Day 14: 67 Km-Highway Construction--is that really the best use of our tax dollars?

Out of Golden and off to Field today!

Started the day off right with a great big hill to get our muscles warmed up! Windy-narrow-cliffside roads welcomed us when we got to the top and slowing down to let semi's pass before sharp turns was a necessity.

Further along we cycled through kilometres of highway construction. We have been noticing highway improvement signs throughout BC with huge sums of money attached to them. Some read "Keeping Canada's Economy Moving". Clearly those who are spending our tax dollars haven't got a clue about how to keep Canada's economy moving in perpetuity. Wishing we were seeing high speed passenger and cargo rail lines being laid down rather than stinky black asphalt. Just another reminder of why we do what we do and why we're going where we're going ;)

Into Yoho National Park, again the Mountain Pine Beetle has really shown up in full force. Stretches of grey trees creep up the Rockies, we are interested to see how much of the infestation has gotten over the mountains and into Alberta. Have also seen a sign reading "Stop the Mountain Pine Beetle, it is unlawful to bring pinewood with bark into Alberta".

Had yet another lunch of wraps and hummus, this time next to the Kicking Horse River. Spent some extra time getting our feet wet, finding smooth round stones in the river and laying in the grass before tackling the last leg of a hot day.

Made it the quaint little town of Field, population approx 200-300. All the houses have their own character and many of them have been converted to guesthouses for the many tourists that come through this area. Stopped at the only store/cafe/liquorstore/bar in town for a cold drink before heading off to the Kicking Horse Campground. Spent the evening playing frisbee surrounded by mountain peaks.....and RV's ;)

Day 13: 92 km-Rogers Pass! 1331 metres...

Woke up bright and early like usual but feeling substantially soggier then normal due to a giant rainstorm during the night. Cold and damp we got dressed and packed up eager to hit the road and get the legs pumping and blood flowing in order to warm up! We headed up up up towards Roger's pass. We had camped about 7km before the pass so that meant about 7km of uphill before us. Luckily the grade wasn't too bad and we had nice wide shoulders to pedal on. Loving the granny gear these days, slowly but steadily we went up the mountain. The morning was clear and we had lots of opportunities for great pictures of the mountains!

Heading down from the pass was a fast and easy ride except for the tunnels, a cyclists worst night mare! The first tunnel we encountered had no lights and was completely dark inside a.k.a TERRIFYING! Blindly pedaling through the tunnel and hoping for no potholes or other unforseen obstacles in our path was one of the scarier moments of the day. We all made it through or around in the case of Mary, Jon and Emma. I was feeling really good that morning and was keeping a fairly fast pace so I lost sight of the rest of the group after a while, I decided to stop and wait for them to catch up but after waiting for about 15 minutes and still no sign I continued on to the meet point with the car. I thought it was odd that they hadn't arrived but wasn't particularly concerned. A couple km later I found the support vehicle on the side of the road and JD and I proceeded to wait another 45 minutes for the rest of the group. By this point we were a little concerned and JD was about to hop on her bike and look for everyone when another cyclist came into view. We spoke with him and found out that Nod and Laurie were waiting at the bottome of the hill and he had passed the other 3 at the tunnels of which they were going around as opposed to through. What a relief to hear everyone was ok and they were just slow because bushwacking around the tunnels is substantially slower then buzzing through them!

After a lunch we still had 35km to go and I was back in the zone pedalling along to the time of my music! Bridges were the next obstacle we had to overcome, a race between us and the semis to get over the bridges, constantly looking over our shoulder to see whether we or not we were about to be caught! Bridges are a constant fear on this trip because you always lose your shoulder and have to ride in the lane with vehicles and depending on how patient they are they might try to pass us really close next to us!

Getting into Golden felt good, had a nice stretch on the grass while waiting for everyone else to trickle into town. We all rode through town together towards the church where we were making dinner. After a delicious Thai curry we were picked up by our billets for a good night's sleep in a real bed. Nod and I got to stay with a wonderful couple who live on the outskirts of town and have been there for the past 50 years so they had some great stories to tell us about what things used to be like when they were raising their children, as well as great stories about bears in their yard! We each had our own bedrooms that night and again big beds to ourselves, what a luxury! A much needed sleep followed shortly!

