And that is all I have to say about that.
Windows is teh suXors.
I will post more tomorrow when hopefully I have a working laptop that can actually access the internet.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
And province number 4...
Welcome to Manitoba.
Out of Regina we followed the Trans Canada down to the small town (is there another type?) of
Stop location: Grenfell
lat 50.41347N
lon 102.93769W
alt 578m
121km
5:12
23.3km/h
The day was a bit... tedious. The weather and wind was nice enough and the road wasn't too bad, but it wasn't overly scenic and nothing really interesting happened. Cars and trucks went by, we saw trees and fields and birds. And I'm really stretching it here trying to find more to say. Of course, it then led into the next day...
Stop location: Sask welcome centre
lat 50.05966N
lon 101.44820W
alt 540m
121km
5:38
21.5km/h
This day was not a good day at all. The last 40km or so of the ride was through construction so it was dusty and narrow. Due to the nature of the construction, we were even further from anything really remotely resembling nature. Alas.
And now we are here:
Stop location: Brandon
lat 49.88784N
lon 99.95679W
alt 408m
126km
4:43
26.7km/h
Our to date total is 2648km in 115 hours and 44 minutes of pedalling, which means a rolling average of 22.8km/h.
Todays ride was equally not scenic, though as we got within 20km of Brandon, it got a bit more green, a bit more hilly and a bit nicer. The wind actually treated us well today, being at best a nice tailwind for about two hours, then fading into a fairly neutral position for much of the rest of the ride.
After yesterday's kicking of my hiney by the road, I felt much better today and actually was able to hammer it up the one climb of the day so that was good for the ego. I'm looking forward to getting out of the prairies though. BC was tough, but fun and the scenery was outstanding and changing. The prairies are beautiful, but very similar as you go across them, outside of a few different micro areas such as the badlands and parks like the Saskatchewan Landing.
Two days from now we'll be in Winnipeg, so here's to the restocking of gear at MEC and we're now officially within striking distance of the halfway point.
And that's hard to believe.
Out of Regina we followed the Trans Canada down to the small town (is there another type?) of
Stop location: Grenfell
lat 50.41347N
lon 102.93769W
alt 578m
121km
5:12
23.3km/h
The day was a bit... tedious. The weather and wind was nice enough and the road wasn't too bad, but it wasn't overly scenic and nothing really interesting happened. Cars and trucks went by, we saw trees and fields and birds. And I'm really stretching it here trying to find more to say. Of course, it then led into the next day...
Stop location: Sask welcome centre
lat 50.05966N
lon 101.44820W
alt 540m
121km
5:38
21.5km/h
This day was not a good day at all. The last 40km or so of the ride was through construction so it was dusty and narrow. Due to the nature of the construction, we were even further from anything really remotely resembling nature. Alas.
And now we are here:
Stop location: Brandon
lat 49.88784N
lon 99.95679W
alt 408m
126km
4:43
26.7km/h
Our to date total is 2648km in 115 hours and 44 minutes of pedalling, which means a rolling average of 22.8km/h.
Todays ride was equally not scenic, though as we got within 20km of Brandon, it got a bit more green, a bit more hilly and a bit nicer. The wind actually treated us well today, being at best a nice tailwind for about two hours, then fading into a fairly neutral position for much of the rest of the ride.
After yesterday's kicking of my hiney by the road, I felt much better today and actually was able to hammer it up the one climb of the day so that was good for the ego. I'm looking forward to getting out of the prairies though. BC was tough, but fun and the scenery was outstanding and changing. The prairies are beautiful, but very similar as you go across them, outside of a few different micro areas such as the badlands and parks like the Saskatchewan Landing.
Two days from now we'll be in Winnipeg, so here's to the restocking of gear at MEC and we're now officially within striking distance of the halfway point.
And that's hard to believe.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Regina
That is where we are.
From our last update, we've been through a couple of days of riding:
Stop location: Beasent Campground
lat 50.46177N
lon 105.96590W
alt 590m
139km
5:56
23.4km/h
Stop location: Regina
lat 50.44907N
lon 104.50904W
alt 599m
120km
6:12
19.3km/h
So the total now is 2280km in 100 hours and 11 minutes, 22.8km/h.
The day out of Swift Current was our longest yet, but overall it was one of our better rides. Though perhaps it goes without saying that most of our longer rides are ones that we're feeling good about in some way, shape or form. With the gale force winds that had been dogging us for several days now gone, our complaints now turned to the temperature, which has been hardly spring like for the past week or two. Given that we were hardly chilled to the bone, it was more a case of wanting to ride in shorts and a light jersey. Alas, one day.
From our last update, we've been through a couple of days of riding:
Stop location: Beasent Campground
lat 50.46177N
lon 105.96590W
alt 590m
139km
5:56
23.4km/h
Stop location: Regina
lat 50.44907N
lon 104.50904W
alt 599m
120km
6:12
19.3km/h
So the total now is 2280km in 100 hours and 11 minutes, 22.8km/h.
The day out of Swift Current was our longest yet, but overall it was one of our better rides. Though perhaps it goes without saying that most of our longer rides are ones that we're feeling good about in some way, shape or form. With the gale force winds that had been dogging us for several days now gone, our complaints now turned to the temperature, which has been hardly spring like for the past week or two. Given that we were hardly chilled to the bone, it was more a case of wanting to ride in shorts and a light jersey. Alas, one day.
So anyhow, we had decent, though cold, weather and the winds were not unkind to us. We also ran into our first long distance cycling compatriot on the road. Mr. Vic Lindal who was travelling from Victoria.
The stop for the night was a campsite in the middle of nowhere that was treed and had creeks and ponds. Considering the serious lack of foliage that the prairies tend to have, this was a welcome change. Shortly before we actually arrived at the place, I was longingly gazing at a suspiciously ordered grove of trees pretending that it was a wild forest.
We are still in flooding season out here and several of the lower sites at the place were actually under a small creek which was flowing happily over roads and picnic areas.
The easterlies were back with a vengance the next day though. Well, perhaps not that serious. A stiff east breeze blew in our faces all day, not enough to be totally demoralizing, but enough to make this our longest day in the saddle.
Much thanks must go to Tim de la Horton and the chili for providing sustenance for the ride. After nearly two hours on the road and covering a pitiful 38km, I decided that it would be a good idea to fuel up. I knew that the ride into Regina was not going to be a quick 80km. We had planned to stop at the Shack of Tim to get the Saskatchewan picture for Tanya (and it happened to be next to a 10 ton concrete moose, so double points for tourist trap as well) so it fell into place.
And for the jokes about seeing prairie cities from hours away? True, on a bike at least. Hillary made the first call, but we definitely were able to see Regina with close to two hours of riding left. Figure somewhere between 30 and 40km out. When facing into a headwind, watching your mythical destination for two hours is... tough.
That about brings us up to date. We took today off in Regina and are heading back onto the Trans Canada tomorrow morning. May the westerlies find us.
