Provincial Recap: The highs and lows of B.C

Best locally made products:

Taylor made Whitewater granola bars: these hearty treats made with love got us up even the steepest B.C mountains

Super styling safety chevrons:
These vests kept us safe and groovy and our bike companions jealous!

Best hand delivered imported product:

Jeff Moore's Zimbabwe hot peppers: These coveted fire bombs spiced up Alan's life and kept everyone else hydrated.

Most satisfying discovery:
Comfy beds, great food and an amazing hot tub at the Manning Park Resort. After our first huge cold wet pass, this was a godsend!

Best B.C biker buddies:
Nathaniel and Dustin. We met that at the manning park resort and saw them everyday until parting way just before Fernie. They were to best people to share a fire, baileys and good stories with in all of B.C. We wish them the very best and hope to see them in Halifax.

Best Biker Fuel:
The biggest cinnamon buns in the world made at "The Homestyle Cafe" on the route 3 outside Creston. This increased Ginny's biking speed by at least 150%!

Best paid campsite:
"The Pass Creek Campsite" in Castlegar. Word up to Heather for this recommendation.

Best unofficial campsite:
Beautiful spot off the Kettle Valley railroad at cascade falls. The lookout over the falls and the convenient outhouse rocked our socks off.

Top B.C Biker Tip:
Don't underestimate Paulson Pass, it's a beast!

Biking lowlights:

Most difficult B.C terrain:
Pitt meadows urban sprawl. Runner up: Coquitlam. Kudos to Brett for without his help it would have been much longer.

Most challenging lunch spot:
Paulson pass dirt pile. It was the pits!

Wa wa wa wa worst road feature: Rumble strips! They may keep drivers awake but they are a real pain in the butt for bikers. Most deadly when combines with cement barricades which collect dirt and sand!

Crummiest Accommodations:
B.C provincial parks. At $30 a pop we expected at least a warm shower and covered area. B.C is not a dry place so the parks should be prepared. All though staffed by friendly and in beautiful spots, none of them had these so fail!

Only missed opportunity:
Kettle Valley Railroad. A combination of starting too early, having tons of snow on the trail and loaded down road bike meant this trail wasn't possible. It looked beautiful though and would be a great trip some-other time.









Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:British Columbia , Canada

Day 17: Blairemore to Waterton Park (snow-rain-cloudy-snow-rain)

Wake up: Snow
Get up: Rain
Pack up: Snow
Head out: Drizzle
On the highway: Rain
Zoom downhill: Hail
Down into Pincher Creek: Wind
Lunch: cloudy
Head out: Thunderstorm looms
Racing to get stay ahead if storm: oh no
Storm wins: pounding rain
Lull: cloudy
Storm returns: rain, snow hail, slush on road.
Enter Waterton: Cloudy
Dinner: Cloudy
Ready to pitch tent: pounding rain.

Cold



Distance traveled: 106.0 km
Time on bikes: 6:19:47
Average speed:16.7 km/h
Distance from Vancouver: 1223 km
Start time: 10:00 am
End time: 7:15 pm


Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:Waterton Park, Alberta

Day 18: Waterton National Park- Speak out for Prairie Dog Rights!

I am not sure who you all are out there but this is a quick and easy way to the word out. I am Fred, the Mayor of Waterton City. I know you humans call it Waterton National Park... but when it comes to Prairie Dogs, we outnumber you and this is a thriving place, and our lake side underground condos right here are particularly nice. This is where we are having problems. I saw a few humans leave an iphone unguarded on a picnic table, and with all four paws, I can whip with a touch screen. So here's the story and maybe you can appeal to get the humans to leave us alone.

First off, we have a spectacular field of homes, tunnels and passageways. As Mayor I get the dry spot underneath the foundation of the picnic shelter the humans built some years back. Things have been pretty good of late as the humans usually only turn up in July and August asit is too cold here the rest of the year (that's when I go visit the relations on the upper ridge. But two weeks back it all changed. Some human carpenter types came in and ripped the shingles off the roof of the shelter. They made a racket and left just the roof planks (it looks like they are replacing the roof but when??). So since then the rain has been dripping through the wood planks, puddling on the concrete floor and seeping into my dry tunnels. Yuck. Then to top it off, last eve in the dark, while my whole family was comfotably sleeping in one of the higher tunnel bedrooms (the lower living room is flooded with all the rain on late), these four silly humans come in the picnic shelter and set up their tents on the concrete floor with the roof leaking everywhere (it was pouring rain). Can you imagine the stupidity??? They made so much noise that they woke up the kits. Once they finally settled down, one of them snored up a storm. It was horrendous. On top of that the macho woodpecker Joey started hammering at the metal flashing on the chimney at 5 am to strut his springtime territory stuff. That even woke up the humans. Ha ha.




