Oh and the wild rose smell too - just wonderful.

Kitty riding past mountain flowers beside the road-->

When we got to the Continental Divide we had a photo session - of course!  The signage there is still the original from when I was first across Canada as a kid.  

Jill and Bob Payne at the Continental Divide.  They seem to be leaning on the Atlantic side of the Divide -- makes sense, as they have come all the way from Newfoundland to do this tour. And yes, Kitty is leaning toward the Pacific (picture above)!-->

Arriving in Banff was such a relief. I think we were all done by then, so the hotel looked great to all of us.  I must admit I won't be on a bike for awhile. But I will be on it again for sure. The skills I learned and distances I can now do are just amazing.  We all have goofy cyclers tans but its all good.

Thanks for following our journal. Stan and I, and the other riders who contributed to it have enjoyed sharing it with you.


As a group we raised over $120,000!  This is amazing when you see that we are so few in number. We all did this to help our researchers improve outcomes, and to ultimately find a cure for CF. It may have started out some of us didn't have a personal connection to CF.  But after travelling with parents with these affected kids, parents who have lost their kids and other families and friends who have lost friends, we just want to help out.  I feel we have done our part this year. It will be a great day when the CF stands for Cure Found. Sooner would be better.

Tomorrow I meet my email friend Sandra Smith who I dedicated this ride to, she helped me up the hard bits and inspired me throughout this whole event.  Funny how we feel so close without even having met in person.  I can't wait!  


- Kitty

Would you like to sponsor a favorite rider? IT'S NOT TOO LATE! Click on their name above, or anywhere on this journal to open their "bio" on the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation GearUp4CF web site. Then simply click on the button "Sponsor this Rider".