Day 5

5.27.09

The sun rises out here at 5am. And couple that with the transparent roof of a tent and you’ll soon find that you begin to roll with the rhythm of the sun. It rises at 5 – you rise at 5. Hell, I was getting up to work back in Ohio at 6:30am, so much for the “vacation” way of life.

         It takes us a solid 2 hrs to pack up the gear from camp and be ready to ride, so 5-6am is a good time to awake. But today, ahhhhhhhh this was a reward for busting our humps on a 90-mile ride yesterday. We only wanted to stay on schedule and make it to Courtenay – 47K away. It was sunny and cool in the morn. We left camp and high tailed it to Starbucks for coffee and internet. As some of you may already know, we’re now officially Skype pimps….having discovered the underground world of toll free, world wide calling on the computer. I signed up for $8.50 for 3 months of unlimited calling. You folks flushing tons of cash down the drain with cell phones – get on the wagon!

         Well, we went to get caught up with our businesses via email, and then started doing our Skyping with family, loved ones, friends, and anyone else who we remotely give a damn about…….. because we just love to talk for free on long distance and watch the minutes rack up without charge – it’s like heroin for God’s sake! I even called my Aunt Tilly from Bugtussle, who I haden’t talked to for over 51 years……and I just turned 52 this past May!

         Just took it totally casual, stoking on a redeye coffee, and talking with the locals about our trip. We finally left at 10am, rode back to our camp, tore down, and were on the road at a very late 11:15am. We were told about the “scenic route” also call Rt 19A, so we deviated off of Rt 19, and onto Rt 19A, all along the ocean inlet. Did a breakfast at Mickey D’s – 3 double cheeseburgers – and I felt the wrath of burger belly for the next 27 miles.

         Rode at a casual pace the whole time, with just a few power climbs along the way, all along the ocean inlet of the eastern coast of Vancouver Island. No more Mickey D’s for breakfast, that’s for sure, as I had the wonderful taste of breakfast on each and every power climb.

         Ended up in Courtenay, a wonderful little seaside community that is pretty sports oriented – hiking, kayaking, backpacking, surfing etc. Great town center and very friendly people. We were directed to a town camping area right along the river. Arrived at 3pm, and once we were checked in, we went straight to the river for a much needed dip, that to wash away three days of sweat, salt stains, and the BO on our cycling kits. At first the water took your breath away, but after a few seconds it felt wonderful in the warm BC sunshine. I washed my cycling gear in the cold water – with NO soaps – and then let them sun dry at camp.

         Emailed and Skyped at the camp Center with free WiFi, and then off to town to eat – Chineese. Ryan hunkered down at a coffee house and emailed and Skyped for a couple hours, while I grabbed a six of Molsons and went back to camp to cook dinner #2 – Raman noodles with spicy chicken fake flavoring. I don’t read the ingredients  - I just eat the stuff.

Getting late, sun’s gone down, it’s now 11pm, and got to hit the hay for a 60+ mile day tomorrow to Nanaimo. Cheers………pete