Day 9 - Revelstoke to Golden

Distance: 150.3 km
Average speed: 16.3 km/h
Riding time: 9 hours 14 minutes
Campground: Ponderosa Motor Inn
Cumulative distance: 823.0 km

Today is a good news bad news situation. The good news is that we cracked 150 km. And only just. We didn't end up biking around a little more before arriving at the motel just to get it even though we would have done it if it hadn't happened so perfectly.

Rogers Pass was a lot harder than we imagined. It took us six hours to get the first seventy kilometres. We ended up biking from nine in the morning to eight in the evening. I haven't converted the second time to mountain time even though we crossed the time barrier.

What made that Pass fun was going through some of the snow tunnels. It was nowhere near as scary as we thought it would have been. There are slits on the side to allow natural light to enter and there are lights along the top as well.

As soon was we reached the top of the Pass it began to pound down rain. Remember this, we will come back to it later. So while we were soaked it was enjoyable to sneak past most of the line ups of cars waiting at construction areas. Though we have no doubt that they were whizzing by us a few minutes later.

We definitely believe that this day is the hardest we've done so far. While it might not have been as steep as Allison Pass, the length and the hills wore on us heavily. Josianne's left knee started to ache early on and she was able to continue after lathering her knee with Arnica which is a pain reliever. We're pretty sure that it's only from overuse but she will need to thoroughly rest it soon.

Now we will get to the really bad news. Once again Felix's back brakes aren't working. We had them fixed two days ago but they are already failing. There is no place in Golden to have it fixed. The next MEC is in Calgary. Now, we believe that the failing brakes are due to the heavy rainfalls we've experienced. So even if we were to fix them, what's to say they won't fail again once we've reached the prairies? The weather has been ridiculous this last week and there is no sign of it getting better.

As you can probably tell from the tone of this, we are officially calling it quits. Tomorrow we will start the long ride home and we will get to see just how much road we've traveled. This was meant as fun because we were never seriously into biking before this so we are happy with what we've managed to accomplish.

Before we finish there are two things we wanted to quickly mention. First, we finished our day during a sunset which is symbolic in literature as the end of something. Second, my favourite, requires some explanation. We compared this journey to the TV show Survivor. On the show when people are kicked off they get sent to Ponderosa which is a resort as they wait for the rest of the game. We are spending the night in Ponderosa Motor Inn. It's just ironic. It's like fate wanted this to happen.

We hope you've enjoyed our posts and thanks for supporting us.

Day 8 - Grindrod to Revelstoke

Distance: 91.1 km
Average speed: 19.6 km/h
Riding time: 4 hours 38
Campground: Lamplighter
Cumulative distance: 672.7 km

"We started the day with a beautiful ten kilometre ride along glassy, pristine Mara lake," Rob gushes.

The only rain we encountered during the day was a brief shower at lunch at The Last Spike. They had spray painted the spike with gold but we doubt that they even know if it's the right one. While stopped there, we met some Australians who are headed east in a tour bus. We were disheartened when they told us that they would be in Golden tonight because we will only reach that location after a gruelling day tomorrow.

During the second half of our journey we came across some familiar faces. The Laube family had seen Rob and Josianne stopping for a short break so they pulled up ahead to say hello. It was nice to see new people as we are getting too comfortable with each other lately and it's nice to speak to people whom you aren't constantly bickering over washing the dishes with.

Since the campsite is just outside Revelstoke we went to Nico's Pizzeria for dinner. We highly recommend it. Way better than Lynn Valley's Little Caesars. Before it was even cool we were eating it heedless of it burning our mouths. Of course Rob got some beer to go along with it.

The mosquitoes have been relentless here. We all wear long sleeves and pants even if it's inconvenient with the hot weather. But poor Boku has only his fur to protect him and it doesn't do much. He seems to be a magnet for the mosquitoes, his face most of all. He was really bothered by it so we tried spraying his neck with Muskol which only made a slight difference. Josianne and Felix tried smacking them but stopped when it became obvious that Boku thought they were hitting him for no reason. Therefore Boku was relieved when Marie-France gave him refuge in the tent.

We are looking forward to tomorrow.

Day 7 - Okanagan Lake to Grindrod

Distance: 146.3 km
Average speed: 18.7 km/h
Riding time: 7 hours 48 minutes
Campground: Whispering Pines Tent and RV Park
Cumulative distance: 581.6 km

We had a mega riding day so that tomorrow could be easier. The next day is a 150 km day so we wanted to have an easier day before to save up energy. This was a struggle but we managed to arrive at our new camp just after six o'clock.

Our first stop at Tim Hortons was to post our blog posts from the past couple days, but our second was in Vernon where we drank caffeinated and sugary cold drinks to make it the last fifty kilometres.