Day 12: Into the Mountains!

agh, forgot to record the kilometres for this one but I think it was about 55 !?

Said goodbye to Will and Kesten this morning and headed for the hills leaving revelstoke--off to Glacier National Park!

Gearing down real low and keeping a high cadence are key. This does mean that we chug along quite slowly---thoughts of stephen harper at the top of the hill always help to keep me going! Oh ya, and plenty of GORP (good ol' raisins and peanuts) stops are helping out. We are so impressed with Emma who is 12 years old and will be cycling with us all the way to Canmore! What a trooper!

Our main obstacle today was another set of tunnels! we stop for a roadside picnic lunch with a stunning view before we embark into the first one. Wraps, hummus and veggies are a standard and delicious cycling diet.

These tunnels actually have enough space for us to walk our bikes along the outside! the first and third tunnels were a breeze, the second--not so much. Given that these are Avalanche tunnels, the second one had snow/drainage trenches along the outside which we had the challenge of hawling ourselves and our bikes over! thank goodness John is with us, we may not have made it across without his help!

Made it to camp just before the rains began, had a delicious dinner of pasta with TVP (textured vegetable protein), marshmallows over the fire, and conversations of that constantly challenging question "How can we better engage the public in taking action on climate change?" as usual, the answer still remains quite foggy.

Another great day finished, the scenery has been absolutely stunning--there is nothing like being surrounded by mountains, waterfalls, rivers, creeks, glaciers, green forests and great people all day. Loving it.

Day 11: 72 Km-

Well, today was perhaps the greatest day yet although it seems we keep saying that--things just keep getting better as we move along! The weather was perfect, 9 of us out on the road, mostly flat and downhill, creek running along beside us, first glimpse of snow capped Rockies--topped off with a welcome potluck in Revelstoke!

I wouldnt say 100% great though, there were a couple scary and angry moments. Bridges along this stretch are less than ideal, tiny shoulders with deadly drainage grates along them. I was crossing a bridge and had checked my rearview to see what i thought was a break in traffic from the rear. Halfway across the bridge, with oncoming traffic, all of a sudden a huge logging truck was RIGHT beside me with its wind making me shake as I tried to avoid both slipping under and falling into a drainage grate dip. I made it to the other side alive. A little shaken up and a couple deep breaths later I pedalled on. I was pretty angry though, and then a huge semi full of squeeling and squished pigs went by which really topped things off. Martina has a story of her own---our first experience so far with things being thrown from cars. We think it was either a cherry or a strawberry...hard to say given the speed we were travelling at but it definitely came from a large black truck with Alberta plates..hhhm, Alberta might be an interesting leg of the journey. Our friend Will who was riding ahead also got a cherry thrown at him. AND, while stopped in a construction zone, Martina got stuck in her clip pedals and toppled over. As i tried to help her i also toppled over with my bike, a bit of a bike pile up ;)

Following all of this, especially the incident with the logging truck, I have really realized just how big of a commitment this trip is. I am setting intentions of safety and momentumas we continue onward---embarking into the Rockies tomorrow!

So that about finishes up with all the bad news of the day. Overall, the weather, scenery and great people really made today "perhaps the greatest day yet". A big thanks to all the lovely folks in Revelstoke that have put us up and shared their potluck with us! Sad to say that Will and Kesten will be heading back to Kamloops tomorrow, but there is great hope that they will again turn up further down the road somewhere---likely Regina!

Rumours of headwinds tomorrow, dreaming of taildwinds tonight.

Day 10: 96 Km-Do you guys ever drool on long downhills?-Kesten

A tough day towards the end but full of laughs none the less. The title of this blog is one of many hilarious moments we have had since we met our good friend and dedicated cyclist, Kesten, in Kamloops. I'm not sure if anyone else other than him actually does drool on long downhills, maybe that is something yet to be discovered for us.

We left Golden Ears farm in Chase this morning following an early morning sweat lodge with Vilodja where we set our intention for the trip and were blessed with prayers of safety and momentum for this journey. This was my first sweat lodge and i was a bit overwhelmed by the intensity of the heat, a jump in the river was the perfect cure! We left with 8 this morning and are now 6; myself, Martina, J.D, Laurie, Will and Kesten.

