Down from the Mountains

Going up Roger's Pass through many tunnels

There have been many adventures since I've last posted.  Right now I am relaxing at a friend of Jim's in Vernon.  I got more laundry done and have swam in the pool.

Going good

In Enderby now! Woot!

Jim's Mean Day

The continuing adventures of Squirrel and Bunny:

What a day! It started off wet as we sat and had breakfast at A&W. We rode 25km of rolling hills before climbing our first hill. It wasn't too bad going up despite it pouring rain. People would honk for encouragement which was nice.

I was a bit scared when I hit the base of the Roger's Pass. How would it be going up? How steep the grade?

It turned out to be ok, and it took me a couple of hours to reach the pass summit. We stopped at the local hotel for some hot soup and a coke. I have had a lot of caffiene this trip as I've been munching on a few chocolate coffee beans that I picked up at Saskatchewan Crossing in Banff National Park. The hot soup was such a treat after a long haul up. We had to go through at least 4 tunnels going up and 3 down. Those were tricky as I had no lights. But the vehicles stayed far enough from me as I was going through them.

After the soup, we decided to bike the rest of the way to Revelstoke, which was another 75 kms away! It was good going for most of the way as it mosty downhill. We crossed through a couple of parks, Glacier and Mt. Revelstoke.

Near the end I was getting tired. I had more coffee beans and stuff to try and perk me up. Jim had a flat, but it was a small hole, so air was gradually coming out. After a dire search for the adapter for his presta valves, he pumped up the tire and managed to ride into Revelstoke without having to change the tire. Thank goodness! That would have taken a while. I was a bit grumpy about that, but what can we do? He needed me to hold bike while pumping it up as he has no stand.

I love my Continentals...may they be good the whole 1500 kms. :) I will be quite qualified to right write a review of them after the trip. I believe that I've done close to 900 kms now, can you believe?

I'm so exhausted. I had a pint and half of beer and dinner and feel a bit better. A shower would be great! I am sure I will sleep good, even though this hostel isn't as nice as the one in Lake Louise. But it's a real bed that I can sleep on. I will have to dry the tent tomorrow as it's sopping wet from camping in Golden.

I'm amazed that I rode so far! But it wasn't worth stopping in the pass and I didn't want to have to pay for a lost reservation.

Tomorrow I head to Sicamous, which is about 70 kms or so away, so not such a long day. But now I feel that I could ride over a 100km in the future so I could make it to Vancouver in reasonable time.

Jim's 'mean' day of a 150 km ride with a pass in the way, turned out to be a pretty good day. But boy, did I ever deserve a beer after finishing it. :) Felt so good swallowing. Smooth.

Easy ride to Golden

It was an easy ride into Golden. There was some big hills that we went down on. What a rush!
We rode the 80 km In 4 1/2 hrs! I bought a new pot, mug, and spoon as I left mine at Mosquito Creek. I hate losing things! But it hard keeping organized.
We are camping tonight, but reserved hostel in Revelstoke as we have a 150km ride ahead of us tomorrow which includes Roger's Pass. Gulp!
Gave my bike a chain clean for only $5 at bike shop.
See ya!

The next step

Tomorrow we head to Golden, which is 81 kms away. Click on link below the map to see the whole route that we will be taking.

I really enjoyed dinner! I am clean, well fed, have clean clothing. What else could I want? Time to head out!



View Larger Map

600 kms and counting.

Columbia Icefields.

The Adventures of Squirrel and Bunny:

Yeh, I've made 600 kms on my bike now.  I biked for 4 days from Prince George to Jasper.  Then me and Jim continued on through the icefields.

We biked 2 50 km days then yesterday we biked 105 kms!  That's great considering how loaded my bike is.

I rode 3 days with Deanna on Tour De Jasper.  Great company!

Me and Deanna

 We had lots of rain on Tour De Jasper, but it's been good for the rest of the trip except for yesterday and today.  We checked into the HI Lake Louise Hostel and boy does it feel good!  Dry things, have a shower, do laundry.  Heaven.

Crazy things happened..  I nearly lost my tent poles on the first leg after Jasper.  Some lady in the opposite direction saw them fall off. She turned around, picked them up and drove up to us to give me them!  Whew!  Jim then taught me that night how to pack my bike better so I won't lose important things like that.

I freaking climbed this summit for most of the way

Some other guy gave me water when I was going to get some from a creek that was questionable.  Another guy gave me dinner.  People wanted photographs with me as they were in awe!  There are tons of other bicyclists out there and I had a fun time chatting with them and other tourists.

I met a fellow squirrel

Remember NOT to feed the animals! ;)

Squirt must be loving all the rain.

Oh, I got the nickname Squirrel for how energized I was on Tour De Jasper and Jim is called 'Energizer' Bunny.  :) In case you are wondering.

I feel like I'm in some quest for something adventure movie with all the crazy things that I have done so far!  Climbing mountains, biking in the pouring rain, meeting the most interesting characters.  I can't get anymore far removed from home doing this.  May it continue.  I'm up for some challenging days ahead.  Roger's Pass is a big one!

Welcome to all my new followers who I met along the way......and thanks to all those who continue to follow me.

