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
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.
Jim's mean day sounds better than a day at my desk.. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteDeanna