British Columbia OR Seeing BC through rain spattered spectacles

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Day 1: Wednesday, June 30, 1999 - Vancouver to Mission-

Distance: 95 km; Climb: 444 m; Drop: 368m

TDC99 Group A

Left to right, back row: Dave Foss, MartinBrown, Leda, Leo Krug, Ray King, Don Hooper, Roger Chiasson, AlisonKent, Adélard Boudreau, Wally Henne

Centre row: Caroline Maclean, Megan Maclean,Jonathan Moore, Dave Hammond, Dave Faingold, Ngaire O'Leary, BertVanden Heuvel, Jen Conlin

Front row (kneeling): Eva Svoboda, VickyBlevins, Jacqueline Rennick, Claudia Rock, Gilbert Rock

Day 1 was finally here and everybody gathered excitedly around thetruck for breakfast. Although the skies were a bit grey, it wasn'training. The temperature hovered around 13 C, none too warm. Manypeople had themselves photographed in front of the truck and thenleft in small groups for the meeting point in front of the totempoles at the Museum of Anthropology on right on the UBC campus.Everyone gave their cameras to Bud and Margot and we smiled andlaughed as they took one picture after another of the group. Afterthe last click of a camera shutter, the riders set off in smallgroups for Jericho Beach to dip their wheels in the Pacific.

Jericho Beach

Since we had started at Mile 0 in Victoria, the actual dipping didnot carry much real significance for me and Gilbert and I set out onour own. As we road along the beach cycle path, we could see the cityoff in the distance at the foot of mountains shrouded in low cloud.The views were lovely and it struck me as being a very West Coasttype of day.

Vancouver

As we passed through Vancouver, we planned to stop at the MountainEquipment Co-op store, fondly known as the MEC among a great manyCanadian cyclists who appreciate its prices and goods; thisparticular store in Vancouver was known as one of the biggest ones inCanada and we needed a few last items before leaving the city. Duringthe good hour we spent in the store, I bought a bright lime greenbiking jacket and another pair of padded biking shorts and we alsopurchased battery-run intermittent flashing tail lights, and aheadlight that would double as a flashlight. All these items were tocome in very handy during the trip.

Then we set out along Broadway and the Lougheed Highway. The skyappeared unsettled but when we stopped to eat our first lunch ofpeanut butter and strawberry jam sandwiches in a small park, weactually saw a bit of sun and it was quite warm. We continued ourride and caught up to the one American rider in our group, JonathanMoore, with whom we rode for awhile before getting ahead of him. Thisfirst day's ride was a noisy one and there was a lot of traffic onthe road. At one point we we had to merge from the Lockheed Highwayonto Highway 7 and to do so, we had to ride in the midst of the carsand trucks. This was the first of many experiences during which Iwould feel very vulnerable on my bicycle amidst huge trucksbarrelling down the road.

During the afternoon, the sky clouded completely over and it beganto sprinkle and then to rain more heavily so we changed into our raingear. From time to time, we smelled the wonderful fragrance of wetredwood cedar so typical of the West Coast. The temperature seemedquite cool and we had to keep moving to stay warm. From time to time,Gilbert complained of intermittent sharp knee pains but although wewere a bit cold and wet when we got to Mission, we decided tocontinue riding to the Hatzic Rock Site located east of the town. Bythis time it was about 4 p.m. and before actually reaching the site,we met other riders coming in the other direction who told us that ithad just closed. They didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about whatthey had seen there anyway. We turned around and rode back to the SunValley Trout Park near Mission which would be our firstcampground.

By the time we actually got to the trout farm, the rain waspelting down. We felt most fortunate that the owners allowed us toput up our tents in a partly constructed two storey building becausethe grounds where we had planned to camp were already soggy. A fewbrave souls did battle the elements all night out in their tents butthey were thoroughly soaked by morning. We took turns at using theshowers which had nice hot water but had to walk way down the fieldsthrough mud and rain rivers to use the outhouses. I had to go to thetoilet in the middle of the night and it was a long walk though notunpleasant. I wondered if the other campgrounds were better equippedthan this in terms of bathroom facilities. 

