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!