The first 60km of todays ride were fantastic, the last 30 were a bit gruelling. After a great swim in Canoe, we were all feeling a bit fatigued as we pedalled up long hills. About 20 km outside of sicamous we were faced with an intense headwind (note the trees in the photo below), tiny shoulders, winding road and barrelling semis--not the best way to end the day! at last, we made it safe and sound!

We have enjoyed our evening; pasta for dinner, cool breezes, goopy chocolate almonds, Kesten cycling around in his token Fairmont bath robe and slippers, reciprocal massages, and now---bedtime!

Day 9 - 68km The most delicious strawberries in the world

Yesterday morning came a little to early for my liking since we had been out at a show at the loft the night before and stayed out way past our regular bedtime of nightfall. Luckily the wafting scent of pancakes drew me out of bed in time to get going for the farmer's market. We zoomed down the hills of Kamloops one last time and headed for the local farmer's market for our send-off. The CFJC news team came down to do a quick interview which was great, our camera girl was really into the campaign and wanted to follow our progress and do a story on us until she found out we weren't local Kamloops girls, I think that probably burst both of our bubbles when we realized it wouldn't work out. We did a little outreach at the farmer's market, it's so much easier when we are wearing out superhero costumes because everyone is curious and wants to talk to us! We also took advantage of all the great local, organic produce and stocked up on food for lunch! We set off just before 10am with 4 new riders and for the first time on the journey the guys out numbered the girls! We had another quick radio interview on the street on the way out of town and then we were on our way.

We travelled along a great back road that followed the river's path and had next to no traffic so were able to ride along socially 2 or 3 wide. Had a couple stops for swimming in the river and before we crossed the river to the highway we stopped for lunch beside the river. We had the most killer spread of fresh fruit, veggies and bread including the MOST DELICIOUS strawberries I have ever tasted! Given to us for free courtesy of Golden Ears Farm - thank you, thank you, thank you!

The second half of the ride was a little less pleasant since I had gorged myself at lunch and my shorts were unpleasantly tight and also we were facing a headwind and riding on the highway. Luckily we had covered most of the distance before lunch so the ride wasn't too long and there was a nice cool river waiting to be jumped in (or slowly waded into in my case cuz i'm a chicken) at the end of the day! We spent the night camping at the Golden Ears Farm which is an organic co-op run by a very diverse and funky group of people. We were given a tour of the farm including the opportunity to pick (and eat) raspberries off of the cane and to have some more of the uber delicious strawberries. That night we ate dinner with the group, a delicious curry made with squash from the garden, and fresh custard rhubarb pie for desert! We finished the night off with a sing-a-long campfire and then crawled into our beds for a good sound sleep! Quite possibly the best day of the trip so far! Can you tell I really like food and that plays a huge factor in good vs bad days?

Cheers! Martina

Day 6: 89 Km-Green-->Red-->Grey, BC's Forests in Decay

Lytton to Cache Creek. Leaving the town where two rivers meet, the Thompson and the Fraser, we head for Cache Creek.




The tailwinds are with us as we zip along past forests that have turned from green, to red, to grey. The Mountain Pine Beetle, one of BC's most apparent and devastating climate impacts is an example of ecosystem failure and one of the many climate change feedback loops. These forests which once were a carbon sink have now become a carbon source as the decaying wood rots and produces carbon emissions which further exacerbate the crisis. Scientists estimate that between 2000 and 2020, 990 megatons of carbon will be released into the atmosphere (five times more than Canada's annual emissions from transportation). More information.

Back to the subject on landfills and waste removal, as we descended into Cache Creek, we noticed quite a stench, to our left was a towering hillside with birds and plastic bags fluttering around the peak. This is the landfill where all of Vancouver's waste arrives in unmarked semi's---half a million tons per year! Contaminants have been found in Cache Creeks water due to this garbage disposal system. Hey Vancouver, reduce your waste and stop dumping it on others! The photos below are of an interesting and, I believe, sarcastic billboard regarding this subject.....