Day 32

Today is a very special day. It was exactly one month ago that Michael and I left home for this trip. It is also the day that we crossed the B.C./Alberta border, the last day before we can get our bikes fixed, we hit the most Northern point on our trip (just above the 53 degree longitude), and we biked past the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies (Mount Robson), and crossed a time zone. We were trying to go fast for the remainder of Hwy 5 (the start of the day, the first 20kms), but had crazy headwind. When we turned onto Yellowhead (Hwy 16), the winds kept changing back and forth from head to tail. So although the cycle itself was faster than on Hwy 5, we actually went slower because we were so stunned by the gorgeous mountains, that we took quite a few picture breaks! We were especially slow around Mount Robson (as it was so stunningly beautiful! All the other mountains around it were also quite nice, but they were unfortunately in the shadows of Mt Robson). We took a little break to check out the info center, and then hit the road again (Travis started heading in the wrong direction without realizing it, but turned back around the right way after we called after him). Along the way we did two side hikes to see two separate waterfalls (the Rearguard Falls and the Overlander Falls). Only after the Overlander Falls did we decide to start to gun it to the border (we didn't care how far we got today (ideally all the way to Jasper), but as long as we crossed the border, we were happy!). We had two passes to summit after passing Mount Robson. The first wasn't labeled, so we never quite knew when we officially passed it (but guessed when we were “over”). The second was such a gradual incline it didn't really feel like a pass. But the ride was very scenic, and not very hilly (especially compared to our expectations! Tom was saying this is where they should have put the trans-canada because it's way easier than the Roger's Pass!). We made some really good time to the border, and since Jasper was only 20km away (and the National Parks border woman said the closest campground was the one just outside of Jasper), we decided to head all the way to Jasper. It was a really nice, net downhill cycle into Jasper, and the mountains were gorgeous! We cycled a total of 126.8kms today. We stayed in Whistlers campground, and were told the Elk were calving so be careful, as they tend to be very aggressive (and are more dangerous than the bears right now). We saw two and thought they were pretty cool! (don't worry, we kept our distance!). We had a campfire, dinner, and drank some BC wine to celebrate the end of the BC chapter and the start of Alberta! It only started getting dark at like 10:45, which was wicked! So we had a nice long evening to relax before heading to bed!

Day 31

We woke up today at 5:30 and hit the road at about 7:30 (just a bit before). We figured we would make the (approximately) 35km to Blue River, then take a long break and then make the 90km journey to Valemount. That way, we would split up the day a bit, and if we made it to Blue River by 9-10am, it would be as if we were on schedule, with a latish start from Blue River (not like we started from Avola). Then stop in Valemount for a bit and visit Tom then decide if we should go to Tete Jaune or not tonight. Turns out the stop in Blue River was necessary! Not long after we started cycling it began to rain. It rained a lot! We were SOAKED. There was a pass to summit just before Blue River, which wasn't so bad, although we were drenched, we were fairly warm. Unfortunately, the downhill was brutal! The cold and wind cut through all our wet clothes! It was not fun! Right when we got into Blue River, we stopped at the first thing we saw (which happened to be a Husky restaurant). We were hoping to dry some of our clothes, but the washrooms didn't have air driers so we just changed into dry clothes (not socks though because our shoes were so drenched (you could hear them squish as we walked), we figured it was pointless to get our dry socks wet). Travis opted to not even wear clipless shoes for the rest of today and changed into his hiking boots. At the restaurant, we all ordered a hot drink and a BIG burger (the biggest one on the menu!). We had a nice, relaxing time where we dried off quite a bit (considering). Then we hit the road for the 90km stretch to Valemount. We thought this would be a really tough ride, but it turns out it wasn't at all! We had a wicked tail wind, which helped a lot! But it was a really good ride, and the rain held off pretty much for the rest of the day (although the temperature did fluctuate). We made really good time and got into Valemount at around 3pm. We called Tom but he wasn't yet off work. We decided to go for a late lunch and had A&W (that's right, the second burger of the day). When we got a call from Tom saying he was home, we headed over (and stopped off at the liquor store to buy him a “thank you” bottle of wine). Tom was very friendly and let us hang out all our gear to dry. Initially we were planning to head up to Tete Jaune Cache for the day (especially since we got into Valemount so early) but Peggy (Warm Showers from Tete Jaune) wasn't in yet, and we didn't know when, or if she would be in tonight, so we figured we would stay with Tom. It was a good decision because we had a really nice evening with him. He told us a bit about his trip, a bit about the area, and gave us some advice for our tour. He also told us about some of the people that have come past on tours (sounds like it would be really interesting to open up your home to Warm Showers!). But we were very well fed, we did our laundry, and had a really good evening! (and yes, Travis and Michael thought it would be a good (or at least funny) idea to have burgers again, for the third time in one day. Although I really didn't want burgers again, I must say that the last burgers of the day were the best tasting!). But we were really grateful for Tom's hospitality, and we really felt that our first Warm Shower experience was definitely a success!

