Day 6 - The Road Ahead The decision to see a movie to end Day 5 was not seeming to be the best choice when the alarm went off at 7:30AM on Day 6. Late night blogging meant a late night to bed, and both Cam and Ken have found that they need a full 8 hours of sleep to recover from each day. It was 7:50AM, and two snooze buttons later, before they both crawled out of bed, Ken groaning that he felt like he got hit by a truck and Cam feeling pretty much the same way.
We weren't sure what to expect for the ride to Revelstoke. It lay at an elevation of 480 m compared to 415 metres for Salmon Arm, so it didn't look like there would be a lot of climbing. The Revelstoke forecast was showing the possibility of rain, which would be a switch as we have definitely had awesome weather to start the trip. After a great (free!) breakfast at the Comfort Inn, we were on the road at 9:25AM heading northwest to Revelstoke. We made great time for the first 30 kms to Sicamous, and made our first stop of the trip at a Tim Hortons. This surprised both of us, but typically we have wanted cold drinks on the hot days, and Timmies is more about hot drinks, so we've been frequenting McD's for the $1 summer deal drinks.
We weren't sure what to expect for the ride to Revelstoke. It lay at an elevation of 480 m compared to 415 metres for Salmon Arm, so it didn't look like there would be a lot of climbing. The Revelstoke forecast was showing the possibility of rain, which would be a switch as we have definitely had awesome weather to start the trip. After a great (free!) breakfast at the Comfort Inn, we were on the road at 9:25AM heading northwest to Revelstoke. We made great time for the first 30 kms to Sicamous, and made our first stop of the trip at a Tim Hortons. This surprised both of us, but typically we have wanted cold drinks on the hot days, and Timmies is more about hot drinks, so we've been frequenting McD's for the $1 summer deal drinks.
Goodbye to Lake Country Not knowing if there would be any restaurants along the way, we picked up sandwiches at Tim's and set our sites on riding another 21 kms so that we would be half-way to Revelstoke before we stopped again. Riding out of Sicamous, Cam was a little sad when he saw the sign thanking him for visiting the Shuswap. This meant the end of Lake Country and the beginning of the Rocky Mountains. While the Rocky's are magnificent and beautiful, they are much more familiar and both he and Ken have truly enjoyed the ride through the Shuswap/Okanagan.
The TransCanada highway is often aligned with the route of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which had to follow a low-grade route through the mountains. As we approached the half-way point target for lunch, we saw that Craigellachie, the location where the "last spike" was driven was ahead about 3 kms further, so we jumped at the opportunity to read some historical plaques and enjoy a nice lunch. Ken had driven by this spot at least a dozen times over the years and had always wanted to stop. So this trip is all about "stopping"! After about ten minutes of fruitless searching, Ken learned that the actual "last spike" is in a museum, but that the location of the original spike is marked by a gold (coloured) spike on the tracks which are still in use. It was a pretty subtle marking of the spot the entire rest stop was designed to commemorate! (The original last spike was located where the spike in the foreground of the photo below is. A train goes by on this track every 20 minutes so the track is fenced off)
 Lunch at Craigellachie |  The site of the Last Spike |
Ken fully suited up for the rain We have found that it is helpful to set riding targets to help overcome the natural inclination to stop and rest your legs (and your rear end...!). Following lunch, the 3 Valley Gap Hotel was about 26 kms, and both Cam and Ken had always been interested to see the hotel. We set out with that objective, and it wasn't long before we felt our first raindrop of the trip. About 15 kms after lunch, as we stopped at The Enchanted Forest, the heavens opened and the rain started to pour. We sought shelter for a few minutes, and when it looked like it was slowing, we set out for the 3 Valley Gap. It wasn't long before it was pouring on us and it was a race to the hotel. At the hotel, we bought some drinks hoping to wait out the storm, but after about half an hour, pulled out the rain gear including rain jackets, pannier covers, and long pants (for Ken) and decided that we weren't getting any closer to Revelstoke, the hot tub, and dinner by sitting there.
Cam slogs through the rain As we rode, we overcame the chills that had set in while sitting in the dining room of the 3 Valley Gap hotel and began to warm up. Although the rain never slowed until we were actually in Revelstoke, we both agreed that it was quite nice riding in the rain when you had the right gear. This calms our nerves a little as we expect that there will likely be plenty of weather over the next 54 days... Overall, it was another great day, with both Ken and Cam feeling stronger each day. Well, they'd better be feeling stronger because tomorrow's ride is a brute - 149 kms over the Rogers Pass to Golden! Pray for us!
Ride Details:
- Distance: 104.7 kms
- Riding time: 5:03 hours
- Average speed: 20.7 kms/hour
- Climbing: 654 metres
For more ride details, see Strava and check out today's ride photos in the Photo Gallery.
Ride Details:
- Distance: 104.7 kms
- Riding time: 5:03 hours
- Average speed: 20.7 kms/hour
- Climbing: 654 metres
For more ride details, see Strava and check out today's ride photos in the Photo Gallery.