FREE FALL"IN

DAY 9,  Wed. July 27 2016
Cache Creek to Lillooet, 
Time 4:30, Dist, 89.5 km, Avg. 18.3 km/hr, Cal. 1880, HR, 110 

While I was packing up for the day's ride, I had a moment to talk to a fellow cycle tourer. This older man was 2 doors down from me outside the motel. He was gearing up also - Tons of stuff!! despite the fact that his tour was a small circle route in the region.  Nice grey bearded guy with a stories of touring. Fun.       
Riding the 97 N out of Cache Creek was toasty and strange. (It felt odd going North albeit, for a short spell) 
These are typically some of the hottest locations during the summer in BC. (the South Okanagan is on the list also) 
It was satisfying to see the turn off to Lillooet. I have never ridden or drove the Hwy 99 at this end before. How exciting!!!, sigh. HWC wanted to keep heading straight N. to Prince George. 
The 99 was interesting. Her structure included a broad healthy shoulder with moderate traffic at first. Eventually, the climbs became longer and the descents started to be stressful. The road downhill had some twisty sections over large escarpments and no concrete barriers. To make things worse, my cassette kept freezing up which caused the chain to back up while coasting. I tried to match the cadence in pedalling so the chain would be free but it was impossible to keep up. I can maintain, maybe 125 RPM,s  on a spin bike for a short spell, but its harder in real life. So, when I gave up, I just lifted my feet and let the pedals fly. Sounds like fun , but it wasn't. I was thinking how unpleasant it would be to have the flailing chain pull the derailleur into the spokes and send me over an escarpment to certain doom. 
Anyway, the heat was getting to me and the downhill sections were stressing me out as some areas had no barrier along the cliff side. There was road work as well which spices things up.
       All the stress ended as I rolled into Lillooet, of coarse it was a climb into town, no prob. Ugghh. My plan was to stay 2 nights here, so as I passed the town's campground, I headed up to the tourist info Centre in search for cozy accommodations (I'll camp the second night) The girl at the counter was pretty much useless, so I looked around this small town of around 2300 and decided on "Mile 0 Motel".  Cheap and a good fit for me Shirley and HWC. When I got the "Situation Room" set up, I did a Shirley inspection. I found some loose rack bolts, but more unsettling was the tear in her rear tire. These are expensive touring tires and should not be damaged. I was pissed! I texted my friend and fellow cyclist Kerry. He suggested to swap that tire for the front. What a great idea, thanks BILLY! (alias). 
I was worried about a blowout on the Duffy Lake road, so I went shopping; I found an outdoor shop where I picked up bear spray, some chain lube and a really cheap emergency tire. 
         It felt good to be set up in this town. I was looking forward to a day off tomorrow where I will secure a dandy campsite. Until then,  
Meeowww... 

Fellow cycle tourer. Heading out of Tumbleweed. TONS of gear on his bike!

The road to FREEEEEDOMMM!

Sweet conditions. Meeowwww!

D'OH !!

Very unpleasant road work. Grrr

Marble Canyon. Break time. Great spot!! Would love to stay, but gotta move.

Highwaycat was furious at the prospect of leaving. "What the hell is wrong with this place?!!"

This pic is in the wrong place. Check'in out the town of Lillooet.

Cool vistas

No cat food stores

Down there is the great town of Lillooet. Cats are welcome.

We're gonna head into town if it's the last thing we do dammitt.

Massive downhill after this sign. Bloody cassette kept getting hooked up.  Problems with the freehub body that I installed a while ago I guess. Stressfull descent.

WELCOME!!!

Home base

The result of a stressful ride...

Expensive touring tire. sigh.

       

"Ya know theres a big hill outta town eh?"

DAY 8,
Tue July 26 2016         Kamloops to Cache Creek, BC
Dist; 90.2 km, Time: 4:30, Avg spd; 18.8 km; Cal; 2329; Hr 117 avg

The ride out of Kamloops was nasty. I followed a bike route for a while which was nice. I thought to myself "Hey. Way to go Kamloops for being bike friendly" I was impressed. Soon after that, the signage stopped and I got confused as usual. Anyway, so I continued on the main road. Bad idea. (I can here the motel lady saying " Oh, are you gonna climb the hill? ya know that it's big eh?". (She told me earlier)
Well, I'm sad to say that she was right and I bailed for the first time as a bike traveller. I hit the sidewalk. Ugggghhh. It was too hot, too steep and too many redneck mobiles. This hill was relentless, I was really caught off guard. Once off the sidewalk, the road became Hwy 1 and kept climbing. I passed 2 "No bikes" signs and kept climbing. I sure as hell wasn't going to abort. At this point 2 hours had passed from leaving the crappy motel.
As I write this post one year later, I can see from Google Map that I should have just stayed on the highway. There was no reason to go into the city except curiosity I guess.
I found a sweet spot to break, stretch and snack...

