Though I'm not paid I play this game
And I won't stop until I'm done
(But what I really want to know is)
Are you gonna go my way
And I won't stop until I'm done
(But what I really want to know is)
Are you gonna go my way
- Lenny Kravitz - "Are you gonna go my way"
Day 3 – Mission to Hope; 92 kms / 57 miles
I am pleased to report that I slept phenomenally well and, in spite of a heavy dew and chilly temperatures, had no problems in dismantling my tent and getting into my gear in under 30 minutes.
A word about bicycle shorts as they are a saving grace on the trip – they are tight and constricting but they definitely, definitely work. However, having said that, I do feel like I am wearing a giant gel-filled pamper (which may be useful when I see the hills). I also ‘waddle’ like a duck. I invested in quite a good pair of bicycle shorts with extra gel padding which promises to ‘super sonically’ mold to the body. In a last and final way to protect my bottom from the saddle I have a ‘gel over-lay’ on my already gel-filled saddle…. Essentially, I have more gel between my saddle and my bottom than Johnny Depp had in his hair in the 1980s.
In the short run-up to doing this trip I told a few people what I was going to attempt. The initial reaction for many people is to laugh and then say ‘Boy, is your butt ever going to be sore’. They then offer all sorts of suggestions on what to do to alleviate this. One of my favorite suggestions (I have not yet tried it) is to get a nice thick steak from the local butcher shop, wrap it in plastic wrap, duct tape it to your saddle and then bike on it all day. By the end of the day the steak will be incredibly tender and you can pull into a campsite and BBQ it for dinner. Delicious.
We had a fab breakfast of French Toast made by Galley Crew 1 and then I set off with John who is originally from Scotland and is an excellent biker with years of experience. He did Tour Pacific several years before in the most extreme weather (lots of rain and freezing cold!). We could not believ
e our incredible luck with the weather as the sun shone down on us the entire day, the temperature sat at around 20 degrees, there was a fantastic tail wind. The mountains were visible off in the distance. One could clearly see Mount Baker and also the craggy peaks of the Seven Sisters. The views were stunning and it seemed like there was a photo opportunity around every bend. It was a totally surreal day and I had to keep pinching myself to ensure that I wasn’t dreaming. I had definitely forgotten how absolutely stunning Canada really is.
One of the highlights of the day was a huge hill – my first downhill – and it had an 11% grade which is quite steep. I am pleased to report that I hit my highest speed at 62.9kms / hour on the downhill which was such an exhilarating experience. I had to really bite my tongue to stop myself from yelling at the top of my lungs,
“Yahooooooooooooooo!!”
It’s a bit daunting to pick up this speed on the downhill as you go so fast that you feel every wobble of the bike and have to be incredibly aware of every bit of road under you, in front of you and also take into consideration the landscape as a sudden cross-wind around a bend can send you flying off of your bike. All the same, it was awesome and I totally, totally enjoyed it and according to John, this is just a taste of what is yet to come…!
We ended up taking a 6km side trip to the Harrison Hot Springs. Harrison is a pleasant resort town which is made famous by the natural hot springs and also the sandcastle competition. The beach was packed and Harrison certainly takes advantage of its strategic location around the hot springs with loads of little shops, restaurants and cafes. We stopped for lunch and had a fantastic sub and also tucked into our peanut butter sandwiches and chatted for about a
n hour before hopping back into our saddles and setting off for Hope, the chainsaw carving capital of Canada.
Between Agassiz and Hope I was again reminded of the importance of the forestry industry to Canada’s economy. At one point I was cycling along sandwiched between a CP rail train packed full of lumber and a giant logging truck overflowing with fresh cut cedar logs.
Passing through the Fraser Valley we finally reached Hope and checked out a few of the chainsaw carvings. There was a range of themes – religious icons of the Mary in front of churches, wolf carvings in the parks, giant eagles, horses…. Hope is a very quiet but very historic Canadian town set in the heart of the Fraser Valley and on the Fraser River.
John and I thought that our day of cycling was nearly over but we failed to realize that there was a little surprise in store for us… a steep, 11% uphill into camp that kept going up, up, up and up. Every time you thought you were at the top then it would roll up again. I huffed and puffed my way through it and stopped once to swear at the road and nearly fell off of my bike as my clips didn’t come off as smoothly as I had hoped. I was averaging around 4km / hour which was painfully slow as my legs were burning. This is when I suddenly wondered if I had gotten myself into a huge mess as if the rest of BC (especially the Rockies) was like this then I would be in big, big trouble. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see the campground and get off my bike for the last time that day. When we pulled in the campground manager chuckled and said, “Now, what would you say if I told you that there was a flat route that you could have taken to get here..” Apparently there was an alternative route that completely bypassed the climb but wasn’t on our maps… I must admit, as much as it hurt, I’m glad we did the climb.