Day 30

Today is the first day of June! The park warden was really nice and offered to drive us into town to get our bikes sorted, then we could just ride back to the campsite and then head out! That was the plan.... Travis only brought his wheel and realized when we got the the shop that he had no way of getting back to the campground after. So I told him I would get his wheel looked at and then strap his wheel to my rack and then bike back and meet him at the site (and he would go back with the warden to the park now). The bike shop was a nothing shop on the second floor of a tiny strip mall (if you could call it that...). They had NOTHING to fix road bikes. After a while of trying to figure stuff out, they used two of my spokes to fix Travis' bike. They did the best they could to true the wheel, but recommended that he goes to a shop in Jasper or Calgary to get them to do a better job. They couldn't do anything for me (they didn't have a wheel to fit my bike and didn't have any racks). They also didn't have the tools necessary to remove a cassette (for sale. They had the tools for their shop, but there wasn't enough demand for them to stock the tools for sale). But they were very nice and called places in Blue River, Valemount, and Jasper for me to see if anyone had parts for me. Turns out I'll have to wait for Jasper (and I REALLY hope I can put another 300-350km on my bike without it breaking!!!). It took a while before Travis' wheel was done, so I ended up cycling back to the campground around noon. We packed everything up and then made one last stop at the bike shop before hitting the road (there was something wrong with Travis' brakes and he tried but wasn't able to fix it. The guys at the shop were able to fix it up pretty quickly!). We ended up leaving Clearwater around 2:30. We wanted to at least make it to Avola and anything past was bonus. We figured if we made it at least to Avola, we could have a big day tomorrow and make it up toValemount or Tete Jaune Cache (we had an option in each town for a Warm Showers place to crash). We ended up making it just a few kilometers outside of Avola (so we made our goal!). We camped out at the side of the road again on the lake. It was so pretty! There were mountains all around, and the lake was so peaceful! We cycled a total of 80.5km today, and had an early night so we can wake up early tomorrow for our big day! (Tom, the guy from Warm Showers from Valemount told us that tomorrow will be our hardest day from here to Jasper, and seeing how we want to do about 150km on the hardest day, we hope to wake up around 5-6am tomorrow).

Day 29

We woke up early today to make sure we could make it up to the campground (North Thompson River Provincial Park) just outside of Clearwater. It was a gorgeous day, and we were making amazing time! We had a wicked tail wind and were going 27km/hr on the uphills! We took our first real break in Barriere (we saw a liquor store and thought we would buy something for around the campfire!). We ended up talking to the woman working in the liquor store (Jazz) and the woman who worked in the hotel next door (Brenda). They were very nice and seemed really impressed with our trip! They told us to send them a postcard from Newfoundland (which we intend on doing) and gave us a business card with the hotel address to send it to. Probably just over 5km out of town Michael clipped a piece of metal and I couldn't avoid running it over. It slashed my tire (the tire had a gash in it from one end to the other). I didn't have a spare tire, so used a tire boot on the inside (and obviously had to replace the inner tube) and used duct tape on the outside (to prevent anything going into the obvious hole on the outside of the tire). With every rotation the tire made, The bulge in the tire would rub against the brakes (which made it annoying to ride and made it a bit slower too). I tried calling the number on the business card Brenda gave us, and a guy answered who told me there wasn't a bike store in Barriere that he knew of, so we decided to go forward, and hopefully there would be something in Little Fort. Turns out there wasn't. The guy working at the gas station said there was a home hardware in Clearwater that might have my size tire (we called and the only size tire they had was for a 26” rim, and mine is a 28” so there was no way it was going to work! We continued onward, hoping there would be something in Valemount or something along the way tomorrow or the next day. Seeing as how we were cycling an average of 120km for the next few days, I was really nervous about my tire. I was hoping it would last!!! But there was only 30km from Little Fort to our campground (probably just uner), so we gunned it. About 10km later we had to stop again because Travis broke a spoke. Upon closer inspection, he actually broke three (which you could not bike on! His wheel no longer had any structural stability!). At this point, Michael also broke a spoke, and ran over a staple of sorts. Luckily, he was able to make it to the campsite with one broken spoke (decided he would change the spoke at the site), and he had Armadillo tires and self-sealing inner tubes so you heard the air escape, then slowly stop. He didn't actually need to do any bike maintenance at the side of the road! Travis on the other hand, did. He has had a broken spoke already on this trip, but this time we could only fix the one. In order to fix the other two spokes, we needed to first remove the cassette, but unfortunately didn't have the tools to do so. So we stuck out our thumb. Eventually a really nice man named Grant stopped and gave Travis (and his broken bike) a ride to the campground (right to the site!). Grant lived in the area for a while and told Travis a bit about the area (and showed him where the bike shop was for tomorrow morning). Michael and I cycled the rest of the 20km and met Travis at the site. We made a campfire, had dinner, and celebrated our day of technical difficulties with some rum and coke! But regardless of our bike troubles, we still make the 114.8km scheduled, so we were still on schedule!