Day 2: Thursday, July 1, 1999 - Mission to Hope

Distance: We rode 75 of 90 km; Climb: 264m; Drop: 292 m

The day was very cold and we felt pierced by the dampness. Itrained on and off for most of the day. The pain in Gilbert's kneewent from intermittent to constant and sharp and he tried differentthings to counteract it, such as peddling with only one leg and soon. As during the previous day's ride, the terrain consisted ofrolling hills in part. Early in the afternoon when we had reached the75 km mark, we were climbing a hill when Gilbert's knee gave out. Hisleg locked completely and he was in tremendous pain and unable tolift it over his bike. We ended up laying the bike on the ground andI looked around to see where I might find some help. Across the roadand down a bit, I saw a cluster of houses and a man mowing a lawn. Ileft Gilbert where he was and crossed the highway.

At the first house I came to, a man was holding a garage sale. Iwalked up to him and asked if he would be able to help us get tocamp, about 15 km down the road in the town of Hope. He said that hewould be glad to be of assistance but that he needed to get someoneto watch over the sale. He disappeared into the house and after a fewminutes, two ladies appeared at the door and waved me over. Together,they announced that we had come to the right place. This was ahealing house and both of them were healers. Feeling we had nothingto lose but also rather strange, I entered the house as the man tooka station wagon to collect Gilbert and his bike on the other side ofthe highway. The two ladies introduced themselves as Joyce, areflexologist, (an older woman who reminded me of my mother) andDebbie, a former physiotherapist turned new age healer (about 35years old). I took off my shoes and quickly looked around thecluttered living room. A star of David having a diameter of about twometers and made using masking tape occupied a corner of the rug andphrases had been written on the tape. The far wall sported a seriesof 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch white sheets of paper with various lettersof the alphabet. I asked if they were Hebrew and was told that somewere Hebrew, others Chinese, some were Egyptian and yet others wereSanskrit and that they formed the basis of all knowledge.

Just then, Gilbert arrived at the door and I quickly explained thesituation to him as Debbie poured me some herbal tea. She sat him ina vinyl recliner with his leg up and told us that she had workedseveral years as a physiotherapist for team sports in Victoria. Wefigured that she probably knew what she was doing and that Gilberthad nothing to lose since his leg was in such bad shape. Debbiechecked out the injured leg and immediately placed an ice pack behindhis knee. Then, she brought out two electric hot cushions that shewrapped around his icy feet. She said that she would have to wait agood half an hour for the ice pack and hot cushions to take effectbefore she started her treatment. She also stated that he had had ashock reaction to the accident.

Gilbert, too, sipped some herbal tea as Joyce asked his permissionto check his chakras. Standing at his feet, she dangled a crystal ona thread and concentrated on its movement. Several times she saidstopped to ask his permission to move an obstacle blocking thefreeflow of energy in one of his chakras. She would then bow her headwith her eyes closed and a concentrated expression on her face, shakeher head back and forth in short quick movements. This wasaccompanied by some low-pitched unintelligible mumbling followed by ashort shout as she made a bit of a jump. She then rang a chime anddeclared that the obstacle had been successfully removed.

In the meantime, Debbie talked nonstop about the conspiracies that"they" were perpetrating on all of us. For example, she said that"they" knew how to control the weather but were purposely creatingdisastrous floods, hurricanes, tornados in order to destabilize thedevelopment of the new age. But more and more people were becomingaware of what was going on and it was only a matter of time beforeour new civilization would come into being. "They" were alsocontrolling the world economy and stock markets, making sure that noone really knew what was going on. Furthermore, "they" had rewrittenthe dictionaries so that you could never win in court. Sometimes shewould stop this sort of talk and address Gilbert concerning the painhe was feeling as she examined his injured leg. She pronounced theinjury as a tendon that had become detached and told him that afterfeeling initially better after her treatment, he would then have torest for at least a week. He should elevate his leg, apply ice packsevery few hours and try not to put much weight on his leg. She wasn'tsure if he would be able to complete the trip as tendons can be veryslow in healing but in the meantime, she was putting the tendon backin place. At one point, she disappeared into another room and cameback with what looked like about a 30-cm long firecracker with thecircumference of a fat cigar. As she lit it, she told us that it wasof Tibetan origin and consisted of 162 different herbs. She then heldthe lighted tip close to the acupressure points in Gilbert's leg. Athin thread of smoke wafted up giving the room a smell similar tothat of burning marijuana. Gilbert didn't look very happy about thesituation but he let her do her thing. Later he told me that hewondered when she was going to offer to sell us some grass, but thisnever happened.

