The ride: 124 kilometers!

Well after a great rest day it was time to hit the road again. The goal yesterday was to reduce the overall weight I was carrying but with the added food I think I am heavier. By the time I got going it was starting to sprinkle a little rain. No matter this was now the norm!

I suited up and bid my new friends farewell. I grabbed a quick sub sandwich in town and ate half of it before heading back onto the Crow’s Nest highway. As many of you know it turns into a 16 kilometer climb out of Osoyoos and it is reasonably steep but thankfully consistent grade. There is one quick corner and then a long switchback that snakes up the side of the mountain. By now it was lightly raining but the views of the twin lakes were breathtaking. Little Osoyoos with a small town centre bridging between the twin lakes and Haines point a green oasis in the middle of the southern lake.

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Today was a  much needed rest day which included re-organizing and catching up on the blogging. I actually spent a good three or four hours catching up on e-mail, re-organizing the website and writing blog posts. After lunch I made a quick to do list and rode the bike into town with empty bags. First on the agenda was fixing the stove. I hit a few hardware places that had never seen such a thing.  I settled on buying a cheap but simple back up that uses the gel canisters you see being used in buffets. Then it was an inside blanket/liner for my sleeping bag which I found a reasonable facsimile. I didn’t have time to sew up the ends like a pouch but it should do fine and it is light. While in the store I ran into my soccer coach Herb Weiner and his wife who I hadn’t seen in 22 years! We chatted about what I was doing and they wished me well. Next was a razor, bar soap and soap case which I found no problem. While in the store I ran into the guy who helped me in the hardware store who explained where the radio station and news paper company were located. The radio station was not open as predicted but before going to the Osoyoos times I hit the post office and mailed out about half my cards and stickers to a friend in Scarborough. This is to reduce weight of course! Finally I stopped in at the Osoyoos times and it seemed I was expected as one of the writers was already following my progress – cool. We did an interview so hopefully there will be something there soon (I will keep you posted). Everyone I met was genuinely very supportive and interested in my journey which made for a great day.
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