The remainder of my day's commute consisted of long slow climbs and descents. Pretty much every climb had a reward right after. It was a good combo.
Near the end of the day I was really hot and was ready to settle on any accommodation.
My feet were on fire during the last hour of the ride.
Found the "Tumbleweed Motel" Good enough, Ughhh.

Working the bike route (For a while at least)

Didn't see much but could've done without that climb

Up and out of Kamloops

Picnic stop at Kamloops Lake

Lovely stop. Much needed.

Shade was key

Desert landscape

Sketch of encounter with human at Kamloops Picnic area

HWC was ready for a battle

Great road ahead. More shoulder than I know what to do with... It's hot though

Cool landscape

Nowhere man in a nowhere land

Nowhere cat in a nowhere land

"Back in the day, I used to run fields like this till my paws throbbed" Now I lay on an expensive bicycle travel bag made in Quebec.

Info

Miniature ranch

Gunslinger cat!

Good place to be in 2016. Not so good this time in 2017 as forest fires were rampant.

Off the beaten path a bit

Hot Toast

DAY 7, 
Mon, July 25, 2016                    Vernon to Kamloops
Dist. 110km, Time, 5:17, Avg spd, 20.8 km, Calories, 2526, HR Avg, 112 bpm.

I got the most out of the free breakfast that I could. I was so pissed off that I bailed and got this expensive motel that I should maximize the stay. I won't bore you with the details. Lets just say that I ate more than everyone in that lobby. Yes, even Jimbo the trucker in the corner.
      I took the "Old Kamloops Hwy" out of town. This route took me past that Gem of a campground known as Swan Lk. 😠 ! Anyway, I was bypassing 10 km of traffic which was nice. (except for the local pickup trucks)
Once I dumped out onto Highway 97 N, I found a sense of relief. The road surface was perfect and the shoulder was generous. This allowed me to cover distance without concern. Vernon is a nice small city but lacks the funding for roads that bigger cities may have. Not a great place to ride.
Got myself a sandwich for later in the small town of Falkland. As I rode along the quiet #97 for a while, my bladder started talking to me. I rode on for an uncomfortable amount of time trying to find a prime pee place. Nothing. Farm fields to my left and cliff wall to my right. No trees. Aaargh!
Finally found a spot at Monte Lk. Feewwwww!
        Merging from the 97 onto Hwy 1 was a bizarre feeling. There was this crazy decent and as I flew down to Hwy 1 level, the temperature increased. It was sooo weird. My environment became a lot hotter, faster and louder. My speed accelerated as there were no hills and there was a bit of a tail wind. As I approached Kamloops I was scanning for motels along the parallel access rd. I was feeling lazy, so I picked one that seemed to have amenities within crawling distance. Turned out to be one of the crappiest motels ever. $50.00. The place smells bad, there is terrible lighting and generally creepy. I guess that some people live here. There is a guy next door that seems to be running some sort of wood working business? I don't know, he seems to be running some sort of wood working tool like a dremel. Annoying as hell. Seems fitting though. At least there isn't an old lady stuffing squirrel carcasses with taxidermy material.
 while cranking Elvis.
I was so hot and toast that I crashed on the crappy rocking chair. Finally got my sorry ass outside to see whats up. Was in a bad mood, so I went to Tims for Joe and some doodle time. Got pissed off at the idiot staff and also a loud family that set up beside me. Had to leave before my patience limiter reached critical. Ended up pushing Shirley around with hot coffee in the hot sun while looking for a quiet place away from annoying life forms. Found one.
Looking forward to tomorrow.

Heading out

Eats come from here

Affordable Housing

Relax zone

Great conditions for forward movement

Hot as hell but happy to dial some velocity

No Grand Slam Breakfast here anytime soon.

Hammer Fest

The trash you settle for when yer trashed...