day 15

6/6/09 Bottom half of Segment 11: Kelowna, BC to Armstrong, BC 45 miles

         Very nice day today, both from a difficulty perspective and from a success perspective. We did not have the “ride from hell” that we had had on Thurs. where nothing was what we though, and Ryan is having good luck with that ITB situation. If we have to cut our volume back by 20-25 miles/day so his leg heals and becomes used to the climbing, then that’s what we’ll do for the next 7-10 day through the high mountains of the Canadian Rockies.

         Woke up at a nice 6am today, blogged, and then had some “gruel” that Ray fixed for us. I, of course, ate it down like a hungry pig in a trough. Ryan, on the other hand, took a few spoon fulls and just kind of stopped. We all looked at him. Now I’ve known Ryan long enough to make the read – same face I saw out in the BF  when I cooked up a pot of fresh, sweet, pea pods. Nope, not for him. Ray asked him if you liked it…….pause……um…..pause……and Ray knew the story. No need to go further. We all laughed because Ray’s wife Charlene also is not fond of the stuff. Ryan settled for some cereal. I chowed down on the stuff – a mix of flax seeds and God knows what else, but it’s really similar to beefed up Cream of Wheat. I cut a banana into it, threw in some brown sugar, skimmed mile and I was set. GONE! Throw in a couple of cups of jet fuel and I was set for our reduced ride itinerary to Armstrong today.

         Again, leaving some great folks and back on the road. Ray would ride with us for an hr of so north, but we would bid goodbye to Charlene. She’s a real sweetheart, and was very kind to these two vagabonds over the course of the last two days. I mean two disheveled dudes living down on the first floor of their home, eating, goofing, drinking and just hanging around like a couple of college kids on spring break. Thanks much Charlene!!

         We rode out of Ray’s development, and down to Rt 97. Ray showed us a different, less traveled route north, a kind of side trip that he and his cycling buddies do every now and again. It took us by the Kelowna airport, which is known for having fixed up an old jet airliner to the specifications of Bill Gates for his private jet. We rode right along the runway and off into the countryside. Now Ray had warned us that there was a “pretty good climb” coming up, but I assumed it was ……….ahhhhhhh….. just an moderate kind of climb. Then we got to it. I hit it out of the saddle in the big ring……started to feel the leg burn hit and then dropped to the middle ring. I rode middle for about half a K and then turned around and asked Ray “just how much more is there here Ray?” He replied that there was just over a K to go. And as I saw the pitch continue to rise……damn……..down into the little cookie. And I don’t mean just spinning along in the saddle like some kind of circus monkey. I mean I was out of the saddle, torking like there was not tomorrow, craning my neck to look up the road for a top out, anything that signaled an end to the climb. And it kept going. “A K,” I thought. And I remained out of the saddle.

         Finally, sucking air like a pear diver surfacing from a 100 foot dive, I topped out, geared up to the middle ring, and tryed to maintain my composure at the top, coughing, spitting, and feeling like I just eviscerated a few teaspoons of lung tissue! “Nice climb Ray,” I managed to squeak out. God was I glad that was over. That seriously kicked my arse. And I coughed for about a half hr afterwards from the effort.

         After that it was pure ecstasy, as we rode up on a ridgeline overlooking the lake on our left. We stopped several times to take pictures. A fast and winding descent took us down the to the town of Winfield, and back to the jcn with Rt 97. Ray had planned to bid us ado at this point, but said that we were riding so well, that he’d ride another 10-12K with us. I was flabbergasted, because riding with those yaks is like dragging a dumptruck behind you, and I assumed that we would be riding too slow for any roadie to want to stay for long. I was quite happy to have him along for another half hr of so.

         We all got back on 97 and continued north. Ray finally split off somewhere near Oyama or Coldstream. We had a couple of good handshakes, and thanked him for his great hospitality. He’s a very good grand master rider, and Ryan and I talked about how we’ll miss him and his great group of friends. Funny how fast it takes for a friendship to develop. Heck, we’ve only really known the guy for a day and a half, yet he seems like a friend from yesteryear. Very cool.

We hit a long, gradual climb, and a screaming descent down to the city of Vernon. Ray had said that we were making good time, but hell, we had hit Vernon in about 2.5 hrs. Not bad for the day. My body, my legs, and my stamina had felt pretty good after that day off of riding, and Ryan was riding quite well to. So I was pretty stoked that we were back in the saddle and a duo again.

         We kicked it in for the next hr, moving through the city of Vernon. Then we jumped onto Rt 97a and into the town of  Spallumcheen, and finally, moving into the town of Armstrong. Started at 8am, and ended the day at 12:40pm. Not bad. I mailed some picture CD’s to Jerry in Armstrong and checked on where our camping area was located. We road through the town of Armstrong, past the main street, and the fair grounds, and out to our camping area. Armstrong is a very quaint little town. Very friendly people, and a cool little place. We got set up, and then netted, skyped, blogged, and did just about all we could to get caught up on our businesses.

         Din din time was two foot long Subway subs for me (this is getting to be very normal), and Ryan opted for his famous mac and cheese dish cooked up on our jet burner Optimus. I bought a bottle of cheap Cabernet Sauvignon for the eve. Now the camp host told us of a snowstorm up in the Calgary area right now. I’m really hoping that that’s something that we do not have to ride into up in the high mountains. But who knows. At this point we’re looking to hit Sicamous tomorrow, and then Revelstoke on Monday. That would put us going up to the famous Rogers Pass on Tuesday. Three days for the weather to improve before the high peaks.

         It’s 9:32, I’m listening to CBC radio here at a picnic table and the sun is just setting. Bruce Colburn is playing on the radio. Very melodic. Very apropos. Ryan is crashed out on the grass, doing the “under the stars” gig tonight. I’m homing it in the Hilleberg. Very quiet out here in Armstrong. Until tomorrow……….Pete