Day 28

This morning I woke up and realized that my bike rack was broken (severed across the part that attached to my brakes (the part attached to the axle is still fine though...don't know how it broke and for how long it was broken, but it wasn't safe the way it was). We duct taped the rack to the bike to prevent the bags from moving around (causing me to go slow or creating a hazard). We figured we would get a new rack in Kamloops, or at least get some zip ties. Approximately 10km from where we camped out, we found a small truck stop restaurant where we could fill up our water bottles (as we were all out). It was so cute and authentic (pictures of trucks EVERYWHERE, and everyone eating there was stereotypically what you would expect). We had a BIG feed! Michael had the steak and Travis and I had the trucker's special. And it was so cheap! Then we hit the road. It was a pleasant ride (the weather changed quite a bit from kinda rainy to hot and sunny and back). About 20km outside of Kamloops there were TONS of T-Birds that passed us (there must have been about 50 of them!). It was so random, but cool to see. About 10km down the road, we stopped off at a gas station to use the washrooms and randomly enough, all the T-Birds were there as well, taking a break. They were all part of some T-Bird club and it was their annual road trip. Earlier today, Michael and Travis were talking, and Travis misheard when Michael mentioned “Kamloops” and thought he said “Fruitloops.” That inspired our Kamloops activity: Fruitloops in Kamloops. We bought groceries and went to Riverside Park for our cereal. We were SOOO full by the end of it! It's hard to eat THAT much cereal between three of us! But we did it! When we were done, we wanted to find a bike store or somewhere to buy the zip ties. That's when we met Kevin and Lisa. They thought it was laughable that we would think anything would be open in Kamloops on a Sunday at like 4-5pm. But, they asked what we were looking for and were nice enough to give us some of their zip ties they had at home. So we walked with them over to their house, and had a really nice conversation. They gave us advice on how to get out of Kamloops and filled our water bottles and REALLY helped me out with the rack! We ended up cycling about 5-10km outside of town and pitched a tent at the side of the road again. It was perfect timing too! Just as we stopped the winds changed from a tail wind back to a headwind!

Day 27

Today the plan was to just wake up and head out. Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties. Travis needed to go to a bike shop to fix his wheel. We ended up leaving Terry and Linda's around 2:30pm. Linda gave us a LOT of food for our journey, which was amazing! We really enjoyed their hospitality and were sad to leave, but excited to hit the road! Terry recommended taking the road that goes along the west side of the lake up past Vernon rather than taking the 97. He said it's far more scenic, and less busy. There are some ups and downs, but a much nicer ride. He was right! It was a really enjoyable cycle! Just about all the ups were preceded by a down so none were overly difficult. We ended up cycling a total of 85.6km today. So although we left late, we did roughly as much as we wanted to do today (we didn't want too long of a day, and wanted to split the ride between Kelowna and Kamloops in half to make sure a) my knee was fully up to par, and b) to ease back into some intense cycling coming up ahead for the next few days. We pitched a tent at the side of the road (up on a hill away from traffic obviously).

Day 26

It was a nicer day today! I got a ride to Winner's to hopefully buy a dress (so I don't have to walk around in either spandex or sweatpants all the time. and dresses are good because it's easy to pack, and then i don't have to buy separate tops and bottoms. all in one convenience!), and a frame. Unfortunately all the dresses were ugly and expensive and all the frames looked REALLY cheap. Since it was such a nice day out, I walked downtown to the art store. Kelowna is a very nice place! I can see why Linda and Terry like it so much! (It also helps that they live in a wicked house on the lake and have a dock in their backyard for their boat so they can REALLY optimize on what Kelowna has to offer!). I bought a frame (to draw a picture as a thank you because both Linda and Terry really went above and beyond for us!). When I got back Michael was still doing work on the computer, and Travis was on the phone. While I was out the company that Travis had an interview with offered him the job! Which is wicked for him! (But that unfortunately means he will only continue until Calgary). We decided to go out and watch a movie (something we haven't done at all since we started). We watched Robin Hood and really enjoyed it! We walked around for a bit, then went back to the Sturgeon Hall and the two boys had dinner and beer and I just had beer. Then we went back to Linda and Terry's and went into the hottub before bed! It was a really nice night!

