Riders on the storm

DAY 4,
07 22 2016, Nelson to Nakusp BC.
Dist: 147 km. Time: 7:30 (est.) 19.6 km/hr avg. (est.), 4131 cal. 118 HR avg.

Pretty much rained the whole day and was nice to have wind as well. Evil always has a buddy. There were some scary sections of hwy 6. No shoulder and broken asphalt make for a jittery ride. I arrived in a very minimal town called New Denver. I was unsure about continuing on to Nakusp knowing that I may not find accommodations.
I got a crappy overpriced room reserved while I checked out the town. I found a tourism centre and was helped by a nice girl at the desk. She got me a cheap room in Nakusp. So I cancelled New Denver and headed to Nakusp with a purpose. Yay!
It was only another 43 km to go, but it felt like a light year. My feet were starting to burn and I was getting rash issues in the trunk. There were some unpleasant hills, but I retrieved motivation from the motorcycle community. The route that I was riding is popular with motorcyclists. They often rode by giving me a wave of approval. Iv'e experienced this gesture many times, especially during my trip across Canada a few years back. At first, it bothered me. I felt as though these motorheads were including me into their hood and this pissed me off. They didn't feel the pain and vulnerability that cyclists feel. Eventually I ditched that philosophy and embraced the salute. Take all the positive vibes available.
There was a nice descent into Nakusp which was greatly appreciated. As I entered the town, I saw a few people that seemed out of place. I didn't think much of it as I headed to my home base which was The Leland Hotel. A cheap room with bare bones. Was crappy, but did the trick. Actually, I don't want to diss this hotel because it is a chunk of history as it is the oldest running hotel in BC from 1892.
http://lelandhotelnakusp.com/index.html
Getting back to the mention of people that seemed out of place...
Turns out that there was a gathering of crazy people for a few days. It was a organized medieval village recreation type of "expo?" A very cool  event with chain mail, swords axes etc.

I was gonna do a sketch depicting the mideaval aspect, but decided that I couldnt do it justice without spending a lot of time, so I included a link instead:

http://www.medievaldays.ca/?page_id=30

Nasty road work to keep the mind sharp. Doesn't look bad here, but got stressful. HWC's talons were at full extension.

I am not responsable. Honest. However, I am a bit of a beast. Hee Hee

They DO exist!! Grrrrrreeeechhh!!!

HWC was not thrilled. Looks like "Funincorporated" ha ha...sigh , Bloody hooligans!!

Kootenay Lake, I think. Or river

Rest spot. Ahhhh, nice

Lost soul

  Misty

End of the line. Uggghhh...Beer me, us!!

Home base. Leland Hotel which is the oldest hotel in BC. Opened in 1892.

Doesn't look a day over 124yrs.

The Trump pedestal. Ikea version not available do to overwhelming sales. Trump doll not included.

The dish towels are folded so nicely. Look out Sandman!!

Really nice garden area

Nice walking path along the lake, however, walking is for losers.

Hippy town

DAY 3,  Thurs. July 21 2016.  Creston to Nelson BC.
               Ride time: 5:36,  116 km., 19.8k/hr. Max. 60km. 3119 cal. HR 119 Avg.

A Great day.
Hot and sunny.  The 3A out of Creston was a real bonus. Almost no truck traffic! The conditions were not ideal, but I didn't whine much. It was windy with rolling hills, minimal shoulder and the threat of a blown rim on some descents was rated "Defcon 5".
I saw a few other touring bikes which is always nice. In one instance, I passed a strange rider going the other direction. It was a fully contained recumbent that may have been part of a aerodynamic project or something, Not only did it look cool, but it sounded cool as well. They hooked up a bizzarre sounding horn. This was a nice distraction. Sometimes you never know what will be seen on the roads by bike. Unfortunately I was too slow to get a pick, so I did a sketch instead.

I continued along Hwy 3A which follows Kootenay Lk. to Crawford Bay. I had 2 hills as I got close to the Ferry Berth. The second one was crazy steep. I kept thinking, "Why am I climbing so much as the ferry is so near, shouldn't I be hitting sea level soon?" I thought that I screwed up and was headed the wrong way. Anyway, up up up eventually became down down down and I found my way across Kootenay Lk. on this free 25 minute service. Highwaycat loves free fairies.  Not that kind, but this kind; "ferries"
This portion of the 3A is wider and has more traffic. Crossing the "Nelson Bridge" into town was great. The roads were hectic and a bit stressful. After finding the visitors centre, I checked out the local campground.  There was one site available, but it was beyond pathetic,
http://www.nelson.ca/assets/Residents/Maps/CITY_TOURIST_MAP%20.pdf

