Clear Skies and Clearwater

Whether it was exhaustion from yesterday’s battle against the wind or merely the extra comfort that goes with sleeping in a real bed, I had a very sound sleep last night. It was after midnight before I called it a night and I was awake by 6:00 and yet I felt well rested and ready for another day of riding. Knowing that I had cold juice, milk, and cereal mere metres away probably didn’t hurt matters.

I know I’ve mentioned my appreciation for cereal in the past but I really do enjoy it. Of course, it doesn’t really transport well so I decided it made perfect sense to finish off the milk by eating the whole box of cereal. Just to be clear, it wasn’t a particularly big box – it was a small box of Harvest Crunch (so good, by the way). In hindsight, I probably didn’t need THAT much cereal in one sitting.

With my solid night’s rest and my bountiful bowls of cereal, I really did feel good. And that translated very well to my riding. My destination for today was 110 km away in Clearwater (no, not Florida) and the first 40 km went by incredibly fast. So fast in fact that I neither looked at my watch nor my odometer during that time. And the only stop I made was to take a few photos of a car that had clearly had a very bad day.

I, on the other hand, was having a very good day. The weather was good. The scenery was beautiful. And the ride was a nice mix of climbs and descents with some appropriately placed flat stretches. At one point I stopped and took a picture of a seemingly quiet road. A picture isn’t ALWAYS worth a thousand words. Well, maybe it is but a picture doesn’t always tell the story. The picture was of a seemingly quiet and uneventful section of the highway. The reality is that it wasn’t silent at all. And in a good way.

Frequently as I rode along today there were sections like that. The quiet road would start to come alive with the sound of a strong wind coming through the trees. That sound eventually became clearer as I neared its source and discovered a small river or perhaps a waterfall hidden in the trees. Moments later, the sound of the water was gone and replaced with the sounds of another train passing alongside the road but hidden in the forest. It was a great part of today’s ride and something you just don’t experience when travelling by car.

The biggest challenge of the day came fairly early on with a somewhat big climb which led to Messiter Summit. At an altitude of 765 metres, it’s not exactly the tallest summit I’ve ever reached. That said, the placement of the sign for the summit wasn’t exactly in the most prominent (or flattering) spot. I still took a photo.

The rest of the ride was easy – especially the descents where I set a new personal speed record on a fully loaded bike by going 64 km/h. It was more than a little fun.

I arrived in Clearwater not entirely sure where I would be staying – not an entirely unfamiliar experience. There’s a Warm Showers host in town but he’s unavailable – he’s a firefighter and the forest fires have been keeping him somewhat busy this season. He suggested heading down to where the Clearwater and North Thompson rivers meet. So, that became my plan.

That planned changed a bit when I arrived at the Information Centre. As usual, I refilled my water bottles, charged my devices and, of course, used their WiFi. A quick e-mail check revealed that I had some video work to do so I ended up spending the next little while working at a picnic table. Again, not a bad office for the day.

While working I met several other people. Some curious about my bike. Others only noticed the bike when they came over for water – there was a water fountain next to my selected picnic table. I met people on hikes, a guy from South Korea who was part of a bus trip but would like to cycle Canada someday, and there was a young cycle tourist who is also cycling out to Vancouver (and beyond) but at a much faster pace than me. He arrived here from Peterborough, ON in only three weeks. There didn’t seem to be a reason for his incredibly aggressive pace.

With most of my work finished, I decided it was time to focus on accommodation. It ended up being a pretty easy decision. Rather than head down the road to where the rivers meet, I opted to set up my tent at the Information Centre. There aren’t a lot of good spots there – in reality, probably just one. But it looked like a pretty good one. It was somewhat secluded. Not directly next to the highway. It even had a picnic table. Sounds like a good home for the night.

I didn’t get a chance to take advantage of the picnic table as a light rain started to fall shortly after setting up my tent. Rather after than before! With rain clouds threatening and my computer battery pretty much drained from heavy use earlier in the day I retreated to the cozy confines of my tent and called it a day. Another good one.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 110.75 km
Ride time: 5:00:27
Average speed: 22.11 km/h
Maximum speed: 64.00 km/h