Presentation and a party.... Friday night fun!

Friday night was a night of adventure.  First, I had to do a slideshow presention about my Bicycle trip in the Summer of 2011.

The Adventures of Squirrel and Bunny - the Slideshow

 

The Adventures of Squirrel and Bunny

Prince George to Vancouver via Jasper, by bicycle! Join Carolyn on her exciting bicycling adventure in the Summer of 2011.

From volunteering as a sweep on Tour De Jasper to riding a fully self-supported tour to Chilliwack with fellow rider Jim, adventure was found around every corner.

Date:  April 20th
Place:  Artspace above Books and Company on 3rd Avenue
Time:  After the Caledonia Ramblers Spring Annual Meeting which starts at 7pm

Tour De Jasper 2011 - Part III

Squirt really enjoyed Tour De Jasper 2011

I woke up to the last day of riding the Tour De Jasper.  Even though this was only the beginning of my adventures, I felt sadness to the end of this great segment.  I met some wonderful people who enjoy the same passion.

Tour De Jasper 2011 - Part II

When we woke up in the morning at La Salle Lake, there was no rain!  We packed up our gear, had a good hearty breakfast, and was all set to go.  I took my sweet time again as I was in no rush.  I loved this, I didn't have to rush out of bed.

Tour De Jasper 2011 - Part I

Participants and Crew of Tour De Jasper 2011

Tour De Jasper has come and gone for another year, but the memories still linger.

For the tour this year, I volunteered as a sweep, which meant that I would be riding at the end of the group every day.   I had already planned on joining Jim, who is a cook on Tour De Jasper, on his tour from Jasper to Vancouver.  I was thinking of volunteering, but never got around to asking the organizer Nicole.  Jim thought that it was a good idea to volunteer as it would cut costs down on the whole trip.  I'm glad that he got me involved because I really enjoyed it!  Thanks Jim!

Tour De Jasper 2011 photo preview

I apologize for not posting about Tour De Jasper 2011 yet.  I've been waiting to receive photos that I've purchased from the tour as I really want to share them with my blog followers along with a few stories about the trip.  I hope you don't mind waiting.  I also hope you don't mind that I'm posting so late after the event.  Like on the 2010 tour, the photographer on the trip took some great photos!  And I had such a great time that there are good stories to be told.

Wil and Laura's Dutch bikes return for 2011

Here's some of the awesome photos taken by the tour photographer on Tour De Jasper 2010. Some are my photos as well. Please note that there are other photos in the book as well from my Summer 2010 travels. 

Click here to view this photo book larger

Squirt tours Vancouver

English Bay Inukshuck

After the bicycling from Prince George to Vancouver via the Icefields this Summer, I ended up with some time to bicycle around Vancouver. It felt great to ride around with my own bicycle!

2011 Bike Tour- the last day

Squirt enjoys the beaches of Cultus Lake

Squirrel and Bunny (Squirt too) just want to have fun!

Bridal Falls to Cultus Lake, Chilliwack, BC.

We had rather a short ride to Cultus Lake, about 30 kms.  It was another challenging day on the freeway as far as Chilliwack.  One thing that I noticed while riding in that area that I never noticed before was the sound of the cannons going off in the Blueberry fields to scare off the animals that would like to eat them.  This is one of the great things about bicycling around, you hear and see things that you don't when riding in a vehicle.

Day 15 - Manning Park to Bridal Falls

Crossing Allison Pass (1,342 m /4,403 ft)

Grumpy Squirrel and the Bunny.

After having a good sleep in Manning Park, we woke up to another sunny day.  I struggled getting out of bed and dismantling the stuff as the many days touring was catching up.  I could have used a full day rest, although not there as there wasn't much to do.
As I was riding I felt like all my energy was drained despite having had breakfast before riding. It turns out that there was a slight ascent up to Allison Pass, and I was doing it while riding into the strong headwinds.  I could only manage 12 kms an hour, which pretty good for what I had going against me that morning.

Day 14 - Hedley to Manning Park East Gate

Similkameen River

Squirrel and Bunny's Excellent Adventures:

When I last posted, we had biked from Penticton to Hedley.

After staying at a campsite near Hedley for the night, it was time to head on.  First we would be biking a fairly easy 35 kms or so on a highway that follows the old railway that used to connect Hedley to Princeton, so there would be no hills, so to speak.  One thing nice about leaving early in the morning is that there isn't much for headwinds yet.  They seemed to start at around 10 am or so each day.  It was also cooler in the mornings which also made for easier riding. That seems to be a mantra of bike touring, leave early!