I ended up getting a room at the Mountain Hound Inn. A shitty room for $85.00. I especially liked the concrete block wall treatment. Also, the small room has no place to sit and read or doodle. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest" kinda feel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WSyJgydTsA

The town is so overpriced and designed for clueless tourists. I'm not totally clueless. HWC maxes out the eye roll. Sigh.
There is a Subway down the street which is helpful. Otherwise, there are no brand name businesses that are recognizable. Where the hell is the damn Starbucks?!
They have kept the local flare intact and at least in the downtown core, they have kept big retail out. It's cool but a bit expensive, I can adapt.

The Magnusen Motel had a huge storage room where I kept Shirley. She was nervous at first, but enjoyed the quiet time. Packed and ready to seek out the land called "Nelson"

Kootenay Lake

A nice stretch

Sketch: A strange encounter. I'll take strange over Grizzly any day.

No brakes requiered. WEEEEEEEEE!!

HWC waits for the ferry to Balfour. She may look content, but believe me, she was furious. I almost lost my left eye. Gotta clip those talons!

Happy cat

Bridge into Nelson BC. Yay.

Local bike shop. Mountain bike heavy town.

http://www.gericks.com/

Little Mexico

Unfortunate base camp

Nice view at least

Vantastic

DAY 2, Wed. 07 20, 2016
Cranbrook - Creston BC.
106 km, 19.8 km/hr Avg. 5:21, 3044 Cal, Hr. 118 Avg.

A fine ride. No big hills but was hot and windy. I consumed almost all of my liquid stores:
Three 710 ml. One 500 ml. and One 1000 ml. Nalgene bottle. Maybe it was hotter than I remember.

I was riding along minding my own business and having a pleasant conversation with HWC about fur and it's place in a growing synthetic society when a van suddenly pulled over in front of me. No warning and almost ran us over. Before I could yell "WTF?!",  they sped off. I could see a hand waving at me through the rear window.
Assholes!

Stopped for a break at Yakk Prov. Park.
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/yahk/
Really nice spot, but too soon to stop.

As I approached Creston, my feet were on fire. "Hot Foot" is a condition that Ive had before. Its very painful, It feels like it sounds, fire!! This is a condition aggravated by heat and expansion. Too much pressure on the nerves creates a huge painful sensation.
http://www.active.com/cycling/articles/causes-and-prevention-of-hot-foot-in-cyclists

Anyway, I hobbled into town excited about stopping.

I got a room at Magnuson Hotel. The clerk noticed that I had a bike with a big load and gave me a more costly room at a discount. Nice!

Lots of stuff nearby:
Overweitea Foods & Liquor store 200 metres. A&W for breakfast maybe.

I tried to put these photos in order but this antiquated blog software fought me to the bitter end and won.
Soooooooo frustrating...

Sketch of "The Van" This pic should appear below the Bear Lodge pic.  I gave up trying.

Ready to roll out of Lazy Bear Lodge

HWY meets another HWC. The things you see at 20 km/hr

Affortable housing

Break at Yakk Prov. Park. Would be nice to stay, but too soon.

Selfie at Moyie Lk. 25 km W of Cranbrook

Dont fence me in

Helpful signage. Sometimes a depressing visual, not this time.

Magnuson Motel, Creston a good deal

HWC looks over tomorrow's agenda...Meowww

DAY 1: SX4, Dash 8, Surly Long Haul Trucker...

Tues. July 19, 2016

Drive to YVR (25 km), Fly to YXC (535km by crow), bike to Lazy Bear Lodge (15 km)

Well, I must say that this morning didn't start out as I would have liked. I stayed up super late the night before and woke up tired as hell and somewhat hung over. My friend (and driver) Tanya and I were chatting, eating pizza and having some "wobbly pops" as time ticked the night away...

Even though we were both toast, it was really great to have help getting set up at the airport. Of coarse there was the usual "rigumroll" associated with bike box protocol. Despite my efforts to become an expert on the Air Canada baggage specifications, I found myself angry and confused yet again. After paying extra fees that didn't add up to me, it was time to see my favourite people in the airport. The BST, (Baggage Security Trolls). These humanoids are good at what they do. Unfortunately, they lack the synapses required to access the common sense area of the noodle. Having a home made bicycle crate designed to allow easy inspection was lost on these life forms.

