Castlegar - Salmo, BC - British Columbia 2019

July 27, 2019

Castlegar - Salmo, BC

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We had agreed on a 9 AM departure in honor of the short miles and relatively little climbing. But the day was warming up, so we got out at 8:30. Jacinto wasn't sure which direction he was riding. His choices were the 25 mile steep climb over a named pass, or 41 miles with 100 feet less climbing. We took the longer route with the gentler climbing.

Our motel was well positioned to exit town. Sunday morning traffic was light. But we had rumble strips. What's with this, Canada? These are our first rumble strips in the country. We had a slightly undulating road, blue skies, and a tailwind. Best of all, we had fresh legs from our day off. We hadn't gone ten miles down the road when Jim stopped at a rest area. He didn't bother, but Genny and I both appreciated the sentiment. We had a few snacks and agreed it was a mighty fine day to be riding. We saw a handful of local riders spread throughout the day. I'm not sure this would be a good area to live in and be a cyclist. With the mountains and rivers taking up so much space, there aren't any back roads. Riding would be on the highway or nothing. That would get old fast, not having a choice of roads. As a cyclist passing through, we loved the scenery.

We arrived in the town of Trail in no time. It appeared to be a big industrial town. We had to ride over a fairly large bridge. There was a walkway, but we would have had to bump up to get up there and it was two lanes going our direction. We were just fine with the Sunday traffic.

Today we changed directions and roads several times. We headed south on 22, with a tailwind. Just before Trail, we turned east and the tailwind followed us. At Montrose, we headed north. Can you believe our luck? The tailwind followed us again. Highway 38 straightened out to the east - with a continued tailwind.

The roads in Canada have been a cyclist's dream. We finally found a road that was less than perfect. Highway 38 had a cracked and crumbling shoulder for many miles. I rode on occasion to the left of the white line. Traffic was still light. It was easy to move over when a car happened by.

Jacinto said he did not take the long way because he was sure the wind would end up being a headwind. I don't know if that's a typical wind pattern, but we appreciated it the whole way. We stopped . . . 2-3? times, but kept moving right down the road.

There were a few businesses spread along the highway outside of Salmo. Our motel, the SalCrest, was close to the intersection of Highway 6. Jim stopped. Do we want to see if we could check in? No. Let's go on into town and eat at the Dragonfly Cafe. There was also a Subway, but we went for the charming, local spot. They had homemade kombucha, grass fed ice cream (Genny said it was better than most), an entire case of desserts, and excellent lunch selections. We are going back for breakfast. Forget that nasty oatmeal, I'm going to start the day like a princess!

We were just finishing eating when Jacinto called to say he was almost to the motel, should he stop at the gas station for drinks. Sure. We got to the motel at the same time.

Today was a fast, easy day. I'm not sure if it was really that easy, or if it's just the fresh legs.

Tomorrow we cross over the border. We shall see if my misspelled last name on my passport is an issue. Jacinto says he has about $4. CAD left to spend. The only place our entire time in Canada that we really needed Canadian money was at the movie theatre yesterday. Besides that, we could have used a credit card the entire trip.

This has been great. I'm loving the moderate temperatures and especially the blue skies. I've always considered myself to enjoy the rain, but I think that's as a high desert living person. We will get an afternoon shower or perhaps a day or two in a row of rain. Colorado advertises 300 days a year of blue sky. I do like the sunshine. Tucson has lots of sunshine . . . .

BTW, they had epic flooding in Delta down Main Street and it flooded into the lobby of the theatre. It was Deltarado Days and the rodeo had to be canceled right after the mutton busting. I'll attach a couple of photos. We have only three more days of riding and then I will be back to dealing with real life. I've mostly been able to ignore real life this summer. It's about to come crashing back.

Three more days. I'm going to enjoy it to the fullest.

Later - we ate dinner at the neighboring steakhouse. It was good. I was hoping for a ribeye steak, which they did not offer. I settled for a rack of ribs. Woe is me. Prices were reasonable. The motel was reasonable also. We are getting away from the tourist areas.

We've agreed on a slightly earlier departure in the morning as we are stopping at the Dragonfly Cafe for breakfast. We cross the border tomorrow and then we have the option of going around Sullivan Lake for an extra 5 miles. Or we can go right down the highway. Of course, Jacinto is taking the lake route. He's hoping to see girls in bikinis like he did in 2016.

We did not see any beaver, but there were several ducks.

Jim says this is the last we will see of the Columbia River as we exit Trail.The paved road to the lower left goes to the USA. The paved road in the center is an airport runway. I looked longingly at the USA road. Instead we were climbing a 500 foot climb . . .

I can never figure out where to look for a selfie. We have a Montrose in Colorado also.

Bill, we saw these pine trees everywhere. They are just as tall as traditional pine trees, but have these delicate fronds. From a distance they look like a pine.Bill is on the job - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuja_plicata - it is an arborvitae, also known as western cedar - Genny's guess was also correct.

This property had baseball caps on every fence post all the way around.

I haven't seen many barns this trip. But here is one today.

The Dragonfly Cafe had a large variety of baked goods, including some gluten free choices. They had homemade kombucha, and a good lunch selection. We are coming back for breakfast.

I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around winter conditions at low elevations. I've lived in Colorado most of my life. Lower elevations in Colorado don't get much snow. We are obviously further north here and that is a contributing factor.

You can't see it in the photo, but Jacinto was happily showing off the sweat stains on the front of his shirt. He rode over Bombi Pass. 2,700 feet of climbing in 12 miles.

Jacinto's photo of Eerie Creek right outside of Salmo.

Flood waters just entered the lobby of the movie theatre back home in Delta.

Flooding on the main street in front of the theatre back home in Delta, CO.

Today's ride: 43 miles (69 km)
Total: 777 miles (1,250 km)

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