Day 25

We had an amazing sleep last night! Don't get me wrong, the air mattresses and tents are nice and luxurious and all, but the bed was SO comfortable! We were out like a light! We woke up to a nice breakfast of bagels (Linda had everything all laid out for us already!). The weather outside was less than ideal so we stayed in and did some work (ie. Michael was replying to e-mails from his prof and updating the blog as we were very behind (as per usual since we have limited internet), I was updating my journal and working on the budget and uploading pictures, etc). The plan was to ship the wine we bought as gifts home to people, then Travis was going to visit his grandparents, Michael was going to do some school work, and I was going to go out with Linda and some of her friends. The wine-sending fell through because they charged A LOT of money. After they finished packing it all up and then rang up the total it came to $270! For 6 bottles!!! The shipping was WAY more expensive than all the wine combined (although the wine TASTES like it's worth more than that... for everyone reading who is getting a bottle....). We were able to get back the shipping cost, but since they already packed it (and didn't say how much they were charging to pack), we had to fork out $80 (that's right, to pack 6 bottles!!!! ridiculous in my opinion!!! Damn UPS!). But Linda was wonderful and is helping us out by having her daughter bring wine back home to Ontario with her after the wedding in early July. It was such a relief to have her help! It would have REALLY put a GIANT dent in the budget otherwise! That night Travis went to visit his grandparents, and Michael and I stayed back and did some work (Linda didn't end up going out after all so we had a night/dinner in). Right as dinner was being served Travis walked in just in time for second dinner. Then Travis, Michael and I went into town (to Sturgeon Hall) to have drinks with Travis' cousin Pat. It was our first night at a bar this entire trip (the only other time we were at a bar was in Osoyoos for the Habs game). We only stayed for one or two drinks then headed back. It was a nice, chill night.

Day 24

This morning we woke up in OK Falls, where we camped out right on the lake! Instead of taking the highway (which ran along the west side of the lake), we took the route that EVERYONE recommended on the east side. It was fairly flat and very scenic! We were making really good time and were really glad we took everyone's advice! There was way less traffic as well, so it was really enjoyable! (although the shoulders could have been a bit wider at times!). We made it into Penticton fairly early, had a quick stop to de-layer (as it was getting quite hot mid-day) then headed north along the 97 to Kelowna. We had a headwind for most of the trip, but we were still making amazing time! The entire trip followed the lake, which was very pretty (there were only a few times we couldn't see the water). We stopped off at a winery along the way (Greata Ranch Winery just outside of Peachland) to buy Terry and Linda (Travis' aunt and uncle) a thank-you wine (we would be staying with them for the next few days). The woman who worked at the winery was very nice and told us about two detours which were far more scenic, and far less hilly than the highway. The first detour was lovely and flat, so we were excited for the second. The second was horrible! It was very hilly with NO shoulder! Horrible advice! We should have stayed on the highway (there would have been a larger shoulder and it would have definitely been less steep and much quicker). But you live and learn! We made it into Kelowna. It was overcast, and along the way there were little periods of light rain. It was easy to find Terry and Linda's. Travis didn't think Linda would be there, but she was (she just came back from Korea where she was visiting her son, daughter-in-law and grandson)! We met Terry first, then as we were finishing unpacking our gear from our bikes and coming into the house Linda met us. She showed us how to do the laundry (and did our laundry for us!), and brought us towels to shower. She let me use the master shower which was so nice!!! (especially since we haven't showered since Osoyoos, words cannot describe how wonderful the shower felt!). She had snacks ready for us and was making dinner. We felt like we stepped into a 5 star resort! Terry was very nice and funny (with a touch of sarcasm!). It was such a nice night, and I can't express how wonderful and generous both Terry and Linda were!

Tipsy wine tour

I towed Travis into town today while Nicole was getting her knee checked out, so we hit the road a little late. But that was ok since today was going to be our tipsy wine tour! As we were cycling along the 97, all we saw were vineyards after vineyards, all next door to each other. There were wine tastings at the wineries we stopped off at, so we managed to stop off at plenty of them: Golden Beaver, Rustico, Cassini Cellars, Inniskillin, and Jackson-Triggs. Neither one of us were anything close to a wine connaisseur, so we were joking around by swirling the wine, smelling it, tasting it, and thinking hard before saying "this wine is... good". The people selling the wine were nice enough to answer many of the questions that we had, and I think we learned a lot today about the wine industry. Too bad that we were drinking too much wine to remember it all! We all had a lot of fun on this tour!

