Today is the last day. The last day of this cycling adventure we embarked upon 4 1/2 months ago. I feel melancholy and sadness. I linger in my sleeping bag, deliberately moving slowly to delay the end of the end.

During these last months, I have discovered a sense of freedom that only oneself can provide and the proof that, if you want to accomplish something, commit to it and it will happen.

I have met some amazing people. People that have embarked on life journeys on their bikes and kayaks. I met a lady who lived her life regretting that she had not jumped on the opportunity for adventure at a younger age. At 70 years old, she stopped regretting and started a solo cycling trip across Canada. I met a man who has a degenerative nerve disease who has cycled in more then 20 countries. The disease will eventually cripple and kill him, but until then he is living his life to the fullest. There is simply no excuse for not accomplishing your ultimate dreams and desires. Carpe Diem!

Day 56 (June 27) - Osoyoos to Midway, 45 miles

We got an early start to escape the heat of the desert. Unfortunately, the escape was not to be swift as Anarchist mountain loomed over us and blocked our passage to anywhere beyond the infernal oven. Our guidebook indicated approximately 12 miles of climbing, so we paced ourselves going up a series of long convoluted switchbacks. We took several breaks to admire the views down into the valley filled with lush green patches of vineyards (with wistful thoughts of wine we had not sampled). By 9am, the heat was beating down on us, we were drenched and there was no shade to be found for miles. This was a new kind of challenge, cycling in intense heat, when keeping your cadence is not only to get to the top, but also because you want to get to somewhere cooler!

We eventually got to the rest area where we had a celebratory pre-lunch. Some people there warned us of a rattlesnake nearby but nothing could dampen our spirits as we felt the summit was just around the corner. We could see a little uphill out of the rest area but the summit was just beyond I was sure of it (besides by odometer was practically at 12 miles)! We hopped back on the bikes, looking forward to nice downhill section… which never came. It was very gradual but somehow we were still climbing. Something was off and after a while I stopped fooling myself that the summit was just around the corner. I had to focus on more climbing, in the heat, and with a nasty headwind. Finally 7-8 miles later, in an anti-climatic finish, we got to the summit and had a true celebration.

The long awaited descent finally arrived and lead us right into Rock Creek. It wasn’t hard to convince ourselves to stop for some ice cream and shade at the local coffee shop. We were all feeling weary from the heat (or maybe the weight of 5 layers of sunscreen) but we reluctantly started pedaling again under the pounding sun. Our objective for the day was Boundary Creek Provincial Park with a stop required in the town of Midway for groceries. By the time we got to Midway, the temperature was well over 100 degrees and we decided to call it quits.

Going grocery shopping was an unusual treat as the store was wonderfully air-conditioned. We had never been so excited about a daily chore (especially the boys). Kismat even had the genius idea of sticking some juice in the frozen section to make it ice-cold by the time we finished our shopping.

We were packing up our purchases outside the store when we were approached by a local. There was the usual series of questions, when the lady suddenly offered to host us in her backyard. We looked over at the house she was pointing to, and in the front yard we saw a Canadian flag and a big Royal Canadian Mounted Police sign. Whoa! I was thinking, that’s either the safest place to be in town or they want to keep strange cyclists close by in case they’re trouble! After some deliberation, we headed over to the RCMP compound, which had a small office/administration building connected to a private residence. The lady, who’s name is Kim and is in charge of the Midway RCMP division, was a god-send. First she offered her backyard, pool and a phone call to the local campground to make sure we could use the facilities there. We were already amazed by her generosity but it kept getting better! She then upgraded us, and gave us the keys to the empty RCMP house next door to use the facilities at our leisure. The cherry on top was when she came out and gave us a bottle of local red wine with four wine glasses. Cheers!

Days 57 to 65 (June 28 - July 6)

Mileage Log:

Midway to Christina Lake, 48 miles
Christina Lake to Castlegar, 50 miles
Castlegar to Nelson, 28 miles
Nelson to Lockhart Beach Provincial Park, 38 miles
Lockhart Beach Provincial Park to Yahk, 61 miles
Yahk to Wasa Lake, 66 miles
Wasa Lake to Windermere, 58 miles

In Christina Lake, we ran into two cyclists who had been traveling together for 2 weeks. They had just decided to go their separate ways, realizing that their vision of a cycling tour was quite different. We felt sad for them, but it also made us grateful that we were still enjoying our trip as a group. As with any good team, communication is the key, and it needs to happen really often.

After riding in the hot sun for a few days, we were actually looking forward to our next big climb to gain elevation and some relief from the heat. Paulson Summit (5036ft) was our highest climb yet, and provided a break from the heat. It was short lived however, as we quickly descended into Castlegar.

It was at the campground in Castlegar that Bruno finally caught up to us after his stint in Osoyoos. He came along with a new recruit for the biketrippin crew - Andreas from Sweden. Andreas started his tour in Las Vegas, NV and did a zig zag across, up and down the western United States. His ultimate destination was Alaska.

From Castlegar, we rode to Nelson in our new 6-man formation. We had heard great things about Nelson, so we decided to spend Canada day there and see what it was all about. Despite the charm of Nelson, we spent many hours taking advantage of the wifi at the campground.

Nelson was great but it was time to move on. We continued our journey along the shores of Kootenay Lake. We enjoyed a short ferry ride across the lake and ended up at Lockhart Beach Provincial Park. We met another cyclist there who happened to be taking an afternoon break. We spent an idyllic afternoon lounging at the beach and bathing in the glacial water.

After the refreshing day at the lake, we had to face several hot days (without a lake to jump into). We changed our riding schedule, taking breaks midday to escape the heat. In Creston, we took a nap at a park, while in Cranbrook, we spent the afternoon at Safeway with a bunch of other touring cyclists (8 total!).

Just as we were getting used to the hot days, the weather pattern suddenly changed. We were now plagued with rain, rain, and some more rain. Our afternoon breaks turned into us taking shelter from the rain at every opportunity. We got really good at covering up our gear and dressing in our rain clothes. We also got to hear a whole lot of complaining from Bruno, who claims he never rode in the rain until he started riding with us.