What woke us up even more than the frozen treats was the rain shower just north of Vernon. Within minutes, after having spent the entire day in beautiful sunlight, the rain pounded down on us almost as hard as the first day in Vancouver. While it was over in twenty minutes, both us and the road were soaked.

Then, as the final moments of drizzle came down before we cleared the grey clouds, a huge truck came barreling down the road. Luckily Felix, with his quick thinking, slowed down to watch the water splash the shoulder in front of him. But Josianne wasn't so aware and received a wave of brown water that's peak curled over her helmet. She had only half managed to close her mouth in a soundless scream. Then Rob got a small wave to hit him that he likes to over exaggerate. Which is karma because he had been laughing about Josianne's ordeal.

What kept Rob motivated to the end was the heated pool waiting at the campsite. Though it was busy we couldn't help but notice the excessive amount of mosquitoes which bothered everyone but Rob. Thanks to Marie-France for getting us the campsite well in advance.

Day 6 - Rest Day in Okanagan

We had a lazy morning with a breakfast in Peachlamd. We highly recommend the Blue Rooster Diner as the food was great and the service friendly. We spent the day swimming, reading, playing Frisbee and had chicken Cesar salad for dinner.

It turns out that Felix's disc brake pads were contaminated with an oily substance so they needed replacing. Thanks to Michael the mechanic this was done in s matter of hours. Therefore we are more than excited to continue our trip tomorrow.

The day ended beautifully with a double rainbow stretching across the lake and bats flitting across the water feeding on insects. We decided not to attend the outdoor movie as the majority of the audience hasn't even gotten their training wheels off.

We look forward to Kelowna and Vernon during tomorrow's ride even though we've passed through them already for the bike repairs. Also, we will most likely go to Tim Hortons.

Day 5 - Bromley Rock Provincial Park to Okanagan Lake

Distance: 119.1 km
Average speed: 17.4 km/h
Riding time: 6 hours 50 minutes
Campground: Okanagan Lake Provincial Park South
Cumulative distance: 435.3 km

We rode over one hundred kilometres in one day! It was our longest day yet but it was a very pleasant ride. There was steady downhill until ten o'clock when a headwind slowed us down. Felix took the brunt of it for most of the hour while we coasted behind in his wake.

Rob constantly needs to go to the bathroom. The first few days he would discretely go behind some bushes where his kids couldn't see him. But as time goes on he has become more confident. Today he decided to pee in the bushes in front of someone's house. The man came out and yelled at him to stop peeing in his bushes. Rob got scared, though he tried to act cool when the man told him it was a joke. Hopefully now Rob will be a bit more cautious about where he chooses to relieve himself.

Now onto the bad news. In the long downhill into Penticton Felix discovered that his back brakes weren't working. We made it into town safely but as we were enjoying some drinks at Tim Hortons we discovered that his front brakes weren't working either. We tried calling Marie-France so she could pick up his bike but she didn't answer so we were left with no other choice but to ride to our campsite. Since it was mostly flat and uphill we weren't too concerned. We were forced to walk all the downhills but we made it safely.

In the evening we drove the bike into Kelowna so it could be repaired at the MEC there. The mechanic won't be there until tomorrow morning at ten so we'll have to wait and see what will happen. But we were disappointed because he had disc brakes which apparently are supposed to be better than the calliper brakes that Rob and Josianne have.

That night we had heavy rain as well as strong storms. We also had some during the day but it has kept the air temperature down to twenty five degrees or less. This makes it four out five days that have been raining which is sad.

Day 4 - Manning Park to Bromley Rock Provincial Park

Distance: 80.3 km
Average speed: 18.6 km/h
Riding time: 4 hours 18 minutes
Campground: Bromley Rock Provincial Park
Cumulative distance: 316.2 km

We were disappointed with the state of the shoulder for most of the ride today. Either it was cracked or covered in stones. If it was even there. Therefore we were forced to encroach on the road. But for the most part the cars were generous in giving us as much room as they could, even crossing over the yellow line.

As we got within ten kilometres of Princeton the shoulder became reliable once more but there was a slight drizzle that hounded us instead. We descended a five kilometre hill and by the end of it our fingers were sore from having applied the brakes for so long. It should have been fun, watching all the effort we put into climbing these last few days quickly slip away, but with the inconsistent shoulder and wet conditions we had to stay alert.

Rob says that if he gets more than ten days of rain he will be disappointed in our trip so we have seven more days of bad weather before that happens. But he will probably regret cursing the rain when we reach the hot sun of the prairies.

