Day 7: Kelowna to Enderby

The storm that was supposed to hit Kelowna overnight never happened. Or at least the rain never happened. I remember being woken in the night by the wind, and branches falling off trees. But no rain.

Lake Country

Working my way through town was a bit of a chore this morning. Most of highway 97 out of town was under construction, with no shoulder to ride on, so it took a little longer than usual to escape the madness.

Once out though, the going was good. The sun was out, all traces of the storm had vanished, and it was a great day to be on the bicycle.
Still riding up Okanagan Lake, the terrain was rolling but smooth, with god scenery all around.

While riding through Lake Country, one of the little towns along the route, a car pulled alongside and rolled its window down.
Oh oh, what's going on here?

Car: "Howzit?"
Me: ?
Car: "Howzit boet (brother), go South Africa! Geniet jou dag (enjoy your day)."
Me: Big smile

And then he drove off.

Random encounters like this were starting to become the norm. I liked it, and looked forward to it, waiting to see in what form it would appear.

Bike swap?

I finally managed to catch up to Dennis and Jane just outside Vernon, and rode with them into town, where Dennis needed air for his rear wheel. He had punctured and couldn't get the right pressure into his tyre.
Jane knew of all the little back roads and we were soon in Vernon, buying lunch and contemplating swapping a bike for an electric cart. Where would one charge it up though?

Lunch was in the shade at the Rec centre, where Derek arrived and proceeded to tell us all about his trips, by bike, across Canada. He had a pump for Dennis and soon had him up to the required pressure.

Country lanes

The day was heating up so Dennis decided that Canada needed to see his Village People impression.
Shirt off, Hi-Viz vest on, let's roll baby!
Classic Dennis!
(I wasn't allowed to take a photo)

Derek had suggested an alternative route through to Enderby, avoiding the highway. It was a beautiful, and quiet route, through farmland and around lakes.
It was another warm and humid day, so I had my top unzipped in an attempt to keep cool. Zipping through the farmland, bugs and flying things of all shapes and sizes come buzzing out of the undergrowth along the verge. A couple pinged off my helmet and sunglasses, but then I felt a funny scratchy feeling around my shoulder.
I had a quick look while still moving, and could feel something in there.
Stopping a quickly as possible, I turned my sleeve out, and let out quite a large bee!
Thankfully no stinging the Kevin!

We stopped in Armstrong and had a quick bite to eat after that.

Fun fact: Jim, the OneWheel guy from Keremeos, has a family farm in Armstrong!

In Enderby I checked into the local campsite, next to the Enderby Arena. A softball tournament was on the go, so I spent the evening in the bleachers watching the games. One even went to an extra innings. While others were sinking beers I had a can of peaches to munch on.

Simple things.

Distance: 107 km
Time: 5:16:45
Height gained/lost: 984m /-1014m
Calories: 3580

Big sky

Day 6: Penticton to Kelowna

As I had left Dennis and Jane back in Keremeos, I thought I would allow myself a slightly later start this morning and allow them to catch up. I have enjoyed riding with them so far.

Sitting on the bench in the campsite, I just happened to look up at the exact moment that a pair of yellow panniers zoomed past me. Dennis!

They were early. Not that we had set a meeting time or anything, but I certainly didn't expect them to come through this early!

I saddled up and set about trying to catch them, but could see no sight of them.
Had they simply vanished into the Penticton Suburbia? Were they on a mission today?

Hmmm...

Summerland

Oh well, ride your own pace Kevin.

Exiting town, 4 'roadies' pulled out in front of me and I tagged onto the back wheel of the group. With the tailwind in effect today, we were soon zooming along, quite effortlessly, at over 30km/h!

I got chatting to the guys and they explained the current flooding situation in Penticton and surrounds.
Big spring rains, combined with 140% snowfall and associated runoff, had seen the Okanagan Lake fill up dramatically, with the overflow canal unable to deal with the surge. Sandbags had been placed all along the shore to prevent flooding.

With all this chat, the kilometres were ticking by. The roadies pulled off at Summerland and left me to myself. Thanks for the tow guys!

The Okanagan valley is a veritable fruit bowl. Vineyards, (apparently) the best cherries in the world, peaches, apples all line the road up towards Kelowna.

We had gleaned snippets of a weather forecast from passing people over the last few days, and they all mentioned strong winds in the region we were in.
Mid-morning now and the winds are building, thankfully from behind and pushing me up the valley.
Riding into this wind would have been ridiculous!

SDSBs

I stopped in Peachland for lunch, on the lake shore, and watched the wind whipping the lake surface into a frenzy. Thankfully it wasn't cold, but it certainly was blustery.
The Shore Defence Sand Bags (SDSB's) were taking a battering, the waves were increasing in size and I was at risk of getting wet.

The park I was in had free wifi (!), so I checked the SPOT to see where Dennis and Jane were. They were in town!
I messaged them and we met up shortly afterwards. They had seen me zoom past them in Penticton, they were stopped on the side and I hadn't seen them. Oops!

Bridge over troubled waters

We left Peachland, following highway 97, climbed the last climb of the day and were soon zooming down towards the bridge that crosses the lake to Kelowna. The wind was still building and it was singing through the railing on the bridge as I rode over.
One of my water bottles jumped ship coming down the bridge, but luckily stayed away from the edge. I didn't know what the sound was, I thought I had a flat but Shirley was still riding true. Only at the bottom of the bridge did I realise I was 750g lighter!
The bottle is now a bit scuffed and roughed up, but it has a story.

Only one campsite in town, and it was 'lush' to say the least. Long-term campers littered the place, and places that weren't occupied were flooded with rising lake water.
For $150 I could have stayed for the week!!

SDSBs were everywhere along the lake, and the whole town  had come down to the lake shore to witness this spectacle. The water levels were 1 metre above normal!

I met Jane and Dennis for dinner and caught a bit of the Stanley Cup finals...riveting stuff.

Dinner with Dennis and Jane. Jane can eat!

Distance: 73.8 km
Time: 3:26:46
Height gained/lost: 657m /-649m
Calories: 2461

Kelowna campsite