The stop for the night was a campsite in the middle of nowhere that was treed and had creeks and ponds. Considering the serious lack of foliage that the prairies tend to have, this was a welcome change. Shortly before we actually arrived at the place, I was longingly gazing at a suspiciously ordered grove of trees pretending that it was a wild forest.
We are still in flooding season out here and several of the lower sites at the place were actually under a small creek which was flowing happily over roads and picnic areas.
The easterlies were back with a vengance the next day though. Well, perhaps not that serious. A stiff east breeze blew in our faces all day, not enough to be totally demoralizing, but enough to make this our longest day in the saddle.
Much thanks must go to Tim de la Horton and the chili for providing sustenance for the ride. After nearly two hours on the road and covering a pitiful 38km, I decided that it would be a good idea to fuel up. I knew that the ride into Regina was not going to be a quick 80km. We had planned to stop at the Shack of Tim to get the Saskatchewan picture for Tanya (and it happened to be next to a 10 ton concrete moose, so double points for tourist trap as well) so it fell into place.
And for the jokes about seeing prairie cities from hours away? True, on a bike at least. Hillary made the first call, but we definitely were able to see Regina with close to two hours of riding left. Figure somewhere between 30 and 40km out. When facing into a headwind, watching your mythical destination for two hours is... tough.
That about brings us up to date. We took today off in Regina and are heading back onto the Trans Canada tomorrow morning. May the westerlies find us.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Route change!
So our total to date is 2021km in 88 hours at an average speed of 22.9km/h.
So over two thousand kilometres behind us now.
I have to admit with some shame that I did not get the stop point coords for the ride out of Kindersley, but I do have the distance numbers:
Camp location: Elrose
108km
4:47
22.5km/h
We got about 30km east of Kindersley and then had a bit of a brainstorm, why fight the wind if we have to go south anyhow? So we headed south and used the next two days of strong north winds to cover as much territory as we could. We are now back on the Trans Canada highway in
Stop location: Swift Current
lat 50.30733N
lon 107.76475W
alt 747m
117km
4:08
28.3km/h
From here we go east to Moose Jaw, Regina and then on to Winnipeg.
I've been fighting a cold for the last couple of days, so the turn south definitely helped my mental state. Riding at 17km/h into a vicious wind is demoralizing and not a whole lot of fun. It's too loud to really chat with anyone and you never get a break from pedalling. Once we turned south and put that wind at our back, anything remotely resembling downhill we could sit and up just coast.
Cruising at 35km/h for stretches was great for morale and made riding and feeling miserable much more bearable. The final descent down into Swift Current was pretty cool as well, without pedalling, I hit 78km/h. This was without pedalling, so if I had put some effort in, I probably would have hit a Warren Record for speed. Hillary shattered her old top speed record with something like 71km/h down that hill.
Other random stats:
New Warren Record for no hands riding, set on the day into Carbon: 3km
New Warren Record for no hands riding, high speed, yesterday while snacking: 48km/h
Number of Clif Bars dropped on the road and not retrieved due to riding at 48km/h and not wanting to turn around to pick it up: 1
Turns out snacking at nearly 50km/h is harder than at 30km/h due to much higher winds. Ah well.
So over two thousand kilometres behind us now.
I have to admit with some shame that I did not get the stop point coords for the ride out of Kindersley, but I do have the distance numbers:
Camp location: Elrose
108km
4:47
22.5km/h
We got about 30km east of Kindersley and then had a bit of a brainstorm, why fight the wind if we have to go south anyhow? So we headed south and used the next two days of strong north winds to cover as much territory as we could. We are now back on the Trans Canada highway in
Stop location: Swift Current
lat 50.30733N
lon 107.76475W
alt 747m
117km
4:08
28.3km/h
From here we go east to Moose Jaw, Regina and then on to Winnipeg.
I've been fighting a cold for the last couple of days, so the turn south definitely helped my mental state. Riding at 17km/h into a vicious wind is demoralizing and not a whole lot of fun. It's too loud to really chat with anyone and you never get a break from pedalling. Once we turned south and put that wind at our back, anything remotely resembling downhill we could sit and up just coast.
Cruising at 35km/h for stretches was great for morale and made riding and feeling miserable much more bearable. The final descent down into Swift Current was pretty cool as well, without pedalling, I hit 78km/h. This was without pedalling, so if I had put some effort in, I probably would have hit a Warren Record for speed. Hillary shattered her old top speed record with something like 71km/h down that hill.
Other random stats:
New Warren Record for no hands riding, set on the day into Carbon: 3km
New Warren Record for no hands riding, high speed, yesterday while snacking: 48km/h
Number of Clif Bars dropped on the road and not retrieved due to riding at 48km/h and not wanting to turn around to pick it up: 1
Turns out snacking at nearly 50km/h is harder than at 30km/h due to much higher winds. Ah well.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Weather is teh sux0rs
May 19
For the record, we stopped here in Richdale:
lat 51.61036N
lon 111.60322W
alt 768
So with the warnings of 50+km/h gusts and supposed tornado warnings, we elected to stay still. I mostly fought with the computer for the afternoon. The thing has a really nice lcd screen, 1280x800, but for some reason Windows thinks it's a 1024x768. So you either get a distorted full screen image or a smaller image with a bunch of unused screen real estate. It is massively annoying and fueling my hatred of all things Microsoft.
There are no monitor drivers that I can find for this thing, and the built in ones do not have 1280x800 as a default option. Madness.
Regardless, it was a relaxing day. A hot tub in the motel beside us was used for muscle relaxing and we were happy.
May 20
Stop location: Alsask, SK
lat 51.38827N
lon 109.98946W
alt 711
122km
4:54
24.85km/h
Heading out from Hanna we got most of the day finished in the real prairies. Flat, flat, flat until somewhere around the 100km mark where we got some gentle rollers. Our stop point, the town of Alsask (name came from the location, border of Alberta and Saskatchewan) was... Different.
The campsite, I hesitate to call it that, was a field with a couple of concrete patches and a few picnic tables. The town itself appeared to be a ghost town. A bit of interweb research showed that it used to be a military radar installation that was shut down in the late 80's and everyone moved out.
As for the ride, uneventful, I took a couple of prairie pictures and we hit Saskatchewan. Two provinces down!
May 21
Rainy.
Windy.
Cold.
Stop location: Kindersley
lat 51.46013N
lon 109.14436W
alt 695m
65km
3:49
17km/h
Check out that average speed. Hideous, but it really couldn't get much better.
Strong cross/headwinds for the entire day and it rained harder and harder over the course of the day. Fortunately, it wasn't overly cold, so our cores stayed warm, but none of us could unzip zippers or work the velcro on our riding shoes without serious concentration. Ten minutes after getting inside and getting changed, I still didn't have the finger dexterity to do up the button on my pants. Tanya couldn't get her gloves off and had to ask for help, it was ridiculous. For the last 10km or so, I was in the same gear since I couldn't get my fingers to work properly to shift.