Anyway, after almost losing my passport in the security check line up, I found my way to gate 38.
It was a very long trek. I have never been to this wing of YVR. It was a strange feeling to board my "Dash 8" aircraft from the tarmac. A 737 it wasn't.
I was excited about the flight as I took my window seat. 
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end... 
BOOM!! A large female human plopped into the seat next to me. Like "Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind" I would have gladly accepted a "Seat Encroachment Fee". (maybe 20%)

Anyway, the airport was small and quiet which I enjoyed. Also had tons of space to set up Shirley and gear but had problems filling my water bottles. Weird. Anyway, the 15 km ride to the town of Cranbrook was a bit scary. The access road from the airport was nice, but a downhill section of the 95 S. was a bit crazy. Just bad timing.

The Lazy Bear Motel was OK.
Cool owner. I wondered why I had so much extra time. I assumed that I was on Mountain time. My friend Kerry texted me in confirmation of this. I used the extra hour to drink more beer. Ha ha.

Sketch of my uncomfortable flight to Cranbrook

Landing in Cranbrook BC

Shirley on the move

Ready to roll...

HWC approved signage

Home Base Lazy Bear

"Staycation tour" Overview

Sat. July 16, 2016

This years trip is a simple one;
*Get a ride from North Vancouver to the Vancouver airport (YVR)
*Fly to Cranbrook/Canadian Rockies Int. Airport (YXC) 
*Bike back to North Vancouver using a not so direct route.

Originally I had planned on a trip and tour of Northern Ireland.  I over thought the whole thing, got discouraged and wimped out.
HWC is so disappointed in me.
Ireland isn't going anywhere.   

Here is a link to my staycation route:
https://goo.gl/maps/9NzuyNoi4bs

I have 2 weeks for this ride, which at 1200km, gives me tons of time. I can do 120/day for 10 days 

Shirley gets her nails done

I haven't ridden Shirley very much since the Alaska / Whitehorse trip and was unsure about her health since then. After a test ride and a quick gander at her chain and cogs, it was clear that the end was near. She was certainly rideable but there was a lot of wear and the chain was very stretched.

I bit the bullet and tracked down a new set of teeth. On short notice, it wasn't easy finding 9 spd. parts but since I live in the land of bike shops, it was possible, although I had to drive to Port Coquitlam "Caps Bike Shop" for the insanely small "Granny Gear"

I also got new Schwable Marathon tires in the 700 by 32 size. I love new tires. A good investment. I also replaced the front derailleur cable as it was a bit damaged.

A flat free zone will be dialled in with these tough guys.

Cheaper than the "Marathon Plus" which I am replacing, but should be the cat's ass on this little spin.

"This looks nothing like my poo box..."

9 spd, 110 mm BCD is old school apparently...This purchase (MEC and Caps Bikes) was under $250.00 

I didn't really feel like spending $1200.00 on a whole new crank. Bike parts are such a rip off. Anyway, this should last a while as I have 4 other bikes to ride after this HWC trip.

11/34 Shimano cassette

Can climb an 18 percent with 4 cases of 24 

Or with HWC after a big lunch stop during a headwind

Kizz is clearly excited about Shirley's upgrades.

SHIRLEY'S CRATE

Summer 2016 is here!
Me, Highwaycat and Shirley will be hitting the road soon. YAY!  It won't be a glamorous epic journey, but it should be fun nontheless.

We will be flying out to the Kootenays of British Columbia and will ride back through some familiar and some not so familiar roads back to North Vancouver. Approximately 1200 km over 2 weeks. An easy pull.

To make things super easy, I decided to build my own bike box for shipping. I came across a post on https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/  where the concept came from. I basically copied the plan using Shirley's measurements. The skeleton is 1" by 2" pine screwed together with cardboard from 2 bike boxes glued and stapled. This box will allow me to ship Shirley without removing her handlebars and rack and will keep her safe. It's overkill, but I thought that it would be fun and would make departing super easy. The box is a "one and done" scenerio, at $12.00,  I'm cool with that.

Anyway, here are a few pics of said bike box...

Screwing 1 by 2 pine together

Kizzmitt is the project manager

The skeleton with HWC and Grasshopper cat

Checking bike placement.  All is good (the rack will be lowered) The wheels and forks are supported and everything will be easily scanned by security staff. 

Adding the skin. Grasshopper cat inspects...

Skin is glued and stapled (except top)

Kizzmitt displays the stare of approval.

Anyway, the box comes to about 109 linear inches. The Air Canada allowance is 115". Also, it comes in at well below the 70lb. limit. Even if HWC was a stowaway.