Day 12

6/3/09 Segment 10: Day 12 67 miles from Princeton, BC to Penticton, BC

         On schedule, but we have a bit of a problem: Ryan has had what looks to be an IT Band giving him some problems. It’s not at the critical point yet, but bothersome enough that we’re concerned. So the dope is that Ryan took today off, rested his leg and worked  feverishly on getting his “take home” final done for school. It’s due tomorrow morning at 8am EST. So he’ll be getting up at 5 or 6am PST to finish it and email to his prof.

         I think the rest is a good idea. It’s just too early to blow it at this point, so some rest, ice, stretching and anti-inflams are what we hope will do the trick. This because the really big, kick butt, smashing mountains are only 3 days away – Roger’s Pass. We need his knees in good condition to do those climbs. That said, today was totally unexpected. We had planned on riding with Barney to Penticton today, with his wife Valerie following in the camper. But Ryan decided to ride with Valerie to Pentiction, rest the leg, ice, and work on his final, which is giving him fits right now what with so little time to finish, and doing all on the net.

         So Barney and I rode together today, with Ryan and Valerie in tow. We rolled out of Princeton at 8:30am and did the most spectacular descent, nearly 40 miles worth down along the Similkameen River. Let me tell you, this was pure ecstasy. Here it is: It’s a blue sky, no clouds, and the river is roaring on your left hand side. There are foothill mountains on both left and right sides as you careen down the highway and this fabulous berm – for 40 freaking miles! There’s just a bit of a chill in the morning air and you can smell the scent of pine lingering in the air.

We averaged 16.7 mph hauling a ton of gear, just rolling along taking in the sights. It was one of the “pinch me” moments that I’ll not soon forget. It made up for every second of agony spent on Allison Pass. Now the topography was changing, way different than I had envisioned it. For we were actually descending out of the high mountains and into a sort of desert mountain area, much akin to places like Moah, Utah or Flagstaff, Arizona. About 1.5 hrs into descending we stopped at a small, “blink and your through it” town called Hedley.

Now if it were just me riding, or Ryan and I riding, we’d have blown through this place like we were on a mission. Those of you who’ve ridden with me before kind of know my MO. But the nice part of riding with Barney, a guy who knows these places like the back of his hand, is that he takes in all the sights and sounds of the places, and stops to take a look every once in a while. So he suggested that we stop and grab a bite to eat at a little place in Hedley. Ok, cool, I’ll roll with it. And it was fabulous! This town was out of a Wild West movie……small, little stores and saloon, and about 2 main streets in the whole place. We went into a little diner that was being restored to resemble the old mining town era buildings of yesteryear. There were murals on the walls depicting the mining industry and several locals inside just shooting the ---- and drinking coffee. Fun place.

Got it rocking again in our never-ending descent to Keremeous. We traded pulls all the way down, cranking through 40 miles in just under 2.5 hrs – very sweet indeed. All the while we’re riding along the river, looking down at the fabulous farms and spreads along the water.

         Once in Keremeous, we had to jump onto Rt 3A, and climb this sick entry ramp. And I mean sick, plopping it down in the middle ring and just busting it out of the saddle for 500 meters. In a car you wouldn’t even thing about it, but on a bike towing 80+ lbs of gear – HELP! We stopped and rested at the top of the entry ramp. I mean this sucker felt like a Z5 rep up Oak Hill for God’s sake. So from there we had an inkling that there was a mountain pass to climb because we were going from river valley on one side to a massive lake valley system on the other. It doesn’t take and Eisenstein to figure that one out. On to 3A to Penticton.

So we just rode along waiting for the inevitable. And then it came, ramping up in stages, but still forcing me to get out of the saddle and move that middle ring with the big pie plate in the rear. Up and down, in and out of the saddle. And just when you though you had it, the road would wind around another corner, dip slightly, and then pitch up again around another rock outcrop. Now I have to say that this was child’s play compared to Allison Pass, but, on a day when I expected to go down and flats the whole day – this was a bit more than I had expected.

         We finally topped out at a wonderful little lake. Barney walked out onto a floating pier, plopped down and just took in the brilliant BC sunshine. I joined him, sitting on the deck, soaking up the warmth, and knowing that we had conquered the toughest section of the day. The climb probably took us 30 min to complete. Our descent down to the Okanagan Valley started out kind of hard, almost like we were still climbing, and just about the time I started to complain about not getting our just reward, we hit the 8% descent that went on for a good 4 miles. It had turns, switchbacks, and long straight-aways, snaking down the mountain like a runaway truck ramp. Yup, that was the descent I was looking for!

Now we finally had descended just to the southern end of Penticton, when I saw Ryan waving feverishly, from inside this campground. It was right on the lake, a long, narrow, really beautiful finger of water tucked between two rolling foothills. I mean it just wasn’t anything like I expected for BC. This was almost a desert oasis, kind of like Flaming Gorge. Barney led the way, with me behind, and the camper in tow, scouting out the outermost, on the water camp site he could find, and we staked our claim for the day. We had the whole beach area to ourselves.

Barney, a guy after my own heart, suggested we crack a few beers and relax by the water. Done. After than he, Ryan and Valerie all headed out into the lake in kayaks and a canoe while I got caught up on my emails and skype calls. Ryan had a blast out on the water, and I see a kayak in his future!

Then it was chow time, and damn did Valerie put on a spread of a meal. We had chicken and mushrooms, grilled garlic bread, veggies, a wonderful salad, brown rice. My God, this was heaven after some 70 miles of cycling. I tried to bribe them into going all the way across Canada as support. Great people, great meal! These two awesome people have made our last several days so memorable!

         As a nightcap, we all collectively put the buzz on with our refreshments, sitting lakeside at a picnic table watching the hills on the eastern side of the lake glow with a wonderful pink hue as the sun set. It was a perfect day of riding and a great experience hanging with our new friends. I’m here at the computer pecking away at 11:30pm, and ready to sleep under the stars on the beach tonight. Ryan is already crashed out, under the stars and on the beach also. Tomorrow we’ve a short ride to Kelowna to hook up with Ray, our friend who was bike racing in Victoria on Sunday. He invited us to his place for a day. We’ll watch him in a crit, BC style and take in the sights and sounds of what I hear is a wonderful city. By the way, this area is nicknamed the “Napa Valley of the North”, as there are vineyards everywhere. Anyway, off to bedy by…….under the stars. Late…….Pete