Penticton to Hedley - a bit of a write up

Ok, here's a bit more of a write up on the trip between Penticton and Hedley,

We stayed in Penticton with Vern, who was one of the cooks on Tour De Jasper.  The day before, we weren't sure if we were going to be staying with him that night, or if we'd have to find a campsite.  As we had left late that day, we weren't arriving into Penticton until 7:30-8:30 ish at the earliest.

Last post incorrect title

I guess I'm still recovering from bus lag.  I posted the title of the previous article as Princeton to Hedley, when it was supposed to be Penticton to Hedley.  Sorry about that! I've since corrected it.

Day 13 - Penticton to Hedley

Now that I have access to photo uploading again, I've uploaded a few photos from the Bike tour.
Up above is a map of route we took from Vernon to Penticton.  The green bubbles represents the overnights we had.  The average distance between each of the bubbles is just over 100 kms.

Biking around Vancouver- Every bike's dream

I'm at the end of my 2011 bike adventure, well the touring part anyways.

We decided to stop biking at Chillwack as there was no quick easy way into Vancouver.  We were pretty close though.  I heard that the local bike clubs are working on trails to connect all the way from the outskirts to downtown Vancouver.  I can hardly wait!

Bicycle at Cultus Lake

I have spent the last few days exploring the City by bicycle.  And what exciting exploration I've been having!  I have been all over the city from the North Vancouver, across Lion's Gate Bridge a few times, riding around the Seawall, biking with friends to Chinatown, biking over to Granville Island, and up to MEC on Broadway and to my favourite Bird food shop also on Broadway.  I've been really racking up the miles.  I think I'll be keeping my biking metabolism up for a while.  I'm going to write to the City of Vancouver to let them know how much I love the bike routes/paths.  It makes riding downtown feel safer for a rider who is not used to riding in a big city.

Squirt enjoys the ride on the Seabus

Granville Island Farmer's Market

As you can see, I will need a new kickstand.  This one couldn't handle the weight. I want to get a Click Stand kickstand   ( http://www.click-stand.com )and it's only $10 or so more then the one I have been using. This one is better suited for touring.

Today I biked over to MEC so I could do an interview with friend for a bike article that she's doing.  She couldn't believe that I biked all the way there from North Vancouver.

I biked with my Sister-in-law after she finished work

Biking the Seawall

I'm showing Squirt the sights of Vancouver

I've been researching about packing the bike in a bike box.  It seems the boxes that Amtrak sells are a nice size and I don't even have to take the pedals off.  (the attendant looked at my bike that I had brought in.)

Here's a few photos that another bike blogger took when he packed his bike up with those boxes:

This shows the box all ready for travel. You can see how big it is.

Bike in Amtrak Box

I'm sure it'll work out.  I like this option, not as much work.  I just need a way to bring box home after trip as it might be worth keeping to use when I go to Vancouver next time.

End of the road

We are in Cultus Lake which is near Chilliwack. We have decided to stay here until Sunday. There doesn't seem to be safe or legal route that isn't out of the way.
Jim's daughter will drive us into Vancouver. I've biked pretty far, almost 1400 kms, would you believe? I'm pretty close to Vancouver that I can almost smell the salt!

I'm going to ship as much as possible to home by Greyhound when I can. It will cost $$$$, but it will be nice to have to drag around too much.

In Bridal Falls

I'm in Bridal Falls which is about 130 kms West approx from the East Gate part of Manning Park where we stayed last night. I had lunch at Mcd'S in Hope. Had large sized BM meal w shake to give me some much needed energy which I was sorely lacking.

Yesterday it was a tough 97 kms going up 2 serious hills and a few more not so serious.. There is NO hill too big that I can't conquer! Damn those passes! ;)

I could have made it to Chilliwack but too tired! Only 15 kms away darn! Tomorrow we either ride to Chilliwack or to Cultus Lake for a much needed rest before our final leg to Vancouver on Sat.
Very $$$$$ camping here at $22 /per person!

Summer Riding Continued...

Bridge in Kelowna

The continuing adventures of Squirrel and Bunny:

We left at about 10 am after a hearty breakfast at Lucianne's.

Summer Riding

Today we biked 145 kms from Vernon to Penticton. We had Breakfast at Lucianne's. He is the father of the Tour De Jasper Organizer. He put my bike in his van to get it to his house on the hills. After a big breakfast we left late at 10Ish.
More to come......

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!