And the humans, once they woke up they draped all of their stuff all over the main city tunnels on the back lawn. They said their stuff was wet. Ha ha. So a bunch of my relations tried to sneak up on their food stashes near the two wheelers but they were so mean that they kept threatening us. Just about the time Billy was about to sneak up on a bag of corn nuts from behind, who should show up but Jack the Crow and Sheena and Dreema the Magpies. Jack got one peck at the corn nuts but by causing all the kufflalo, the humans were alerted and they confiscated the corn nut to stash where we couldn't get it. Then to top it all off, one of the humans played tourist and tried to get a close up picture of some of the relations standing up at the door of the tunnels. Well did we have fun with her. Danie


lle and Sean would tempt her by just coming into range but dive into a tunnel before she could snap a photo. The rest of us watched her frustration from our tunnels behind and to the side of her where she could not see us. Ha ha. Anyway, I am digressing. Could you tell the humans to stop bothering our city. Also we would like a bowl of corn nuts daily. I heard the four humans moved up to a highland campground in Waterton City for tonight. That's no problem as we find it to cold up that away this time of year.

Oh no, here comes the the big human with the dark blue shirt. They will likely reclaim this blog tomorrow. Check back if you want to find out what happens to them... But... Please, speak up for Prairie Dog Rights!

Fred

Location:Waterton National Park, Alberta

Day 16 pt2 : Fernie to Blairmore (this town is dying)

The warpos and from my experience the tays are well known as expert story tellers. Personally it's how I make my bread and butter. Just like a doctor may carry over his or her skills into their personal life to save a family member or friend during their time off sometimes our story skills bleed over into the truthful telling of our actualities on this trip.
It has occurred to me that this may have slightly happened during the day 16 sabotage story, but I assure you only slightly.

You see it is still possible that the piece of glass in my front tire and the staple in Alan's were deeds of sabotage especially since they happened at the same time. However it's remotely possible that it might just have been coincidence.

Either way, we crept back into the cafe to patch our tires. The cafe staff were very nice and not only let us use their space but also gave use 2 free muffins for the road. That's the Sparwood charm.

From there to the pass it only got wetter and a section of construction and dirt road meant our bikes were totally mudded by the time we reached the pass. On the positive side, crowsnest pass is really more of a valley and the climb was extremely easy.



We bid farewell to B.C and crossed into Alberta. We cruzed downhill through several old mining towns before pulling up to the last hotel before pincher creek in a town called Blairmore. The hotel looked rather suspect at first but the owners turned out to be very welcoming and friendly. From talking to her, we got a better picture of the town and surrounding area of crows-nest. She had moved there 35 years earlier with her father who was a miner. In those days the place was alive with activity surrounding the mines but time has not been kind to the people of this beautiful mountainous countryside and in her words I quote "I'm sad to say, but this town is dying".



Distance traveled: 74.36 km
Time on bikes: 4:45:18
Average Speed: 15.6 km/h
Distance from Vancouver: 1117 km
Start time: 10:00 am
End time: 6:00 pm


Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:Blairmore, British Columbia

Day 16 pt1 : Fernie to Blairmore (Sabotage!!!)

We have been sabotaged! Everything has been going great but it's starting to become clear. Somebody wants to halt our journey. But let's go back and start at the beginning...

We awoke in Fernie determined to move out despite the at times heavy rain still falling outside. We stopped by the pharmacy to exchange Evan' new nee brace because he had somehow ended up with the wrong size earlier.

Leah and Ginny invented a new line of practical fashion, behold, the new plastic lobster look, soon available at high end fashion outlets across north america.



The rain pounded down and the cold sucked the heat from our bodies as we peddled over flooded rivers and pastures at a very slight incline. Fresh fallen snow rested only several dozen meters above on the steep mountain slope. Finally out of the fog and rain appeared a beacon of warmth; a cafe in the town of Sparwood. This is where we were sabotaged.

I'm some ways it all make sense because strange things have been happening. Did somebody switch my nee-brace for the wrong side? Did they plant a fungal disease in Alan's nee brace or "misplace" Ginny's hat or tea bags earlier in the morning? Could it have been one of the saboteurs agents who had led us to the below adverage pub in Fernie?

And that begs the real question, who could the saboteur be?

It would most certainly have to be somebody who knows exactly where we are. Who better than the followers of this blog!!!

In fact if you think about it, perhaps many if you have grudges against the Warpotay Team.

Could it be that my good friend Kari, is seeking revenge after coveting my spot in the junction studio for over a year?!!

Or could it be Leah's friend Meg? After all we did pass by her old home in Mission without stopping in. Perhaps we broke the local traditions in a serious way.