Roger and Heather had soup and hot chocolate waiting when we finished, which was critical to our happiness. Hillary evidently decided that the weather was bad enough that she should sing, while riding. According to her it it was very unfortunate that she did not know more rain songs.
Kindersley was another location with relatives! That meant a most excellent dinner and a place to do laundry again. Thank you.
For the record, we stopped here in Richdale:
lat 51.61036N
lon 111.60322W
alt 768
So with the warnings of 50+km/h gusts and supposed tornado warnings, we elected to stay still. I mostly fought with the computer for the afternoon. The thing has a really nice lcd screen, 1280x800, but for some reason Windows thinks it's a 1024x768. So you either get a distorted full screen image or a smaller image with a bunch of unused screen real estate. It is massively annoying and fueling my hatred of all things Microsoft.
There are no monitor drivers that I can find for this thing, and the built in ones do not have 1280x800 as a default option. Madness.
Regardless, it was a relaxing day. A hot tub in the motel beside us was used for muscle relaxing and we were happy.
May 20
Stop location: Alsask, SK
lat 51.38827N
lon 109.98946W
alt 711
122km
4:54
24.85km/h
Heading out from Hanna we got most of the day finished in the real prairies. Flat, flat, flat until somewhere around the 100km mark where we got some gentle rollers. Our stop point, the town of Alsask (name came from the location, border of Alberta and Saskatchewan) was... Different.
The campsite, I hesitate to call it that, was a field with a couple of concrete patches and a few picnic tables. The town itself appeared to be a ghost town. A bit of interweb research showed that it used to be a military radar installation that was shut down in the late 80's and everyone moved out.
As for the ride, uneventful, I took a couple of prairie pictures and we hit Saskatchewan. Two provinces down!
May 21
Rainy.
Windy.
Cold.
Stop location: Kindersley
lat 51.46013N
lon 109.14436W
alt 695m
65km
3:49
17km/h
Check out that average speed. Hideous, but it really couldn't get much better.
Strong cross/headwinds for the entire day and it rained harder and harder over the course of the day. Fortunately, it wasn't overly cold, so our cores stayed warm, but none of us could unzip zippers or work the velcro on our riding shoes without serious concentration. Ten minutes after getting inside and getting changed, I still didn't have the finger dexterity to do up the button on my pants. Tanya couldn't get her gloves off and had to ask for help, it was ridiculous. For the last 10km or so, I was in the same gear since I couldn't get my fingers to work properly to shift.
Roger and Heather had soup and hot chocolate waiting when we finished, which was critical to our happiness. Hillary evidently decided that the weather was bad enough that she should sing, while riding. According to her it it was very unfortunate that she did not know more rain songs.
Kindersley was another location with relatives! That meant a most excellent dinner and a place to do laundry again. Thank you.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Unscheduled rest day?
Currently -6C with the windchill and winds are 30km/h gusting to 50km/h and supposed to get higher.
We might not be riding today. More on that later.
We might not be riding today. More on that later.
Friday, May 18, 2007
The revenge of the flatlands.
May 16
Stop location: Carbon
lat 51.48586N
lon 113.15094W
alt 768
138km
5:09
26.8km/h
This was a pretty fun ride, long, but we had a pretty nice tailwind for a decent chunk of it which made things go very smoothly.
After the previous post making the smart assed comment about flatlands, Alberta reared up and proceeded to prove me wrong. Turns out the praries, at least the first parts of them that we ride through are seriously rolling. In the first 35km, we had at least 3 climbs of more than 2km and a couple of 3km ones. Nothing too brutal, but a couple coming out of little valleys were pretty steep. Wonderful riding roads though, the quality of the pavement was good and the nicely rolling roads kept things interesting.
May 17
Stop location: Drumheller
lat 51.46747N
lon 112.71568W
alt 716m
39km
1:29
25.8km/h
The Tyrrell Museum is awesome. Unless you are of the young earth variety, I highly recommend hitting it if you're ever in Calgary and need an interesting day trip. Drumheller itself is kind of weird, but the museum has some very, very cool exhibits. The ride was short, Tanya put in extra miles, I was lazy and decided to eat instead.
Note in the pictures for today the warning about swimming in the 'pond' in front of the museum. Sign of the trip perhaps.
May 18
Stop location: Richdale (Forgot to get the coords when there, we parked in Hanna, so I'll get them tomorrow and update then)
102km
5:10
19.65km/h
Holy Pain Batman. So much for the prairies being easier.
The route today went north, then east. We spent the entire time pointing into a strong NE wind. The end result was essentially 5 hours of simulated climbing. Mentally an incredibly tough day to say the least for a number of reasons. At least in the hills when you go up a huge climb, you get to come down the other side, the wind was relentless and downhills we were hitting the insane speeds of 25-27km/h. Those were the steep hills. Several of the more gentle downs were taken at 22km/h or less.
Supposedly we can look forward to more of the same tomorrow, though by early afternoon, we're supposed to get a S wind, which just means it's a crosswind, not a direct headwind.
70 hours 22 minutes of riding time for a total of 1609km at an average speed of 22.8km/h.
Stop location: Carbon
lat 51.48586N
lon 113.15094W
alt 768
138km
5:09
26.8km/h
This was a pretty fun ride, long, but we had a pretty nice tailwind for a decent chunk of it which made things go very smoothly.
After the previous post making the smart assed comment about flatlands, Alberta reared up and proceeded to prove me wrong. Turns out the praries, at least the first parts of them that we ride through are seriously rolling. In the first 35km, we had at least 3 climbs of more than 2km and a couple of 3km ones. Nothing too brutal, but a couple coming out of little valleys were pretty steep. Wonderful riding roads though, the quality of the pavement was good and the nicely rolling roads kept things interesting.
May 17
Stop location: Drumheller
lat 51.46747N
lon 112.71568W
alt 716m
39km
1:29
25.8km/h
The Tyrrell Museum is awesome. Unless you are of the young earth variety, I highly recommend hitting it if you're ever in Calgary and need an interesting day trip. Drumheller itself is kind of weird, but the museum has some very, very cool exhibits. The ride was short, Tanya put in extra miles, I was lazy and decided to eat instead.
Note in the pictures for today the warning about swimming in the 'pond' in front of the museum. Sign of the trip perhaps.
May 18
Stop location: Richdale (Forgot to get the coords when there, we parked in Hanna, so I'll get them tomorrow and update then)
102km
5:10
19.65km/h
Holy Pain Batman. So much for the prairies being easier.
The route today went north, then east. We spent the entire time pointing into a strong NE wind. The end result was essentially 5 hours of simulated climbing. Mentally an incredibly tough day to say the least for a number of reasons. At least in the hills when you go up a huge climb, you get to come down the other side, the wind was relentless and downhills we were hitting the insane speeds of 25-27km/h. Those were the steep hills. Several of the more gentle downs were taken at 22km/h or less.
Supposedly we can look forward to more of the same tomorrow, though by early afternoon, we're supposed to get a S wind, which just means it's a crosswind, not a direct headwind.
