Steve’s Blog – July 5 – over 1,000 km and highest point thus far – Christina Lake to Castlegar

The route looks simple – almost a perfect triangle in profile. Up one side and down the other. Add to that a shorter distance than usual (80km), and this was looking like a light day. Boy did we ever get that wrong.

Mike started us off with some cool drone shots to capture the outset of our journey today. (Watch for these on the website blog posts.)  Jim and I have developed a comfortable stretching regimen, whereby we do a bit of dynamic stretching before we start, and then stop after an hour of riding for deeper tissue stretching when we’re warm. Jim says that it is having a noticeable impact on his flexibility.

For the second day in a row our day’s schedule is dictated by the need to get to a spot with cell service in time for a radio interview. Castlegar – our end point – was the only reasonable option.  The timing looked tight but doable.

We couldn’t have known how tough this hill would be, as the slope looked gentle. It wasn’t. It was a long haul (35km) to the 1,535m summit. Jim says that his legs are feeling sluggish, but to me he looks like a well maintained machine.

I am feeling pretty good today and picked up my pace slightly. (In fact, I found out later that I currently hold the top spot on Strava for this route this year. See screen captures. Jim also had an amazing climb, and takes the 5th spot so far this year.) I hate stopping on a hill (even a 35 km hill), but I take two breaks: one to stretch with Jim and another to take a short video from the gorge-ous Paulson Bridge. I continue up and wait for Jim close to the summit. I scramble up a rock perch to get an old school manual drone shot of Jim, and wait for over ½ hr but there is no sign of him. I know there must be trouble, but there is no cell service to learn more. The RV goes by, and honks but can’t stop. I thought that I saw Jim in the passenger seat, so I scrambled down and start pedaling furiously, thinking that they might stop at a pull out. I pedal hard but don’t find them, but I see that the interview time approaches.

I made it in time for the interview (London Live with Mike Stubbs Show, London, Ont 980 CFPL) and so does Jim, with one minute to spare. It turns out that his tire flat troubles continued today.

By my calculations, we have crossed our first 1,000km with 1,079.2 km and 11,939 km vertical rise ( or the height of almost 22 CN Towers).

Tomorrow we have a short, scenic pedal to Nelson, with hot showers and a home cooked meal, courtesy of two friends of my family. When you are on the road, these offers are golden.