Day 1: June 29 Vancouver to Mission
50 miles (81 km)
Picture: Our group at the University of
British Columbia,
ready to ride down and dip wheels into the Pacific
We were ready to ride. After all the anticipation and excitement
we were more than ready. The first day's ride was through Vancouver.
The sun was shining and the temperature was warm. Traffic was heavy;
the broken glass on the street was worse. Four of us had flats (me
included).
With a new group and unknown skills, we were tentative riding together. You didn't want to draft behind someone who had only read about it. (For non-bikers, drafting is where the rider in front "pulls" and those behind ride in a line, leaving 6-36 inches between each other. It doesn't leave much room for reacting to unexpected moves from the rider in front of you.) Karen, Jon, John, Dave, and Robert were my riding partners for the day. We tried a double paceline and quickly realized that we weren't ready for it yet. By the end of the day we were much more comfortable with each other.
Our galley crew was on duty the first night. Jeff, Herb, Catherine, and I were responsible for making dinner and then breakfast the next morning. We made chili. Catherine had begun soaking the kidney beans the night before so they were softened up some. She and Herb were late getting into camp and neither Jeff nor I thought we had any work to do since chili is such an easy meal (I thought everyone used canned kidney beans). Dinner was a little late. The worst part was we ran out of food. Cooking for 26 isn't so easy. I thought we'd made a huge pot. With some scurrying we threw together a passable pasta dinner for those who missed the first round. We hope all the other crews took notes.
An explanation of galley crews: We were divided into teams of 3-4 riders by Bud. The galley crew (cooking crew) is responsible for making dinner and then breakfast the next morning. The crew has to plan the menu in advance so that Brook, the driver, can do the grocery shopping. During breakfast preparation, the lunch 'fixings' are put out. Each rider is responsible for making his/her own lunch. The galley crew not only makes the meals but cleans up afterwards too. There are six teams and we rotate in sequence.
It started to rain shortly after dinner and continued to drizzle most of the evening. It was our first soggy night.
Day 2: June 30 Mission to Hope
66 miles (106 km)
Picture: Jeff, Dave, John,
Karin, Karl in Agassiz, BC
Breakfast was oatmeal with raisins and coconut. We made tons,
just to be sure -- 40 servings. The breakfast menu is fixed, so oatmeal
is what we'll make every time.
I rode with some of the same group again today -- Karen, John, Jeff, and Dave. We followed the Fraser River and had the Coastal Mountains in the background. We stopped several times throughout the day just to admire the view. Only when we passed a farmer spreading manure on his field did we hurry along, ignoring the view. I can't imagine how bad it must smell in the cab of the tractor!
Harrison Hot Springs was off the route a bit, but we thought we'd visit since we had so much time. The $7 entry fee plus $4 to rent a bathing suit made us to reconsider. Instead we bought coffee and ate lunch in a little plaza downtown.
The town of Hope is about 6 square blocks. It sits in a valley and is surrounded by several mountain peaks. Our campground is right downtown, next to the river and down the street from a Dairy Queen. Next to Tim Horton's (the Canadian version of Dunkin Donuts), DQ seems to be the place most of our group wants to visit.
Tomorrow is a big day. We have a big climb and have to pass through 7 tunnels. None of the tunnels have much in the way of shoulder for us to ride. Most of the riders, including me, are nervous.
Day 3: July 1 (Canada Day) Hope to Spence's
Bridge 84 miles (135 km)
Picture (left): Dave, John,
Mountie in full reds, Karin, Karl, and Brook at Hell's Gate Canyon, BC
Picture (right): Keith, Bruce
McCormick, Karl at the top of Jackass Mountain (the first big climb), BC
Pancakes for breakfast, one of my favorites. The truck carries a lifetime supply of Aunt Jemima syrup, but Neri gave me a little of his "real" maple syrup from Nova Scotia. It was almost as good as syrup from New England.
The tunnels were a little scary. Everyone had taillights, a few had headlights as well. We tried to sprint through in groups whenever possible, waiting for a break in traffic so we weren't squeezed against the wall. The longest tunnel was 700 meters (about 1/2 mile) and it had a bend so you couldn't see the other side. A Winnebago didn't want to slow down and passed just as we were leaving that tunnel, almost hitting an oncoming car.
The ride was much tougher today because of the hills. The 1 mile (2 km) climb up Jackass Mountain was memorable, if only for the name. I was climbing well today and I'm sure it's because I wore my Italian racing outfit (thanks Mark and Rick). I kept trying to break my speed record on the downhills. The top speed I hit today was 49 mph, just shy of the record (50 mph). The crosswinds on a few of the descents were gusty so I had to slow down on a few good spots. Oh well, there will be other days.
The highlight of the day was stopping at Hell's Canyon, a gorge over the Fraser River. In the early 1900's a railroad building crew accidentally caused an avalanche that filled in a big chunk of the river. They've cleared some of it since, but it's still the fastest section of the river. They've built salmon ladder runs to improve the chances of the fish getting back up to their spawning grounds. Without them, they wouldn't be able to fight the current.
Day 4: July 2 Spence's Bridge to Merritt
50 miles (81 km)
The campground was sandwiched between the CN rail line and the CP rail
line. The trains woke me up around midnight with their brakes.
I guess I'm one of the fortunate ones, I only woke up once. The notes
for next year's riders will include instructions to oil the tracks.