We had a warm welcome in Princeton (where Rob became very distraught when he learned that they had no Tim Hortons there) when we took our lunch break. We spoke to a woman who is a host for the Warm Shower Organization which provides shelter for people on bike tours. We also met a man who wished he could be doing the same thing.

Our campsite is by the Similkameen River which is calmer and deeper than yesterday's. It was a First Nations fishing site in the past. We are going to head down to the beach later today but we aren't too keen on swimming because the weather is still overcast with eminent rain.

Boku decided to go into the water though, and he suffered by shivering all evening. Last night we made too much rice so Rob poured the whole lot of it in Boku's bowl. He hasn't touched it since. To try and ease his discomfort Josianne wrapped him in his blanket and even hand fed him some of his kibble. What a big baby.

We look forward to finally getting to the Okanagan tomorrow.

Day 3 - Hope to Manning Park

Distance: 77.4 km
Average speed: 13.6 km/h
Riding time: 5 hours and 41 seconds
Campground: Mule Deer
Cumulative distance: 235.9 km

Our manual has said that this is the hardest day of the entire trip and once it has been completed we can be confident in being physically and mentally strong enough to make it through the rest of the way. Which is why Josianne chose to put all of her toiletries in the support vehicle for this one.

Good news, we did it! And with the sun out from behind the clouds for once.

Though it demanded our blood, sweat and tears we completed the 1300 m elevation climb. There were two major climbs of about fifteen kilometres separated by a flat section. Though both were gruelling, we found the first to be the hardest. This could be because we were used to hills by that point or we were numb to the pain.

Every downhill was met with relief because it gave us a break. Even a flat became a break. And a slight uphill. Basically anytime our thighs weren't burning was a break.

When we finally reached the summit of Allison Pass all there was was a measly little sign the size of a speed limit sign to greet us. But the kilometres of downhill that followed more than made up for it, as well as our campsite by the river.

The one thing we learned is that we need to eat more. That is always a good thing, right? PB&J bagels and power bars are t enough to fuel us during our seven hour bike ride.

We look forward to more downhills tomorrow though it means all our hard work is disappearing.

Day 2 - Mission to Hope

Distance: 91.1 km
Average speed: 17.7 km/h
Riding time: 5 hours 9 minutes
Campground: Coquihalla
Cumulative distance: 158.9 km

Most of our journey was done under a steady drizzle. Rob even entertained the hope of finding a motel or cabin to sleep in if the rain persisted but it gradually lightened as the day progressed to low clouds. As of yet we haven't gotten any rain at our campground.

Rob believes this trip is beginning to resemble episodes from Surviver because we are being tested to the best of our abilities. So, who will be the first to drop out? We are dreading the climb to Allison Pass which is said to have minimum 17 km uphill.

We spent a lot of the day travelling through farm country, spending our time counting the cows and the horses. All the corn fields reminded Josianne of Stephen King horror novels. We also had dogs running down the lane, and much to Boku's disappointment he was stuck in the car.

This campground is run much like a provincial park and we were all excited to take advantage of the showers. Though much of the late afternoon was spent napping, we look forward to marshmallows tonight. The bright side to constant rain is that there is little threat of forest fires.

Day 1 - Lynn Valley to Mission

Distance: 67.8 km
Riding time: 3 hours 55 min
Average speed: 17.3 km/h
Campground: Sun Valley Trout Park

Vancouver did not let us leave easily. Around eleven o'clock it began to rain, so hard that we had to seek shelter under some trees to wait out the worst of it. Eventually we had to get back out into it. The streets had been turned into small rivers and for the most part we found ourselves going upstream.

We took our first stop at Tim Hortons to warm up with soup. Unfortunately we had to head back into the rain which only cleared up after another half an hour. For the most part the route was flat. Sadly, we encountered three bananas along the side of the road.

Upon arrival at camp there were blue skies so we are letting everything air dry.

Rob is most excited about the rec room which according to him looks like someone's ideal basement. It has a pool table, a ping pong table, a shuffle board table, and a foosball. Not to mention a large screen TV. The hosts have invited us to sleep on the couches inside of the weather gets really bad during the night.

Day -1

It's the eve of our bike trip and we still haven't finished packing. Rob insists on not forgetting a fribee which he only remembered after Felix told him. We will each have two changes of riding clothes to wear on alternate days to prevent chaffing.

Rob, the designate handyman, will be pumping the tires to 70 psi because it prevents punctures. We have a pressure gage to check the tires every day because the load we are carrying is heavy. But we won't be carrying the full load until after Calgary because the support vehicle will be able to aid us. This allows us to bring optional clothing and footwear so we can test out what will be most comfortable.

We celebrated our send off with Chineese food, champagne, YouTube (only Josianne will miss it), and Oma. Bon voyage!

PS It doesn't appear we can add photos at this point.