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Cycling America Adventure of Yvonne

Page 8: July 25 - July 31

Tuesday July 25 Canyon Hot Springs - Revelstoke
A day of miscalculations. After an early rise and extended hospitality by being given pancakes and scrambled home-laid eggs for breakfast, I stayed for a loooong time around the pool. Chatted with some very interesting people again, one of whom was an entertainer on a cruiseship, and who had 4 months off each year and was living a very happy life. These jobs really exist! The miscalculation was in the fact that I decided to stay and type in some of the diary notes. When I was almost finished , a thunderstorm broke loose at 3 pm. An hour and a few hailstorms later, I left nonetheless. It was a vain hope, since it kept raining. After just having recovered from a bad cold, and not having a good rain coat, I decided to cut it short by stopping in Revelstoke. Here I met that Dutch guy again, whom I had met on the trip to Mosquito Lake! He had cycled from Alaska to here in just a month and was wondering what to do now he was so fast, that he'd probably be in Mexico by August instead of October. No wonder, he didn't stop much for the sights. Remco said I hadn't missed much in Alaska as the mosquitoes were too irritating to really enjoy the scenery.

Wednesday July 26 Revelstoke - Sicamous - Salmon Arm
Finally a longish cycling day, despite the late start at 1330 h. I was delayed in a major way by the slooow but free internet connection, and in a minor way by meeting 6 across-Canada cyclists. They were 6 females of just 20 years. They didn't carry gear themselves, but had a SUV while one of them would ride that vehicle every sixth day. It was fun to meet other female cyclists, but it was obvious what the disadvantage is of a group ride. Contacts with the outer world are diminished. The supporters for the last 2 weeks (they were now all cycling) seemed to be more interested in my own trip than they were. OTOH, they were still very much enjoying the trip, which is good. They had averaged over 130K/day and were riding roadbikes. Today was a good day, I was feeling strong and carried on till late in the evening till it got too dark to see how the quality of the shoulder was. I stopped in Salmon Arm and fearing another thunderstorm, I hid under the awning of a local church. Since there were people around, I asked permission, and was even given access to the restroom and showers in the adjacent school!

Thursday July 27 Salmon Arm - Kamloops.
Stupid me! I thought the Rocky Mts 1200 would start at 2200 hrs on this day. I hitch-hiked into Kamloops from about 15 km out of S.A. and couldn't find anybody who was responsible for the ride or who knew anything about it. Not even the police knew, when Anne Neave, a local esperantist called them. At first I thought: a very good idea, but then I thought 'don't wake up sleeping wolves/dogs' when police here would be as ignorant about safety aspects of riding on shoulders' as they were around Yoho Valley.
Friday July 28 Kamloops
I had a good time with the Neaves who are a travel-happy family as the husband is a travel agent. They had been on a cruise around Australia two years ago, and the kids of 9 and 11 (then 2 years younger) had been taken from school and given assignments for that period. Anne had been a teacher herself so they even had learnt more than in school. These children, Heather and Fraser are 2 very bright kids! The rest of the day was spent with Margaret Turley, a formerly avid cyclist, who had crossed Canada on a loaded tour, also averaging 130K/day! Unfortunately she had had to retire from work at an early age, because she had been hit by several strokes which makes her more forgetful and tired. We now found out where everybody was.

Saturday July 29 Kamloops
Another day of not doing much. Picking up the pictures, writing some more mails, and getting to the finish. The first ones were finishing now. Ken Bonner already came in at noon and had left already. He had finished within 55 hrs with no sleep. The organizer had had a hard time in getting the controls open in time! The second finisher was even more impressive, just 2 hrs later. A young Munich gentleman, who did his second 1200 K ride. He even had slept 6 full hours! A few more people came in that evening, but since I hadn't been able to find my keys immediately, I went back with Margaret.
Sunday, July 30 Kamloops
It was excited to go back and see how many had finished. At 10 am , most had already come in actually. Among whom a young guy from Seattle called Kendall Demaree who had been harassed a few times by the same car driver on the last leg by being pushed off the road 4 times over! Very scary! Nobody had liked the Field-Golden part, especially not at night with car drivers not dimming their lights. Jack Eason was among the participants too! He said he had enjoyed the Yoho Valley and the Roger's Pass most, since he didn't care for those dirty glaciers. It was apparent that they hadn't seen the beautiful falls and lakes. In the afternoon, a very nice swimming pool party started on top of rose Hill. Just 2 cyclists went uphill on the bike. Not a surprise, as it goes on for several Ks with a grade of over 15% and I bet over 20% in parts. Even I went uphill in a car, also because I had waited for the 'laterne rouge' and gone out 10 K to catch up with him. I just had the chance to ask whether he was Brian, and even though I'd already turned around, couldn't catch up with him anymore while riding over 30 km/hr. That guy was really hammering now! The place was full of remarkable but ordinary looking people. The guy from San Diego who hadn't washed throughout the ride, as he wanted to smell like a cyclist and have space in the restaurant, and who had cycled uphill as he 'hadn't had enough of a workout yet as he hadn't used his granny at all on the ride'. Or the Danish guy who was a pub owner and yet had cycled 4 BIG rides last year, a 2000 K ride in Scandinavia, this ride and he would be doing BMB in August. He was the one who had slept most: 15 hours. He made the 2000K ride sound like a picknick in the park! Of course there was a lot of talking about bikes and rides , esp. Paris-Brest of course. Went home slightly tired but satisfied, and clocked the highest max sofar, even with a lot of braking: 70 K/hr.

Monday July 31 Calgary
Due to romantic reasons, I'm trying to be in Toronto by coming weekend, so I've hitch-hiked yesterday and tonight to Calgary. I decided I just have to come back and cycle in the southern region of BC.

