Day 99: Levis to Levis

Rain.
Rain.
Rain.
All night long.

No biking today, we were planning on going into Quebec City and have a look around, but the rain kept us in the tents and indoors for most of the day.

Rain over Levis

We hit McDonald's for breakfast and then headed over the road to Cafe Depot for morning tea/hot chocolate.
We ended up staying there for ages and the rain had set in.

By 4pm the rain had cleared to we packed up the tents and headed down the road to Place-Martiniere, where there was a campsite.
This was closer to the ferry that would take us over the river to Quebec as well, which we had decided we would visit tomorrow.

Distance: 22.5 km
Time: 1:09:10
Height gained/lost: 150m /-125m
Calories: 677

It's called camp (L-R: Suderman, McDonald, Ashcroft)

Day 95: Boucherville (rest day)

It rained all night and all of today. Not just little drops of rain, but big drops, wet drops, accompanied by thunder and lightning, and wind. Strong and gusty!
Basically it was a perfect day to be off the bike, indoors and watching movies. We were doing all three!

The Day after Tomorrow and Back to the Future kept us entertained for hours as the rain soaked everything around us.

An extremely unproductive day.

Day 51: Regina to Grenfell

I left Kathleen and the kids at around 8am and was quickly out of the city. I was making good progress thanks to the gentle tailwind that was pushing me.

Not much different today on the scenery front, apart from seeing a large herd of bison just outside Indian Head, where I stopped in the shade for lunch.
It was another hot day today, with thunderstorm warnings issued for later in the day.

I stopped at Wolseley and walked across the famous swinging bridge, and stopped and spoke to a family who were just in awe of what I was doing. While in town, I met another South African, who now lives in Edmonton, and had a quick chat with him.

Leaving Wolseley I watched the nice fluffy clouds in front of me change shape, some getting bigger, others staying the same size, just getting fluffier. Just out of curiosity I looked behind me to see what was happening there.

Jiminy Cricket!
Stop the bike!
Take a photo!

That was something to look at. The entire horizon was pitch black and I had to tip my head back to see the top of the cloud. Rain was already falling to the south of me.
I had 26km to go to Grenfell and did not want to be caught in this monster! I had heard how violent these storms can be.

Setting of again, this time with a bit more effort in each pedal stroke, I saw lightning striking to the north.
The race was on, was I going to get caught or would I make it safely to cover? I kept checking on the progress of the storm and was soon happy I wouldn't get caught. At one point I saw a funnel cloud start to form, but it quickly disappeared. Could this produce tornadoes?
Eek...

Grenfell arrived and I ducked into the campsite and quickly setup my tent, chucking all my bags inside once done. No sooner had I zipped up the tent, with me inside it, did the heavens open. Big raindrops pelted my tent, smacking it wetly.
Then came the wind, buffeting my tent.
And then, a weird noise, followed by cries from people.
I poked my head out and saw the biggest hailstones I have ever seen, whacking everything in sight. My tent withstood the barrage, but some of the cars and caravan awnings in the camp got damaged.

Fifteen minutes later, it had all cleared and the evening was now beautiful and sunny, the air clean and clear.

I had a good dinner and was in bed relatively early, only to be woken in the night by trains shunting.

Distance: 137.2 km
Time: 6:03:32
Height gained/lost: 311m /-308m
Calories: 3920

Top secret Saskatchewan space program uncovered

Day 18: Jasper (Rest day)

It's summer, why is the heating on? And why so hot?
Crikey!

I woke up at 2 this morning and went to the bathroom to wash my face with cold water. Sweat was running off me, this was crazy!

I went back to bed but tossed and turned, it was far too warm to sleep, and landed up getting up at 0730. Still tired.
Breakfast and a cup of tea sorted me out and I went for a quick walk around town.

Came back to the hostel and met Tanya, from Switzerland, who is travelling Canada and the US by hitchhiking and ride sharing! She is a keen cyclist too and was quite excited about my trip. She wants to go back to Bern and start doing the same.
She left early the following morning on a train to Vancouver.

Another German guy had cycled through Chile and we were soon sharing a beer and talking about beers in Germany, as well as cycling.

There was a wigwam being erected in town in preparation for the upcoming pow-wow over the weekend. Jasper is full of tourists and curio shops, as well as a good number of sports shops.

The rain that was forecast for the morning came through just after lunch, and did it pour! The streets were soon running with water, and many people were caught out by the sudden downpour. They came dripping and soaked into the hostel, where we laughed and put the kettle on for tea/coffee.
There was soon a table of us sitting around talking, most had been caught in the rain.

The room was slightly cooler tonight, but sleep was still a distant desire.

Day 11: Revelstoke to Rogers Pass (to Golden)

It is very seldom that I have a truly bad day on the bike. Today should have been a beautiful, and easy day, but instead turned into a rather bad day.

Being a thorough person when it comes to route planning and research, I knew there was to be 'a little bit' of road going uphill today. The road out of Revelstoke is uphill and gentle, nothing too severe, and when surrounded by spectacular mountains, you hardly notice the gradient.

The road gently works it's way up a valley towards Rogers Pass, following Highway 1, passing Canyon Hot Springs and entering the Glacier National Park.

