Day 8: Lake Louise to Canmore

Distance: 99km

Total distance: 955km

Average speed: 24.7km/h

Weather: sunny

Last night at the bonfire outside the hostel I met a super nice lady from the Netherlands who was travelling through western Canada. We chatted until it got dark (not until almost 10pm here!) and when I told her I was going to be in Amsterdam in August, she immediately gave me her phone number and said I had to contact her when I'm there. She even offered to take me travelling through Europe! I didn't know how to return the favour but I told her everything I knew about Vancouver (including all the good places to eat) in for when she returns there in two weeks. 

This morning I went up the steep 4k to Lake Louise sans bags, making it the highest place that my bike has ever taken me. It was still quite wintery up there, and the trickiest part ended up being walking down the icy trail in cycling cleats. Although I have been here before, one does notknow how to appreciate things when you're 11, and plus the lake is still mostly frozen today, so this was a wonderfully refreshing experience. While walking part way around the lake, I witnessed an avalanche over the glacier! 

After coming down to the village and grabbing my bags, I got on the cyclist's paradise that is the Bow Valley Parkway heading for Banff. There is really no place like the Rockies and I think my eyes are about to explode with its sheer beauty. The road wound right alongside giant peaks (Castle Mountain, Storm Mountain...) and I ended up stopping so many times over the 55km to try to soak in everything. Even though it was net downhill, there were still a few little uphills thrown in for good measure, enough that I never really stopped pedaling. It was the most perfect morning to be riding and I waved to the many cyclists on their Saturday rides. 

Just before 2, I arrived in Banff, which has to be the coolest town in Canada. Biking and hiking trails everywhere surrounded by mountains so close that you can touch them. Immense hunger set in as soon as I stopped and I dashed into Cow's for a scoop of supposedly Canada's best ice cream. Afterwards I found Eddie's Burger Bar where I had my first elk burger. I strolled through some of the shops along Banff Avenue before finding a nice patch of shade alongside the Bow River where I took a short nap. It's a good thing that Katja, my host in Canmore, texted me that they were leaving at 6:20 to go see a show, or I would have never left Banff. I semi-sprinted along the Banff Legacy Trail, another cyclist heaven path, all the way to Canmore and arrived just as Katja and Yves were riding back from picking up wild rhubarb. It turns out that the show they are seeing is a puppet show based on a graphic novel featuring a DJ and classical strings quartet in Banff, and they  kindly asked if I wanted to come. Aside from the very interesting description, I couldn't pass up the chance to go to Banff again. So we all scrambled to take showers and then drove back along the highway to the Banff Centre for the 7 o' clock opening. The show was about a robot that falls in love with a woman who turns out to be the inventor of another robot that seeks to destroy him. Definitely a cool and different experience and I am so glad I came! Later we went to Maclab Bistro in another building on the Banff Centre grounds (I found out that it's actually an art school campus) for pizza and Katja and Yves told me all about their long bike trips through France and South America, which makes me want to plan for the next trip already!

Day 7: Golden to Lake Louise

Distance: 90km

Total distance: 856km

Average speed: 21.2km/h

Weather: cloudy with lots of sunny breaks :)

