The Little Dears at McD

Day 17.

A sunny day with light winds. It didn’t lift my mood though. My low mood was due to the backcountry road that we were on. I just knew that we would find ourselves in nowhere land for lunch and yet on leaving , what one can only describe as the dumpy little town of Eston, we didn’t bother buying a lunch to take with us.

Big Country.

Sure enough come 1pm we found ourselves outside the most substantial building in the most substantial town we had come across. It happened to be the once church , just up from the once corner store in the main street. Just next to the church there looked like there had been at least two other residences but both the vehicles parked outside and the buildings themselves looked like they where well past there useby date.

While billying up at the church so that I could at least have a hot coffee with my emergency sweeties the last surviving resident of the town turned up for a chat and to tell us that Lacedona had once been a town of 200 people. I don’t think in my lifetime though. He was a Minogue and related to Kylie. Apparently all the Minogue’s are related to Kylie. He asked me if there were Minogue’s in New Zealand and I told him that there weren’t any , that we’d sent them all packing.

My spirits greatly improved after lunch when we were finally re-united with a more main road that actually had food places on it and that you could ride a cycle on without sinking up to the rims in the soft asphalt.

A Happier Me After Some Food in Saskatchewan.

Tonight we are at a Provincial Park campground and tomorrow we may even get lunch and see other people as we cycle along. Saskatchewan is pretty quiet on the beaten track so I don’t think I will be wanting to take any more detours.

I hope you all appreciate that I have to put up with not only bad McD food but worst still the kids section of the McD to post these comments for you. The kids are meshed off but you can still hardly hear yourself think. Agh............................

The Roads Swollowing me Up.

Day 16.

I could hear the tent being blown around last night as I tried to sleep. Since it had been a headwind yesterday I was reasonably confident that the wind had come up and that we would have a tough days cycling to Oyen. We had to make the 145km day regardless of the weather as we have got slightly behind schedule. Sure enough after having had breakfast at the local diner in Delia we headed out into a strong crosswind that got more head windy with every right hand bend that the road took. The temperature rose from 25C to 36C at lunchtime. With the constant wind and high temp it was a hard day.

Espresso Gauge Nudging 38C

 

The terrain was that of gently sloping pasture land with numerous ponds where we saw ducks and ducklings. In all honesty though today was just a hard grovel in the heat with plenty of crap soft drinks consumed. (And the ever present mossies).

The highlight was getting to camp and the wind has finally dropped. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring but I do know that I have an unconsumed blueberry muffin to have for breakfast with my coffee. Adi ate hers today so she is out of luck.

Blueberry muffins don’t go off do they?

Alberta

Day 17.

Once again we awoke to a strong wind. But this time it’s blowing from the North so it’s a pleasant 23C. With expectations high for an easier day in the saddle we set off. A check of the route last night reinforced thoughts that although it was another 145km day we had a cross to tail wind and we were headed into Saskatchewan which to all intense  and purposes means no hills. We had a small in- tent brecky and at the 60km mark we stopped at a diner on the border for a coffee. 

That was the last sustenance that passed our lips until 6pm!

Nothing is ever as it seems when cycle touring in foreign lands. Shortly after that coffee, which in retrospect should have been downed with a cooked breakfast as only the North Americans know how to put away, we went into big sky country with no services of any kind and then hit gravel roads with no signs anywhere! No traffic anywhere and no people anywhere. If it wasn’t for my compass I might have thought that we were totally lost.  I kept us on track but no thanks to the guide book we were following. Adi got blown off the gravel road twice in the crosswind but my extra panniers, weight and wider tyres kept me pretty grounded.

Coffee, Muffin , Cookie.... Anything! There's Got to be a Gopher I can Eat.

By 3pm we had re-joined a sealed road but due to lack of road maintenance, the recent hot weather and heavy trucks the seal was like porridge to cycle through. Even last year in Bolivia I hadn’t encountered such stuffed sealed roads.

By 6pm we had reached our destination of Eston Sk. I felt sorry for Adi as she has gone like a Trojan and today should have been easy so we got a motel. I can’t believe that in a dumpy town like this the motels are still $80!