70 hours 22 minutes of riding time for a total of 1609km at an average speed of 22.8km/h.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Welcome to the flatlands
Posting from Cochrane, our first stop out of the mountains and second stop in Alberta.
So here are the last couple of days:
May 13
Kootenay National Park -> Banff. As mentioned in my last post, the weather for this day was not looking overly promising. This held true. We started out in a drizzle, which turned into rain from time to time, it was also damned cold. Alas. 20 or so km of gentle uphill slog, then we took a right turn and began our final mountain pass, the Vermillion pass which took us over the continental divide and into Alberta.
The climb was fairly gentle and brought us through some rather interesting terrain, specifically, the end of winter in a forest fire wasteland. Everything was brown and dead, though the forest floor should be green in a few weeks. Again, we saw snow on the ground. And once again, we descended into a headwind, which was highly unplesant given the temperature of something like 3 or 4 C.
This was my toughest day so far I think. I was getting shelled on every little climb of the awesome Bow Valley Parkway. It's a shame the weather was so terrible and I was feeling so bad on this ride since the 1A in Banff is among the more awesome riding roads I have ever been on. No huge climbs, lots of twisty stuff, it's just built for pedalling. Alas. I will go there again with a road bike someday.
Stop location: Banff - Tunnel Mountain
lat 51.18900N
lon 115.53821W
alt 1473m
84km
3:57
21.13km/h
May 14
Rest day in Banff. Laundry, sleeping, eating and walking. Nothing to complain about here. I love this little town.
May 15
Today, up to date, is this true? I think yes. We headed out from Banff very gently since Hillary was feeling stiffer than the last couple of days. That didn't mean painful though. The highway down from Banff is just that: down. Gentle grade, but that just means you can sustain 30-35km/h for long periods at a time. This contributed to our fastest day yet, 103km at and average speed of 27.5km/h.
We had planned on going all the way to Calgary today, an extra 20-30km, but ran into a bit of a snag. A tractor trailer overturned a km or two ahead of us on highway 1A about 4okm west of Cochrane. Hillary and I were the second people on the scene, and the wheels were still spinning when we arrived. Since we had a cell, I got the honour of making the 911 call. By this time, the driver of the truck was out and walking around, banged up, but no serious injuries.
The road is not designed for trucks, it's narrow and with no shoulders, so what likely happened was he dropped a wheel off the edge slightly and that was all she wrote. We learned from a local (the first on the scene) that this was a somewhat popular alternate route that skipped the scales on highway 1.
Long story short, this killed something like an hour where we had to stand around until the emergency crews arrived and asked us the usual questions. By the time we got going again, the wind has shifted into a minor headwind and I was just looking forward to food. We met up with the RV in Cochrane and decided to call off the rest of the day and call it good there. So here we are:
Stop location: Cochrane
lat 51.17508N
lon 114.45703W
alt 1140m
103km
3:45
27.5km/h
And our cumulative totals to date:
58 hours 34 minutes of riding time for a total of 1330km at an average speed of 22.7km/h.
Today, we head towards Drumheller with our likely stop in Acme or Carbon.
So here are the last couple of days:
May 13
Kootenay National Park -> Banff. As mentioned in my last post, the weather for this day was not looking overly promising. This held true. We started out in a drizzle, which turned into rain from time to time, it was also damned cold. Alas. 20 or so km of gentle uphill slog, then we took a right turn and began our final mountain pass, the Vermillion pass which took us over the continental divide and into Alberta.
The climb was fairly gentle and brought us through some rather interesting terrain, specifically, the end of winter in a forest fire wasteland. Everything was brown and dead, though the forest floor should be green in a few weeks. Again, we saw snow on the ground. And once again, we descended into a headwind, which was highly unplesant given the temperature of something like 3 or 4 C.
This was my toughest day so far I think. I was getting shelled on every little climb of the awesome Bow Valley Parkway. It's a shame the weather was so terrible and I was feeling so bad on this ride since the 1A in Banff is among the more awesome riding roads I have ever been on. No huge climbs, lots of twisty stuff, it's just built for pedalling. Alas. I will go there again with a road bike someday.
Stop location: Banff - Tunnel Mountain
lat 51.18900N
lon 115.53821W
alt 1473m
84km
3:57
21.13km/h
May 14
Rest day in Banff. Laundry, sleeping, eating and walking. Nothing to complain about here. I love this little town.
May 15
Today, up to date, is this true? I think yes. We headed out from Banff very gently since Hillary was feeling stiffer than the last couple of days. That didn't mean painful though. The highway down from Banff is just that: down. Gentle grade, but that just means you can sustain 30-35km/h for long periods at a time. This contributed to our fastest day yet, 103km at and average speed of 27.5km/h.
We had planned on going all the way to Calgary today, an extra 20-30km, but ran into a bit of a snag. A tractor trailer overturned a km or two ahead of us on highway 1A about 4okm west of Cochrane. Hillary and I were the second people on the scene, and the wheels were still spinning when we arrived. Since we had a cell, I got the honour of making the 911 call. By this time, the driver of the truck was out and walking around, banged up, but no serious injuries.
The road is not designed for trucks, it's narrow and with no shoulders, so what likely happened was he dropped a wheel off the edge slightly and that was all she wrote. We learned from a local (the first on the scene) that this was a somewhat popular alternate route that skipped the scales on highway 1.
Long story short, this killed something like an hour where we had to stand around until the emergency crews arrived and asked us the usual questions. By the time we got going again, the wind has shifted into a minor headwind and I was just looking forward to food. We met up with the RV in Cochrane and decided to call off the rest of the day and call it good there. So here we are:
Stop location: Cochrane
lat 51.17508N
lon 114.45703W
alt 1140m
103km
3:45
27.5km/h
And our cumulative totals to date:
58 hours 34 minutes of riding time for a total of 1330km at an average speed of 22.7km/h.
Today, we head towards Drumheller with our likely stop in Acme or Carbon.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Type Fast! Low Battery!
May 12
Unreal. So we have internet and I have a low battery. But the access is in a most awesome place. Currently, we are here:
Kootenay Park Lodge
lat 51.02530N
lon 115.98053W
alt 1278m
Well, not actually right there, if you pull that thing up with google maps or whatever, we're actually parked just on the other side of the highway, there's a little lunching area there. I have access here though.
Access where there is no phone landline and no cell network. The guys at the lodge here have a satellite internet connection and have Vonage for phones, VOIP in the middle of nowhere, quite literally. Highway 93 is one of the more desolate stretches in southern Canada. The "Do you have gas?" sign said no services for about 130km, which was the record thus far.
New high speed record for me today as well: 78km/h according to the computer. That was fun, pretty nice highway descending from the Sinclair pass. Photos from that hill will go up hopefully tomorrow when we stop in the Banff townsite itself.
We've been hitting some good luck with weather since the nastiness of Manning Park, but it looks like that is about to change. Possible snow and highs of 6, time to break out the winter riding gear again.