Greetings from Alberta and the highest community in Canada! It's crazy to think I've already been on the road for one week. After the big day yesterday I slept like a rock (only woke one time around 2am when the train which is right behind the hostel went by) until 8:30. Hiro was long gone so it was just the cats and I. I was in no rush to leave, making for a record late time on the road at almost 10:30 after eating a giant bowl of oatmeal plus a double egg cheese sandwich. A big breakfast can last me 4-5 hours allowing me to just snack throughout the day until dinner. Back on the highway I climbed up the Golden hill for a great view of the timber bridge across the Kicking Horse River. Some 20km or so later I got my first sightings of wildlife! There were three big horn sheep on this rocky patch by the side, staring at me as I stared back at them in awe. Soon enough I entered Yoho National Park, and for hours had my breath taken away by the unbelievable panorama as the mountains swallowed me. I didn't really even notice the climbing when I stopped at the Yoho Visitor Centre in Field at around 1200m. The next few kilometers to the summit (there was no sign, so I assume it is where the road started going down at the Great Divide Lodge) featured the Big Hill, spiral tunnels (the terrain was so steep they had to make the rail line spiral up the pass), and a white tailed deer who elegantly crossed the road. The lady at the visitor centre suggested I take the 1A into Lake Louise, so at the Lake Ohara turnoff I went over a barricade and pedaled along the peaceful but bumpy old road. There was still quite a bit of snow on the road and I had to walk my bike quite a few times over them. The lady had warned me about bears and sure enough I spotted multiple fresh droppings, so I started singing loudly. Just before the boundary of BC and Alberta, the road turned into all snow and I couldn't see the next bare patch. I was really sick of walking my bike so I made the decision to turn back and go along the main highway. The rest of the way was pretty uneventful, even the crossing into Alberta only had a closed toilet as a signal (while BC on the other side had a nice welcome sign). I came into Lake Louise a bit after 4, and was set on going up to the lake before dinner. I guess 7 straight days of biking, including up 3 mountain passes, eventually takes its toll on you, as I made not even 1km up the steep road before my legs wanted to stop. Lake Louise you and I have unfinished business and I will be back for you first thing in the morning! I rode back to the village and asked at the visitor centre where I could camp, as my Couchsurfing host had bailed last minute. It turns out that the tent camping sites aren't open yet for the season because the electric fence was broken. Lake Louise isn't really the place to wilderness camp with the many bears (also there really isn't any place to hide in the village) so that's how I ended up at the Lake Louise Alpine Centre Hostel, which is pretty grand as far as hostels go. It is quite the change from my normal solitude as the hostel had a large group of kids from a school or something. I made some dinner of jambalaya with vegetables and canned clams (excellent iron source!) and now I think I'm going to go for a walk along the river to stretch out my legs.

Day 6: Revelstoke to Golden

Distance: 160km

Total distance: 766km

Average speed: 20.3km/h

Weather: rain until the very end

Almost 8 hours in the saddle and I'm finally in Golden! After dinner last night I had a lot fun helping Ann Marie cook and bake for her family. She and her husband are also big endurance athletes and we had great conversations about trail running, mountains, and of course biking! I had wanted to get an earlier start this morning with the long distance to cover and the fact that I'd be losing an hour. Nonetheless the family still left long before I was ready and I wasn't on the road until 8:45. It was again a wet kind of day, which didn't let up until ~ 40km from Golden. Having conquered the Coquihalla I wasn't too scared of Rogers Pass. In actuality it was for the most part a gentle ascent (except for a section up from Albert Canyon, and the last 2km or so to the summit). However, it is much longer than the Coq at 70km. I wanted to make it all the way to the top in one go, and managed 64km before stopping to use the bathroom at one of the trailheads. Along the way were Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks; it really is too bad that everything was clouded over. 1km past the summit I went inside the Rogers Pass Discovery Centre for a peek. By then it was a torrential downpour and all the tourists dashing inside from their big buses thought I was insane. The first 5km or so down from there could possibly be one of the most thrilling (read scary) rides of my life. The roads were slick as ever as I barreled down what felt like 10% grade. In addition, I had to go through 5 tunnels (making a total of 8 counting the 3 on the way up), one of which was actually pretty dark and I couldn't see but definitely felt myself skidding on the sand in the shoulder. Thank god that's over! What's annoying was that I had to go up again for a bit after that crazy descent. Today was the first time that I felt really tired and tried to catch a free ride with gravity whenever I could. Passing the 35km to Golden sign when I thought it was only 20km or so to go was one of those moments. But then there was an exhilarating 4km long descent right after that brought me down to the Rocky Mountain trench which divides the Selkirks and Rockies, and there is nothing like biking right beside a row of snow capped mountains. Some time around 6:30 (on the new time, funny enough there wasn't any sign signaling a time zone transition and I only realized it from my phone), I rolled into Golden and went straight to Overwaitea's where I devoured a pretzel croissant and a pound of potato salad basically right outside the store. After some navigation issues, I found the Kicking Horse Hostel on Station Ave. Tanya, the owner, is awesome and lets bike tourists camp in the yard and use the facilities for free. Unfortunately she wasn't there, but I met Hiro from Japan who was looking after the place. He also works at the Kicking Horse Resort, and is planning his own bike trip across the country next summer! Tomorrow I have one last mountain pass enroute to Lake Louise. I can't believe BC is almost over, but Alberta here I come!