For the next two hours, the two woman alternated their healingefforts and the reestablishing of Gilbert's energy flow. At onepoint, Debbie turned to me out of the blue and said, "I have amessage from your higher being." I felt startled as I asked her whatit was. She replied, "It is she who you seek and she is wisdom." Thenshe continued flitting from one subject to the other. She told usabout receiving messages from other places in the universe. Then shementioned that ozone injections would be very beneficial and gave usa special recipe consisting of baking soda and two types of salt tomake a healing bath to soak in. Gilbert was to immerse himselftotally in this bath for 20 minutes and not to touch the top of hishead afterwards. She told him not to extend his leg fully while ithealed. Finally Debbie concluded that she had finished her work andGilbert's leg seemed considerably improved. I asked her how much shewould like for the treatment and she answered that a contribution of$25 would be appreciated. I gave her $40 because I felt that herefforts had been worthwhile and she was also going to drive us the 15km to the campsite in Hope, B.C. in her station wagon.

We said good-bye to Joyce and on our way to the campground, welearned about how spiritual this whole area was because of themountains. As we neared our destination, the sun came out. Debbieleft us the Tibetan herbal stick as well as her card which was titledInternational Hypnotherapy and Psychology: Blueprint for PositiveNatural Living. Then came a list of her services: hypnotherapy,counseling, massage therapy, shiatsu, reflexology, aromatherapy,dream interpreter, vision quest, team motivator, groupmeditation.

After pitching the tent under Gilbert's supervision, I sat downfor a welcome beer and we told our story to the others. After supper,Margot who had dropped by with Bud, dropped us off at the localhospital in town. Once again we had excellent service. Gilbert waswhisked right into the room used for patient examination and a nurseand doctor responded immediately to his needs. The doctor was acharming and pretty, long haired young woman from South Africa whoalso enjoyed cycling. She phoned a radiologist on call who showed upat the hospital about 10 minutes later and shortly afterwards, toldGilbert that his leg did not show any extensive damage. She said thatthe healer had provided proper treatment and that Gilbert would haveto rest his leg for about a week. She told him to take the Celebrexpills that had been prescribed for his sore neck as these wouldreduce swelling in his leg. She wished us luck and we thanked her forthe excellent service. Then we called a taxi and headed back to campwhere it was time to hit the sack.
 

Day 3: Friday, July 2, 1999 - Hope to Spence's Bridge

Distance: 133 km; Climb: 1492 m; Drop:1284 m

As Gilbert was riding in the truck, I decided to ride with thetandem with the agreement that I would replace Megan if she couldn'tride the whole way. It was spitting as we left and very cold and therain soon got quite heavy. My two companions soon realized that theywere starting to get wet. They placed garbage bags over their jacketsbut these flapped a lot in the wind and Caroline, the driver, wasunable to see in her rearview mirror. As I had an extra rain jacket,I lent it to Caroline and we tied Megan's garbage bags at the sidesto reduce the flapping.

This was the day we would go through seven tunnels as we rodealong Transcanada Highway 1, following the Fraser River Canyon. Wemade very slow progress as the tandem was very slow going up hillsbut I had said that I would ride with them and I did. Other ridersrode with us a short time but then moved on ahead because of thecold. I felt rather concerned because on our map there was a warningmessage telling us to team up as much as possible to go through thetunnels so that someone could remain at the entrance to flag down thetrucks as the others rode through single file. There were patches ofvery heavy truck traffic and some made a point of passing very closeto us although they often had two lanes and didn't need to comeanywhere near the shoulder.

The first five tunnels were short and straight. Although they werequite dark, you could see the natural light at the end and we wereable to ride through them on the narrow shoulder without any problemsapart from a lot of noise when a truck passed. Every time youapproached a tunnel, there was a hill to climb and these seemed toget bigger as we headed towards the last two tunnels known asFerrabee and China Bar at a most ominous sounding place known asHell's Gate. These last two tunnels were more difficult to traversebecause they were curved and you could not see the end as you rodein.

After I had climbed the hills before reaching these last twotunnels, I noticed that there was a café and I headed there towait for the tandem. A huge tractor trailer  truck arrived atthe café at the same time as I did and the salt and pepperpony-tailed driver accosted me rather aggressively and said thatcyclists who rode through these tunnels had to be absolutely crazy.He asked me why we were riding along that highway at all when theCoquihalla Highway was so much safer and said that sooner or later acyclist was bound to be killed on the dangerous road we were on. Heexplained that there was not enough room for two large tractortrailers to pass if a cyclist was on the narrow road shoulder andsaid that I should walk through the tunnels on equally narrow butslightly elevated footpath on the left hand side.