Unsorted and I haven't calculated it all out (will edit this if my battery doesn't die) but here is the last few days of riding:
Stop location: Outside of boswell
lat 49.50744W
lon 116.78619W
Alt 545m
106km
4:39
22.98km/h
Stop location: Yahk
lat 49.08024N
lon 116.09980W
alt 871m
97km
4:15
22.86km/h avg
Stop location: Cranbrook
lat 49.50143N
lon 115.79488W
Alt 959m
73km
2:58
24.43km/h avg
Stop location: Fairmont Hot Springs
lat 50.32549N
lon 115.84386W
alt 980m
112km
4:26
25.22km/h
Stop location: Kootenay Park Lodge
lat 51.02530N
lon 115.98053W
alt 1278m
104km
4:28
23.1km/h
Posting now, below 5% battery life.
Unreal. So we have internet and I have a low battery. But the access is in a most awesome place. Currently, we are here:
Kootenay Park Lodge
lat 51.02530N
lon 115.98053W
alt 1278m
Well, not actually right there, if you pull that thing up with google maps or whatever, we're actually parked just on the other side of the highway, there's a little lunching area there. I have access here though.
Access where there is no phone landline and no cell network. The guys at the lodge here have a satellite internet connection and have Vonage for phones, VOIP in the middle of nowhere, quite literally. Highway 93 is one of the more desolate stretches in southern Canada. The "Do you have gas?" sign said no services for about 130km, which was the record thus far.
New high speed record for me today as well: 78km/h according to the computer. That was fun, pretty nice highway descending from the Sinclair pass. Photos from that hill will go up hopefully tomorrow when we stop in the Banff townsite itself.
We've been hitting some good luck with weather since the nastiness of Manning Park, but it looks like that is about to change. Possible snow and highs of 6, time to break out the winter riding gear again.
Unsorted and I haven't calculated it all out (will edit this if my battery doesn't die) but here is the last few days of riding:
Stop location: Outside of boswell
lat 49.50744W
lon 116.78619W
Alt 545m
106km
4:39
22.98km/h
Stop location: Yahk
lat 49.08024N
lon 116.09980W
alt 871m
97km
4:15
22.86km/h avg
Stop location: Cranbrook
lat 49.50143N
lon 115.79488W
Alt 959m
73km
2:58
24.43km/h avg
Stop location: Fairmont Hot Springs
lat 50.32549N
lon 115.84386W
alt 980m
112km
4:26
25.22km/h
Stop location: Kootenay Park Lodge
lat 51.02530N
lon 115.98053W
alt 1278m
104km
4:28
23.1km/h
Posting now, below 5% battery life.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Internets!
We've had a couple of days of sparse connection and I don't have the laptop handy which means my stats updates are going to be at least a little bit behind this. Rest assured, I do have all of that saved elsewhere...
So, the last threeish days...
May 7
The rest day in Castlegar was, as noted, definitely needed. Hillary, my mom and I stayed for the two nights with my relatives, Rick and Donna Armstrong. The place was wonderful and a great base for the two days we were there. Of important note was the exceptional fruit salsa and steaks. (Not consumed together, though that would be interesting...mmmmm Strawberry Steak) The very good red wine was also opened.
We've only been on the road for a week at that point, but we were already missing the comforts of a real home, so this was a very nice break. Most of our other rest days are going to be based out of the RV, so we made sure to really enjoy this one.
Then, onward.
May 8
The next day was probably the most scenic ride we've done so far. We left Castlegar and headed along the Kootenay River. The river is deep, fast and cold, and is to me one of the more quintessential BC rivers. (Yes, it technically does spend time in the USA, but let's not quibble.)
After Nelson we continued on to Balfour and crossed Kootenay Lake on the longest free ferry in the world. 40 minutes later, we got our one real climb of the day. Nothing like an hour and a half rest (45 minutes early for the ferry, rest fueled by a monstrous brownie), then with cold legs grinding up an 8%-9% grade. Yay.
Our stop point was a little resort that had much potential. It was also for sale... Hmmm... Bayshore Resort, outside of Boswell, we had a spectacular view of the Nelson mountain range across the lake. It was, admittedly, sketchy, but damn it had potential. We supposedly had internet there, but due to the fact that the proprietor of the resort did not know the wireless password, we did not get it until the morning, just before leaving. ("I don't know the computer stuff, my brother does, but he works on the other side of the lake")
May 9
The next morning, after a giant grease bucket breakfast, for me anyhow, we headed out on what was supposed to be one of our shorter days. To the bustling metropolis of Yahk! The route wound through Creston, home of Kokanee. Due to Hillary's rapidly degrading knee injury, we took an extended lunch in Creston while we debated continuing on for the additional 45km or so into Yahk. After lunch, we figured we might as well do it since it meant a fairly short ride into Cranbrook. Hah. Short. 70km short, perspectives change...
Started to get warm that day as well, primarily noted by me by the lack of bathroom breaks taken. I'm guessing summer is really coming at this point.
Yahk is kind of a wierd place. I knew it was small, but I think it got smaller recently. I believe the town consisted of two motels, two camp/RV sites, one gas station, two convenience stores and a soap store. No restaurants, which complicated some things, since we were awaiting the triumphant return of Truck. Dad finally rolled into Yahk a few hours later than expected, with all of us sleeping in the car on the side of the road, bikes propped against the rear quarter panels.
So a short sleep last night, which lead into today...
May 10
Yahk to Cranbrook, shortest day, other than our ill fated climb up Mount Allison which was cut short in the rain and cold. Beautiful day for riding, probably high teens, low twenties for the entire time we were on the bike and only some gentle rollers as far as hills went. Trucks a plenty though. Evidently Yahk has a major truck border crossing and our last day on highway 3 was one with a lot of traffic. Not fun at all, that.
So we have arrived and now officially have Truck back full time, so hopefully we can finally get into a real routine. Tomorrow we head north and will spend a day or two getting to the boundary of Kootenay National Park and then assult our final mountain pass. Due to the continuing knee pain, we're not scheduling very tight right now. Flats seem to do well with her, so we're trying to take it easy until we hit the flatlands...
Enough for now, when I have the laptop, the stats and distances will be done along with whatever I've forgotten.
I'm hungry again.
So, the last threeish days...
May 7
The rest day in Castlegar was, as noted, definitely needed. Hillary, my mom and I stayed for the two nights with my relatives, Rick and Donna Armstrong. The place was wonderful and a great base for the two days we were there. Of important note was the exceptional fruit salsa and steaks. (Not consumed together, though that would be interesting...mmmmm Strawberry Steak) The very good red wine was also opened.
We've only been on the road for a week at that point, but we were already missing the comforts of a real home, so this was a very nice break. Most of our other rest days are going to be based out of the RV, so we made sure to really enjoy this one.
Then, onward.
May 8
The next day was probably the most scenic ride we've done so far. We left Castlegar and headed along the Kootenay River. The river is deep, fast and cold, and is to me one of the more quintessential BC rivers. (Yes, it technically does spend time in the USA, but let's not quibble.)