We stopped in Okanagan Falls (or OK Falls, according to the locals) for ice cream at Ticleberry's for some crazy flavoured ice cream flavours like carrot cake, cinnamon bun, paydoh, apple pie, etc. We camped in town, had a large fire and roasted sausages, drank some more wine, and listened to Johnny cash all night.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned

Distance travelled today: 62.06 km

Total distance travelled: 939.13 km

Starting point: Osoyoos, at a private campground

Our Route: Highway 97 north the whole way. The shoulders were excellent all day.

Ending point: Okanagan Falls, at a private campground

• Oliver is the wine capital of Canada because it has the highest concentraition of wineries
• Apparently, Inniskillin put Canada on the map for Ice Wines
• Ice wines grapes need to be picked and processed at temperatures below 8°C.
• There are no falls in OK Falls. There used to be a small one, but it has since been dammed.

Rodeo! Yeeehawww!

We started cycling today into a very strong headwind. We were drafting off each other, but we were going pretty slow so we decided to stop off in Keremeos for second breakfast at a fruit stand. Unfortunately most fruits aren't in season, and I'm sure this area would be much different if we were to do this in July or August. We still feasted, though, with blueberries, cherries, bread, locally made jam, sugar cane, bananas, and apples. We noticed that there were signs for a rodeo that was happening in town this long weekend, so we went to check it out.

Nicole and I have never been to a rodeo before, and Travis had only been to the Calgary Stampede and we all wanted to see what a small town rodeo would be like. Luckily, it was just getting started as we got there. It was quite the scene. It seemed like a stereotypical rodeo with cowboys everywhere and everyone dressed in such attire - but this is how they live. It's a strange though to compare this to the concrete jungle and think that this is the same country. We were wathcing the bull riding, which was very entertaining, and I was wondering how this event came about. How people thought that it would be a great idea to jump on a beast and try to stay on as long as possible while it tried to launch you off. It was cool to watch, but we left at 2pm so we could try to catch the Habs game in Osoyoos. Unfotrunately the wind didn't really die down and it was very brutal. We were drafting and killing ourselves to maintain 20 km/h. Nicole's knee was acting up, so her and I went slower and Travis sped up to try to catch the game. It was nice going slow and enjoying the views along the rolling hills, and even stopping by the spotted lake, which is very strange. There were also many crosses along the way, and it's a scary thought to think about all those accidents and unfortunate events.

As we were biking, someone stopped th their car and told us that our frind had bike troubles (his chain was wedged in between the chainrings) so they gave him a lift into town and we could meet up with him there. Nicole and I walked into the pub to meet Travis just in time to see the Habs lose, and we stayed, had a few pitchers and chatted with the bartender about Osoyoos. We ended up spending the night at Waterslide campground (the water slide wasn't open then - what a shame), had some great pizza and had some more beers with someone else staying on the campground.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned
Distance travelled today: 83.41 km
Total distance travelled: 877.07 km
Starting point: Just before Keremeos, by the side of the road
Our Route: Highway 3 (Crowsnest) the whole way. The shoulders were excellent all day.
Ending point: Osoyoos, at a private campground

• Mountain goats aren't actually goats at all - they're antelopes.
• Osoyoos is Canada's only desert.
• The poulation of Osoyoos triples during the summer time.
  

Along the Crowsnest

After yesterday's summit, we were expecting a day of downhills, at least into Princeton, but little did we know that there was another summit up ahead. It wasn't as big, but when you're expecting downhills, it seemed like a slap in the face. On the downhills, however, we were drafting again and maintained above 40 km/h. We were flying! After the summit, the mountains suddenly opened up to a valley below - Princeton. There was a great downhill, winding in circles to reduce the grade, but it was still very steep. As we were circling around, the road was in the middle of steep drops on either side, a valley to the North and mounatins everywhere else. The view was phenominal! We even crossed a family of deer along the way, which was pretty cool to see.

We decided to have a large lunch in Princeton and let our stuff dry out. We stopped at a park, and the sunshine was very kind to us, especially after the snow only a few hours ago. The meal of ham sandwiches, grapes, strawberries, cookie dough, and of course, chocolate milk really filled us up.

The ride out of Princeton was magnificant. We went along the Crowsnest towards Osoyoos, and we passed a buch of ranches, so we thought it would be a good idea to stop and pet the horses. They're formidable animals. I've never really had many enounters with them, so it was a cool experience to pet them by the side of the road. We were cycling along a river in a valley, surrounded by mountains and cliffsides all around us. Some of the mountains even seemed fake - almost as if they were models or paintings. It was both calming and humbling to be within this area, and it was probably my favourite landscape so far on this trip.