When Caroline and Megan arrived at the café, I informedthem of the truck driver's message and told them that I was going towalk through these last two tunnels on the footpath because ridingthrough would be too dangerous. They said they would do the samething. As we were at the tail end of the riders, there was no oneelse in the group to ask for help and none of the traffic wanted tostop to escort us through. The cars and trucks continued to barrelalong at 100 km per hour in spite of the fact they were entering anarrow curved tunnel in which they couldn't see the other end atfirst.

We started along the foot path which was protected by a meter-highiron railing bent out of shape and leaning inward in many places. Wehadn't been walking for more than a couple of minutes when two extrawide load trucks carrying huge tires horizontally barrelled into thetunnel on the side that we would have been riding. Had any cyclistsbeen on the narrow shoulder there, they would have been flattenedagainst the tunnel wall because the trucks were travelling so fast,they would not have seen the cyclists in time!

We breathed a sigh of relief but soon realized that although mynarrow handlebars would pass with no trouble, the wider handlebars ofthe tandem bike would not. I took Caroline's and Megan's paniers andthey lifted the heavy tandem high enough for the pedals to clear therailings, too, because they also got caught. We inched our waythrough the first tunnel at a snail's pace, stopping for a shortbreather from time to time. There was a continual roar of trafficthat completely covered all the expletives that were issuing forthfrom Caroline's lips. We pushed on scraping against the filthy wallsand finally made it to the end of the first tunnel.

Then we reached the second one and the going got even moredifficult. At 1.25 km, this tunnel was even longer and the walls weremore curved making it impossible for the tandem to pass when we hadonly traversed a third of the distance. Caroline hit upon thebrilliant idea of placing the tandem in a vertical position while itbalanced on the back wheel. In so doing, we managed to finally getthrough but once again, at a snail's pace and totally aggressed byall the noise. The yellow rain jacket I had lent Caroline was coatedwith greasy mud and spotted all over with black gobs of oil andgrease. We had arrived at Hell's Gate that certainly was living up toits name for us.

Caroline and Megan had flagged down the truck when it passed afirst time earlier in the day and asked Jen to come back to pick themup. We met her at Boston Bar, just a couple of kilometers furtherthan Hell's Gate and they eagerly climbed aboard. I decided tocontinue the ride even though it meant completing it alone. At leastI could speed up and thus keep warm. The 5 km climb up JackassMountain was very wet but I felt pleased to have ridden it all as Istopped to eat a chocolate-coated granola bar and a banana. Then Irode flat out for the remaining 60 km or so and the rain tapered offtowards the end of the afternoon. The traffic seemed to die down,too, and I even enjoyed the pretty scenery along the Fraser Canyon atthe end of the ride. Ten kilometers out of camp, I passed RogerChiasson.

It was cold and windy as I got into camp and people cheered forthey knew that it had been one tough day. Boy, was I glad to arrive.Our team was on dinner duty and Gilbert and Megan had spent severalhours just cleaning and chopping vegetables for the stirfry and saladfor 24 people. We didn't finally get everything cooked and servedbefore 8 p.m. and I don't know how we would have managed had Gilbertactually ridden the route, i.e. he wouldn't have got an early starton the vegetables. The weather was very cold that evening and itcontinued to spit so we went to bed relatively early. It had been atrying day for many people: Adélard had had four flats andluckily Dave Hammond was there to help him out at Hell's Gate becausehe was so cold he couldn't move his fingers. Eva and Martin had bothfallen in one of the tunnels and Eva had injured a knee. Leda was socold she purchased a $100+ fleece jacket at Hell's Gate. But luckily,no one had had a serious injury. 

Day 4: Saturday, July 3, 1999 - Spence's Bridge to Merritt

Distance: 77 km; Climb: 744 m; Drop: 364m

I slept very poorly as there was a lot of noise from heavy roadtraffic and frequent trains both which passed close to camp. Thenoise of the gearing up and air breaking trucks and the hootingtrains was magnified in the blackness of the night by the surroundingcanyon faces. This day's map promised a short ride on a quiet sideroad. Quiet it was but short it was not. After completing breakfastduty - we had cooked up a big batch of Red River Cereal - I was lastout of camp with Eva and Jonathan as the latter and I were ridingsweep. We turned onto quiet Highway 8 which followed the NicolaRiver.