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Tuesday July 25 Canyon Hot Springs - Revelstoke A day of miscalculations. After an early rise and extended hospitality by being given pancakes and scrambled home-laid eggs for breakfast, I stayed for a loooong time around the pool. Chatted with some very interesting people again, one of whom was an entertainer on a cruiseship, and who had 4 months off each year and was living a very happy life. These jobs really exist! The miscalculation was in the fact that I decided to stay and type in some of the diary notes. When I was almost finished , a thunderstorm broke loose at 3 pm. An hour and a few hailstorms later, I left nonetheless. It was a vain hope, since it kept raining. After just having recovered from a bad cold, and not having a good rain coat, I decided to cut it short by stopping in Revelstoke. Here I met that Dutch guy again, whom I had met on the trip to Mosquito Lake! He had cycled from Alaska to here in just a month and was wondering what to do now he was so fast, that he'd probably be in Mexico by August instead of October. No wonder, he didn't stop much for the sights. Remco said I hadn't missed much in Alaska as the mosquitoes were too irritating to really enjoy the scenery.

	Wednesday July 26 Revelstoke - Sicamous - Salmon Arm Finally a longish cycling day, despite the late start at 1330 h. I was delayed in a major way by the slooow but free internet connection, and in a minor way by meeting 6 across-Canada cyclists. They were 6 females of just 20 years. They didn't carry gear themselves, but had a SUV while one of them would ride that vehicle every sixth day. It was fun to meet other female cyclists, but it was obvious what the disadvantage is of a group ride. Contacts with the outer world are diminished. The supporters for the last 2 weeks (they were now all cycling) seemed to be more interested in my own trip than they were. OTOH, they were still very much enjoying the trip, which is good. They had averaged over 130K/day and were riding roadbikes. Today was a good day, I was feeling strong and carried on till late in the evening till it got too dark to see how the quality of the shoulder was. I stopped in Salmon Arm and fearing another thunderstorm, I hid under the awning of a local church. Since there were people around, I asked permission, and was even given access to the restroom and showers in the adjacent school!

Thursday July 27 Salmon Arm - Kamloops. Stupid me! I thought the Rocky Mts 1200 would start at 2200 hrs on this day. I hitch-hiked into Kamloops from about 15 km out of S.A. and couldn't find anybody who was responsible for the ride or who knew anything about it. Not even the police knew, when Anne Neave, a local esperantist called them. At first I thought: a very good idea, but then I thought 'don't wake up sleeping wolves/dogs' when police here would be as ignorant about safety aspects of riding on shoulders' as they were around Yoho Valley. Friday July 28 Kamloops I had a good time with the Neaves who are a travel-happy family as the husband is a travel agent. They had been on a cruise around Australia two years ago, and the kids of 9 and 11 (then 2 years younger) had been taken from school and given assignments for that period. Anne had been a teacher herself so they even had learnt more than in school. These children, Heather and Fraser are 2 very bright kids! The rest of the day was spent with Margaret Turley, a formerly avid cyclist, who had crossed Canada on a loaded tour, also averaging 130K/day! Unfortunately she had had to retire from work at an early age, because she had been hit by several strokes which makes her more forgetful and tired. We now found out where everybody was.

	Saturday July 29 Kamloops Another day of not doing much. Picking up the pictures, writing some more mails, and getting to the finish. The first ones were finishing now. Ken Bonner already came in at noon and had left already. He had finished within 55 hrs with no sleep. The organizer had had a hard time in getting the controls open in time! The second finisher was even more impressive, just 2 hrs later. A young Munich gentleman, who did his second 1200 K ride. He even had slept 6 full hours! A few more people came in that evening, but since I hadn't been able to find my keys immediately, I went back with Margaret. Sunday, July 30 Kamloops It was excited to go back and see how many had finished. At 10 am , most had already come in actually. Among whom a young guy from Seattle called Kendall Demaree who had been harassed a few times by the same car driver on the last leg by being pushed off the road 4 times over! Very scary! Nobody had liked the Field-Golden part, especially not at night with car drivers not dimming their lights. Jack Eason was among the participants too! He said he had enjoyed the Yoho Valley and the Roger's Pass most, since he didn't care for those dirty glaciers. It was apparent that they hadn't seen the beautiful falls and lakes. In the afternoon, a very nice swimming pool party started on top of rose Hill. Just 2 cyclists went uphill on the bike. Not a surprise, as it goes on for several Ks with a grade of over 15% and I bet over 20% in parts. Even I went uphill in a car, also because I had waited for the 'laterne rouge' and gone out 10 K to catch up with him. I just had the chance to ask whether he was Brian, and even though I'd already turned around, couldn't catch up with him anymore while riding over 30 km/hr. That guy was really hammering now! The place was full of remarkable but ordinary looking people. The guy from San Diego who hadn't washed throughout the ride, as he wanted to smell like a cyclist and have space in the restaurant, and who had cycled uphill as he 'hadn't had enough of a workout yet as he hadn't used his granny at all on the ride'. Or the Danish guy who was a pub owner and yet had cycled 4 BIG rides last year, a 2000 K ride in Scandinavia, this ride and he would be doing BMB in August. He was the one who had slept most: 15 hours. He made the 2000K ride sound like a picknick in the park! Of course there was a lot of talking about bikes and rides , esp. Paris-Brest of course. Went home slightly tired but satisfied, and clocked the highest max sofar, even with a lot of braking: 70 K/hr.

Monday July 31 Calgary Due to romantic reasons, I'm trying to be in Toronto by coming weekend, so I've hitch-hiked yesterday and tonight to Calgary. I decided I just have to come back and cycle in the southern region of BC.