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!