Great Falls, MT - Calgary, AB Motorcycling

Clouds gathered in Lethbridge, which made us postpone our lunch stop until we reached Vulcan.

86. Our ride home to Calgary from Great Falls on Wednesday, July 6 wasn't without challenges. The main challenge is the high probability of thunderstorms in Southern Alberta, where Calgary is located. Our sons told us that Calgary was having a lot of rains when we're in the States. This piece of information is what made me decide to ride a longer-than-usual 840 km from Brigham City to Great Falls the day before, with a purpose to create a time slack for the Wednesday ride in case we get caught in thunderstorms. If things go well, the 520 km distance between Great Falls and Calgary should be completed in less than 5 hours of riding. But if we are caught in thunderstorms along the way, we're mentally prepared to wait out for 3-4 hours or even to stay overnight in Lethbridge or Fort Macleod.

87. The second challenge is the average 15 degree C ambient temperature, which on its own is okay. 15 degree C is in fact a pleasantly cool riding temperature. It will, however, give a really cold riding condition if rain comes down as well. We've experienced such condition before in September 2015 when we rode back from Nelson, BC. Knowing this, we'd like to avoid having rain and cold temperature when we ride.

88. As soon as we left Great Falls, heading north on I-15, we're surrounded by dark clouds. Water droplets start forming on my helmet visor around Conrad, MT. It disappeared before Shelby, MT, where we stopped to refuel. There were not many gas stations between the 300-km stretch between Great Falls and Lethbridge, AB. Besides, refueling in Shelby is the last opportunity we have for a low gasoline price.

89. Dark clouds kept shadowing us between Shelby and the Canada - US border in Coutts, AB (or Sweet Grass, MT in the US side). The sky cleared a bit before Lethbridge, but unsettling sky surrounds us again when we reached Lethbridge. We decided not to stop in Lethbridge although we were hungry. Dark clouds toward Fort Macleod made me take Route 23 northbound to Vulcan where we stopped for 20 minutes for lunch and refueling. Route 23 turns westbound north of Vulcan, which takes us to Highway 2 junction. I rode as hard as I could to avoid getting trapped in a thunderstorm. Try as I might, we finally got drenched in rain as we entered Deerfoot Trail north of Okotoks. My wife was elated when we entered Calgary; that gave me a push to complete our ride safely home.

Rain finally caught us as we entered Deerfoot Trail north of Okotoks. It cleared once we were around Cranston area.