The morning started off a little warmer than the previous day andit was drier too although the skies were very grey and we did havesome spotty light rain. Early on, Eva passed Jonathan and I and shetook off down the road ahead ahead. I would end up riding ahead ofJonathan and then waiting for him. We enjoyed a leisurely pace as wetalked about all sorts of different things and admired the gorgeousscenery consisting of the Nicola River meandering through rollinghills tinted with hues of violet, green and reddish brown dotted withsage brush. The air smelled very fragrant of sage. Jonathan told methat he had already crossed the continent on a 10-speed bike at avery fast pace and this time round he wanted to stop and smell theflowers. He was looking for a purposeful occupation for the future -he'd completed two bachelor's degrees - and hoped that this ridewould help him find some of the answers to the questions he wasasking. At about the halfway point, we stopped at the top of a hillto eat a leisurely sandwich and to admire the view. I told myselfthat this was rattlesnake country. It was also very sparselypopulated.

Just as we started up again, a car passed us and the driver toldus that Eva was having problems up ahead so we pushed on morequickly. A short time later, we caught up to the ailing Eva andlearned that her knees are giving her problems; she could only ridedownhill. There were no houses to speak of and no traffic so wedecided to continue on but we were only able to keep up a snail'space. Jonathan rode off ahead by himself and I accompanied Evabecause I was the sweep. Eva ended up walking and I rode beside herat a speed of about six to 7 km per hour. We talked about differentthings and she mainly told me all about her brother and family. Wecontinued on at this pace and with about 11 km left, we tried tyingour bikes together with Eva's camera strap so that I could try to towher. We only got to try riding together like this a couple of times -without much success, I might add - when a pick-up comes by and loand behold, Gilbert was a passenger in it. When Jonathan had pulledinto camp and told everyone of Eva's plight, Gilbert had asked one ofour neighbours at the site if he would mind taking his truck out topick us up. So here they were and thus we rode the last 11 km intocamp in a pick-up. I had enjoyed the first part of the day but thelast part had dragged on for so long that I had become rather boredand fed up. Eva had ended up walking 35 of the 77 km that day andplanned to ride the truck on the following one.

Day 5: Sunday July 4, 1999 - Merritt to Pritchard

Distance: 146 km; Climb: 644 m; Drop: 860m

Once again the campground was located near the highway and traintracks and everyone began to wonder if this was one of Bud's criteriafor choosing sites. This proved to be the most enjoyable day yet andI rode all day with Vicky Blevins who hales from Saltspring Island, asmall island not too far from Victoria. We left camp at 8 a.m. onHighway 5A on what started off as a very quiet ride under completecloud cover as we followed the Nicola Lake.

Typical BC cloud

Towards mid day, the sky began to clear and the scenery was one ofpicturesque rolling hills. NO RAIN for a change. I stopped to take apicture or two but after the third, there were no more shots left. Ihadn't brought another roll of film and regretted it as we passedmany beautiful spots. We saw a coyote in a field, two loons in a lakeand two scruffy Indian kids on a small mountain bike. The sun finallycame out and we took off our leggings and other layers of clothing.We passed Stump Lake and Stomp Lake and then caught up to Leda whogave me an extra film she had.

The road was fairly flat with one big climb before arriving at thetop looking down over Kamloops. When I went to take a picture of thecity, the shutter wouldn't work and I presumed that the battery wasdead. Our maps advised us to watch for strong gusting crosswinds onthe long descent into Kamloops and so there were. We stopped atMcDonald's to eat our peanut butter and jam sandwiches at outsidetables and I bought a chocolate milk shake and Vicky a soft icecream. Then I went to Office Depot where I purchased a new batteryfor the camera and discarded the old one.