And of course Alan's followers could be even more dangerous. Steve and Sarah-Marie in the guise of concern gave us their spot satellite device and always know exactly where we are before anyone else. Alan has also neglected Kims emails and that could be trouble too!

Funny enough, we can't seem to come up with anybody who has a grudge with Ginny. That seems almost a little to convenient, could she be the saboteur herself? and that begs the question, if she is a suspect, isn't it quite possible that any of us could be a mole...

We finished our warm lunch at the cafe and prepared ourselves for the long wet, cold journey over our last mountain pass, the crows nest pass. Alan and Evan walked slowly out of the cafe and mounted their bike. Together they pushed off and like that they looked at each-other in horror, both of their tires were flat.....

Had they been cut? Is a blog follower the saboteur or is there is a mole in the group? Check back for day 16 part 2 to find out!

Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:Blairmore, Alberta

SPECIAL VIDEO REPORT#5: (The Magic Tunnel)

Seeing is believeing, this tunnel may be small but it's impact was large. The weather on either side of the tunnel is totally different! As we entered it, wicked wind grinded our steep downhill descent to a near standstill. Yet on the far side we were greeted by a calm and peaceful valley. This is about 25 km west of Fernie, British Columbia.

SPECIAL VIDEO REPORT #4: Some of us are faster than others...

Some of us are faster than others... Zoom Zoom! On the way to Fernie.

SPECIAL VIDEO REPORT #3: Some Days Are Wetter than Others!

Some days are wetter than others! We were on our way fro Moyie Lake to Fernie, just starting out in the morning. These trucks kick up quite a rainstorm when they pass. It's even worse when 2 trucks pass going oppoiste directions.... shiver!

Day 15: Fernie- Great Expectations

Yes! We were right! It poured this morning, but warm and cozy we were in a Travel Lodge Motel in cute little Fernie BC. Much appreciated by all. Unfortunately it is predicted to rain all day and tonight, so we are staying here tonight too, then plan to do the final push over the Crow's Nest Pass tomorrow. Fernie is a beautiful town nestled amidst the snow capped Rocky Mountains. Great skiing in the winter.
We don't want all our predictions to come true however.... As we plan to cross the border into Alberta, conversation abounds with predictions of what is to come. Alan and Evan have dire predictions of sparce grocery stores with only Western Family white bread and bologna. Leah is more charitable, having lived a few summers in Alberta. Ginny checked her stash of rooibos tea, coconut powder and Szechuan chilli ginger stir fry paste, and decided to buy more just in case Alan and Evan are right. We are all hoping for one last round of cinnamon buns in BC tomorrow, fearing that they may not be available in Alberta. What will our new treats there be? Who said food was not important?

So with a day's rest we should be in shape to climb the pass tomorrow. And Ginny is happy to say that the Cat is coming with us! Thanks to Evan's expert assistance, the cat is still alive. We fear she may be approaching the end of her 9 lives however, and has recently showed signs of Alzheimer's. She appears to have trouble remembering things. Yesterday for example she lost her memory totally of almost the entire day's trip! So instead of 120 km, she registered only 15.... We think her memory is affected in some bizarre way by passing trains, or trucks, because she had been doing fine, and then zappo, it all got erased... Weird.

So today is a quiet day. Some reading, grocery shopping, bike cleaning. Ginny is madly finishing up Oryx and Crake, the depressing Margaret Atwood precurser to the Year of the Flood.That prediction is one we hope will not come true. Certainly not so far in BC anyway. Everyone here is so friendly. The manager at the motel is so friendly that he is letting me use his computer to write this blog which is good, because neither Alan nor Ginny have mastered  the fine art of typing out the blog on Evan's phone. Cat's aside, it is hard to teach old dogs new tricks!

Day 14: Moyie Lake to Fernie- Desperation Brings a Record... or the ``Magic Tunnel``

A new day, and very little rain despite the dire predictions of the Weather Channel. So we headed to Cranbrook looking for a physio assessment for Evan`s knee, no big problem but it might help knowing how to eliminate some pain at the end of uphill days. No physio available in Cranbrook, but that`s no problem for clever adventurers. We call ahead to get an appointment in Fernie for tomorrow when we should arrive about noon. A solid 100 km for today should put us 30 km from Fernie, an easy bike ride in the morning for a 1:30 appointment. Aren`t we clever...



We arrive in Elko, our designated camping zone quite pleased to be there by 5:45. ``Haven`t you heard,`` said the store clerk. `There is a heavy rainfall warning for tonight and tomrrow... a big storm is coming.``

... Gulp. Tent in the rain, get up in the rain, bike in heavy rain to Fernie... but our day is done... the weather folks have been predicting rain the last two days that never turned up. Could they be wrong again... what to do... it does not get dark til 9:30 pm with the recent time change. The road is pretty flat they say.... but...