I stopped at a beautiful waterfall for lunch, where Curtis, a guy going to Vancouver Island to paddle, was also stopped. He warned me of a grizzly bear mother and cub a little further up the road. I thanked him and we parted ways.

The bears were seen about 10-15 km up the road from where I was, so I kept a beady eye out in case they were still in the area.
(Un)fortunately I didn't see them and proceeded up Rogers Pass, stopping at the top to admire the spectacular views.

From my planning, the campsite was right here, so I only had a few more k's to go before the day was over.
I hadn't really felt the climbing today, legs are feeling stronger, but my bum is still sore from the saddle. Knowing I only had a little way to go, I spent a lot longer at the top of the Pass, enjoying the sunshine and chatting to other tourists who had seen me cycle up the Pass.

Time to move, Kevin. Go and setup camp!

Rogers Pass

The assistant at the information centre told me that the Illecillewaet campsite was in fact closed, and the next available option was in Golden, 75km away!
I had already done 70km and had mentally switched off for the day, now I had to reengage and do another days riding in an afternoon!

Guns used for avalanche control

My head dropped!

Oh well, there is no point in hanging about then. I jumped on the bike after refilling all my water bottles, filled my cheeks with Clif Bar (peanut butter flavour) and sped off down the mountain.
Snow sheds, looming mountains, speeding trucks all whizzed by me as I made my way down the road.

Snow shed

I could feel that fatigue setting in. Roads that appeared to be sloping downhill weren't. If I stopped pedalling I would slow down. Why wasn't I speeding up?
Was Gravity broken or a Gravity bill not been paid?
Then a sneaky little headwind arrived and slowed me down even more. Drat!

Happy at the top

Finding a downhill that was actually going downhill, I managed to gain some momentum heading towards Donald, but that was short-lived.
I coasted into a rest area and devoured a can of peaches in syrup, they should have been for dessert tonight. Too bad, I needed the fuel.
To add to the misery, the mozzies had ascended from hell and were eating me alive! I couldn't stay still for a second, and they were biting me through my cycling gear! Vicious little guys they are!

Donald soon went by, not at a fast pace, but it went by, I was in the Golden valley and only had about 25km to go. Easy.

Brain: "You've got this Kev!"
Kevin: Shhh...

I was trying to distract myself and not think about how far I still had to go. I was frustrated and getting cranky. The false flats had me shouting at them!
Then the horizon turned black!

Not happy

Rain. Lots of it.

I got caught in a torrential rain shower 13km outside Golden and was instantly soaked and, with the accompanying head wind, was getting cold too!
I was having a nightmare on the bike; my Garmin was running out of power as fast as me, I just wanted to stop and hitch a ride into town.
At a rest area I tried to flag down a car for a ride. Nobody stopped. Nobody even slowed down!

"I am done. Why am I doing this?"

Ten minutes later, with my little tantrum over, I got back on the bike and pedalled slowly towards Golden. With each pedal stroke it got closer, and soon after 9 pm I rolled into town, soaked and cold.
I checked into the Municipal campsite and went to my allocated site to setup.

Mozzie-free dinner

It was still raining and the Mosquitoes from Hell had apparently checked into the same site as me. They were eating me alive as I frantically tried to get my tent setup, but the ground had joined the torment as well. The soil must have been made of concrete, with an extra layer of reinforcement about 5cm underneath that!
A few bent tent pegs later, the tent was up with my bags inside.

Shower time.
No hot water! Really?

I finally got to bed at midnight, cold and wet and grumpy, but fed. I had managed to outsmart the mozzies and cooked dinner at the Reception building, mozzie free...

Tomorrow will be a rest day. My body insisted, I didn't argue.

Distance: 144 km (Garmin went flat, probably a 150 km day)
Time: 7:48:44
Height gained/lost: 1799m /-1536m
Calories: 4891

The Storm

Day 8: Enderby to Sicamous

Rain was forecast for today, and when I woke it was starting to drizzle.

Rain.

In a mad dash that would have impressed Beep-Beep Roadrunner, I had all my bags and bike and tent under the cover of the cookhouse.

A few of the campsites have a covered shelter with benches and a wood burning stove, ideal for me to hang my tent and pack my bags, without being exposed to the elements.

In a moment of brilliance, I realised I could watch the Springboks this morning, being the South African afternoon.
Best get a brew on then Kev!

Sicamous.

Laptop on, game streaming, wrapped up warm with rain pouring down, I was in quite a happy place.
An even better place once the French had been beaten.

Nice work Dennis

A quick check on the whereabouts of the SPOT, I packed up and headed out of town. Today was a short day, only to Sicamous, as the highway to Revelstoke was closed due to a landslide.

Rain along the way soon had me soaked, but the end was in sight. Rolling into Sicamous, Dennis and Jane met me and we grabbed some food for lunch.
With the rain came a cold wind, and I was frozen!
Jane and Dennis had arranged an AirBnB for the night, and Jane quickly asked Gary if I could join them.
Thanks to Gary for accommodating me on such short notice.

"Not a problem."

Dennis BBQ'd, Jane made a pasta salad, I made caramelised asparagus.
What a feast!

I slept well that night. In a proper bed. With too many pillows and everything!

Distance: 43.7 km
Time: 2:08:07
Height gained/lost: 296m /-271m
Calories: 1369

Cold bear? Beer?

Jane working her magic

Just tasty

Houseboats