DAY 2: MISSION TO HOPE, 75 KM

3 June 2007

I woke up this morning feeling less sore than I expected. Although we got up at 6AM, we didn't leave the camp site till 9--packing up our stuff took a while!--and then we still had to go grocery shopping. So we probably hit the road around 10. The first part of our day, a 50K ride to a small town called Agassiz, was challenging, to say the least. There was definitely one climb for which my lowest gear just barely sufficed. But we made it in good time, and felt like we deserved a long lunch break in the park. The break was refreshing, and gave us the energy to finish the final 35K of our day in only about two hours, including our short water breaks. This final stretch was the most satistying yet. It was mostly flat, and absolutely gorgeous. I was in my zone, and managed to conquer some climbs with relative ease. We arrived at our camp site in Hope at 4:40, but it was completely deserted. We took the advice of a local who told us that it was a sketchy spot, and pitched our tent at a much nicer site nearby.

Hope is completely surrounded by mountains. Maybe that's just the way it is in BC, but I just can't get used to how amazing it is to see mountains everywhere you look. We went for a dip in a freezing cold spring from the mountain runoff. It was so refreshing after such a hot, sticky day. We were absolutely beat, so we've decided that tomorrow will be our first day off.