Day 17
August 7, 2014Day 17 - Christina Lake to Nelson - 116km
Thanks Steve for the breakfast and Coffee!
Today will be broken up into two parts. Christina lake to Castlegar then Castlegar to Nelson.
The first part would be the tougher of the two, a 1500 m climb in about 30km. Again I let Aaron and Peter head out before me, I needed to mentally prepare for the ride. A good stretch and some water while listening to Eminem did the trick. As soon as I hit the hills I dropped down into Granny Gear. I stayed here almost the entire way up. It was killer hot outside and I was cycling through my water fast. (see what I did there ;)Along the way I found some decent things to shoot. Like the dust cloud coming from all of the construction on the roads. I ended up waiting in line for 10 minutes and while I was leaning on my bike dripping with sweat a stranger came up to me from his RV and gave me an ice cold water! Amazing, hit the spot. Thanks for that!
After riding on hot and sticky, freshly laid asphalt, I came to a wicked bridge. This is where I decided to break before finishing my climb. I grabbed a quick snack, a snack of kings. With some stale hamburger buns I purchased in Osoyoos I drizzled some olive oil on them, along with some garlic salt and chilli powder. Delightful. Chugged some water and snapped a few pictures then proceeded to climb the mountain. This part became much steeper and I was riding to the point where I felt sick to my stomach, leaning on my handle bars and throwing food down to keep going. I even chugged some maple syrup for energy. After a tough climb and 7 litres of water I eventually made it to the summit. Always a great feeling, knowing that the remainder of your ride is downhill.
Again though, that would have been too easy…
After going down a few kilometres the wind picked up and I was now battling a headwind to get to the bottom. Just my luck. I’m learning that there’s no such thing as an “easy” day, theres always work to be put in.
Good life lesson?
Castlegar. After finally arriving I saw a sign for a Boston Pizza and made a “B” line for it. ;)
I was ready to destroy a large amount of Zaw.
I did just that, along with 8 pints of water.
Aaron and Peter made it in to Castlegar just a few minutes before me and we have no idea how. I left well after them and stopped for pictures and snacks. They think I got a ride from Steve, WHICH I DIDN’T. I already skimmed out on 2 km’s of this trip and won’t skip anymore!
The A & P team headed out before me to go to Nelson, I made the exhausted decision to stick around while the heat died down. My core temperature needed to cool off before riding again.
I find this an effective strategy, ride early, stay for lunch and wait for the light to get better for pictures.
Now for the second half of the ride. Getting back on the bike is always challenging, but once I do I know I’ll get back into a rhythm. Some nice leisurely tunes took me all the way to Nelson.
On route I came across a great shot, when I stopped to photograph it a song came on my iPod by Simon and Garfunkel, I am a rock. It was very appropriate given the subject, and island. With a just few stops for some pictures I rolled into the most relaxing town I have been to yet. Little did I know that I would stay here for a week and meet some of the greatest and interesting people in my life to date.
Now I just have to get the energy to go over my time spent in Nelson, I’ll be here for one last day before making my way out to Creston where I’ll be staying at another Warm Shower’s members place.From Creston I’ll make my way to Cranbrook, followed by Fernie and then finally out through Crowsnest Pass into the prairies.
