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I woke up early this morning, wrapped my ankle, and started walking up the rest of Galton Pass. My ankle felt okay a mile in, so I gingerly hopped on the uni to try riding. To my delight, I felt strong, and the ankle didn’t hurt! Soon after, something ran off into the bushes on my left, followed by a bear cub tearing across the route to my right. I hopped off the uni, grabbed my bear spray, took off the safety, and continued on foot as I talked to the mother, wherever she may have been. I passed without incident and continued riding.

To my surprise, I reached the top of the pass and discovered that my brake had miraculously started functioning again! I enjoyed the ride down the steep descent, though the brake vibrated the entire way down. The vibration translated to my seat, which was not a comfortable experience.

Before I knew it, I was waiting in a line of cars to cross the border into the US. The customs agent didn’t even bat an eye at the unicycle, though I did catch some of the guys in the other stations curiously peering my way.

Not two hours after arriving, I noticed something unusual rolling down the road. It was a unicycle! The unicyclist Craig had mentioned had made good time and caught up. We chatted a bit before he resupplied at the grocery store, and then he was off. I wonder if I’ll catch up with him at some point.

I was on a pretty big high when I arrived at the motel; I was in town, I made it into the US, and my ankle didn’t hurt! When I unwrapped my ankle, however, I was a little concerned to find that the ankle had disappeared into a swollen foot and to see that it had turned red, purple, and blue. It wasn’t that horrible, but it alarmed me a bit. I’ll try to do the RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) thing while I’m here. I think riding on should be okay, but I am worried about tweaking it more on my numerous, not-so-elegant dismounts.

Late this evening, an Independent Time Trial (ITT) racer, Stephen, came in. Craig, Murray, and I admired his bike for some time.