 | It was a bad sign when Cam rolled over and saw that it was 7:28AM and they had overslept past the planned 7:00AM wake-up time. |  |
(Perhaps they should use an alarm clock?!?). Ken jumped into action, however, we didn't pull away from the Hope BC Travelodge until 8:45AM - 45 minutes later than planned. It was another bad sign when there was a challenging climb out of Hope to the highway. By this time, Cam was catching the accumulation of bad signs and admitted to Ken "I'm nervous". This section of the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt was completed in 1986 to shorten the route that the TransCanada Highway takes from Hope to Kamploops - however, in doing so, the road climbs some very steep mountain passes and is a challenge for cars, trucks and novice cyclists (no names mentioned).
Box Canyon Chain-Up Area The first 40 kilometres of the ride went pretty well although always uphill, but the increasingly steep grades began to take it out of Cam. Ken was kicking Cam's butt up the steeper hills, and when Cam arrived at the Box Canyon Chain-Up Area, he had to make his way quickly down to the passing creek to cool himself down. Ken reassured him that the top was just 5.3 kms based on a large sign and both felt better about this (little did they know what lay ahead!).
Cam was down to one bottle of water, having consumed 3 bottles already. (Interestingly, Ken's body requires far less hydration than Cam's. By the end of the day, Cam had consumed ten bottles of water, and required no bathroom stops. Ken had consumed three bottles of water, and had stopped to go to the bathroom 4 times. What's with that???). Cam had taken a couple of bottles of creek water in case he got desperate, however, did not want to risk getting Beaver Fever in the middle of the trip so was hoping not to need them...
As they started to prepare for the next 5.3 km leg of the ride, our Heros of the Day drove up (or more appropriate in this situation - the Angels of the Day!). Cam's cousin Lorrie Fortin and her husband Ernie were returning from a trip to Victoria and were watching for Cam and Ken with an eagle eye, saw them and pulled in. After some hugs and catching up, Cam asked if they had any water? In seconds, they were passed 4 bottles of cold Aquafina and the empty water bottles were overflowing! At the time, Cam had no idea how important that water was going to be, but over the next hour or so, he realized that there was absolutely no way that he would have made it to the top of the nastiest 5.3 kms of climbing you've ever seen without that gift of water. Lorrie and Ernie, you are truly our Guardian Angels of the Day - arriving at just the right time. Thank you so much for keeping an eye out for us!
Angels of the Day - Lorrie & Ernie Fortin.
Ken, having relied on fitness and winter training on a stationary bike to battle the 5.3 beast, was pretty much done his lunch by the time that Cam reached the rest stop at the top of that 5.3 kms. Cam got to the top through mental toughness (assisted by cool water), in spite of inadequate training and fitness level, however, every climb is contributing to improving his fitness level and he hopes to ride the hills of New Brunswick and PEI alongside his riding buddy Ken!
Happy to have reached the Coquihalla Summit! After a very long rest with much groaning from Cam, they had another 75 kms to get working on. A trucker responded that he thought it was mostly uphill to Merritt when questioned, which was another bad sign. However, as you can see from the elevation profile on the map above, that wasn't entirely correct. Although there were lots more climbs, none of them was as bad as the "5.3", and the boys were rewarded with a 14 km descent into Merritt at the end of the day. At 120 kms, this is the second longest day Ken and Cam have ever done on a bike trip, and with the "5.3" definitely ranks up there among the most challenging!
Ride Details:
- Distance: 122.9 kms
- Avg speed: 19.25 kms/hour
- Climbing: 5,671 feet
For more ride details, see Strava.
See our Photo Gallery for Day 3.
Ride Details:
- Distance: 122.9 kms
- Avg speed: 19.25 kms/hour
- Climbing: 5,671 feet
For more ride details, see Strava.
See our Photo Gallery for Day 3.