The ride today was meant to be easy after yesterday's long one. Although it was only 50 miles (80 km), it had a lot of hills. We rode next to the Nicola River most of the day, going up and down many hills. My legs were drained after the long ride yesterday. The climbs were tougher and a little slower. I'm hoping I get stronger as we go along. What I learned today was that I need to eat more. I could feel the reserves hit bottom mid-way through the day.
The group was in a good mood today overall. We were happy at having survived the long day yesterday.
Day 5: July 3 Merritt to Pritchard
89 miles (144 km)
I rode with Jon (not to be confused with John) and it was our longest day so far. The first
20 miles was flat and fast. The next section was rolling, next to
lakes and rivers. Right before riding down into Kamloops we had to
climb a 2 1/2 mile (4 km) hill, the longest so far. Jon and
I met up with Ron at the edge of Kamloops and joined forces for the
final 20 miles. From that point on it was flat with a tailwind all the way to Pritchard.
When we met him, Ron wasn't sure he wanted to join
us because "we ride fast". He then proceeded to set a blistering
pace whenever he pulled the paceline. We beat the truck (Brook) to the campground
and earned the "hammerhead" title for the day. We were three very happy bikers.
My bike has a 3 gears in the front, with the smallest affectionately referred to as the "granny gear". My goal is to ride all the way across Canada without ever using it. So far, so good. Don Peddie, a rider from a previous year, is responsible for this minor craziness. He succeeded in dragging that gear with him across the country and never used it, even up Signal Hill in St. John's at the end of the ride.
Day 6: July 4 Pritchard to Sicamous
73 miles (118 km)
Picture (left): Salmon Arm,
BC in the rain
Picture (right): Grinrod,
BC on the way back down the hill from the Larch Hill Winery
The morning was pretty chilly, somewhere around 48 F. Alan, Craig, and I left the campground before 7:00 a.m. to get on the road before there was much traffic or wind. Within 30 minutes it started to rain. Most touring bikes have fenders. None of us have touring bikes. The rooster tails that our tires throw up make drafting unpleasant, to say the least. The line spread out and we chugged along in spite of the weather.
Although this is a tour and not a race, some of us have taken to racing for town signs. The first one there gets bragging rights, at least until the next sign. Alan caught us napping and picked up the first one of the day, Sorrento.
Cold, rainy days use up lots of energy, so we stopped in and had coffee and pastries at a restaurant in Sorrento. Forty five minutes and 4-6 cups of coffee later, we headed out the door. The temperature had dropped a few degrees and we were stiff from sitting so long. Getting started again was hard.
A few hills later I'd had enough of eating grit from the tire in front
of me. I took off on my own. The scenery on the Trans Canada
Highway was so-so, but it improved after I turned onto Highway 97B.
Shortly after the turn-off I saw a sign for the Larch Hill Winery.
I couldn't resist. It turned out to be a 3 mile (5 km) heavy duty
climb to the top; the name should have been a warning. I'll admit
to wondering whether my decision not to use my granny gear applied to side
trips. I decided it did ... for now. The winery made mostly German
wines, which tasted very good to a cold, wet, tired biker. I stood
in the tasting room, sipping wine and eating a PB&J sandwich.
It was lunchtime after all. The owner wasn't surprised seeing a biker
show up. 
It had happened once before. We checked to see if
wine bottles would fit in the water bottle cages on the bike -- they do.
I decided to not risk it since the way up was gravel and bumpy asphalt.
It would be horrible if I broke one on the way down. For those who
need to know, you can fit 3 bottles in a Camelbak Blowfish backpack.
And that was leaving room for the water as well. If it weren't for
the 20 miles remaining, I would have dumped the water and taken more wine.
Everyone appreciated it at dinner. They weren't quite sure they believed
the part about the hill climb.
Everyone had a tough day with the cold and the rain. Even so, we were pretty happy to be in Sicamous (pronounced sick'-a-moose) for our rest day. We met up with the riders from the group ahead of us, swapped stories (rain, hail, close calls with trucks, and the like) and re-kindled friendships.
After dinner we honored the 4th of July. As the token American it was my job to lead the group in a rousing version of The Star Spangled Banner. None of us really knew all the words, but with everyone's help, we did it. The only problem was that the Canadians believed that the final words are "...and the home of the brave. Drop the puck." I tried to tell them that the right phrase is "Play ball." For the second time today, I'm not sure they believed me.
On the subject of singing, we're not going to win any prizes. Today was Alan's birthday and we sang Happy Birthday to him four times throughout the day. It took that long until we felt it was passable.
Day 7: July 5 Sicamous (rest day)
Picture: Karl, Brook, and Jon
on a guided ATV tour outside of Sicamous, BC
Our rest day was low
key. Brook, Jon and I took a guided ATV tour in the hills outside
of Sicamous. Boy, hill climbs are much easier that way. It wasn't
too hard to rest because the town was small. One sweep through town
and we were done.
A note about rest days and the three groups of riders: There are three TDC groups this year. The first group of 20 or so left Vancouver 7 days ahead of us. They'll take 74 days to cross the country. They'll take a few more rest days at the beginning of the trip and add an extra few miles in Cape Bretton at the end of the trip. Groups are often referred to by their driver's name, so this is Jen's group. We won't see them until the night before the ferry crossing to Newfoundland.
Mike's group of 24 riders left the day before we did, June 28. We'll catch up to them every rest day. They'll be finishing their day off as we arrive. Then they'll depart the next morning and we'll curse them for being loud while we try to sleep in.
onward >> BC and into Alberta: Climbing through the Rockies
backward >> The Riders: Brook's group