Day 4 - June 21st 2018 Mission to Sunshine Valley

So today had us leaving the Fraser Valley and entering the mountains.  The first 85 km was riding ENE out of Mission towards Hope with a SSW wind blowing around 20-25 km per hour so instead of riding at 22 kph, we were around 30 kph through lovely pastoral settings of the Fraser Valley.  Early on in the ride, we passed a farm selling fresh strawberries but it was early and I was not hungry.  We would pick some up later.  Little did I know that this would be the last option.  No fresh strawberries on day 4.  So after flying along with a mostly tail wind on the flat as a board Fraser Valley, we made Hope before noon and enjoyed lunch with a view of the Fraser River.

 

The roads we cycled in the morning were cool and mostly quiet.  We did have a number of dump trucks that were moving gravel but once we passed the gravel pit, the rode was quiet.  This was a welcome change from the ride in Vancouver.  As the miles passed, the views of the mountains became more evident.  The cloud cover, that we had at 6:30 AM was almost totally burned off by the mid morning.

The picture below is on the bridge coming into Hope.  Good Bye Fraser River and Hello mountains.  I do not know if it is the open roads or the prospect of mountains but RJD is looking way more excited in the photos.  But rest assured, RJD has been excited even if the photos don't create this impression.

After lunch, we climbed the Crowsnest Highway out of Hope towards our evening accommodations in Sunshine Valley.  The climb started at 12:37 with temperatures of 34C and ninety minutes later, had cooled to below 28C as we reached the top and the Hope slide.  The bonus of eating lunch at Subway is that we can add ice to our water bottles and drink ice cold water on the climb.  Today that was appreciated.

 

So we started the day 11 m below,sea level and finished the day around 715 m above sea level.  Okay, the Garmin might have a bias but you get the sense that we have risen into the mountains. We look forward to tomorrow and the wonderful roads ahead.

Having a great time in the interior of BC.