So we gulped down some peanuts and protein and headed out... we can do 30 km on flat road ok in 2.5 hours. Good news, the road is flat, even slightly down through a spectacular mountain canyon. Bad news... there is a horrible wind against us that feels like the Port Williams Dykes on bad days in March while training. There is nothing like struggling to bike forward on a downhill incline! There is a cliff to the uphill side of the road & and a cliff to the down hill with only the concrete barrier in between us and the canyon river below. The shoulder is piles of sand and salt from the winter which is unrideable, and the transport trucks are zipping by (it was real pretty when they weren`t). It took an hour to do 11 km and we were whooped. The only thing keeping us going was that there was no place to stop for another 4 km. Finally we approached a small tunnel through a piece of hanging cliff that the road engineers could not figure out how to get around any other way. We went through...

... presto chango... we know it was the mountain spirits on our side... the road abruptly turned to smooth new pavement, the wind stopped and we were immersed in a flat green valley with the overflowing river winding through. 20 easy kms and we were in the sleepy offseason ski town of Fernie in an hour, and booked into the Travel Lodge for the storm. A new km record for us (see below) and four tired bodies.


But was it worth it... will it really rain tomorrow... or was it a lot of do about nothing... stay tuned to find out.


We reached the millennium!

Distance: 123.04 km
Time on bikes: 7:25:13
Average a speed: 16.5 km/h
Distance from Vancouver: 1042
Start time: 9:15 am
End time: 8:15 pm

Day 13: Creston to Moyie Lake ( brought to you by the biggest cinnamon bun in the world)

We woke up to the sound of rain... Luckily it was only 5:00am so I went back to sleep. When I next awoke it was only sprinkling and that meant it was time to bust it out of there.

Despite words of caution from our hosts and the people at the local store, we decided to take a short cut and avoid downtown Creston. Our short cut road was quite a mouthful to say , "Lake-view lower arrow creek road" and it was also brutally steep! After a bit of a slog, and a big downhill on the other side of the ridge we rejoined the route 3 and came across the wondrous "Homestyle Cafe". Despite good intentions to only get a muffin we all ended up getting huge omlettes , hash-brown and toast breakfasts. They were delicious but the story is far from over.

As usual our friends Dustin and Nathaniel also stopped at the cafe. We have said goodbye to them a half dozen time only to see them the next day. They had already had coffee in town so they opted for a cinnamon bun instead and let me tell you about these cinnamon buns... They were the size of a small football and weighed over a pound each! These are the biggest cinnamon buns in the world. It took Dustin and Nathaniel nearly the same amount of time to eat 1 cinnamon bun as it did for us to eat all of our brunch. We simply had to have some for our late afternoon snack.

For the rest of the day we dreamed of the sugary goodness as we cycled though mostly flat wet terrain. Just before the town of Yahk, the 95 highway joined the 3 and along with it came a ton of semi trucks which made the last 50 kms a bit less fun.

The good news was that the rain held off most of the day with only sporadic scattered showers and that the cinnamon buns were out of this world.






We arrived at the Moyie lake provincial campground as the rain picked up. We were very disappointed to find that there was not a single covered area in the park where we could cook dinner so we looked elsewhere. Down the road, we stumbled onto a beautiful plot of land with a large covered carport. Ginny walked up the driveway and met Ray and his wonderful wife who where extremely nice, like almost all of the other BCers we have met. Not only did they let us cook under the car port but we were even able to set up our tents. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, you made our day!






As a follow up from our last challenge ( the spraying can photo which we haven't forgotten about and will award a prize too soon) our next challenge is as follows; Anyone able to find a bigger cinnamon bun and take a picture of themselves eating it will be knighted into the royal cinnamon circle!

Stay tuned for tomorrow when we brave day 2 of the rain and also hope to break the 1000 km barrier!

Stats:
Distance: 100.29 km (bonus 10 km due to shortcut)
Time on bike: 6:32:01 ( current record)
Average speed: 15.3 km/h
Distance from Vancouver: 918 km
Start time: 8:20 am
End time: 5:25 pm


Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:Moyie Lake, British Columbia

Day 12: Nelson to Creston (Gorgeous views and great people)

An early 6:30 am wakeup got our wonderful day started bright and early! Today our trip took us out of Nelson and along the scenic rolling hills along kootney lake for 32 km until we hit the longest free ferry in the world.

The only thing better than the fact that the ferry was free was the little cafe at the departure area. We stuffed our faces on cherry squares, veggie rolls and poppyseed muffins! Perhaps the best we have been to yet!