We set up camp early today by the side of the road (read: free) and we were just lying in the tent and chatting for a bit before bedtime. All I was thinking as I went to sleep was that I'm very happy being here and I'm glad to be doing this trip.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned
Distance travelled today: 126.78 km
Total distance travelled: 793.66 km
Starting point: EC Manning Provincial Park, by the side of the road just past Allison Pass Summit
Our Route: Highway 3 (Crowsnest) the whole way. The shoulders were pretty bad until we were just outside Princeton, where they got much better for the rest of the day.
Ending point: Just before Keremeos, by the side of the road.

• It's amazing how quickly a headwind can turn into a tailwind & vice versa when winding through the mountains.

Let it snow!

This morning we tested drafting off of each other, which worked really well. We kept the speed above 30 km/h for a long time. It felt like we were doing windsprints though, and I was tiring myself out too much to maintain for the whole day. While drafting, I had my first real scare of the trip. I had just finished leading, and Nicole and Travis were passing me when Nicole cut in too early and he pannier knocked into my handle bar. We both lost control, and I had to swerve on the road to maintain balance. Luckily there were no cars coming, and we were able to stay on our bikes and there were no wipeouts.

We stopped in Hope for lunch, and looking at the mountains up ahead, there was a rain storm that was about to come in. This would be our first real outdoor day with precipitation. One of the guys in town was telling us that we should stay in town for a couple of hours to wait for the storm to blow by, but the three of us wanted to test out our rain gear and we were excited to were really excited to bike through it.

Just out of Hope and entering Manning Park, there was a great 6 km uphill. The scenery was great with the mountains and the clouds covering parts of the mountians (especially since we almost got level with the clouds). however, we did know that Allison Pass Summit was coming up. After the first big hill, the terrain was rolly, and we didn't want there to be any more downhills since we knew that we would be climbing right back up them and more. It was also difficult to regulate temperature since it was getting colder as we were getting higher, but we were sweating coming up the hills and freezing coming down them.

Climbing up Allison Pass Summit, Nicole's knee was starting to act up, and Travis and I were exhausted. It was such a long uphill, and to make matters worse, it started to snow! So there we were, chugging uphill at no more than 10 km/h for what seemed to be forever, and we saw a sign in the distance. It was the sign for the summit! I was so happy to see that!

Afterwards, the downhill was pretty painful and cold with the wind blowing so much snow in our faces (we wore sunglasses so we could actually keep our eyes open) that we had to stop early and set up camp by the side of the road. We got set up fast, had a large hot meal and went to sleep.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned
Distance travelled today: 105.10 km
Total distance travelled: 666.88 km
Starting point: Campground in Harrison Hot Springs
Our Route: We went back on Highway 9 to Highway 7 through to Hope. We then hopped on the Crowsnest Highway (Hwy 3) for the rest of the day. There was great shoulder and road up until Highway 3. There were great shoulders on the uphills for Highway 3, but it was very cracked at other points.

Ending point: EC Manning Provincial Park, by the side of the road just past Allison Pass Summit

• It's not always sunny in Sunshine Valley. Talk about false advertisement! I was dissapointed.
• Total black bears seen so far: 4
• Allison Pass Summit: 1342 m.

Mission for Hope

We were aiming to cycle a long way to Hope, BC today, but it took far too long to get out of the city. It's amazing how much a little traffic and traffic lights can slow down your average speed. Travis had his first flat tire and broken spoke just as we left the greater Vancouver area, which made for a great hour and a half rest.

The scenery through Highway 7 was amazing. There were meadows and farmlands surrounded by mountains. As always, the pictures never do the place justice. Our mission for Hope failed due to the delays, but we got close and ended up camping in Harrison Hot Springs at a private campground. There were tons of RVs there and a lot of families - makes sense due to the May long weekend. I don't know if it's just a BC thing, but there always seems to be more RVs than tents at these campgrounds.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned

Distance travelled today: 158.30 km

Total distance travelled: 561.78 km

Starting point: Bruce's place, in West Vancouver

Our Route: We went back through Stanley Park and went on Cordova Street, where there was a bike lane. When that ended, we went on Hastings Street which turned into Inlet Drive,and turned onto St Johns Street, which became Highway 7. We stayed on Highway 7 for a long time until we met up with Highway 9 that took us to Harrison Hot Springs. The roads were paved the whole way, and there were good shoulders at some places, decent at others, bad in other places, and nonexistent in some places (mostly through towns).
Ending point: Campground in Harrison Hot Springs

• Travis had his first flat tire and broken spoke
• My new max speed: 65.1 km/h
• I guess it's worth mentionning that, ever since Victoria, every single time we go to a grocery store, it's tradition to get a flavoured milk (chocolate, vanilla, chocolate orange, orange, strawberry, coffee, etc.) and drink it as soon as we leave the store.