Upon arriving at camp, I was incredibly relieved to hear that EVERYONE found the hill difficult and that it was certainly not an indication of what lay ahead. BUT it was an introduction to our first huge challenge - Route 5 – the steep Coquihalla Highway. A lovely word to say (just rolls off your tongue) but an absolute nightmare to climb...
Camp that night was in another very historic area – the Othello Tunnels which were built around 1918 as part of the Kettle Valley Railway which starts in SE British Columbia. The Othello Tunnels were built by a Scottish engineer who was commissioned to build the tunnels so that the trains coming through (need to look this up as can't remember exact details)….. The engineer who laid out the route for the railway was also a Shakespeare fan which is why a lot of the names along the route related back to Shakespeare – Othello Road, Portia, Lear, Iajo, Juliet Creek etc. The Kettle Valley Railway is no longer in use because the snowfalls in the area were so heavy that it was nearly impossible to maintain the railway.
Andrew, John, Brendan and I made the 2km walk through the forest down to the Othello Tunnels. The walk was well worth it as both the tunnels and the landscape was spectacular. There were some wicked rapids flowing down through the gorge and the tunnels were literally cut through the mountains and were just big enough for a train to pass through. The scenery was amazing – huge moss covered pines, giant boulders, fast moving water and gorgeous lighting for photography. Again, I was reminded how spectacular Canada is in its natural beauty. It was one of those moments when I knew that the words I write on this blog will never even come close to describing the beauty o
f what we saw.
If anyone is interested in actually seeing the area, the original ‘Rambo’ movie was filmed by the Othello Tunnels and apparently Sylvester Stallone lived in a log cabin in the mountains during the filming. Classy.
We were a bit late coming back for dinner but fortunately Galley Crew 2 saved us some of their finest cuisine – a fantastic stir-fry with brown bean-hummus and pita.
We were handed the Cue Sheets for the following day’s route over dinner which made quite a stir as everyone was a bit ‘shaken up’ from the climb which had ended the day. Tomorrow we were going to do the 40kms uphill over the Coquihalla as part of the 111km ride into
Merritt. Apparently this is one of the toughest climbs of the entire TdC so everyone was nervous and looking at maps and GPS systems. The Newbies were gleaning tips off of the Hardcores and the Hardcores. There were rumors of people thinking about leaving at 4am and walking the 40k rather than biking it… Yikes..! I just figured that if I got stuck or, ‘bonked’ I would hitch a ride with a logging truck.
I am pleased to report that I slept phenomenally well and, in spite of a heavy dew and chilly temperatures, had no problems in dismantling my tent and getting into my gear in under 30 minutes.
A word about bicycle shorts as they are a saving grace on the trip – they are tight and constricting but they definitely, definitely work. However, having said that, I do feel like I am wearing a giant gel-filled pamper (which may be useful when I see the hills). I also ‘waddle’ like a duck. I invested in quite a good pair of bicycle shorts with extra gel padding which promises to ‘super sonically’ mold to the body. In a last and final way to protect my bottom from the saddle I have a ‘gel over-lay’ on my already gel-filled saddle…. Essentially, I have more gel between my saddle and my bottom than Johnny Depp had in his hair in the 1980s.
In the short run-up to doing this trip I told a few people what I was going to attempt. The initial reaction for many people is to laugh and then say ‘Boy, is your butt ever going to be sore’. They then offer all sorts of suggestions on what to do to alleviate this. One of my favorite suggestions (I have not yet tried it) is to get a nice thick steak from the local butcher shop, wrap it in plastic wrap, duct tape it to your saddle and then bike on it all day. By the end of the day the steak will be incredibly tender and you can pull into a campsite and BBQ it for dinner. Delicious.
We had a fab breakfast of French Toast made by Galley Crew 1 and then I set off with John who is originally from Scotland and is an excellent biker with years of experience. He did Tour Pacific several years before in the most extreme weather (lots of rain and freezing cold!). We could not believ
e our incredible luck with the weather as the sun shone down on us the entire day, the temperature sat at around 20 degrees, there was a fantastic tail wind. The mountains were visible off in the distance. One could clearly see Mount Baker and also the craggy peaks of the Seven Sisters. The views were stunning and it seemed like there was a photo opportunity around every bend. It was a totally surreal day and I had to keep pinching myself to ensure that I wasn’t dreaming. I had definitely forgotten how absolutely stunning Canada really is.One of the highlights of the day was a huge hill – my first downhill – and it had an 11% grade which is quite steep. I am pleased to report that I hit my highest speed at 62.9kms / hour on the downhill which was such an exhilarating experience. I had to really bite my tongue to stop myself from yelling at the top of my lungs,
“Yahooooooooooooooo!!”
It’s a bit daunting to pick up this speed on the downhill as you go so fast that you feel every wobble of the bike and have to be incredibly aware of every bit of road under you, in front of you and also take into consideration the landscape as a sudden cross-wind around a bend can send you flying off of your bike. All the same, it was awesome and I totally, totally enjoyed it and according to John, this is just a taste of what is yet to come…!
