5 June 2007
I didn't even have the energy to write in my journal on this day--that's how tired I was. Dan and I woke up at 5:00 and left by 7:30. For some reason--perhaps having had a day off, or the cool, cloudy weather--we had ridiculous amounts of energy. And we needed it. What we thought were hills before was really nothing but flat land with a bit of a grade. Today we really started heading into the mountains, and we felt it. It's amazing what your body can do if you put it to the test! It was just up and down, all day long. And there were tunnels! These were a bit scary because trucks and cars go through them, and there's always a chance you'll get hit, so we basically sped through them as quickly as possible. We made it through, safe and sound, and were rather proud of ourselves.
We were making good time, and hit a town called Boston Bar about 61 km away at around 11:30. We decided not to stop for lunch quite yet, since we were still feeling energetic. But shortly afterward, it started to rain, and my body also just began to ache. It wasn't just the legs: my arms, shoulders, neck and lower back were feeling it as well. At one point my hand just cramped up and I almost couldn't shift my gears.
The thing about hills is that it's not just the climbs that are challenging; the descents can kill you as well. You really have to squeeze your brakes sometimes, while still trying to avoid getting hit by a truck. With the wind and the rain and the traffic and all the gear, my bike often felt wobbly--not a nice feeling.
After a particularly long climb--the Jackass Mountain pass--we realized that we rally should have stopped in Boston Bar for lunch. By this point, we had completed nearly 90 km in about 7 hours, and we were beat. Luckily, we stumbled upon a restaurant called Kanaka Bar Cafe run by a friendly Chinese couple. It was so nice to be out of the rain, and we sat there for a good hour and a half digesting our food. Going back out into the rain was painful and cold.
By 6:00 we had finally arrived at our campground, an RV park about 12 km west of Spence's Bridge. It was definitely not designed for tents, and also deserted. We were dead tired by this point, but decided to carry on to Spence's Bridge anyway, in search of some nicer accommodation. We found just what we were looking for: the Spence's Bridge Inn, a clean, nice, homey place run by a very friendly couple. We were absolutely exhausted, having cycled 140 km in about 12 hours, through the mountains, so we decided to splurge on a room. We had the best meals, showers and sleeps of our lives that night. Hooray for dryness and warmth!
I didn't even have the energy to write in my journal on this day--that's how tired I was. Dan and I woke up at 5:00 and left by 7:30. For some reason--perhaps having had a day off, or the cool, cloudy weather--we had ridiculous amounts of energy. And we needed it. What we thought were hills before was really nothing but flat land with a bit of a grade. Today we really started heading into the mountains, and we felt it. It's amazing what your body can do if you put it to the test! It was just up and down, all day long. And there were tunnels! These were a bit scary because trucks and cars go through them, and there's always a chance you'll get hit, so we basically sped through them as quickly as possible. We made it through, safe and sound, and were rather proud of ourselves.
We were making good time, and hit a town called Boston Bar about 61 km away at around 11:30. We decided not to stop for lunch quite yet, since we were still feeling energetic. But shortly afterward, it started to rain, and my body also just began to ache. It wasn't just the legs: my arms, shoulders, neck and lower back were feeling it as well. At one point my hand just cramped up and I almost couldn't shift my gears.
The thing about hills is that it's not just the climbs that are challenging; the descents can kill you as well. You really have to squeeze your brakes sometimes, while still trying to avoid getting hit by a truck. With the wind and the rain and the traffic and all the gear, my bike often felt wobbly--not a nice feeling.
After a particularly long climb--the Jackass Mountain pass--we realized that we rally should have stopped in Boston Bar for lunch. By this point, we had completed nearly 90 km in about 7 hours, and we were beat. Luckily, we stumbled upon a restaurant called Kanaka Bar Cafe run by a friendly Chinese couple. It was so nice to be out of the rain, and we sat there for a good hour and a half digesting our food. Going back out into the rain was painful and cold.
By 6:00 we had finally arrived at our campground, an RV park about 12 km west of Spence's Bridge. It was definitely not designed for tents, and also deserted. We were dead tired by this point, but decided to carry on to Spence's Bridge anyway, in search of some nicer accommodation. We found just what we were looking for: the Spence's Bridge Inn, a clean, nice, homey place run by a very friendly couple. We were absolutely exhausted, having cycled 140 km in about 12 hours, through the mountains, so we decided to splurge on a room. We had the best meals, showers and sleeps of our lives that night. Hooray for dryness and warmth!
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