We could not find the Highway 5A out of Kamloops that our mapindicated to take us to Pritchard. Vicky asked a lady who said thatshe'd never heard of it and that we should take Highway 1. Eventuallywe discovered that the 5A didn't exist. What a bad map! We sooncaught up to Wally (the sweep!!!) who was helping Don change a flatwhile Leda looked on. I tried the camera again and realized that itwasn't working because I hadn't put the film in right. Unfortunately,I had probably thrown out a good battery, although an older one.Vicky and I joined this group and rode with them against a verystrong headwind to and past Pritchard until the Ponderosa Pines RVpark came into view. The sky got darker and darker as a thunderstormapproached and struck. The last riders came in soaked and I felt veryfortunate to have made it in in time. It rained most of that eveningand night. Gilbert was starting to feel bored with having to ride thetruck.

Day 6: Monday July 5, 1999 - Pritchard to Sicamous

Distance: 117 km; Climb: 764 m; Drop: 832m

Once again I set out with Vicky and we were ready to leave at7:30. It hadn't been raining when we got up but the clouds thickenedand the hills were hung in wreathes of mist. Then the rain startedagain. Damnation! It had rained every single day that we'd been inB.C. although the previous day we had managed to complete the ridewithout any. My spirits were down and my stomach upset. A whilelater, we turned a corner and saw a few patches of blue sky like abeacon of hope. The day gradually turned fine and my spirits lifted.We descended one super hill and I maxed to about 50 km. Then we rodea long way beside the Shuswap Lakes and a body of water known asSalmon Arm as we battled strong headwinds on our way to Sicamous. Atleast the scenery was pretty and the sun shining. We arrived at themunicipal arena at 3 p.m. where most of us decided to camp on thesoft grass adjacent to the building since it was being painted insideand smelled of both fresh paint and stale cigarette smoke.

Gilbert and I went for an evening walk and noticed that the waterlevel was very high.

Flooding

Some of the lower lying streets and areas had large puddles andthe beach park ground picnic tables were almost completely underwater. During the drive that day, Gilbert had noticed a factory thathad been flooded out. We went to bed around 9:30 p.m. and I sleptwell. We heard that a foot of snow had fallen in Banff. 

Day 7: Tuesday July 6, 1999 - Rest day in Sicamous

This was the first full day of sun and warmth that we hadexperienced with temperatures in the lower 20's C. We got up at aleisurely pace, had breakfast and set out for the laundromat withMartin Brown who was on his way to the clinic because he, too, washaving knee problems. The first laundromat we went to was closed sowe walked over to another one on the other side of the small town andgot everything washed. I also spent an hour cleaning up my yellowrain jacket by hand and walking into the laundromat a little later,Caroline apologized for not having given it back clean to me andadded that she would make it up.

We had a quiet lunch and I got caught up with my journal whileDave Hammond helped Gilbert realign his seat. Then Gilbert went for apractice run and his knee felt fine. He said that he was going to tryto ride the following day. Later in the afternoon we went to thelocal library and got on to the Internet but not for long as theywere closing at 3 p.m. Here's the e-mail I managed to send off.

Date: Tue, 06 Jul 1999 14:56:44 -0700 (PDT)

Subject: Sicamous, B.C. - Day 7

Hi everyone,

All of you are getting the same letter because the library is closing in 5 minutes. It's been quite a tough ride so far for me for two reasons: Gilbert's knee gave out on Day 2 and he has had to ride the truck so I've been on my own, though the last two days I rode with a charming woman who lives on Saltspring Is. B.C. the other reason is that we have had rain every day before today, although two days ago we managed to ride a full day before the rain started to fall. It has been super cold too - I think that that was what did in gilbert's knee. They even had snow in Banff and a couple of evenings we all wore tuques and gloves.

Otherwise things have been great. It is a wonderful group of people with the youngest aged 14 and the oldest in his sixties. The best riders seem to be a couple of older guys. we have seen some fabulous scenery and ridden down some great hills (up some rather daunting ones too. Next time I'll try to write more but now I have to go because they are closing the library.

Love to you all, claudia

We hurried across town to the community centre and got another 45minutes Internet in for our French correspondence.

The second TDC group of riders started arriving around noon. Welearned that they had been having better weather than we had. What adifference just one day made. We all went for supper at the local pubwhere they were offering steak and fries or salad for $5.50. I heardrain during the night but it was quite dry in the morning although wegot up to grey skies.

