Bill's Journal |
British Columbia 1 |
| Day |
Date |
Entry |
| 1 |
Sat, July 3 |
Long and productive day. First half of the day, I used my arms way more than my legs, having to drag bicycle boxes and baggage around the airport. Good flight.
Assembled bike in Stanley Park. Dipped wheels in the Pacific Ocean. Then cycled
about 60K to Aldergrove. Ended day in hot tub at Best Western. Nice Day 1.
|
| 2 |
Sun, July 4 |
Good day - great roads and weather. Mostly flat with a few climbs. I ate too little and burned out before Michelle. Nonetheless I feel fine and ready for another full day tomorrow. Camping tonight amongst the pines. |
| 3 |
Mon, July 5 |
Two very tough climbs, 750 m and 1,400 m. This was quite hard on Michelle but she made it. Finally saw some other cyclists doing the same thing. I'm feeling good. The legs are fine. I am proud of Michelle making these climbs.
|
| 4 |
Tue, July 6 |
Days 2-4 consisted of beautiful cycling through pine covered mountains. The views and the climbs were spectacular. Day 4 consisted of one final climb to "Sunday Summit," then a wicked descent into Princeton. Princeton is an old mining town which has some funky shops. The town museum is fascinating. "Gentleman" Bill Minor the train robber lived here for a long time (under an alias). Today was a "half day" to rest before longer stretches of road tomorrow.
 Fixing a flat tire |
| 5 |
Wed, July 7 |
This is written on the morning of Day 6. I write this overlooking vineyards and orchards which in turn overlook a lake in the Okanagan Valley. This is very beautiful country, the type of area to live in and have a little hobby-farm (or "hobby orchard") on the side. Anyhow, about Day 5 - we left the pine forested mountains behind. It rained for the first 3 hours, but the road was idyllic and quiet. We took "Old Hedley Road" which parallels Route 3 on the other side of the river. It was a cyclist's dream ... winding river to one side, mountains to the other, no cars and good pavement. Old Hedley rejoins Highway 3 and that descends into Keremeos, an orchard growers' town. From there, we took highway 3A to this campground just before Penticton.
|
| 6 |
Thu, July 8 |
Rest day. I thoroughly enjoyed the early morning dawn over Skaha Lake. We bummed a ride into Penticton. Not a bad town; fairly touristy. Enjoyed one of the best coffees ever at Hog's Breath Coffee Shop. Solid java. We rented a hibachi for pennies from the campground store and did steaks and roasted peppers, BBQ style. A very fine day of rest, but I crave the road once again. Tomorrow's goal is beyond Kelowna ... exact destination unknown.
 In the past, cycling across Canada would have been more difficult |
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