As we floated along on the ferry the sun came out in full force. From when we landed at Crawford bay until we camped, we cycled along the amazing rolling hills, and had great views over the lake and awesome weather. This was hands down the prettiest ride yet, and we have been to some awesome places!



As we neared Creston, we stopped at a funky old general store in a town called sirdar. We needed some milk but the front door was locked so we turned an old-school type knob and a few minutes later a women came down and let us in. Inside was everything in creation, old bottles lined the shelves, decorated with years of dust and cobwebs. The women was a class "A" character and she gave us some great advice on our route and some stories from the old days of the store. Time hasn't been kind to her though and she was pretty concerned about the HST and new American passport laws.



Last but certainly not least we rolled into Becky and Dan's lovely home/ ice cream shop.

We were pretty tired from a long day and wondered if just maybe we would be able to stay on their lawn. Lucky for us they turned out to be wonderful people. They invited us to stay on their lawn, hide under their bug canopy for cover from the bugs and best of all let us use their picnic table which had a fantastic views of the beautiful countryside surrounding Creston. Their dogs Hunter and Sadie kept us company for the evening. Our sincere gratitude goes out to Becky and Dan and everyone else who will put us up! Thank you everyone!



We had an amazing day but we go to bed a bit wary of the forecast, 3 straight days of heavy rain. Tune back in to see how the Warpotay team will fare!



Distance: 99.62 km (+10 km on ferry)
Distance from Vancouver: 818 km
Average speed: 16.8 km/h
Time on bikes: 5:54:36
Start Time: 8:20 am
End Time: 5:50 pm



Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:Creston, British Columbia

Day 11: Nelson (The cat came back, guess what's next!?)

Before we get started on today, we need to fill you in on the late night developments of yesterday after our post.

After getting a new cycle computer, Ginny started her cycle to camp with a smile but ended with a frown. The new computer wasn't working either... On no! But don't you fret and don't you frown because we caught the problem before it dragged us down. A thorough bike analysis provide free of charge by the Mystery creative bike specialist revealed that the folks at the bike shop in Nova Scotia put the transmitter on the bike backwards. We had also put the new computer in the same spot. So after all that the cat came back the very next day, We thought it was a gonner but the cat came back, it just couldn't say away. The original cat eye bike computer is working and all is good.

As for today, wet , dreary and Canuck bucks are the words of the day. It rained all morning, real rain this time, not like the cloud mist of days past. We made the most it. Our awesome urban campsite in Nelson has a washer and drier so Leah no longer needs to gag when I take off my socks in the tent :)

It rained and rained and rained, perfect code words for "let's go to the local pub and watch the canucks woop the Sharks! (sorry Toni, I know your boys are really trying :) We all got 1 canuck buck each time they scored and papa won a canucks hat at the draw. 10 dollars off our meal, and a free hat later the good team won and we emerged to find sunshine.



We are ready for our final gradual uphill week in British Columbia before we hit the plains of Alberta.

Now for the next project. This one is a game. The first person to guess why Alan is doing what he's doing in the picture below and correctly predict if it will be successful or not will win
the naming rights to whatever it is he has created. Runner up to the most "creative" but not necessarily correct answer! Comment away!



Stats:
Distance: 0
What we did: Eat sleep and rest!

Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:High St,Nelson,Canada

VIDEO SPECIAL #2 (Castlgar, the peacefull moments)

It's funny, when you travel east you rarely are going right into the sun unless you rise very early. However in Castlegar we took a bit of a round about going through town and caught a bit of the sunset. What  a difference it makes! This video is a testment to the more peaceful momemnts of the trip. But don't worry I still have lots of zoom zoom zooming down hills to come!

Day 10: Castlegar to Nelson (The "Week of the Cat")

The Castlegar campground was special, great owners, awesome showers plus families, kids and trailors... and no huge RV homes (not our favourites in camp or on the road). An easy ride to Nelson today to rest our tired muscles after Bonanza Pass, and here we are.

Today's big event... A few of you might remember Al Stevens, a notable folk singer with a famous album, "The Year of the Cat." Well sadly this has been only a "week" for the CAT, and that is being generous. The "CAT" is none other than Ginny's specialized bike computer which is supposed to tell us how far we have been going, at what speed, etc. Ginny loves it... but after producing semi reliable data on day one, it then has gone wonkie, producing anything from gibberish to straight zeros. Ginny loves being on top of these things so it has become a bit of an obsession for her to figure a way out as to how to fix it. But none of her multitude of ideas has worked and though she is eternally optimistic that someone in a bike shop will know how to fix it, they all shrug and say they do not have a clue. So... today, in Nelson BC, the "CAT" was cast aside (Ginny is still hoping for her money back) and has been replaced by a "SPECIALIZED" bike computer. Stay tuned in to find out if it works. Meanwhile know that Evan's bike computer is working just fine.

