Go north to seek adventure: Day 7 - Kamloops to Clearwater - And Then We Pedalled...... Cross Canada 2015

June 9, 2015

Go north to seek adventure: Day 7 - Kamloops to Clearwater

Another long hot day. Overall very good cycling as we continue to move on down the road.

It is quite interesting ( to me at least) to see the continual incremental change in the landscape. We are now riding along the North Thompson river, leaving the desert climate of the Okanogan behind us.

After rolling north along Thompson River all day we are now on the edge of the Monashee mountains.

Our first 45 km of riding was on the every quiet Westsyde road. We had to take a small ferry across the river at McClure and rejoin the busier main highway 5. This wasn't too bad as the shoulders were wide and in good shape plus the majority of the truck drivers were very courteous.

However, we had a few bizzare issues with Bill's front tire. Multiple flats in just a few km's with no sign of how they were occurring. This ultimately caused him to beat a retreat back to Kamloops while Kirsten and I continued on to Clearwater. Fortunately he was able to get things sorted in Kamloops and he'll catch a train to blue River and meet up with us tomorrow.

The forecast continues to call for clear skies and temperatures around 30 c. That means another early start on Wednesday.

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Song of the day:

A Common Disaster by the Cowboy Junkies ..... It's a good description of Bill's wheel problem and it sounded good pedalling along the Thompson.

Historic moment of the day:

The 2003 wildfire that came through the Bariere region. We didn't get many pictures of it since we're were focused on the cold drinks at Subway, but there was a large wildfire in the area in 2003 and a good interpretive centre on the outskirts of Bariere

Leaving Kamloops 7:30. Another beautiful morning. Getting going early is essential to beat the heat were having

Bill's first flat about 15 km north of Kamloops on the westsyde road (spelling correct!)

Beautiful views and nice mixed farming on the west side of the Thompson River. We took the very quiet Westsyde road on the west side of the river for about 45 km to the ferry crossing (more on that later). More cyclists than cars on this one road. You could see the semi's on the main highway 5 across the river

Calling the ferry at McClure crossing. The sign said to honk for the ferry. Without a car horn a good holler did the trick

On our second ferry ride of the trip! The ferry is attached to a cable and the river current basically pulls it across the river

Lunch in the shade at Subway in Bariere. Cold drinks and avacado, humus and cucumber sandwiches. There was a lot more traffic on the main highway but the shoulders were wide and in good shape. We had been spoiled with our riding over the last few days.

Heading north towards Clearwater. It's getting greener and a little more mountainous. It's just Kirsten and me now as Bill turned around at Bariere to go back to Kamloops to get his wheel issues sorted ( four flats in 60 km's and we could not see anything wrong with the tires or rims) Bill got himself sorted out with new tires and tubes and will rejoin us in Blue River on Wednesday afternoon

Rolling along beside the North Thompson. The silver lining in Bill's wheel troubles was that we spent a couple of hours in the main heat of the day dealing with them. Our last 60 km's into Clearwater were later in the afternoon and early evening. The temperature had dropped and we even had some shade to ride in!

Looking north along hwy 5, about 15 km south of Clearwater. We're starting to enter the Monashee mountains now. Coming into the Monashee from this direction is new territory for Kirsten and me. We've been to valemont and Blue River many times to ski but always came in from the north

Checked into the Wells Gray Inn for the night. A long hot day, and 5 nights of camping we thought we'd go for a real bed. And who could pass up bar rock trivia!

Today's ride: 128 km (79 miles)
Total: 683 km (424 miles)

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