It’s a bit early to tell but this area of Saskatchewan seems pretty run down. I’ve seen derelict towns on the West Coast of NZ, with better roads and more paint on the dwellings, than I’m seeing at the moment. It’s all a bit reminiscent of our US tour across Nevada where you have to search for the ‘Yes We’re Open ‘sign in the window to distinguish between the derelict buildings and the still functioning ones.

A Lick of Paint Might be Needed Soon.

Alberta Heat!

Day 13.

Our last day in the Rockies and it promised to be downhill, although only gradual on the way out. The day weather wise also looked promising with blue sky and little wind. Pity then that I discovered upon putting the rear panniers on my bike that the rear carrier stay had broken. Now any long distance cycle tourer that has been around for a while knows that aluminium carriers are just pure junk. Mine happened to be made by Zero (a rather apt name for this piece of equipment), but to be fair a whole heap of companies make them and usually they will let you down at the worst possible time. In my case this didn’t happen as cycling across Canada can hardly be described as alien terrain.

I braced the stay with an allen key and a couple of zip ties and then wrapped the whole thing with insulation tape. This got me down the rode where there happened to be a bike shop catering to weekend mountain bikers . There I bought another crap alloy rack and threw the other in the bin. I know that I should have quality stainless steel racks on Adi’s and my bike and I will buy them when I get home. The annoying thing is the predictable inevitability of the whole thing. So if you read this Rob and Jude I’m happy to take your s/s racks off you if you decide that cycle touring is not your cup of tea.

On the plus side I found a pair of clear glasses further down the road, thanks Mr Harley rider they fit perfectly, although you could have shined them before passing them on.

The visitor centre told us that due to the recent flooding the cycleway was washed away and the main road was not open to cyclists! They then told us that we would have to put our bikes on a shuttle for 15km!  All that was true except the bit about Niel the Wheel using a shuttle, he just rode the highway with every other vehicle.  The police appeared to have real problems elsewhere as we weren’t bothered.

With the rack problem and the fact that the Indian reservation we later had to cycle through having no camping grounds, we ended up cycling 172kms to Cochrane before we found our tent site. It was just lucky it doesn’t get dark until 10.30-11pm. It was a late night once we’d got the tent up and had showers.

Day 14.

A late start as we had to do some clothes washing. My white shorts took a hammering yesterday with the repairs and greasy hands. Once that was done we were on our way. We are in Alberta now and with a light cross wind we covered the 92km across the mainly rolling country. I found another pair of glasses but this time 3D ones, pretty useless as the view is 3D without them.

The main thing of note today was the temperature. 30C! The locals are all telling us that they are not used to this sort of heat. Of course for Nelsonians from NZ it’s just right. What isn’t just right is the killer mossies’’’’! Mozzies are multiply at a rate only matched by that of the human population. Due in their case by the very wet and warm summer the Albertans are having. I think Adi would agree that we could use a day of cloud again as our skin is beginning to become more red than brown.

Day 15.

We are on the Alberta plains it is again 30C but today we had a stiff crosswind. I have to say that although Adi initially was zooming along I was finding my rather heavily laden bike a bit of a drag. I was pleased to stop at the 65km mark for a bit of McD. Due to it being Canada Day and also an area where Dinosaurs once regularly kicked the bucket, families and kids from near and far have today descended on Drumheller AB. And when kids need feeding McD is ready.

We were trapped in there trying to use the WiFi. But by the time Adi had posted her blog and we were out of there our heads were ringing. They really need to provide the poor staff with earmuffs.

Further along the road shoulder reduced to about half a meter and on this narrower provincial road the Albertan authorities have decided to allow blind people to drive vehicles.  Well this is the only conclusion I can come to for the rumble strip along each side of the road leaving nowhere safe for cyclists to ride. A shoulder that would normally be quite safe to ride on is now not available just so that blind people can drive thirsty RVs or whatever takes their fancy. And just so that they know when they are approaching major intersections and can apply the brakes in a safe manner the authorities have put multiple rumble strips on the lead up to these as well.  Honestly what are they thinking, blind people and people asleep in their RV’s while travelling should be discouraged and not pander to at the expense of cyclists safety.  

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Due to the heat and wind we didn’t get the required 140kms today covering only 110km. But as I sit here I have managed to do all chores, fix another Adi puncture and have had a diner beef and chips meal. Not too bad.