Getting ready to leave Vancouver

Travis had his big phone interview today, and Nicole and I were sorting out our stuff to be ready to bike again. It's been so long since we've cycled, especially since this is a cycling trip. Bruce and Lori have been so great to us, letting us stay at their place for so long and being so hospitable throughout our stay! We decided to cook them dinner once again to thank them. A few of Travis' cousins came over, and we had a big pizza party with his family. We were now ready to cycle once again and put in some mileage!

Mountain Biking

Again, the weather was very good to us as we were outside. Today we went back to Whistler village to go mountain biking. The bikes they use are crazy! I've never seen such wide tires and I've never been on a bike with both front and rear suspension - I was bouncing up and down just pedalling to the chair lift. We were geared up in enough safety equipment that would suffice for ice hockey. I did a year of mountain biking at UofT, and although it took a few runs for me to get completely comfortable. They had some great runs, like "Oriental Express" which was very technically difficult with many roots, rocks, and narrow passages, or "Crank It" which was full of jumps, one after the next. I liked Crank It the best, and we were just juicing it on some of the trails. I had so much fun, and I was surprised with how much abuse these bikes must go through. While we were going, we kept on reverting back to our rule from the West Coast Trail, which was modified to be "don't get injured". By the end, we were riding some blue trails, but we ended up on a black diamond run for a little section by the end. On our way back from the mountain, Kevin had his sister's CD in the car, so we blasted "I've Had the Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing with the windows down and the four of us singing along as we passed people on the highway. It was pretty obnoxious, but hiarious nonetheless! I would like to say a huge thanks to the De Muszka family for letting us stay in their Chalet! We had a great time in Whistler because of them!

For lunch, we had ants on a log since Travis had never heard about it before. We're going to have to teach him the wonders of peanut butter before the trip is over. We headed back to Vancouver, and it started to rain. Kevin stopped by at some lookouts and at Shannon Falls to show us the scenery, but it was cloudy and foggy, so it was difficult to see too much. We ended up staying at Bruce and Lori's place again, which was really great. They're great people who are always smiling and seem happy.

Rest in Whistler

Today was a very chill day. We slept in and drove in to Whistler Village to check it out. We decided to have breakfast (just after noon) in town, and by Frédérique's recommendation, we went to Dup's Burritos. When we went, we found out that they had an item on their menu called the Phatty - a 3-4 lb burrito. If we finished it, our pictures would go up on the wall, and if we didn't our vandilized pictures would be on the wall. We couldn't resist the challenge, so we each ordered one. They were massive. Although it was difficult, all the guys finished, but not Nicole. We were all so full that we didn't need to eat anything until really late in the evening.

We came back to the chalet and decided to watch Indiana Jones. Ever since the West Coast Trail, where we were humming the theme to the movie, we wanted to watch it. Well, we tried but I think we all fell asleep. But we did wake up from our nap in time to fit in another hot tub session and watch the Habs game while cooking a mean barbecue. Man, cycling across Canada is really tough.

At night, we went out to Crystal Lounge for some Karaoke, and the place was jam packed with Auzzies. It had a very strange atmosphere, but it was still fun to watch people butcher songs and sing along with them!

Rock Climbing

Today was a very relaxing day. We slept in for the first time in a while, then we decided to walk around Stanley Park. It was very nice and there were many people outside running, rollwer blading and cycling throuhg the park. Vancouver is a very active city, and it seems like a place where I would be happy to live. We came back to meet Bruce after his work to go rock climbing. I've never gone outdoor rock climbing, and it just so happens that he loves to go and he had enough extra gear that luckily fit me, Nicole and Travis. He took us to Lighthouse Park to go climbing at Juniper Point. What a location - we had to rapel down to what at first seemed like nothing but water, but there was a flat rocky platform just above that we used as a base. I've never been outdoor rock climbing before, and this was just great; such an excellent experience. Instead of having the climbing route planned out for us, we had to figure it out as we went, which was much more fun. There was a great view of the city, mountains and water, and we kept climbing until the sun set.

We came home and cooked Bruce and Lori a barbecue to thank them for everything, and Kevin came by for dinner as well. Nicole and I know Kevin from a summer french program back in 2001 where we stayed in Sainte-Foy. It was a blast, and I'm terrible at keeping in touch with people, but luckily Nicole still did. After dinner we headed up to Whistler where Frédérique's family was kind enough to let us stay in their chalet. We arrived late, but soon demolished a tube of the Pillsbury cookie dough and hung out in the hot tub for a bit before going to sleep.

