July 14, 2007
Day 15: To Vanderhoof
There was some rain early in the morning and it was still threatening to rain when I got away from the motel at 9:30. The first of 3 morning hills started right in town.
Most of today's ride is relatively flat. The road stays at about 700 meters elevation with occasional hills topping out at 800 meters. No snow on the surrounding hills.
I passed many lakes but trees obscured the view of the lakes most of the time. I stopped for lunch at a very slow diner in Endako. By then the weather had turned mostly sunny and it warmed up to 27C (80F).
Mosquitoes were bad early in the day but not so bad in the afternoon. Most of the time today I was able to out-pace the mosquitoes. Few hills required the granny gears.
The surrounding hills became gradually smaller as the day progressed. Also the land started to be more open and less forested.
I arrived at a motel in Vanderhoof at 9PM. It was a long day but it didn't wear me out too much because of the tailwind, cooler temperatures, and gentle terrain. I had a flat tire in the afternoon but couldn't find anything in the tire that would have caused the puncture. Unfortunately nobody in Vanderhoof wears wooden shoes or sells Gouda cheese or tulip bulbs.
I found the lake district to be kind of boring. The mosquitoes are still bad most of the time. I'm getting really tired of that. I try to only stop when surrounded by large expanses of asphalt or gravel. Then the swarms of mosquitoes aren't as bad as when I stop near vegetation.
Distance: 132 km / 82.5 mi
Climbing: 653 m / 2155 ft
Average speed: 15.9 km/h / 9.9 mph
Today's ride: 93 km (58 miles)
Total: 1,212 km (753 miles)
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