Last Days in the Rockies.

Day 11.

Over Rogers Pass today to Golden BC. Reading other cyclists blogs led us to believe that this 150km stretch would be taxing. So we made sure that we were away by 8am and had extra food and drink on board.  When will I learn to never listen to others?  By 2pm we were at the top of the pass and in that time I hardly got out of the big chain ring. In fact the most distressing part of the whole climb was when I discovered that I had another grease mark on my white cycle shorts! I can’t imagine how that happened. I wasn’t required today to fix Adi’s bike or repair one of her punctures. It’s all a bit of a mystery.

What was exciting today was the bear spotting. Coming out from the end of a mountain tunnel I spotted a black bear sitting on his bum on the road verge munching on something. It was too late to stop so I glided by not 10 metres away. He hardly glanced up from what he was munching. (No doubt the remains of the last cyclist through).

The really funny thing was just so that Adi wouldn’t miss this spectacle I pointed to the bear so when she came out of the tunnel shed see him. Unfortunately all the cars behind also saw the bear, (A sight they’d normally miss) and slammed on their brakes, jumped out of their cars with cameras, while truck drivers blasted their horns and took evasive action. Meanwhile I had taken a picture of the bear from the saddle and Adi had gone past. The bear had had enough of all this and had got off his bum and wandered off.

I finished the ride pretty satisfied with that. Dinner was eaten in a fake 1950’s diner followed by a root beer and ice-cream. The day was done and dusted a bit early as we had to put our clocks forward 1 hour. From Pacific time to Mountain time.

Day 12.

A lovely warm sunny day as we rode through the Canadian Rockies. Mountains, lakes and more bear sightings.  Lunch was had at the pretty railway town of Field BC. This weekend is Canadian Holiday weekend where the poor Calgary city types get an extra day off. So traffic headed the other way was quite heavy as they all headed into the hills for a spot of camping the North American way.  By that I mean bringing the RV (the size of a kiwi batch), a spare car, bicycles and boats, in fact anything they can get aboard.  After 9 hours cycling on the same roads with all this stuff being pulled along by big- pot dinosaur engines your head can start ringing.

Look at the Length of that Train.

Anyway at the end of the day when we arrived at the National park campground the joke was on them as Adi and I sailed past the long queue of now motionless homes on wheels to check into a campsite where the big boys with their camper grand autos were being turned away. I will have to queue to use the shower though, don’t you just hate holiday weekends.

 

No Lunch Makes Adi Grumpy.

Day 10.

We camped overnight at the Nacusp Municipal Campground even though it was raining. I am slowly getting Adi hardened up. But it was all a bit damp and gritty. There happened to be a local baseball game on at the time which was a bit annoying because the batters sheds would have made a great place to cook dinner out of the drizzle. The game didn’t look like ending anytime soon so we dragged the picnic table under a tree where we had pretty good shelter. Cooking dinner was a pain due to ‘ken’ the cookers pressure leak.

Adi Headed up the Road to Meet a Bear.

The next morning was once again drizzly as we headed North along the 50km stretch that connects with the lake ferry to Revelstoke. A lovely road despite the dampness. I’m riding ahead most of the time but at about the 48km mark I decide to take a picture of some wild flowers (as us blokes do from time to time), so let Adi go off ahead. I finally catch up with her after I had taken my photo and she is standing there straddling her bike. As I sail by I ask her what the matter is, “Come on, no time for dallying”. She eventually catches me up down the road and then tells me she had stopped because a huge black bear was ambling about on the road where I had just ridden. Telling me that she was dumb struck so couldn’t warn me. I don’t know if I was more annoyed that she had seen a bear that I hadn’t or that she hadn’t warned me! I didn’t even have my camera ready.

So instead of a bear picture you get one of the ferry.  A brief period of sunny weather and then the rain set in again as we covered the next 50km to Revelstoke. No more bear sightings. There were also no food places in that 100km stretch so Adi was a bit grumpy to the nice campground lady when we checked in. I also think it was me saying I would not ask to see if they had cabins and that the tent was perfectly adequate that may have been a pre cursor for it.

Day 11.