Day 8: Wednesday July 7, 1999 - Sicamous to Canyon Springs(Revelstoke) - 110 km

Distance: 110 km; Climb: 800 m; Drop: 512m

Gilbert decided he would try to ride and we set out again on thebusy TransCanada Highway 1. The day started out quite well withfairly flat terrain, but then the sky got darker and darker and itstarted to spit. We stopped to sample some delicious cherries and aswe continued our ride, the rain got heavier and heavier. For severalkilometers, we were able to ride on a parallel road and this reducedthe amount of noise in our immediate vicinity. We stopped atCraigellachie where the last spike had been driven when they werebuilding the transcontinental railroad and took a picture of thishistoric spot. The terrain gradually got hillier and we passed theEnchanted Forest and I recognized the area from a car trip that wehad made several years previously with Gilbert's mother and sisterduring which we had stayed at a rather strange and fantastichotel.

Last spike

We had ridden about 60 km at this point and now we were both coldand wet. About three km from the hotel, Gilbert's knee gave out andthere was no hope of being picked up by the truck which had alreadygone past. We walked a bit and then the hotel came into view off inthe distance. Gilbert managed to pedal the rest of the way to thehotel using just one leg and when we went into the large gift andcafeteria area, we met up with Roger and Wally who were drying theirsoaked clothing in the hotel dryers. Many people had left campunderdressed because it had been so warm the day before and soon avery cold and wet Jonathan stopped in; he purchased a sweatshirt. Thehotel staff offered us an unlimited supply of large garbage bags inwhich we punched holes for our heads and arms. At least these wouldkeep us a little drier and warmer but what a miserable day! We ate ahearty bowl of vegetable soup, drank some coffee and ate one of oursandwiches while we decided what to do next. Gilbert could go nofarther and decided to hitchhike. I would ride with Wally as Rogerhad already left.

Wally and I rode like the wind and stopped at the McDonald's inRevelstoke where we met up with several others. I gave Adélardthe extra garbage bag I had collected because he was wet and frozen.After another cup of coffee, Wally and I left for camp at CanyonHotsprings. Upon arrival, I discovered many of the cyclists,including Gilbert, in a lovely warm log cabin. Several people hadrented cabins and invited the others to crash on the floor. I was soglad! Wet clothing hung from every possible spot available in theroom and wet shoes were propped up against the radiators. Two outdoorpools fed by hot springs were available and we spent time in thehottest one of about 42C both before and after supper. The water feltwonderful and comforting. Even if the rain continued, we enjoyed oursupper knowing that we would be able to sleep inside, even if it wason the floor. Gilbert awoke with severe pains in his injured legduring the night and realized that he shouldn't ride the next day. Iremember thinking that this was typical West Coast weather only wewere no longer actually at the coast.

Day 9: Thursday July 8, 1999 - Canyon Springs to Golden

Distance: 118 km; Climb: 1284 m; Drop:964 m

Once again we awoke to rain and cold. We decided to have a finaldip in the hot springs before leaving for the day's trip. I left lastwith Roger and Leda, who kindly waited for me although I thought theyhad already left. Jen squeezed Martin (sick with a bad cold andtendonitis), Dave Foss (bad back and bad knees, who had tried tohitch for an hour with no luck) and Gilbert into the front seat ofthe truck and dropped them at Golden. Gilbert consulted both a doctorand a physiotherapist who told him there was nothing terribly wrongwith his knee.

After riding with the sweeps for awhile, I took off ahead of thembecause it was cold and I needed to keep up a faster pace than theywere going. I sweated the 34 km of mostly upward highway leading toRoger's Pass. About 3 km before getting to the pass, I met up withEva who was very disappointed that the people she had been ridingwith hadn't waited for her to put on a jacket. I told her thatbecause I was cold and wet that I planned to stop at the hotel nearthe pass to dry off and to eat something warm and she joined me. Wehad a most welcome bowl of soup, a cup of coffee and shared a platterof French fries. I squeezed and sponged the water out of my clothingas much as I could and my fleece jacket actually felt drier when Iput it back on 45 minutes later.

Roger's Pass

Then Eva and I took each other's picture in front of the Roger'sPass billboard. The clouds hung so low that you couldn't reallyappreciate that we were in a pass surrounded by stunning mountains. Ifelt a little cheated when I thought back to Mark Liewicki's accountof reaching the pass and how glorious he felt. A cyclist from anothergroup whom Eva had met previously adjusted her rear brake for her andpumped up my back tire telling me at the same time that he thought ithad a leak in it. Since the tire stayed inflated, I decided tocontinue on my way because it was so cold and luckily the tire andtube held the entire way.

