MONDAY 4 JULY 2016
POWELL RIVER - KENTS BEACH
1750 - 1930
35.22 km (21.88 miles)
Av. Speed: 17.1 km/h (10.6 mph)
Max. Speed: 67 km/h (41.6 mph)
Time On Bike: 1h 47m 53s
I kind of wish I'd left this late in the day a little more often throughout the tour.
The only reason I got away with it today was that I had such a short distance to cover.
Everything else about it was good aside from those goddamned hills.
30 kilometers only it may have been but I was made to work pretty hard for it.
Eventually, a high-speed, runaway 500 ft pass dropped me down to Kents Beach campground after 1 hour and 40 on the road, late in the day.
After showering, I sat down by the water's edge with around 1.65 million mosquitoes and tried to enjoy my road dinner with one hand whilst swatting away with the other.
I also tried to take in the otherwise lovely setting at the same time whilst taking a few moments to contemplate what I was about to achieve.
Now only 2 days out of Vancouver, I was more focused than ever to get there in one piece and finish my trip as positively and gloriously as possible.
DAY 93
TUESDAY 5 JULY 2016
KENTS BEACH - SECHELT (PORPOISE BAY PROVINCIAL PARK)
1040 - 1800
57.02 km (35.43 miles)
Av.Speed: 16.4 km/h (10.2 mph)
Max. Speed: 61.3 km/h (38.1 mph)
Time On Bike: 3h 28m 16s
The area of coastline between Powell River and Vancouver is broadly known as the Sunshine Coast and it was suiting me much better than Vancouver Island had done.
As I rode the highways and took in the lovely scenery and general quietness of the place, I was forming the opinion that it was all much closer to what I had IMAGINED Vancouver Island to be like.
VI had felt more like the suburbs with a major, shitty freeway running right through the guts of it which was certainly not what I was experiencing on this side of the water.
I also knew that it probably wouldn't last as I moved closer to the urban areas of Vancouver so all the more reason to lap it up whilst I could.
With only 3 kilometers from Kents Beach to the Saltery Bay ferry crossing, this morning kind of took care of itself.
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CROSSING FROM SALTERY BAY TO EARLS COVE |
It also was a good time to get off the road and wait for all the exiting ferry traffic to clear out to wherever it was going.
I grabbed a sandwich before pumping up the hill and on my way south along the Sunshine Coast Highway.
By the time I rode through the town of Madeira Park at around 2 pm, the weather was really turning the magic on.
All previous cloud cover had cleared and it was close to perfect riding conditions, in spite of the hilly terrain.
I had also decided in the meanwhile that the Sunshine Coast is Canada's answer to Big Sur on a slightly smaller scale - Little Sur, shall we call it.
No extended passes here, but plenty of short, sharp pinches that were offering up plenty of grunt.
I felt that I was working as hard as at any stage of the trip so far and at this rate arrival in Vancouver in just over 24 hours was looking sweeter than ever.
Sweat and toil aside, I was certainly enjoying both the scenery and relatively low traffic volume and took time to respect the journey as much as the destination with some choice stops along the way.
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COOPER'S GREEN WAS A LOVELY STOP TO MAKE JUST OFF THE SUNSHINE COAST HIGHWAY |
METAL FATIGUE
Not long after I took this photo, disaster struck along Redrooffs Road when my troublesome trolley collapsed in a heap, yet again.
This time, it was a little more serious as the quick release pin which is 50% of what holds the draw arm in place had succumbed to what was clearly metal fatigue and snapped in two, resulting in the whole unit collapsing and dragging along the roadway behind me for a distance until I could bring it to a stop.
On a narrow roadway, it was not ideal but it was at least pretty quiet.
I wandered around in a flap for about 10 minutes or so, trying to figure out what the fuck I was going to do and it was whilst returning to my gear by the side of the road that a fellow in an SUV pulled over and offered his assistance.
He introduced himself as Jimmy and asked how he could help.
The best I could think of was a lift into Sechelt, which was the next major town, now less than 20 km up the way.
No problem, he said.
I loaded my gear on board the large vehicle and in the meantime was able to check on Jim's iPhone for a bike shop that may have been open at 4.50 pm and after making contact with Off the Edge Adventures, they were open for another 30 mins apparently.
We would be there in 20, I told them.
On arrival, I presented my problem although after a bit of a scout in the workshop, the news was not great and they referred me to the local hardware store, which likewise was about to close for the day.
We scrambled quickly and were able to grab a nut and bolt there that would at least get me out of trouble until morning.
With my chosen campsite only 4 km out of Sechelt, Jimmy was good enough to drop me all the way and dispatched me and my rig in the bicycle camp of Porpoise Bay Provincial Park right on 6 pm.
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