P.S. Update on Alan's research study. The squeaky horn also has been observed to create a stampede of baby lambs.







Daily Stats:
Distance: 45.18 km
Distance from Vancouver: 716 km
Time on bikes: 2:57:42
Average speed: 15.2 km/h
Start time: 10:00 am
End time: 2:30 pm

Location:Nelson, British Columbia

Day 9: Christina Lake to Castlegar ( Havin' a little up hill down hill game)

We knew it was going to be up but....

The sun was shining and we had a beautiful breakfast down by the Cascade Falls overlooking a railroad bridge. It doesn't get much prettier than that, especially when the camp site is free.

After that things went a bit off. We had a bit of an accident loading up the bikes and Evan's mirror broke so on the way out of town we stopped at a bike shop but to no avail, they didn't have the right kind of mirror. The guy in the shop was really nice and put to rest any last hope of taking the Kettle Valley Trail instead of going over Bonanza Pass because it had snow there only 2 days earlier.

Back to the up... We knew it was up but we didn't anticipate that it was 32 km of steep incline!?! Egads! We have done lots of reading on these parts of the trip and nobody has said a peep about Bonanza. Either-way, it's fair to say that it was much more difficult than Osoyoos and second only to Allison pass. Even finding a flat lunch spot was a real challenge.

Finally after reaching a rather uninteresting summit, we cruised on down the remaining 40 km into Castlegar; and I mean cruised. I think I only peddled about twice in the last 2 hours.

Our campsite in Castlegar is great! Grassy, kids running around and best of all a hot shower. So props to my bud Heather for the awesome advice. I am still a bit disappointed that she isn't here to show me around after complaining about her little town for years at SFU though. Oh well. But the verdict is still out on how we like Castlegar, check back tomorrow to find out the full scoop!





All in all it was a huge day, we're exhausted....

P.S if you don't get the reference to "up hill down hill" in the title go search "night time day time bird" in YouTube. I promise you won't regret it!

Stats:
Distance: 85.53 km
Average Speed: 13.9 km/h
Distance from Vancouver: 670 km
Time on bikes: 6:07:53
Start time: 9:30 am
End time: 7:15 pm



Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:Gleboff Rd,Castlegar,Canada

Day 8: Rock Creek to Christina Lake (Down down down into Doukhobor town)

What a good day again. We made the transition from the desert of Osoyoos with it's luxury real estate development hopes on to a gorgeous river valley of the Kettle River. Reminded me of the cold clear. Crisp mornings of Tahoe followed by hot dry afternoons. But here there is a raging river Tonight we camp again with the sound of swirling water.



Great trip lovely people delicious cinnamon buns And I am eating lots. More later.


Total Distance: 94.44 km
Distance from Vancouver : 585 km
Time on bike: 5:35:41
Average Speed: 16.8 km/h
Start Time: 9:30 am
End time: 7:00 pm


Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:Kootenay Boundary C,Canada

Day 7: Osoyoos to Rock Creek ( Up, Up and Away!)

Dun dun dunnnn! Anarchist pass, the dreaded 800m climb out of Osoyoos.

Woke up late because we knew Ginny's new rear wheel wouldn't be in until 11am at the earliest. Time was of the essence because if we started riding too late we would be stuck on the hill in the middle of the afternoon heat wave so we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.

Ginny and Alan walked to the bike shop at 11 hoping for the best. If the wheel arrived and was working by 1 then we would go, otherwise we set camp back up and try again tomorrow.

Meanwhile Evan and Leah ferried the bags to the bike shop and found time take a quick ( and I mean quick) first swim of the year in the glacial melt Osoyoos lake. Burrrr!

Lucky for us the wheel arrived and the wonderful bike shop guy Rich got it on the bike and running just in time! Rich was super awesome so if your ever in Osoyoos and in need of bike service look no further.

From there the day only got better and better. The dreaded Osoyoos hill turned out to be long but not terribly steep. The hot sun was beautiful and a gentle breeze kept us cool as we climbed. There is a dip before you reach the top but we had read about this and thus were not surprised.




Once over the summit the landscape was beautiful rolling ranch-land before our steep decent into rockcreek. In this small but industrious highway town Alan found an awesome flat spot by the creek 200 feet off the road in the woods and with a little prodding by Evan we all ended up at the Rock Creek pub for dinner. Eating fish and chips while watching the Canucks spank the sharks was a great end to a great day!



