Monday, June 8, 2009

Day 17





6/8/09 Half of Segment 13. Sicamous, BC to Revelstoke, BC

         This was a stunning portion of the trip thus far. A picture postcard day of sights and weather. We had some stormy weather blow in last evening, as I heard the wind pick up last night and the rain drops start falling. Kind of made me feel like a snug bug in a rug, curled up in my sleeping bag with the wind billowing the tent in and out. My only hope was that a branch wouldn’t fall down on our tents at night and crush hotel Hillebergs. Fortunately, we awoke to a very brisk morning with the sun out and a stiff little headwind all ready to greet us. But thankfully the rain front had passed at night as there was water puddles all over the roadway berms.

         Sucked down a Tim Horton coffee………interesting sidebar here. Now those of you who have not been to Canada for awhile may wonder what the what a Tim Horton is. Well,,,,,he’s the Micky D’s of Canada. The places  are  just filled in the morn with people getting their caffine fixes. Now the further east you go, the more these places seem to proliferate. Heck, by the time you get to Newfoundland there’s a Tim Horton on every corner, in every town and city. The coffee is, well……..ok, for fast food coffee. Same as or just a bit better than Mickey D’s. But nowhere near as good as a cup of java from a nice little coffee house.

         So, I got three doughnuts last night at a Tim Horton’s after my two foot long subs and wine (the gremlin in belly was going wild). I mean the sugar fix was strong! And I brought these things back to our camp. And for the love of Pete, they were downright horrible. What a terrible waste for a maximum sugar fix. So I should have learned my lesson.

         Back to story. So I got burned the night before at Horton’s. Now I GO BACK in the morning and order two medium coffees. And the girl brings me back two shot glasses full of coffee. And I look at these things like: Did I say medium, or dwarf? Burned twice now at Tim Hortons! So we suck down coffee and take off to Revelstoke, into a very stiff headwind. Legs pretty cold, hands cold, and upper bod a bit cold. I know we’d warm into it come the first climb. And that’s just what happened.

         We moved away from the lake district and began to head into the mountains. And then it hit us, this beautiful view of the high peaks, way off in the distance. It was a gorgeous sight. We would close in on the foothills, riding on the eastern edge, so as to be in the shade. Couple that shade with the headwind and it was downright chilly. But again, hit a climb and you warm up fast.

         Our climbing for the day was very gradual and rolling, all middle ring and big ring stuff. Maybe the longest one was 2-3 miles or so. But nothing that really made your heart skip a beat when you saw it. The high peaks began to get closer and closer as the several hours ticked by, until after three hours of riding, they were pretty much in your face – Big Time. This was just a stunning ride, the whole 45 miles of it. It took us round about 3.5 hrs to complete.

         We descended into the town of Revelstoke, with the weather off to the northeast looking very ominous, this up in the high peaks area, where the clouds had consolidated into a big grayish mass with a tinge of blackness here or there. I was hoping that we could make it into town before a potential storm hit. But as we entered Revelstoke the weather actually held, and then got much better. Temps hovered around 65 degrees, partly cloudy/sunny, with these magnificent mountains surrounding the place. The place reminds me of Estes Park up at the doorstep of Rock Mt. Nat. Park. But here there’s no crap. You know, the bumper car place, the go-cart tracks, the dog and pony shows that kind of take the thrill out of the whole environment, that belittle the grand landscapes you’re gawking at.

Nope, not here. In Revelstoke it’s just a wonderful, sporty kind of place with a little downtown (a couple of the blocks are being renovated, and are cordoned off, with only sidewalks open for pedestrian traffic). It’s got the great coffee house – The Modern Bakegoods & Café – cool pubs, restaurants, backpacking, cycling, and ski shops. It’s the outdoor lover’s paradise for sure.

         Most of the homes have steeply pitched, tin roofs, that so the multiple feet of snow that falls here in the winter doesn’t crush the roofs, but just slides off. Such is the home where we’re staying, at Sarah and Rory’s. Sarah says that in the winter, the snow is as high as the top of the fence that surrounds their home. And that’s a good five feet high! They are a very nice couple with two children. They are both good athletes. Sarah used to ride for Specialized, and was a crit specialist. Rory was an elite level cross country skier. Their outbuildings are filled with bikes and skis. Sarah just got home from a half IM south of Kelowna this past weekend. She got 7th in her AG. Not bad when you consider that there were 1100 people in the race.

         They are both teachers, and seem to thrive in this environment. Easy to see why! Well, Ryan and I headed down to the “Modern” to email, skype, and get caught up on our work. Then I went out along the river and the Canadian Pacific RR and took some pics. I’ll for sure get down here this eve for some sunset shots.

That’s about all I have for right now. May add a bit later in the eve. But Ryan is going to add some info on today as well. Tomorrow – 40 miles of up – to Rogers Pass. All the best to everyone – especially Judy, who I wish could share this with me…….Pete

 

Ryan Adds:

 

Today was amazing and I had an experience that sort of made me think quite a bit. The ride today was out of a movie or something. We rode up and down through what seemed like a huge canyon. Rock walls jutting up wherever I looked. We rode for a few hours and got over to our friends house where we hung out and got cleaned up. Pete and I ventured into town and found this cool little coffee place tucked away downtown. This town has a real neat vibe to it. Nature surrounds it. The people are laidback and just seem to get what life is all about. I ordered a mocha and the well…pretty cute coffee maker chic asked me what I did for a living that enabled me to go on such a long bike ride. That’s when it hit me that I have a pretty good life.

Let me explain. To say it was hard for me to move from CA to Ohio is an understatement. I was born in Costa Mesa and I lived and grew up in CA my whole life. My network of family and friends enables me to stay on the beach in San Diego, San Clemente, Newport Beach, and Ventura whenever I want. I am also able to go to Angels games whenever as well. I had multiple job opportunities after I quit working at a church. Then there was my love of surfing. All those things made it tough to leave, but there was something that pulled me to Ohio. Quinn. I gotta say that I never knew love til I had my daughter Quinn. I never imagined the connection I would have with her. For you Dads out there who have a little girl you get it. For those of you who don’t your reading this not having a snowballs chance in hell to understand where I’m coming from. People have told me they think I am courageous or that I’m a good guy for moving to Ohio to be by my daughter and I don’t really know what to say about that. What I do know is this: I feel blessed that I get to be apart of her life. She is amazing on so many levels. I did not want to be a phone call dad. That is what brought me to Ohio. After that decision the real work began. I made a decision to move, then I tried to figure out what the heck I was going to do with my life. I decide to try my best to reinvent a new life. It went something like this. New hobby-cycling. New Friends. New Church. New City-Hudson. New School-Masters in Clinical Counseling. New business-rental properties. New Culture-Ohio is about as different from CA as you can get. It has been a real challening time. So many things to try and learn in a new place. Through all this I always felt close to Quinn but the rest was just a lot to digest. Today it finally seemed worth all the effort. Something about sipping a mocha and checking emails, voicemails, and just enjoying today that left me with a grin on my face. You never know how life will turn out, but it seems like things have turned out good for me in a way I never imagined. I feel lucky or blessed or whatever you want to call it. I was hesitant to post this but what the hell. You gotta write what's on your mind. This was it for today. More tomorrow.

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