We started our descent from the pass with Eva going first. Shetold me that she was going down no brakes but since I am heavier thanshe, I knew that I'd apply mine. The pitch was quite steep and we hadto go through a series of avalanche tunnels. The very first one waspitch black and I could see neither the road surface or the side ofthe tunnel. I almost freaked out because I couldn't tell how far Iwas away from the tunnel wall or whether there was any dangerousdebris on the ground. My knees were shaking as I entered the othertunnels that allowed natural lighting in and I noticed hubcaps,bottles and other junk on the paved shoulder I was careening down.Even with pressure on the brakes, the descent was very rapid and itseemed to continue on forever. I didn't really enjoy it very much.However, the farther down we got, the warmer we felt and the sun wasactually shining. It was wonderful to see the snow-capped crests ofthe mountains silhouetted against the blue sky. These were the scenesthat we had been dreaming of the last few days but not seeing.

When I joined up with Eva at the valley bottom, we took photos ofeach other removing our warm gear. She told me that she could onlyride at about 17 km an hour because of her knee. As it was alreadypast 2 p.m. and we still had 68 km to go and because our team was ondinner duty, I decided to push on ahead without Eva. She said thatshe would hitchhike if her knee gave out. As I climbed the first hillin this section, I passed a family of mountain goats. I was able tocycle at a good pace on my own and took off another layer of clothingas it was actually hot. There were lots of good hills and I enjoyedflying down the bigger ones.

Mountain goats

After passing the two sweeps, who were concerned that I had leftEva on her own, on the outskirts of Golden, I rode up the last toughhill and made it into camp at about 6 p.m. mountain time (at Goldenwe moved our clocks ahead one hour) I was delighted to discover thatCarolyn had replaced me on dinner duty. Eva made it into camp underher own power about an hour later and everybody cheered. Gilbert wasin good spirits because the doctor and physiotherapist had told himthat his leg was OK. They had him renew his prescription for Celebrexand told him to take these pills for the rest of the trip. He plannedon riding the next day as it was a short one.

We were camped on a hill side with a fabulous view of the RockyMountains across the valley. I learned that four other people -Carolyn and Megan, Jackie and Dave - had hitched rides early that daybecause the weather had been so miserable when we started out. So,only 2/3 of our group of riders had actually cycled across Roger'sPass. Once again, it was very noisy during the night. The grindingmotors of trucks lumbering up the steep hill mixed in the revelriesof drunken campers.

Day 10: Friday July 9, 1999 - Golden to Kicking Horse Campgroundin Yoho National Park

Distance: 62 km; Climb: 1360m

We awoke to the sun. Our cooking team made pancakes for the groupand once again, I rode sweep with Jonathan. This time, though, werode in a group with Jackie and Dave. Eva and Gilbert decided to ridetogether because they both wanted to give their knees an easy time sothey had Jen drop them off after the first tough 18 km-long uphillsection to the Kicking Horse River Valley. The day was warm enough toride in short sleeve jerseys and shorts and the scenery was splendidthroughout our ride through Yoho National Park. We made lots of stopsto take in the various vistas and take some pictures. At one point wesaw some elk resting in the shade of the trees at the roadside. At another spot a deer grazed close to the road. We nevercaught up to any other riders and I felt delighted that Eva andGilbert had been able to continue riding the whole day.

Gorgeous day

Just before arriving in camp, we stopped at Field for a cappucinoice cream bar. The campsite was nestled in a valley surrounded bywhite-capped peaks. Since the ride had been a short one, many of thecyclists had continued a 13 km ride up an adjacent road to view thespectacular 381 metre Takakkaw waterfall, the highest uninterruptedcascade in Canada. I convinced Gilbert that he should not put hisknee to the test at this point so we did a small load of laundry andGilbert cleaned my bike and then took the back wheel off. Sure enoughthere was a 4 mm long lit in the tube and a bit of a chunk out of thetire. We were amazed that it had not gone flat. Ray helped me patchthe tube and showed us how to put the booted tire back on withoutpinching the tube.

Yoho National Park

We had a beer and ate dinner and everyone was in excellent spiritsafter such an enjoyable day. Later, we went to the interpretativecentre for the park interpreter's evening presentation but aftertwenty minutes of waiting for the show to begin, we decided to goback to our tent and hit the sack as it was getting cold and dark.The others told us we hadn't missed a thing. 

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