On the mainland

We arrived in Saanich and got our stuff together to go to Vancouver. Travis didn't have panniers yet, so he and I were carrying some stuff in our packpacks. We hadn't had a day of rest from hiking to cycling, and I was so tired on the ferry that I took a little nap. Nicole woke us up so that we could get ice cream, and although we got a small, we were allowed to pour it ourselves, and the cup was overfillingwith ice cream! as we went to the observation deck, we were talking with people who saw us in our biking gear and were impressed when we told them about our trip. I like talking about the trip, and I like it when others are interested to hear about it. It was a sunny day again, and watching the mountains in the distance was exciting, calming, and yet a bit scary to know that the big mountains are still to come.

As we were cycling through Vancouver, I was very slow with my tired legs and heavy gear, and I just wanted to reach Travis' uncle's place as soon as possible. After crossing the Lion's Gate Bridge, we arrived at the intersection on Marine and Taylor, where we stopped for a quick second to stare at the steep, long hill ahead of us. Then, just as we were about to get going, Travis' uncle shows up in his car and offers to take our gear off our bikes. It was incredible - as if he read our minds and came in to help in the nick of time. Our bikes were so light afterwards; I don't know how I would've been able to climb the hill otherwise. When we arrived at Bruce's place, there was a large meal waiting for us, again as if he read our minds and knew exactly what we needed. We had a great feast! Bruce and Lori were very hospitable to us, and it was great to talk to them for a while before going to sleep.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned

Distance travelled today: 71.40 km
Total distance travelled: 403.48 km
Starting point: Derek O'Farrell's place, in Saanich
Our Route: Took the Patricia Bay Highway (Hwy 17) North to Swartz Bay, where we took a ferry to Tsawwassen, and then continued on Highway 17 until it met up with Highway 99. There was a decent shoulder the whole way through. We weren't allowed to take our bikes through the George Massey Tunnel, so we took the free bus service. The bus driver then told us to take Rice Mill Road to No. 5 Road, West at Stevenson to No. 4 Road, and continue until it met up with Highway 99. There weren't any shoulders, but the traffic wasn't too bad as we were cycling. From there, we met up with the Highway to go over the Oak Street Bridge (cycled on sidewalk), and stayed on Oak Street although it didn't have a shoulder. We turned on Broadway, then went to Granville and Georgia. We were allowed to cycle on the side walk through Stanley Park and the Lion's Gate Bridge, and we went to MArine to Taylor and then some side roads to our destination.

Ending point: Bruce's place, in West Vancouver

WCT Day 5 - Caves

We woke up really early to another sunny day to make Owen's Point by 8am, which is when tides are the lowest. Owen's Point is along the beach, and it has tunnels that are only accessible at low tides. As we were walking along the beach, there were some very large gaps that we had to jump over, and if we slipped, we would've fallen a good 40 feet into some water with no easy way out. The gaps were maybe 4 feet, but it's far with your pack on and jumping from one slippery rock to another. We each had our fair share of slips and falls along the way, but we were very fortunate that they weren't at points where we would fall to our death - and no kidding, there were places where a single slip would've sent us over cliffs or far down to a rocky creek, and the terrain was filled with roots or slippery fallen trees that require your full concentration. At these points, we had a very strict "no falling" rule that we reminded each other on. I meant to ask how many people have died on this trail and consequently the survival rate, but I completely forgot.

The caves at Owen's Point were amazing, and we had a lot of fun climbing in, out, and around them for a while. The next part of the trip involved climbing around large boulders and rocks, which required a lot of patience, planning and leaps of faith. They were difficult to navigate around, and some were very slippery. There was a seal that kept following us along the way and popped his head out a couple of times, but every time I tried pointing it out to Nicole, she couldn't see because there were boulders in the way. It kind of felt like a Polkaroo situation. We met up with Sean and other hikers at the last campsite, and we said our goodbyes and headed for the last 5k of the trip. We were told that it would be the hardest part of the trip and it would take us 5 hours, but it only took us half the time. Maybe because we were expecting something brutally difficult, but to me it didn't seem as bad as everyone said it would be. By the end, we were all so exhausted and our legs seriously felt like lead weights. Hiking with these packs is definitely more exhausting than cycling through the mountains.

After finishing, Rinita came to pick us up and we headed to her place in Port Renfrew. Rinita has been so nice to us to go out of her way to help us, and seeing her and a real shelter was a very welcoming sight. We spent the rest of the evening with her, playing Oh Shit (card game) and relaxing. It was nice to go to sleep in a bed.