 

Day 5: Salmon Arm to Revelstoke

Distance: 104km

Total distance: 606km

Average speed: 22.6km/h

Weather: rain until the final stretch

After staying up until almost 12 watching The Bachlorette with the Frasers, I woke up this morning to some rain. I tried to wait it out and watched the French Open with Jim before he went to work. There was no sign of it subsiding and plus I was getting antsy, so eventually I tied plastic bags around my socks and loaded up my bike. Saying goodbye to the wonderful hosts I meet is always the hardest part. Riding in the rain actually wasn't that bad, fenders, which I have never had until recently, kept my butt, the most important part, dry. The liquid sunshine does require extra caution (especially around the windy corners) and makes me less want to stop. I didn't bother to take any extended time even for lunch and pushed through the rolling 100km (only one major climb up Eagle Pass) to Revelstoke, stopping only in Sicamous and the Last Spike at Cragellachie to look around and attempt to dry my gloves. A cool part about biking on a highway is that you have time to clearly read every roadside sign. Some of my favourites were the Enchanted Forest and Crazy Creek Resort. Somewhere around Three Valley Gap the rain stopped and a bit of the sun even came out. I got my first view of the magnificent Rockies in the last descent into Revelstoke and couldn't help but smile. 

I ran into Ann Marie as she and her son were leaving their house and she graciously said to go inside to have a shower. Sarah was suppose to host me here but she had a full house today so she put me up with her friend. I can't thank both of them enough!

Day 4: Kamloops to Salmon Arm

Distance: 125km

Total distance: 502km

Average speed: 25.1km/h

Weather: sunny the whole day!

One look inside Linda's house and there's no mistake how much enthusiasm she has for cycling, everything from leading women's rides to organizing tours to planning bike to work weeks. She is so perky and I really didn't want to leave so that I can hear more of her bike stories! Alas I said goodbye at 9:30 (I am really good at lazy starts now) and blasted down the giant hill that Kamloops sits on top of. After a start like that, everything below 30km/h feels super slow for the rest of the day. I merged onto the Trans Canada, my route basically until Ontario, on outskirts of Kamloops and watched in amazement as Kamloops Lake appeared and disappeared, and I slowly moved into the more lush Columbia-Okanagan district. Although it's definitely a lot busier than yesterday, there were still moments of calm when I could hear the crickets by the side. The first two hour or so of cycling each day always seems to feel the hardest, with my butt and right shoulder both hurting and me constantly staring at the bike computer hoping for time to go faster. Fortunately it always gets better after the first snack break, and today was no exception after I stopped to eat a banana in Pritchard Station. I rolled into Chase around 12:30 and decided to splurge on a not so healthy lunch of Monte Cristo sandwich, onion rings and corn chowder at the first cafe I came upon. Coming out of Chase there was a sign for mountain goats so I kept my eyes peeled but unfortunately no luck. The kind moment of the day came from a construction worker who held back the traffic for a few moments and let me go first across the one lane bridge that they were repairing. Around 24km from Salmon Arm, an older man also turned onto the highway on his bike and we ended up riding together along the Shuswap Lake to town. It turns out that he had biked across Canada east to west 30 years ago! I got to Salmon Arm around 4 and stopped at the visitor centre to ask where I could get a good dessert for my hosts. The girl pointed me to Shuswap Pie Company where I got a bumbleberry pie. I looked through the bookshop and bike store, and then hung out a bit on the wharf before biking up to Jim and Judi's place up the hill. Just by chance their daughter is also named Sheri and graduated from kinesiology at Uvic. She even went on exchange to Australia for a semester as well!

Day 3: Merritt to Kamloops

Distance: 107km

Total distance: 377km

Average speed: 25.4km/h

Weather: rain turning cloudy then sunny

Today is the most scenic and shortest day yet! With only 100km or so (it's funny how 100km is a "short" ride for me now) to Kamloops I took my time and still made it to city centre by 2:15. It helped that I had a tailwind most of the way! I stayed on Highway 5A, which is basically flat except for one ascent 19km from Kamloops and gorgeous as it weaves through the Nicola valley alongside many hills, farms and lakes. I was told that many trucks take this route to save fuel as it is flatter than Highway 5, but that really wasn't an issue for me and there were many stretches where no car would come by for 20min. About 24km from Merritt is Quilchena, which had a heritage hotel (unfortunately I arrived too early and the restaurant wasn't open yet) and little gift shop. I stopped to take a look and put on a jacket as it had started raining. The rain gradually stopped as I went around Nicola and then Stump Lake, eventually making way for sun when I finally put on my sunglasses for the first time on the trip! One thought that kept going through my mind as I was riding is that I still can't believe I am actually living a dream I've always wanted. 

Once in town, I stopped at Superstore and grabbed some food for lunch and dinner. Now I'm chilling at Tim Hortons before biking back up the Summit Drive hill (the new frozen green tea is nasty by the way). I think I'm going to go find a park to lie in the sun before my host Linda comes home from work. 