‘Niel the wheel ‘is not in the best of spirits this morning because although we have a day off in Revelstoke he has not only run out of sweeties when he wakes up but ‘ken the cooker has a broken weld in one of his legs! Not to mention the pump washer problem. “Can you fix the weld?” asks Adi. “You can’t fix a damaged weld!” I say. “You can’t just tape up a broken weld. I’m trying to get my head around the fact that ‘ken ‘ might not be able to make the trip when I decide to at least see if I can get one of my replacement leather washers in his pump chamber. After only a short time I’ve done that successfully. But how to fix the weld?

We shoot off down town for breakfast and I take ‘ken’ thinking that a plumber may be able to solder his leg on. Adi suggested that we use him without it. Can you imagine cooking on a stove with only 2 legs? I don’t think so.  Revelstoke was a pretty town. But then it rained, and rained, and then it was hot and sunny for about 90mins and now it’s raining again.

A Brief Sunny Interlude.

The plumbers refused to solder ‘ken’ because he had fuel in him. I don’t think plumbers are as tough as they used to be. But at the hardware I found all sorts of amazing things to fix him with. I’m putting my money on epoxy cold weld glue and a length of 20 gauge steel oven wire. We may not go hungry after all.

Adi says that the 20 gauge steel oven wire was her idea. You can see that this entry has been critiqued

Grizzly Sighted.

Day 6.

I have seen my first gopher.  Well I think it was a gopher. If I was in Europe I would have thought that it was a Marmot. There he was sitting on a rock as we climbed Mt Anarchist. Mt Anarchist was a 20km ride uphill which took us 4 hours. It was about 11% gradient I think.  Adi had not brought enough water and the route guide said that there was no water at the top. I had packed a can of root beer and had about 500ml of water. This had to see me over the mountain and the 50kms to Midway, our next camp spot. So I climbed the hill without drinking knowing that I had my root beer to look forward to at the top. You guessed it. After drinking most of her water on the way up Adi then wanted half my root beer!

Can you believe that?

Doesn't he look Cute. Bet you He could take Your Finger Off Though.

Luckily for Adi there was a tap at the top where she refilled her bottle.  Most of the mornings ride was a bit like Central Otago in NZ. Complete with orchards. After the hill where Adi got a bit parched it became typical Rockies scenery again. I can’t get over the lovely smell of pines which is everywhere and smells very different to the exotic trees back home.

We are camped tonight on a river which acts as the boundary between the US and Canada. Even if you didn’t know that the US was over the river you could work it out. The Canadian side is peaceful and quiet while from the other side you can hear twangie voices.

Off to bed in the tent where I will keep Adi awake with my snoring. I am only snoring because Felix gave me his cold on my last days at work.

Day 7.

An easy day today. We had no massive hills to cycle over and had time to stock up on a few essentials such as bulk peanut M&M’s and chocolate raisins from the super market. And less essential things such as camera batteries and disposable lighters, as the matches have got rather damp in the recent rain.

Breakfast in Bed.

 

 Calgary , where we will be headed in about a week is flooded like never before. But today we saw the sun and I have already started to get my cycle tan lines back. The fine weather and short day of cycling have enabled Adi to do a bit of washing. This is a camping chore that she enjoys as much as I like firing up the primus. My white cycle shorts are still looking resplendent with just the odd grease mark. I’m hoping to travel across Canada slowly turning from sparkly white to a uniform grey. We will see. Either way the shorts should match my black /grey and white New Zealand top. I’m always happier when the kit all works together.

Day 8.

Today we climbed the longest continuous hill in Canada (or so the locals said). The road went skywards for 35kms and then fell for 35kms to our lunch stop. I have to say I was a might hungry by the time I got there. Normally we lunch at about 1pm but today due to the rather continuous hill we didn’t get our toasted sandwiches until 3pm.

Nice Sparkly White Kit Still.

 

 I’d forgotten how many choices there are for everything here. The toasted s/wichs came in about four different bread types and then numerous fillings. After this I had to make constant decisions about how I wanted my coffee. I got totally confused the other day ordering my sausages and eggs at a diner. Too many choices!! I want my eggs ‘double over easy’, my bread French, my coffee a light brown colour and the chit chat kept to a minimum so that I can get it all down! And then when paying with a credit card even the bank gets in on the 100 questions. No such thing as in New Zealand where you just swipe and go. No there’s one question after another ending in whether you’d like to give a tip. I’ll give them a tip, ‘Time is Money’.

