We made it!
Right now we are thrilled that Kamloops is a real city with all the things we love; stores, cinemas, and lots of food at every corner!
It's kind of interesting that each day presented its own unique challenges. Today was definitely head wind day. No more than 5 minutes after we left camp, we came straight into headwinds and crosswinds through an enormous canyon corridor. With the strong winds on us our speeds sank and every push felt like a hill. Unlike other challenges, wind forces you to stay in stance and keep peddling. If you sit up you are causing more drag, so the best strategy we found is to get in position and draft behind each other. And when we saw the sign that said "strong crosswind - next 7km" we knew today was going to be another "mind over matter" kind of day.
Determination mode was also definitely in full force on the massive mountain we climbed about half way in. It was by far the biggest and largest hill we've had the pleasure of climbing yet. After many kilometers of pure uphill we made it to 580 meters above sea level. The CN Tower, by comparison, is only 550 and change!
We had one small injury today though - Jan's bike fell over on a road-side snack stop and the teeth on the pedals punctured his leg a bit. Thankfully we had our trusty mini first aid kit! :) still, we're getting it checked in town just in case.
And finally, we have to re-iterate that Canadians really do live up to their reputation of kindness. A man approached us at camp today to tell us of his cycling trek across Canada in 2005. He imparted a number of valuable tips upon us and told us a great story of his incredibly fast and arduous race across the country. Try to talk to as many people as you can while traveling - you never know who you'll run into!
Even with the hardships we had a lot of fun and are loving our hard earned test in Kamloops!
Oh mah gawd, apparently Kamloops has a wildlife park, with like baby bears and stuff! If you see the baby grizzlies FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TAKE PICTURES. Actually, just take pictures of whatever, 'cause Kamloops looks really pretty.
ReplyDeleteHoly crap you guys have been biking really far every day (apart from rest days). I plotted it out on the map, and it's, like, ridiculous. I didn't know such distances EXISTED. I had to ZOOM OUT. I think Jan's bike was tired and BIT him. His bike was like, "Jan, buddy, I want a snack too. All right, fine, be that way -- if you won't give me any food, I'll just gouge out a piece of your leg." Those bikes will TURN on you, man! And so will McDonalds employees.
Looking forward to hearing more about your Kamloops adventures! And I'll give Dad your Father's Day best wishes!
Haha! Thanks Beth!
DeleteWe'll be sure to take a photo of this place before we leave tomorrow :) we didn't get to go to any wildlife park though o_o
Just for the record, here is how high you climbed:
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Hey Dudes! How'd the helmet cam experiment work out? After contemplating it I doubted I'd put up with the extra weight on my neck for so many hours... but maybe I'm just a weener. Any good pics/vids?
ReplyDeleteKeep it up!
Hey Nick! Actually we're weeners as well. Because the camera on the helmet is so top heavy, I barely lasted an hour with it before my neck started getting sore. It was also a constant distraction since I had to keep adjusting my helmet. We're going to try mounting to the handlebars next time!
DeleteIn time your neck will grow strong enough for the helmet cam, Jan. Keep at it! Assuming your bikes don't grow any more disgruntled and attack again.
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