Total distance: 55.25 km
Total distance from Vancouver: 490 km
Time on bike: 4:34:54
Average speed: 12.0 km/h



Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:Rock Creek, British Columbia

VIDEO SPECIAL: The last down before a big up! (Hope, British Columbia)

This is my first time viewing some of my GoPro footage. Overall it is pretty good but I have learned a few things that I will employ for the future! The next round of footage is from my helmet cam position and that looks super cool too! Check back soon! zoom zoom!

 

Day 6: Osoyoos: Lazing in the Sun

We are tired (see above picture), Ginny’s bike is ill and needs a new wheel, so the powers at be say we stay here and relax in our first real sunny day. This is a good chance to report on my ongoing research project. This is a qualitative study to determine which animal species respond to my squeaky toy bike horn. The results so far: Dogs are most inclined to response, they stop barking and look confused… a good thing. Donkeys and horses are attentive to it as well and at times will run toward it. Deer stop upon hearing the horn. For cows, it seems to depend on age. Baby calfs run to their mother, young cows are attentive and it does not seem to have much impact on older cows (they continue to eat or stare). As for bears, they could not care less (Ginny did not think it was a good idea to squeak at the bear, but it obviously came out ok). Up to now I have not had the opportunity or capability to interview the study participants, this is purely an observational study. Am looking forward to trying new species (there is a squirrel around camp and I missed the lamas as we were speeding by on the downhill).

Location:68 Ave,Osoyoos,Canada

Day 5: Princeton to Osoyoos (Magestic Mountains in our Review Mirros)

Bit of a rainy start! oops, guess we didn't quite get up at our desired time of 7am...
So an hour late we rode off into the rain along the beautiful old Headly road that followed the Similkmeen river. Craving a spot of tea and a muffin we stopped in the quaint town of Headly where a few of the local residents were weeding the main gardens. They told us the good news about the canucks game and suggested we go into the museum for some tea. Glad we did! We had some pie and scones courtesy of Tom and a great chat with Chuck who have previously done the cross Canada tour on bike 6 or 7 years ago. You could tell he was itching to hop on his bike and join us but unfortunately the big Headly town celebration was happening the next day. Headly used to be a big mining town and you can still see the old buildings clinging to the cliffs hundreds of meters above the museum. It's quite an awesome sight and clearly has a lot of history. I definitely would not have wanted to be a miner back then.

It was also really neat seeing everyone in the town working together in preparation for the festival. The chili that Tom was making them for lunch sure smelled delicious.

We carried on through a nice steady glide downtown hill into Keremos and settled up on some huge stacked hay bales for lunch! Yumm!




Back on the road again and a little behind schedule we pushed it up the big hill between Keremos and Osoyoos in an attempt to make camp before dark. We barely made it as the ladies forgot to get noodles for dinner for Mac and cheese. Ginny biked back to the store but it was the best meal yet so it was well worth it.

We are going to spend a few days here to get Ginny's bike fixed and rest our muscles before the dreaded anarchist pass! A Photo of our great campsite with our biking buddies who ended up at the same place is below.


Total distance: 102.83 km
Average speed: 17.2 km/h
Total time on bike: ~6:00:00
Distance from Vancouver: 426 km
Start time: 10:15 am
End time: 7:00 pm

Location:68 Ave,Osoyoos,Canada

Day 4: Manning park to Princeton (up down and all round with some friends)

After our big adventure yesterday we were feeling pretty good. Our muscles were tired but relaxed from the hot tube and the day appeared to be an easy downhill one so we got up late and took the morning to plan out our route with the expert help of the women at the front desk of the lodge only to discover that most of the kettle Valley trail is under several feet of snow and or clogged up with mud... Ughh, guess we will need to brave the Anarchist pass outside of Osoyoos afterall.

We also took advantage of a break in the clouds to do a good clean up on our bikes. Ginny has been having problems with her chain skipping and with a bit of help from our new biking companions (nathaniel and dustin) and their chain gauge, we realized that her chain is worn out! Ughhh oh! It also looks like Alan's chain could use some replacing too. We will need to get these replaced in osoyoos

After lots of futzing we finally made it out around 12:15pm ready to bike our easy downhill day.... Not!

We had forgotten that we needed to climb up to Sunday Pass first, an Elevation of 4200 ft nearly as much as Alison pass ( though we were starting at a much higher altitude)

After that we though it would be downhill, wrong again! Every time we went down 100 ft we went back 60ft on the other side. Finally the rolling hills gave way to a steep descent into Princeton. The little grocery store in town was nothing to write home about but we met up with our friends and had a beautiful ride along the river to our eventual camp sight, a flat spot on the side of the road next to the river! Long day but great end! We will be ready for tomorrow!