Day 2: Hope to Merritt

Distance: 124km

Total distance: 270km

Average speed: 20.4km/h

Weather: Overcast, light rain in the afternoon

After a tearful goodbye to Caroline and Naiely, I left Hope a bit after 9. Nat, who has hosted a number of cyclists, said that I have the least stuff as all of the cyclists he's seen. With a belly full of bacon and eggs courtesy of Nat, I was ready to conquer the Coquihalla. The climbing started right in Hope. However, there was a big descent about 10km in which meant I had to start over again. I had painted this monster image of the Coquihalla and in reality it wasn't even close to that bad, nowhere as steep as the climbs on the MEC Century Ride I did two weeks ago and not even as hard as Cypress. I think it really helped that I went into it with a slow steady pace of 8-15km/h and the mentality that this was a long slog, instead of trying to attack the hill. Along the way there were various signs of stops along the old Kettle Valley Rail. Apparently the main engineer of the railway really liked Shakespeare and therefore named the stops after Shakespearean characters (Othello, Portia, etc.) Before I knew it I was at the Great Bear Snow Shed (I contemplated going on the side service road but it was covered in gravel so I just went straight in, a little scary but it was pretty short) and only had 4km of 8% grade to go. At the part where it plateaued it started raining lightly and even though I just wanted to get moving to keep warm I pedaled very slowly trying to find the quintessential summit sign. After 30km or so of descent, there was another incline at Larson Hill and coming down it I was going more than 50km/h for 4km without pedaling. I turned onto Coldwater Road at the bottom for a much quieter way into Merritt. This last 30km actually ended up being the most tiring part of the day as I had only eaten a small Clif Bar and some shot blocks since the morning. After wolfing down another PowerBar, I made the last trek to Merritt and found my host Jackie's beautiful trailer house along the Nicola River. It's really cool how the landscape changes as I entered the Thompson-Nicola region. The tall lush trees of the coast slowly transformed into sage brush and grassland. On my way to Coopers Foods for groceries I ended up doing a little tour of downtown Merritt. Later I made a giant potato avocado salad and pesto pasta for us for dinner. 

In general riding on Highway 5 is good, although I did go to the left of the white line quite a few times when the shoulder disappeared or to avoid gravel. There is at least two lanes (sometimes three), and even though numerous trucks passed me, they all gave me plenty of room.

Day 1: Burnaby to Hope

Distance: 146km

Speed: 24.8km/h

Weather: Cloudy, sunny breaks in the afternoon :)

Nothing like chilli, tiramisu and beers to cap off a great first day on the road! We had a bit of a lazy start at just before 9 after Naiely and Frank came over in the morning. After dodging through many little rocks in the shoulder throughout the Tri Cities we were treated to a less busy much more enjoyable and scenic Lougheed Highway in the Fraser Valley. Said goodbye to Frank in Maple Ridge and we made fast ground thanks to the minimal changes in elevation. Highlights included the trains scaring our pants off, watching a bald eagle go at a crow, and running into Nima on his way to Harrison! We stopped in Agassiz for lunch at a cute little cafe before arriving in Hope just after 4 and met our Couchsurfing host Nat at his bookstore. There were two other hitchhiker from Croatia and Germany who are travelling without money that stayed with us. Needless to say we had very interesting conversations about dumpster diving and their ways of life.

Check out trackmytour.com/G7zTc for where I am!

Day 0: The final sleep

Hair's cut, nails trimmed, legs shaved, must be the start of a long bike trip! Who would have thought that I could fit in a long nap, some baking and even a BBQ amongst all the last minute packing? Thanks Nancy and Caroline for coming over! The best part is that I think I will manage to fit everything into my two 10L panniers (will post a gear list soon). Fingers crossed for dry weather for the big day tomorrow!

Day -1: Graduation

It's that moment which traditionally represents the end of formal education for many, when one truly becomes a "grown-up" and enters the scary real world. I remember envisioning this when I was in elementary school. and fast forward a decade later, it still hasn't quite sunken in yet that I am now a university graduate.  Maybe it's because I don't plan on stopping school here, or that I will always be a child inside or that I don't think my life the last twenty years has been any less real than what is to come. Despite all the blood, sweat and tears that have been shed, I couldn't be happier with all that I accomplished during my degree. I am blessed to have spent four years on the most beautiful campus in the world meeting and learning from so many extraordinary people. UBC will always have a special place in my heart, but something says that it's time to venture on.
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.
T minus 36 hours!