After Nelson we continued on to Balfour and crossed Kootenay Lake on the longest free ferry in the world. 40 minutes later, we got our one real climb of the day. Nothing like an hour and a half rest (45 minutes early for the ferry, rest fueled by a monstrous brownie), then with cold legs grinding up an 8%-9% grade. Yay.
Our stop point was a little resort that had much potential. It was also for sale... Hmmm... Bayshore Resort, outside of Boswell, we had a spectacular view of the Nelson mountain range across the lake. It was, admittedly, sketchy, but damn it had potential. We supposedly had internet there, but due to the fact that the proprietor of the resort did not know the wireless password, we did not get it until the morning, just before leaving. ("I don't know the computer stuff, my brother does, but he works on the other side of the lake")
May 9
The next morning, after a giant grease bucket breakfast, for me anyhow, we headed out on what was supposed to be one of our shorter days. To the bustling metropolis of Yahk! The route wound through Creston, home of Kokanee. Due to Hillary's rapidly degrading knee injury, we took an extended lunch in Creston while we debated continuing on for the additional 45km or so into Yahk. After lunch, we figured we might as well do it since it meant a fairly short ride into Cranbrook. Hah. Short. 70km short, perspectives change...
Started to get warm that day as well, primarily noted by me by the lack of bathroom breaks taken. I'm guessing summer is really coming at this point.
Yahk is kind of a wierd place. I knew it was small, but I think it got smaller recently. I believe the town consisted of two motels, two camp/RV sites, one gas station, two convenience stores and a soap store. No restaurants, which complicated some things, since we were awaiting the triumphant return of Truck. Dad finally rolled into Yahk a few hours later than expected, with all of us sleeping in the car on the side of the road, bikes propped against the rear quarter panels.
So a short sleep last night, which lead into today...
May 10
Yahk to Cranbrook, shortest day, other than our ill fated climb up Mount Allison which was cut short in the rain and cold. Beautiful day for riding, probably high teens, low twenties for the entire time we were on the bike and only some gentle rollers as far as hills went. Trucks a plenty though. Evidently Yahk has a major truck border crossing and our last day on highway 3 was one with a lot of traffic. Not fun at all, that.
So we have arrived and now officially have Truck back full time, so hopefully we can finally get into a real routine. Tomorrow we head north and will spend a day or two getting to the boundary of Kootenay National Park and then assult our final mountain pass. Due to the continuing knee pain, we're not scheduling very tight right now. Flats seem to do well with her, so we're trying to take it easy until we hit the flatlands...
Enough for now, when I have the laptop, the stats and distances will be done along with whatever I've forgotten.
I'm hungry again.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Rest day and yesterday's ride
A day late, but here is the tale of the second last major mountain pass. An hour and a half or so to the base of it by Christina Lake and then two long hours slogging up it. The reward: nigh on 30km of uninterrupted downhill. That about does it for the tale.
We saw a bumblebee. Hillary sprinted and dropped it like a stone.
The summit came about 5km after the worst of the climb was over, an extended period of 8% grades. From there we rolled around the highlands and saw some spectacular high mountain valleys and peaks. I'm currently unsure if this was the highest summit of the trip at just over 1500m. Vermilion pass in the Kootenay National Park may be slightly higher.
The shorter day was much appreciated by all I think and the rest day was fairly uneventful. Uneventful aside from my bike computer going through the washing machine and discovering a gash in my front tire after descending down into Castlegar with a personal Road Bike Record of 76km/h.
And the daily stats:
102km
4:54:00 ride time
20.8km/h average speed
Cumulative:
651km
30:06:00 total ride time
21.6km/h average speed
Stop location: Castlegar
Lat 49.30063N
Lon 117.65315W
Altitude: 464m
We saw a bumblebee. Hillary sprinted and dropped it like a stone.
The summit came about 5km after the worst of the climb was over, an extended period of 8% grades. From there we rolled around the highlands and saw some spectacular high mountain valleys and peaks. I'm currently unsure if this was the highest summit of the trip at just over 1500m. Vermilion pass in the Kootenay National Park may be slightly higher.
The shorter day was much appreciated by all I think and the rest day was fairly uneventful. Uneventful aside from my bike computer going through the washing machine and discovering a gash in my front tire after descending down into Castlegar with a personal Road Bike Record of 76km/h.
And the daily stats:
102km
4:54:00 ride time
20.8km/h average speed
Cumulative:
651km
30:06:00 total ride time
21.6km/h average speed
Stop location: Castlegar
Lat 49.30063N
Lon 117.65315W
Altitude: 464m
Rest day 1
More detailed updates later after I get some serious resting done, but I've got the first few pictures up now. Check out the links on the right hand side, there will now be a link to the image galleries.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
The Monster...
But it wasn't the Anarchist.
If you've read the entries by Tanya or Hillary, you'll have learned that the Anarchist wasn't as bad as we had feared. We hit it fresh in the morning and took it easy right off the bat and didn't get into trouble. Still, it was long, 30km from the front door of the hotel to the summit sign with roughly 1000m of vertical gain. The end result was the longest day in both time and distance.
The monster of the day was the Eholt summit (1028m). Not particularly steep or high, we got onto it at something like 80km in and proceeded to climb for 30km, pretty much absolutely what we didn't need at this point. Two days in a row we hit serious climbs right at the end of the day. For what it's worth, the one we hit at the 100km mark yesterday was called the Richter pass.
The long grind up Eholt was pretty unpleasant. We were fairly tired at the time and were expecting rolling hills, not a long uphill slog. The worst part was that the total elevation gain wasn't overly huge, but the grades were 0.5% to about 2% at most. You can't really go fast up those, but you don't get up very fast either. At least if the climb was at 5% or something like that, you'd get up and you'd feel the pain and be done with it.
On this hill, you'd ride for twenty minutes at a pretty slow pace, turn around and see that you'd had hardly gone up at all. Or gone very far at all. Then you put your head down and do it again. At least with the big passes, you hurt, you go slow, but when you turn around, you see the cars way below you and that is at least motivating. The Anarchist was awesome for this since it switches back on itself a couple of times and after an hour of climbing we could still see our hotel from the night before.... Way below us.
So yeah, mentally tough day.
Then Hillary turned on the juice coming into Grand Forks and I had to struggle to get her wheel. Then she sat up and waited for me and Tanya and when I motioned that she should continue to pull, dropped the hammer again and made us sprint to catch up. That was totally uncalled for.
And for the daily stats:
125km
6:07:00 ride time
20.5km/h average speed
Cumulative:
25:12:00 total ride time
21.7km/h total average speed
549km
Stop location: Grand Forks
Lat 49.02388N
Lon 118.47147W
Altitude: 541m
If you've read the entries by Tanya or Hillary, you'll have learned that the Anarchist wasn't as bad as we had feared. We hit it fresh in the morning and took it easy right off the bat and didn't get into trouble. Still, it was long, 30km from the front door of the hotel to the summit sign with roughly 1000m of vertical gain. The end result was the longest day in both time and distance.