Honestly though the service so far has been really friendly and helpful. The Canadians so far seem a relaxed and chatty bunch. I think those involved in the tourist trade in New Zealand should try and be a tad less surly. The weather was sunny today and after 130kms we had arrived in Winlaw BC. A lovely alpine valley populated by numerous spring flowers and the biggest mossies’ I’ve seen so far.

Day 9.

Not a Picture of the Grizzly as I was a bit Preoccupied to get the Camera Out.

Today we saw a bear! I’m happy now as I would have hated to cycle across Canada having not seen one. Not only did we see one , we saw him at close range. He didn’t see us and we didn’t see him until we were about two metres away from each other. There he was amongst the wild flowers at the side of the road. Partially hidden behind the flowering things. I was following behind Adi , who had seen nothing. I saw him, a grizzly, he saw us, and before I could warn Adi he decided to move further out of her way and head up the rocky cliff at the side of the road. She then saw him but the danger was over.

Fixing Adi's First Puncture. (Actually not enough rim tape on the wheel so cant really blame the tyre choice.)

 

 For the next two hours Adi then drove me nuts by ringing her bike bell constantly. Lovely Scenery today but it was predominately wet and at the camp site tonight Ken the cooker has decided to play up by not holding his pressure properly. I’ll try a new leather pump washer tomorrow. Cooking dinner while constantly pumping him was a drag. Hoping for some sun in the morning.

Cold Rain in the Rockies.

Day 3.                                                                                         145Km

A great day cycling. The terrain was flat to gently sloping upwards and the weather was calm and 17C. Perfect cycling weather. In the end we managed to reach our target town of Hope.

The highlight for me was being passed by a Canadian Pacific locomotive (in fact three locomotives) pulling a train the length of which I have never seen before. Further up the road it had stopped and we started passing the carriages one by one endlessly it seemed until we finally reached the stationary locos. The driver had stopped so that he could nip across the road for a takeaway meal! While I was inspecting the locos another monster thundered past travelling in the opposite direction. The loco driver having grabbed his dinner then told me that his train was 7kms long!

Adi and I started up the road just as this giant was getting under way and we had probably gone about 4kms before he caught us. With a wave he was gone.

Tonight we are camped next to the Fraser River. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t mossies’ here but the campground is cheap, we had a meal further down the valley, and the shower water was hot and plentiful.

Day  4.                                                                                            70Km

Rain today and 1300mtrs of climbing. We got under way in drizzle which turned into heavier rain for the duration of the 70kms uphill. At lunchtime we stopped at the only shop along the route which climbed through forested high country frequented by black bear at this time of the year. We didn’t see one which surprised me as I know they are seen along the roadside. The weather got pretty cold as we climbed sitting at about 6C. Adi rode really well, consistently chugging along with hardly any rest stops. I appreciated this as in cold weather I like to keep going in an attempt to stay warm. Even so we both arrived at Manning Park Resort feeling pretty cold. Adi vetoed the idea of a tent and so I find myself in motel type accommodation tonight watching bad American TV. Although the road gradient was steepish today my  42 X 28 was sufficient to get the loaded touring bike up ok. I wonder if I will need my triple to get through the Rockies (30 X 28 is my lowest gear) ?

Day 5.

Freezing today and with sleety rain. The bike temperature gauge reckoned 5C but it felt colder. I had brought gloves and booties but Adi had not packed either. I also had tights but Adi had not brought any! She was turning blue and I feared that she would not make the distance so against my better judgement I advised her to pedal faster, that way she would keep warm. When this failed to improve her look I relented and gave her my booties. What’s a bloke supposed to do? She would have just keeled over and we wouldn’t make our destination. After 60kms of this we started to descend to Princeton and we stopped at a diner for a slap up Canadian all day breakfast which was like dinner with heaps of coffee. The next 70kms flew by and was much warmer. And now here we are tenting in Keremeos BC.

I know you will be all very interested in the observation that ‘Ken’ my kerosene cooker is loving the Canadian kerosene we are giving him here. Note the lovely blue burner! I think the fuel is triple filtered and to the highest standard. Adi didn’t seem that interested when I told her!

Sorry forgot the burner pic, maybe next time.