Day 11 – Cranbrook to Radium Springs

146 kilomters, big ride!

Today’s post has to start early in the morning when my tarp blew off my tent. It wasn’t windy when I went to bed but it became quite blustery in a matter of hours. At first I thought nothing of it, it had woken me out of a deep slumber so I didn’t really care about some stupid tarp. I eased back into sleep. Then I awoke with a start, hmm wind sometimes is followed by rain. I looked at the sky and saw some clouds but still the stars and planets were looking back at me, a good sign. Something nagged at me though so I got up and secured the tarp properly over the important parts of the tent (mainly where my head lay). At sometime between 2 and 3 am it started to rain lightly, then a little heavier until it was full blown rain. I was still dry but concerned that my tarp didn’t fully cover the tent and from there I couldn’t get back to sleep. Eventually a puddle developed near my feet on account of seepage through the bottom of the tent and small drips were landing around the same area. I toughed it out until about 4:30 when I decided to pack and move to David’s carport.

I hung my tent up against the wall to dry and packed up my bike so I was ready to go. Then I put on my Stormtech gear and got in my sleeping bag on the cold pavement. It really made me think of the homeless since I was cold and uncomfortable but better equipped and knew no one was going to kick me out or steal my stuff. I guess we take a lot of things for granted.


In the morning David came out and saw me packing my bags and felt bad that I got stuck out in the rain. Seriously though David and his family were more than gracious hosts and if I had a better tent and tarp I would have been toasty. David invited me in for a full omelette breakfast which I gorged on. We had more meaningful conversation with him and his wife and I learned about the elephant statue in town and the story about circus animals on the loose in Cranbrook way back in the day when circuses still came to town. Apparently one elephant was out in the woods for weeks and didn’t want to come back; I don’t blame him!
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I can’t thank David and his family  enough for taking me in and bid them farewell as they went to work and I went to my own form of work, well not really. The rain was coming down pretty good as I plotted out of town. Unfortunately no view of the Rockies which is disappointing but I think I will be back through here sometime in the next few years to visit. After some small and an old town Steele the road flattens out considerably. I actually got some serious kilometers in as the slight downhills carried me over the slight rolling up hills.

Around this time I saw another cyclist stopped on the other side of the road. She waved at me and I crossed the road to meet her. She was originally from Phoenix but now lived in Germany and was doing a bike trip from Jasper to Phoenix. Check out her site www.crazyguyonabike.com/bama2012 . We actually chatted for quite a while in the drizzle. Susan definitely experienced the rain and cold probably worse that me and she had grandchildren. She had also done various other bike tours and was a true cyclist in my mind. I could have probably spent hours talking with her but we both had a long way to go and I was getting a chill. Talk about an inspiration though!
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The road was quite good even though wet and I made good progress and from time to time crossed the Kootney river and observed flooded ranch land with fences half submerged in water. I stopped in Canal flats where there is a large lumber mill or gathering place for lumber. There was a little restaurant where I stopped for lunch. The waitress was very friendly and coincidentally had a french accent. Not sure what is drawing out the Quebecois out into the small towns but it didn’t matter as she tried to help me with my route to avoid some hills.

I am seriously taking in more calories than I am burning if you can believe it and leaving the restaurant my belly was bulging. As I rode on I eventually saw views of the Columbia lake. The colour of the water had the classic glacier run off blue which is a greeny blue that looks out of place and yet is so alluring. Of course you would freeze your ass off if you went in. I ducked into a rest stop to avoid the heavy rain and got some shots of the lake before continuing along.
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While the ride was tame the saddle sores where not, nor were my legs responsive when I needed it. I still have not recovered and I granny up slight inclines that I should be easily passing by. I kept pressing until I came upon Windemere and Invemere when the sun finally cracked through and although there were periods of rain I could now glimpse the Rockies – sweet!
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About 10 km out of Radium Springs a mountain biker heading the opposite direction pulled over to my side of the road to inquire about my destination. He was just riding home from work at a park and offered me a place to stay back in Invemere. I almost accepted but I was thinking hot springs. He indicated where the hostel was and wished me luck on my journey – really nice guy.

There are a few view points before you descend into Radium Springs and I recommend stopping simply because the view to the West and the town are very picturesque.
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Once in town I rode to the turn off for the hostel, near there were two American cyclist who waved me down. Joe and Emmalee have been doing a massive amount of bike tours through the states and parts of Canada which they had planned to do for some time. They currently are on a trek from the Colorado rockies to Alaska. Yes Alaska!
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They gave me some oreo cookies and chatted about our adventures. They are from Buffalo and are both educated to be school teachers but it is hard to find work. They are going to hit every state except Hawaii and I believe North Dakota but I am sure they will get them all and maybe a few provinces along the way. They had decided to camp out behind the church but I needed a shower so I went off to book a room at the hostel, shower and then road back down to go for a beer with them. Oddly we were all asked for Id at the bar and even the waiter laughed when he saw my age – hey 40 in December!

We talked a lot about the differences in Canada (look at any book) which they found rightly so outrageous, biking races and touring in general. They are really on a way tougher bike ride than me and I wish them well. You can catch them at http://joeyandemmysbicycletour.weebly.com

After that I crashed really hard as this was the longest ride to date with the least amount of sleep.

2 thoughts on “Day 11 – Cranbrook to Radium Springs

  1. Jeff I am really enjoying your daily writings, I think you should have been a writer, maybe you could do that next. lol Please take care and enjoy, I had lunch with your mom and she worries about you too. Keep safe!

  2. Hey Jeff,
    Great posts! Love reading your updates. Am actually reading then to my kids – teaching them about Canada and also about people doing great things!
    Hope the rain stops and the sun shines more for you!
    Stay safe

    Naomi.

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