The monster of the day was the Eholt summit (1028m). Not particularly steep or high, we got onto it at something like 80km in and proceeded to climb for 30km, pretty much absolutely what we didn't need at this point. Two days in a row we hit serious climbs right at the end of the day. For what it's worth, the one we hit at the 100km mark yesterday was called the Richter pass.
The long grind up Eholt was pretty unpleasant. We were fairly tired at the time and were expecting rolling hills, not a long uphill slog. The worst part was that the total elevation gain wasn't overly huge, but the grades were 0.5% to about 2% at most. You can't really go fast up those, but you don't get up very fast either. At least if the climb was at 5% or something like that, you'd get up and you'd feel the pain and be done with it.
On this hill, you'd ride for twenty minutes at a pretty slow pace, turn around and see that you'd had hardly gone up at all. Or gone very far at all. Then you put your head down and do it again. At least with the big passes, you hurt, you go slow, but when you turn around, you see the cars way below you and that is at least motivating. The Anarchist was awesome for this since it switches back on itself a couple of times and after an hour of climbing we could still see our hotel from the night before.... Way below us.
So yeah, mentally tough day.
Then Hillary turned on the juice coming into Grand Forks and I had to struggle to get her wheel. Then she sat up and waited for me and Tanya and when I motioned that she should continue to pull, dropped the hammer again and made us sprint to catch up. That was totally uncalled for.
And for the daily stats:
125km
6:07:00 ride time
20.5km/h average speed
Cumulative:
25:12:00 total ride time
21.7km/h total average speed
549km
Stop location: Grand Forks
Lat 49.02388N
Lon 118.47147W
Altitude: 541m
Friday, May 4, 2007
Day 4, The Real Thing
May 4
123km
5:02:00 ride time
24.42km/h average speed
Cumulative:
19:05:00 total ride time
22.3km/h total average speed
424.9km
Stop location: Osoyoos
Lat 49.02834N
Lon 119.45742W
Altitude: 290.00m
So the RV broke. The power steering fell apart, which isn't really a good thing for a 34' vehicle. Alas. Fortunately, everything is under control, we're carrying gear one day at a time until the thing is back in business, which should be a day or two. My mom is ferrying stuff from motel to motel until then. Currently we have a rest day scheduled for early next week so we really only have two days of riding and one night in a weird place before then.
The ride today was awesome. We had a nice tailwind for the first 80km which were fairly flat along the Similkameen river valley. From there things got a bit hilly, and then we took a left turn and got REALLY hilly. 2km climb, brief downhill, 2km climb, 2km downhill, 5km climb and then the big downhill into Osoyoos.
Stopped for a nice lunch at a little cafe in Keremeos, which was a nice surprise, the peach cobbler was highly tasty.
Sleep is going to be important tonight, first thing tomorrow morning, we tackle the Anarchist, a ridiculous climb out of Osoyoos to the east. Good luck? Yes.
123km
5:02:00 ride time
24.42km/h average speed
Cumulative:
19:05:00 total ride time
22.3km/h total average speed
424.9km
Stop location: Osoyoos
Lat 49.02834N
Lon 119.45742W
Altitude: 290.00m
So the RV broke. The power steering fell apart, which isn't really a good thing for a 34' vehicle. Alas. Fortunately, everything is under control, we're carrying gear one day at a time until the thing is back in business, which should be a day or two. My mom is ferrying stuff from motel to motel until then. Currently we have a rest day scheduled for early next week so we really only have two days of riding and one night in a weird place before then.
The ride today was awesome. We had a nice tailwind for the first 80km which were fairly flat along the Similkameen river valley. From there things got a bit hilly, and then we took a left turn and got REALLY hilly. 2km climb, brief downhill, 2km climb, 2km downhill, 5km climb and then the big downhill into Osoyoos.
Stopped for a nice lunch at a little cafe in Keremeos, which was a nice surprise, the peach cobbler was highly tasty.
Sleep is going to be important tonight, first thing tomorrow morning, we tackle the Anarchist, a ridiculous climb out of Osoyoos to the east. Good luck? Yes.
Catchup posts...
May 3
113km
5:45:00 ride time
19.6km/h average speed
Cumulative:
14:11:00 total ride time
21.3km/h total average speed
302.3km
Passes:
Mount Allison Pass 1352m
Sunday Summit 1282m
Stop location: Princeton
Lat 49.44154N
Lon 120.53370W
Altitude: 767.00m
Long painful day with some awesome scenery. Yes, the image gallery is coming... Tired so not posting much here, suffice to to say, the summits were crazy high, we got snowed on and froze on the 30km descent down the other side.
And extended 8% downhills on a road bike is not fun. That's steep enough that you get going stupid fast way too quickly. On unknown roads, that's not cool. Give me a nice long 3-5% grade and I'm a happy man.
May 2
66km
3:21:00 ride time
19.8km/h average speed
Cumulative:
8:26:00 total ride time
22.35km/h total average speed
188.7km
Stop location:
Sunshine Valley
Lat 49.27572
Lon 121.23592
Altitude: 674.00m
High point of the day was the Hope Slide at 750m above sea level.
The weather hasn't really co-operated thus far in the trip. Granted, we're two days in, but that's hardly the point.
Today started a bit later than we really should have, mainly due to us trying to wait out a pretty heavy rainfall. It did clear up and we were off. We started out with a pretty smooth ride out to Hope, the weather held out and while we got sprinkled on a bit, we didn't have any other problems.
Hillary and I are now kicking ourself with getting the cheap rainpants instead of something more breathable. The rainpants we have don't actually let any wetness out, so you end up just as wet from sweat as you would from the rain. Slightly warmer, but after stopping for a break or snack, it's pretty painful.
After Hope the climbing started and all timing plans were thrown out the window. Even worse, the rain returned with a vengance after about 7km of uphill with lots to go. We made it to the Hope Slide for a rendezvous with the RV which turned out to be an excellent call. It was cold and we decided to find the next reasonable place to call it a day. We'd traveled something like 20km in an hour and a half and were drenched.
The worst part of the Allison Pass is now behind us, supposedly anyhow, and we're dry and warm. An earlier start tomorrow will see us up to one of the highest points of the trip at 1350m, then a tour through Manning park and down to Princeton. Behind schedule two days in! We're awesome!
113km
5:45:00 ride time
19.6km/h average speed
Cumulative:
14:11:00 total ride time
21.3km/h total average speed
302.3km
Passes:
Mount Allison Pass 1352m
Sunday Summit 1282m
Stop location: Princeton
Lat 49.44154N
Lon 120.53370W
Altitude: 767.00m
Long painful day with some awesome scenery. Yes, the image gallery is coming... Tired so not posting much here, suffice to to say, the summits were crazy high, we got snowed on and froze on the 30km descent down the other side.