Soon, the Adventure unfolds

Tomorrow is the big day. My extra gear is the Tour De Jasper trailer.  Just a reminder that I'll be posting when I can to my Twitter feed as that's the easiest and quickest way.  There is no guaranteed cell reception along the way, so I will post when I can.  I will also post here sometimes too, so not to worry!  I hope that you keep following me even though it will be a little bit quieter here.

Good night world.  Tomorrow, a new adventure begins!  Stay tuned to see how it unfolds.  :)

Adventure - just around the corner!

Bike shoes I bought, also bringing Keen Sandals

It's only a few more days until my next adventure starts.

I've been pretty busy prepping for it.  I bought some Bike shoes this week.  A friend gave me her half/half pedals.  I decided to go clipless route this time around as except for the discomfort of using cages, I liked the extra power they gave me, especially going up hills.  I could have just used my Keen Sandals for the whole trip, without the clipless pedals, but maybe it'll be nice to have more support in a shoe.  I could have easily spend the same amount (which wasn't bad as it was around $90 for the shoes) on non-bike specific shoes.  The Keen Sandals cost more then that, but they are so comfortable!  One thing for sure, the bike socks that I got last year are comfortable for biking, my feet don't get wet with sweat.  And the shoes seem quite comfortable too!

The middle bag lets air out making it more compact.

I have bought a total of 3 dry bags.  The one for the evening clothing compacts nicely as lets air be released, but not let water in.  For the rest of the stuff, I'll take my chances with garbage bags, and Ziploc bags.  I'll bring extra of those. The small bag is for my electronics, wallet, etc..

I like the bar bag, as it's easy to reach for snacks, the camera, sunscreen, and other stuff. I can easily take it off so it's my 'purse' for the trip. I am going to use a spray on sunscreen - 50 SPF- this time.  I know it doesn't work as good as lotion, but last year I ran into trouble for not using the lotion enough.  I burned a bit!  I think that with the spray it's easier to keep topping up every time I stop.

I never usually like Clif Bars, but I tried out the Carrot Cake flavour one, and it's ok.  So I bought a few of those for extra energy.  Maybe I packed a bit much of extra food for the Tour De Jasper part of the trip, but I can always have it shipped back in the Rubbermaid container that I'm bringing with me on Tour De Jasper.  Bringing the container along for the Tour De Jasper part is great too in that I can have totally separate clothing for that leg of the trip!  I'll just sort when I am in Jasper, what I want to bring on the rest of the trip.

I think I got everything that I need for the trip.  I don't want to get any more things.  ;)  Glad I'm borrowing all the panniers again this year, as I already spent too much!

And just a reminder, I will post on the blog when I can during the bike trip.  It may be with or without photos, depending on public computer access.  At the very least I will be updating my Twitter feed, which you can see down below on the right. I invite all my blog followers to follow my Twitter feed during the trip.  I will not be able to even update that every day as reception for the cell in the mountain will be spotty at best.   I will write notes so that I'll be able to remember things when I need to post them on a computer.

Two Sister's Hike - July 10

Photo by Gail Hancock- borrowed with permission

I've just written up the trip report for this past Sunday's hike that I led.  We ended up hiking at the Two Sister near Wells. Rather then double posting it, I'll send you over to the post at the Rambler's site which is located by clicking here.  You can view more photos of the hike by clicking here.

Bells and other stuff

Spotted the first bell that I've noticed on another rider's bike.

It has been a busy week for me as I've been prepping for bike trip.  It starts next Wednesday.  Again, sorry for the lack of posts, I've been very busy.  I had some free time this afternoon due to the storm.

Visit with friends in Jasper

I spent the Canada Day Weekend visiting friends in Jasper

This past Canada Day weekend, I spent the time visiting friends from the UK.  We met in Jasper, Alberta.  I thought that it would be a nice place to meet up.  I haven't seen them for 6 years!  It was nice to show them where I live.

mobile test

I have net access via phone. This will allow me to post basic posts

Introducing my big adventure.

This is my 2011 Adventure trip by bike- 1400 kms or so!

Here is what my crazy adventure will be this Summer!  And boy is it big....

Looking like a tour bike

 

Yeh! My riding buddy, Jim, installed the front racks that he had onto my bike this afternoon. He had to use different screws for the fenders as they were in the way of the rack.  But he got it to work!  He was worried that the spindle would be too small, but nope.  These racks are mine to keep, that is so nice of him.

Bike with all the bags on it.

I am going to get some dry bags for the panniers and a cover for the bar bag.  I really am leaning towards getting half/half pedals.  I already have to buy some shoes, so what's a little extra for these.

I was going to go for another ride today, but it just keeps on raining!  What's with that?  I sure hope that it dries up in 2 weeks.  While chatting with Jim, I found out that he knew my Dad from way back, that's so neat!  So I finally told my Dad of what my crazy Summer plans are and who I'm riding with.

Less then 2 weeks to go!

2 weeks to go!

Sorry for the absence of blogging.  I just came back from a short trip to Jasper to meet up with some friends from the UK.  I'll post more about my trip and a meeting with a fellow bike tourist.