Northern British Columbia

I didn’t write again last night because we were up talking with the Phil and Joan who were camping in the site next to ours.  The ride yesterday by all accounts should have been a breeze.  Only a few big climbs and I took most of those on early in the day.  Instead it was a grind fest; I had a huge headwind all afternoon.  With a wind like that you can’t do anything but put your head down and pedal.  It felt like I was riding in glue.  What made it worse is that this area is very heavy on the wildlife; I saw two black bear and about thirty Woodland bison.  If I had to choose between the bears or the bison, I’ll take the bear.  A bear for the most part totally ignores your presence unless you surprise them or if you run across a sow with cubs.  Bison however, stare you down, with those huge dark eyes and even bigger horns.  “Totally unpredictable” one local told me, in reference to their demeanor.  I am positive that a bison can charge faster than I can ride into a headwind.  I also have no defense against them.  I can’t use bear spray on a bison, I am guessing that it would only make an already angry animal even more of a problem, I have no desire to be in the vicinity of a blind pissed off bison.  Add to that the fact that the horse flies have been circling me non-stop for the last three days, only actually biting me every once in awhile, but they circle like sharks on a wounded seal, I could never tell which one was going to strike, and when.  So needless to say, I was ready to relax in the Liard River hot springs. 

Azure made an unbelievably good pasta with meat sauce last night.  So after woofing down two plates of that we headed to the springs.  It was a little hot out but they were still amazing.  We sat and relaxed and I stretched in the warm mineral water, it is amazing how that stuff can make you feel after a long day on a bike. 

Our camp neighbors invited us over for a few beers and some bannock (a fried bread that the natives eat) never ones to turn down free beer and food, we happily agreed.  Bannock is awesome!!!! We had tried some a few days prior at a roadside stand and it wasn’t very good, the stuff that Joan made however, was amazing.  Imagine a pancake, donut, and biscuit fried and served with peach preserves.  Pretty good stuff.  

It turns out that Joan is a counselor here in Canada, so we discussed the struggles that she faces in dealing with government bureaucracies as well as what they have found to work in some of the small communities up here.  It was a great evening, but we had to turn in rather early, in order to rest up for the ride today.

7-27 stats

58.38 miles

13.1mph average

49.8mph max

4:25:21 ride time

The hot springs were great for me but the ride yesterday had taken so much out of my legs that today was a really tough day on the bike.  The strange thing is that I was climbing like a champ today but really struggling on relatively flat terrain.  So after three huge climbs (all about 3 miles long) a thunderstorm started to close in on me from the north.  Being that I was struggling, we decided that it would be best to stop for the day.  So obviously, the storm that was closing fast with lightning everywhere didn’t ever hit.  I am just going to take it as a sign that I need the rest. Today was a short day, but I have some of the toughest climbs of the trip coming my way tomorrow. So hopefully, I will wake up well rested and with strong legs.

7-28 stats

35.97 miles

12.4mph average

40.9mph max

2:52:42 ride time