We ended up taking a 6km side trip to the Harrison Hot Springs. Harrison is a pleasant resort town which is made famous by the natural hot springs and also the sandcastle competition. The beach was packed and Harrison certainly takes advantage of its strategic location around the hot springs with loads of little shops, restaurants and cafes. We stopped for lunch and had a fantastic sub and also tucked into our peanut butter sandwiches and chatted for about a
n hour before hopping back into our saddles and setting off for Hope, the chainsaw carving capital of Canada.Between Agassiz and Hope I was again reminded of the importance of the forestry industry to Canada’s economy. At one point I was cycling along sandwiched between a CP rail train packed full of lumber and a giant logging truck overflowing with fresh cut cedar logs.
Passing through the Fraser Valley we finally reached Hope and checked out a few of the chainsaw carvings. There was a range of themes – religious icons of the Mary in front of churches, wolf carvings in the parks, giant eagles, horses…. Hope is a very quiet but very historic Canadian town set in the heart of the Fraser Valley and on the Fraser River.
John and I thought that our day of cycling was nearly over but we failed to realize that there was a little surprise in store for us… a steep, 11% uphill into camp that kept going up, up, up and up. Every time you thought you were at the top then it would roll up again. I huffed and puffed my way through it and stopped once to swear at the road and nearly fell off of my bike as my clips didn’t come off as smoothly as I had hoped. I was averaging around 4km / hour which was painfully slow as my legs were burning. This is when I suddenly wondered if I had gotten myself into a huge mess as if the rest of BC (especially the Rockies) was like this then I would be in big, big trouble. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see the campground and get off my bike for the last time that day. When we pulled in the campground manager chuckled and said, “Now, what would you say if I told you that there was a flat route that you could have taken to get here..” Apparently there was an alternative route that completely bypassed the climb but wasn’t on our maps… I must admit, as much as it hurt, I’m glad we did the climb.
Upon arriving at camp, I was incredibly relieved to hear that EVERYONE found the hill difficult and that it was certainly not an indication of what lay ahead. BUT it was an introduction to our first huge challenge - Route 5 – the steep Coquihalla Highway. A lovely word to say (just rolls off your tongue) but an absolute nightmare to climb...
Camp that night was in another very historic area – the Othello Tunnels which were built around 1918 as part of the Kettle Valley Railway which starts in SE British Columbia. The Othello Tunnels were built by a Scottish engineer who was commissioned to build the tunnels so that the trains coming through (need to look this up as can't remember exact details)….. The engineer who laid out the route for the railway was also a Shakespeare fan which is why a lot of the names along the route related back to Shakespeare – Othello Road, Portia, Lear, Iajo, Juliet Creek etc. The Kettle Valley Railway is no longer in use because the snowfalls in the area were so heavy that it was nearly impossible to maintain the railway.
Andrew, John, Brendan and I made the 2km walk through the forest down to the Othello Tunnels. The walk was well worth it as both the tunnels and the landscape was spectacular. There were some wicked rapids flowing down through the gorge and the tunnels were literally cut through the mountains and were just big enough for a train to pass through. The scenery was amazing – huge moss covered pines, giant boulders, fast moving water and gorgeous lighting for photography. Again, I was reminded how spectacular Canada is in its natural beauty. It was one of those moments when I knew that the words I write on this blog will never even come close to describing the beauty o
f what we saw.
If anyone is interested in actually seeing the area, the original ‘Rambo’ movie was filmed by the Othello Tunnels and apparently Sylvester Stallone lived in a log cabin in the mountains during the filming. Classy.
We were a bit late coming back for dinner but fortunately Galley Crew 2 saved us some of their finest cuisine – a fantastic stir-fry with brown bean-hummus and pita.
We were handed the Cue Sheets for the following day’s route over dinner which made quite a stir as everyone was a bit ‘shaken up’ from the climb which had ended the day. Tomorrow we were going to do the 40kms uphill over the Coquihalla as part of the 111km ride into
Merritt. Apparently this is one of the toughest climbs of the entire TdC so everyone was nervous and looking at maps and GPS systems. The Newbies were gleaning tips off of the Hardcores and the Hardcores. There were rumors of people thinking about leaving at 4am and walking the 40k rather than biking it… Yikes..! I just figured that if I got stuck or, ‘bonked’ I would hitch a ride with a logging truck.Fantasic, fantastic day..!!
2 comments:
Hi Heather
Just got back from 5 days in Ottawa, no computer. I have so enjoyed getting caught up on the trek. Your pictures are outstanding. Glad to see that the weather has been treating you kindly. I hope our rainy weather is over with by the time you hit these parts! You are doing an amazing job. Keep your bum in the saddle and stay well. Much love and encouragement, and thanks for taking the time to make and share this splendid report.
Sweeeet rides Heeeether !!
Post a Comment