A Change Of Focus

This morning began with the realization that today would officially mark the beginning of the home stretch of this leg of my journey. After all of the detours, visits, and side trips that I’ve had along the way, there is now just one focus remaining. Vancouver.

After a nice morning and a wonderful breakfast with Otto and Kveta, it was time to say goodbye once again – hopefully not for another 18 years this time. I filled up with water, loaded up my bike and prepared to hit the road. Oh, did I mention that Kveta even did my laundry for me? Thanks so much Kveta! I kind of forgot what a shirt was SUPPOSED to smell like. While I’m sure today’s ride will return my shirt to its previous odorous state, it was nice to start the day with a fresh set of clothes.

As I made my way out of Penticton, I made a quick stop at Subway for another day of lunch supplies. From there, I was on the move again. Next stop? Princeton. Well, technically there were more stops along the way but the next major stop would be Princeton.

Google wanted to send me along the Kettle Valley Trail which I’m sure would be very nice. However, it would likely be significantly less nice on a fully loaded road bike so I opted to stick to the highway. As such, my route started to the south towards Keremeos. A town which I reached without incident – other than vast amounts of beautiful mountain scenery.

Despite a large number of fruit stands in the area, I didn’t stop at any of them. I’m not going to lie, I have no idea why. Sure, Otto had given me a couple of peaches for the road but clearly I could’ve eaten more. I think I just thought, “Oh, there’ll be another one further along.” And there was. Several actually. But then, there wasn’t. And by then it was too late.

After a quick stop at the Keremeos Information Centre, I returned to the road. The elevation chart made it look like I was in for a long afternoon of climbing; however, I was fooled by said elevation chart once again. The woman at the Information Centre had mentioned that the ride to Princeton from Keremeos was pretty flat. Yes, Princeton is at a higher elevation than Keremeos but the ascent is VERY gradual. On the flip side, she also warned me that the ride from Princeton to Manning Park had some serious climbs. Good to know, but I figured I’d worry about that tomorrow.

As I neared Princeton, I turned on my “free camping” radar. With no Warm Showers hosts in the area, I was on my own tonight and so I kept my eyes open for anywhere that might provide me with a free place to camp while not getting eaten by a bear.

My default location is always Information Centres. They’re clean, often have power outlets and WiFi, and thus far have been free of any members of the Ursidae family (fancy word for bears – and yes, I had to look that up).

In Princeton, I discovered there were two locations from which to choose. Technically, there’s only one Information Centre and that’s on the main street – and not in an ideal spot for free camping. However, it would seem this is a new location and the previous Information Centre is located right beside the highway and, while it doesn’t have open washrooms or WiFi, the area has the attractive quality of being uninhabited. Although, not tonight. Tonight, it would be inhabited by me.

Before taking up residence behind the old Information Centre, I headed back into town for some sustenance and WiFi. Fortunately, the local Subway was able to provide both. Unfortunately, my second Subway stop of the day was my first disappointing visit to Subway on this trip. Not severely disappointing but my desire to end my riding day with a fresh meatball sub went unfilled as they were out of meatballs. No meatballs! Such sadness. Oh well. At least they had WiFi. And outdoor tables.

I ended up sitting at those tables for a few hours, once again attempting to get caught up on my not-so-daily updates. Progress was slow but moderately successful. I eventually had to pack things up as the sun had long since disappeared and I preferred to not ride back to the old Information Centre in complete darkness. Side note, as I was packing up I saw not one, not two, but three deer about 100 metres down the path from where I was sitting. They didn’t seem to have any fear of people.

About ten minutes later I had returned to my chosen spot behind the Information Centre. I’m guessing the move from this location is relatively recent as the building still has functioning external lights. That discovery meant I wouldn’t have a completely dark night but the lights weren’t blindingly bright either. Certainly not enough to affect my sleep. But hopefully enough to deter any bears from approaching the area. Only time will tell.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 119.31 km
Ride time: 5:37:19
Average speed: 21.22 km/h
Maximum speed: 61.32 km/h