Well, a 4:50am rise was not quite as much fun as one may think. I was still tired and basically just moped around camp for two hours and ended up leaving shortly after 7:00am. Darron, Iona, and I (aka. the youngsters) were the last to leave for the 140 km trip to Pritchard, BC. We lost Darron early on due to some bike problems, and made it about 50 km by 10:00am along a rough secondary highway with slight inclines. It was another beautiful day in BC and it was good to get ride during the cool morning.>
The route today contained an optional shortcut to bypass the city of Kamloops and all the traffic and hills that accompany it. The shortcut was supposed to be more scenic and shave about 10 kms from the daily mileage. Although, Iona and I planned on making use of this option, we blew right by the turn-off because the sign marked "Campbell Creek Rd" and the map said "Campbell River Rd." The next thing we knew, we were embarking on a 4 km climb with an 11% grade. It was the most difficult climb to date but I managed to push up it without stopping. I am too damn stubborn to walk the bike so rest of Western Canada will be a challenge. The high speed decent into Kamploops was much more fun but contained heavy traffic. We ate at Subway in Kamploops and decided to blow an hour downtown in several bike shops. We had a fast ride along the TCH into our campground at Pritchard.
Today was the longest ride that I ever did, 150 km. It was fairly easy but my hip and neck made it a bit uncomfortable and we ended up taking many breaks because of it. However, I have no doubt that I'll be fine in a few days.
Just a little note about our meals; we have been eating really well and the meals are much healthier that what I am used to. Tonight the galley crew prepared a great vegetarian pasta dish and a Greek salad. Cycle Canada really did a great job at preparing the meal plans and I am very thankful because the average cyclist will burn over 6500 calories during a 100 km ride. No doubt that their focus on our hydration and dietary needs allows us to complete such strenuous tasks day after day. Tomorrow will be a bit of a climbing day out of the Thompson Valley and into the upper Okanagan Valley. It's relatively short, only 105 km so I am going to sleep in until 6:00am. More tomorrow night from Mara, BC.
