Day7 - Week One in the books

The awesome thing about camping in the non-desert is that I don't wake up 600 times throughout the night to drink.  The less awesome part is that the kit I hung out to dry overnight wasn't.  The thunderstorm that forced me to seek shelter put enough moisture in the air that things were still damp.  Oh well - if that's the worst thing to happen to me I'm doing pretty well. 

I tend to wake up really early when I'm camping.  I don't really know why - it just happens.  So after "sleeping in" until "really late" I finally looked at the time and it was 05:30.  Well that ain't gonna happen.  Back to sleep until 07:30 - a much more reasonable hour.  I took my time making with breakfast, enjoying "the best campsite on the lake" and was rolling at ~ 09:20.  If I thought the way out yesterday had been hilly then today was something else indeed.  Lots of climbing.  Lots of descending.  Nothing too long, but constant hills.  Steep ones, too.  After about an hour I was passed by a van belonging to the National Biathlon team. I waved, but I don't know that they saw me.  Shortly thereafter I passed it as it had pulled over, and  recognized the coach - Geret Coyne in the driver's seat.  A little while later I was passed by a group of about 8 athletes on road bikes.  I didn't get a gopod look at them but I assume them to have been the National Team as they didn't look like cyclists to me.  They were all young and fit, but they were obviously cross training - not roadies.  I passed them again when they had pulled over for a nature break but didn't try to make out who they were because I only really recognize the women, and well - they were "busy".  They soon passed me once more, and I played leapfrog with the team van a few times until they were well out of range. 

I continued rolling along and made Creston in about 3hrs, give or take (I forgot to make note of the time).  Had a nice leisurely lunch in a nice little cafe called Buffalo Coffee of something like that, and then got moving again.  Joe, Lu and Linda were chasing me down driving from Vancouver today, and I figured the catch would happen ~30km out of Cranbrook.  I had to get moving.  Hwy3 from Creston out of the rest of BC has been described as "the worst of the climbs are over" - which isn't terribly descriptive, but leads one to believe that there aren't any more major passes to cross.  That was certainly the case to Cranbrook.  It rolled, much more gently than the Nelson detour, with some headwinds, false flats, and descending false flats.  Several times I got the distinct notion that my tires were flat, the road was "sticky", or something was just wrong.  I chalked it up to fatigue and continued on.  More stunning scenery, more rolling, and another repaving project that my butt was very pleased to see (fresh ashphalt)!  I stopped in Yahk for ice cream and to fill my bottles as Two Scoop Steve's, and carried on.  Still my bike felt "draggy".  Finally descending a slight grade and not going anywhere I stopped to check it out, only to discover that I had been dragging brake.  Great - I wonder how long that's been going on?

My ankle was starting to bother me as well.  That started a day or two ago and has been getting worse.  I was riding ok, but favouring it.  Gonna have to do something about that...

As I passed the "Cranbrook 32km" sign I reached over and patted myself on the back.  Not two minutes later a car zoomed up from behind and decelerated quickly, pulling up beside me.  Looking out the passenger window was Eggle (Linda's dog).  Nice timing!  We chatted for a bit and then she went on up the road and pulled over so as not to block traffic.  I stopped and chatted with her for a bit, and she mentioned that Joe and Lu were not far behind.  Back on the bike.  Soon Joe and Lu pulled up beside me and Lu asked if I needed anything.  Then they went up ahead and pulled over where Linda was waiting and we figured out the plan for the evening.  Apparently they were all under strict orders to take me out for "a real dinner".  Auntie isn't pleased with how I've been eating, it seems...  :p  I told them to go on ahead and that I'd turn on my phone when I got into town, as being in the dead zone just kills my battery.  They took off and I was looking at ~30km to go. 

A headwind picked up, and my pace slowed.  Damn - not exactly how I wanted to end my day.  I thought about the evening and figured that I'd have to get a hotel so that I could leave my stuff somewhere safe while we went to dinner.  Lu had also offered to work on my legs and ankle when we stopped earlier (she's a professional Registered Massage Therapist).  Gee, that's going to be a hard sell. :p  I was getting hungry and the road turned, giving me a sidewind.  I picked up the pace and drove it home as fast as I could comfortably go without working really hard.  When I got into town I turned on my phone and then saw Joe and Linda crossing the street.  I pulled up next to them and they told me that I was too fast and had spoiled their plans to get tacos as a pre-dinner snack.  :p  Joe handed me a key and said that I was already checked in - so to go and have a shower and that they'd be by in a bit.  AWESOME!  I'm so fortunate to have such amazing friends...

A shower, a ridiculously large prime rib dinner, and a painful massage that Lu tells me has everything working properly again, and we made plans for tomorrow.  Lu's going to ride with me and the other two are going to "scout the route" and then park the cars and ride out to meet us.  The goal is Sparwood, though Linda really does want to see AB - so we might push a bit farther.  We'll see. 


I also got a care package from Auntie.  Thank you!


Stats:

Total Elapsed Time: 10:40
Actual Ride Time: 8:18
Distance Traveled: 175.33
Avg Speed: 21kph
Max Speed: 67.1kph


A creek

 I *think this is the Kootenay River...

An awesome road sign...

Two scoops at Two Scoop Steve's

TIME ZONE!!!