Total distance: 85.52 km
Average speed: 17.3 km/h
Time on bikes: 4:55:31
Distance from Vancouver: 323 km
Start time: 12:15 pm
End time: 7:40 pm


Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:Princeton, British Columbia

Day 3: Hope to Manning Park (Beyond "Hope" or Up, Up and Freezing)

We survived our first major ascent into the clouds, 67 km, reaching Allison Pass at 4400 feet, and the bike website said we did 4500 feet counting ups to make up for some of the downs and the starting elevation. There was about 4 feet of snow on the top, though not on the roads thank you.... and it was very cold! All of our bodies and spirits are in good shape... we can do this.. but we are tired and planning a shorter ride Sunday. We went down a couple of hundred feet after the pass to our "planned" campsite but there was snow all over the place except for a tent pad or two, so we decided that gliding down hill 10 km to the next campground was a smarter idea given less snow and more warmth at lower altitudes. But happiness was stumbling into a snazzy ski lodge before we hit the campground, so beer, onion soup, salmon burgers and a warm bed won out over a cold campground. There were bears along the road on the way up through a combination of light showers and cloud. One car asked if we were "Europeans,' the implication being that only Europeans were crazy enough to be biking this road at this time of year.




And what you have all been waiting for... The stats

Total distance: 67.32 km
Average speed: 10.2 km/h
Distance from Vancouver: 238 km
Total time on bikes: 6:27:00
Start Time: 9:15am
End time: 6:45 pm
Elevation change: 1500m

Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:Manning park resort

Day 2: Mission to Hope (brought to you by the beautiful people of Hope)

We are back at it for day 2! Leaving suburbia behind us, the Fraser valley opened up into stunning sunny views of snow capped mountains across lovely rural farmland. The highway 7 became 2 lanes and as a result the highway had way less traffic.

Through flat pastures, lots of barking dogs and cows, it was super flat and really beautiful ride. The came out in full force and despite a bit of a sunburn for most of it, the sun was totally great!


And then we arrived in hope! There is a very small climb into the town and then you enter hope which is a beautiful town nestled into the mountains. What stands out most was the kindness and generosity of the people. From the women in the grocery store who helped us tag our bulk food when we forgot, to the people we asked for directions and finally the lovely family next to our campsite who gave us 1 liter of gas that we had forgotten at the store the people of hope are amazing. Now comes the real challenge. Tomorrow we rise at 6:00 to start our


assent to Alison pass, an elevation of over 1300m!

Wish us luck!

Day 2 stats;
Distance traveled: 89.45km
Time on bike: 5:36:21
Average speed: 15.9 km/h
Total distance from Vancouver :171 km
Days left: 73


Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:Riverview Dr,Hope,Canada

Day 1: Vancouver to mission (brought to you bysuburban spraw)

We just arrived at our ramshackle camp ground a couple kms out of mission.

On the way out of our great city we stopped by nearly every important place their from our last 7.5 years. I will miss them all...
The boys new house, sarah's house, the junction studio, Union street house and finally leah's first elementary practicum school. (Vancouver 2004-2011)

We played hide and seek with the rain clouds this morning but finally snuck away when we hid behind burnaby mountain. Since then the day was great! Highlight would have to be a beautiful path along Pitt lake. Props to Brett for showing us this plus successfully helping us navigate the horrors of suburban Vancouver. We got a bit turned around in Pitt meadows but nothing big!

We also saw a suburban coyote and heron doing what they do best! Video and pictures to come someday day... :)

Safe and sound, and moderately tired, it was a great day 1, ~75 days to go!

Distance: 81.57kms
Trip time: 5:15:16
Avg speed:15.5 km/hour



Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:Mission, British Columbia,

Getting ready to roll

So here we are, bikes ready, panniers packed when the heavens unleash their furry! There is a rain warning in effect for Vancouver tomorrow calling for 30-40 mm so we may need to push our departure 1 more day. But boy are we ready!

Here's team blue showing off their stuff!

Much more to come tomorrow!



Cheers
- The Warpotay Team

Location:E Broadway,Vancouver,Canada

Our GPS Device

Sarah Marie and Steve gave us the My Spot, which is a gps linked to a web site which tells you where we are each day. It has been a bit challenging to get it working but we think we have it... so this link should take you to the map of our location... http://fms.ws/4mQL1/49.26194/\-123.09329

If it works, you will realize we are still in Vancouver because the courier sent our bikes to Quebec for a short tourist visit and we are still waiting to get them. They seemed to think QC was BC. We hope they come today. 

Are we ready?

Some of us have been training quite a lot... some of us have been training a little... some of us are younger than others of us... stay tuned to see what happens. ETD is Tuesday May 10 from Stanley Park! We will be heading to Hope and then along Route 3 and over the mountains (we hope!).