And extended 8% downhills on a road bike is not fun. That's steep enough that you get going stupid fast way too quickly. On unknown roads, that's not cool. Give me a nice long 3-5% grade and I'm a happy man.
May 2
66km
3:21:00 ride time
19.8km/h average speed
Cumulative:
8:26:00 total ride time
22.35km/h total average speed
188.7km
Stop location:
Sunshine Valley
Lat 49.27572
Lon 121.23592
Altitude: 674.00m
High point of the day was the Hope Slide at 750m above sea level.
The weather hasn't really co-operated thus far in the trip. Granted, we're two days in, but that's hardly the point.
Today started a bit later than we really should have, mainly due to us trying to wait out a pretty heavy rainfall. It did clear up and we were off. We started out with a pretty smooth ride out to Hope, the weather held out and while we got sprinkled on a bit, we didn't have any other problems.
Hillary and I are now kicking ourself with getting the cheap rainpants instead of something more breathable. The rainpants we have don't actually let any wetness out, so you end up just as wet from sweat as you would from the rain. Slightly warmer, but after stopping for a break or snack, it's pretty painful.
After Hope the climbing started and all timing plans were thrown out the window. Even worse, the rain returned with a vengance after about 7km of uphill with lots to go. We made it to the Hope Slide for a rendezvous with the RV which turned out to be an excellent call. It was cold and we decided to find the next reasonable place to call it a day. We'd traveled something like 20km in an hour and a half and were drenched.
The worst part of the Allison Pass is now behind us, supposedly anyhow, and we're dry and warm. An earlier start tomorrow will see us up to one of the highest points of the trip at 1350m, then a tour through Manning park and down to Princeton. Behind schedule two days in! We're awesome!
Day 4 lunchtime
We've been out of Internet range for a couple of days and happened to stop for lunch in Keremeos at a cafe that had a connection.
More details will come when I have a bit of time to actually write more, but for now, a location update.
We're going to be in Osoyoos this evening, it's 49km up the road, so if the weather holds, figure we'll be there in a couple of hours, which is highly exciting. Wildlife spottings today included a couple of bald eagles out duck hunting. At least, that's what it looked like to us as we went by. First mechanical also happened today, I got a flat about 45 minutes in.
No major hills today, though we had our share yesterday with the Mount Allison Summit and the Sunday Summit, 1342m and 1282m respectively. Worst single climb was a 1km or so section of 9%, that thing hurt a lot.
Enough for now, peach cobbler is waiting assuming Hillary hasn't finished it. More later if we can find an Internet shop in Osoyoos.
More details will come when I have a bit of time to actually write more, but for now, a location update.
We're going to be in Osoyoos this evening, it's 49km up the road, so if the weather holds, figure we'll be there in a couple of hours, which is highly exciting. Wildlife spottings today included a couple of bald eagles out duck hunting. At least, that's what it looked like to us as we went by. First mechanical also happened today, I got a flat about 45 minutes in.
No major hills today, though we had our share yesterday with the Mount Allison Summit and the Sunday Summit, 1342m and 1282m respectively. Worst single climb was a 1km or so section of 9%, that thing hurt a lot.
Enough for now, peach cobbler is waiting assuming Hillary hasn't finished it. More later if we can find an Internet shop in Osoyoos.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
One day of victory
May 1
Not a bad ride overall, a bit longer than expected, but not by a whole lot. We did a bit of a detour from the initial route, mainly due to the fact that we decided we really should
hit the ocean on day one.
Aside from that, it didn't really seem like we were on the first day of a Cross Canada trip. For the most part, it just felt like going on a nice long bike ride. Something like the Rideau Lakes Tour. The hard part is going to be when it starts sinking in that we're not riding home tomorrow, but are going further and further away from civilization.
The day was spent in the agricultural area of the Lower Mainland for the most part, which meant lots of farms. Decent scenery I suppose, but I have to admit that I was impressed at the
fact we saw at least 3 llama farms and one pretty cool poultry farm that was very obviously free range. Or free something anyhow.
There were several dozen ducks, a few chickens and a couple of turkeys just wandering around, with no fences between them and the road. You can't herd birds, so I'm guessing they do lose
some to, well, losing.
Worst sign of the day is a toss up: "We sell plastic barrels!". The other possibility is one which I will never be able to actually quote. This was a road sign and in hindsight, I should
have taken a picture. Regardless, it was a standard orange diamond warning road sign... With somewhere in the ballpark of 30 words in small font on it. Riding at 20km/h past it, I couldn't
read the whole thing. At the speed limit, I don't think you could read enough to know what you should be looking out for.
And now we're getting ready to head out for day 2, up to Manning park over the Mount Allison pass. Weather reports indicate that it's going to rain. Climbing and raining, together at long last.
May 1 on the bike stats:
1.5 bagels
2L liquid
1 cliff bar
1 small coffee
1 peacock, 2 peahens at campsite
122km
5:05:00 ride time
24.13km/h average speed
5:40:00 total time from white rock beach
Stop location:
Harrison Hot Springs - Sasquatch Springs RV Park
Lat 49.29949
Lon 121.78619
Altitude: 24.00m (according to my gps thing. Accuracy is questionable)
Not a bad ride overall, a bit longer than expected, but not by a whole lot. We did a bit of a detour from the initial route, mainly due to the fact that we decided we really should
hit the ocean on day one.
Aside from that, it didn't really seem like we were on the first day of a Cross Canada trip. For the most part, it just felt like going on a nice long bike ride. Something like the Rideau Lakes Tour. The hard part is going to be when it starts sinking in that we're not riding home tomorrow, but are going further and further away from civilization.
The day was spent in the agricultural area of the Lower Mainland for the most part, which meant lots of farms. Decent scenery I suppose, but I have to admit that I was impressed at the
fact we saw at least 3 llama farms and one pretty cool poultry farm that was very obviously free range. Or free something anyhow.
There were several dozen ducks, a few chickens and a couple of turkeys just wandering around, with no fences between them and the road. You can't herd birds, so I'm guessing they do lose
some to, well, losing.
Worst sign of the day is a toss up: "We sell plastic barrels!". The other possibility is one which I will never be able to actually quote. This was a road sign and in hindsight, I should
have taken a picture. Regardless, it was a standard orange diamond warning road sign... With somewhere in the ballpark of 30 words in small font on it. Riding at 20km/h past it, I couldn't
read the whole thing. At the speed limit, I don't think you could read enough to know what you should be looking out for.
And now we're getting ready to head out for day 2, up to Manning park over the Mount Allison pass. Weather reports indicate that it's going to rain. Climbing and raining, together at long last.
May 1 on the bike stats:
1.5 bagels
2L liquid
1 cliff bar
1 small coffee
1 peacock, 2 peahens at campsite
122km
5:05:00 ride time
24.13km/h average speed
5:40:00 total time from white rock beach
Stop location:
Harrison Hot Springs - Sasquatch Springs RV Park
Lat 49.29949
Lon 121.78619
Altitude: 24.00m (according to my gps thing. Accuracy is questionable)
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
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