Cycling Day 4

Today we woke up to cooler than seasonal temperatures.  It was 9 Celsius.  We had always planned to have me join Jeff in the car for the first 30 km because today involved 4 big climbs and we knew my body and my battery would not be able to last 111 km with that amount of elevation change.

So J and Jessica hopped on their bikes (after the obligatory stop at Subway to acquire our lunch food) and I happily joined Jeff in the car.  

Today we were leaving Hope BC, heading over the "Hope Pass" and into Manning Provincial Park, before arriving at Princeton, BC, our ultimate destination.  We knew J and his sister had about two hours of climbing before I would join them on the road. Jeff and I stopped at a couple of locations hoping to spot some birds.

We found a beautiful little area around Skagit Valley Provincial Park which abuts alongside Manning Provincial Park.  The only people we saw here were two BC Parks staff.

We quickly learned that we were out of range for cellular phone service so we wanted to get back onto the highway to see if the cyclists were having any issues.  The biggest challenge was the cold - particularly cold hands for Jessica.

But kudos to those rock star cyclists they reached Allison Pass Summit with all elevation of 1342 metres.  As soon as they reached the summit (Jessica hopped in the car to eat her lunch because the wind was so cold.  So we all sat in the car at the top and chatted.  At this point, I joined the cyclists, wearing every piece of cycling clothing I brought on this trip (including my curling gloves), while J debated whether or not he would put on his coat!

We then descended the east side of the pass.  Between the single digit temperatures and the rain that started, J was glad he put on his raincoat.  The rain began in earnest, so the next time Jeff passed us with the SAAB (a wonderful 20 year old vehicle on loan from our son P), we signalled to him to wait for us at the next roadside pullout.  This trip is supposed to be the "Best of Canada".  Single digit temperatures and rain do not qualify for the title - though the views would be spectacular with blue sky and sunshine!

And so we thankfully loaded the bikes onto the vehicle and climbed inside and drove the remaining 65 km to Princeton!  The rain continued to fall and the temperature never did rise.  

The Sandman Inn was firm - no early check-ins before 3 pm.  So we found a coffee shop to get hot liquids (the closest Tim Horton's was back at our starting location in Hope!)  Then we headed out to a pond for some birdwatching for the brothers and Jessica and I stayed in the warmth of the car!

At 3 pm we checked in and appreciated hot showers and baths!  Supper proved to be challenging as the the one restaurant clearly offering gluten free (GF) food didn't have space for at least an hour and a half - and we were checking in at 5 pm!  

So we found City Slice Pizza - that had amazing GF pizza for Jessica and Jeff and Indian food for J and I.

Post blog time, we will have another game of Frustration.  We hope the weather will improve tomorrow, but the early morning hours don't look too promising.