View Single Post
Old 05-30-07, 11:35 PM
  #37  
Muttsta
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 177
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Day 27 – I Need to Buy a Better Map – 108.37 km
Yesterday while planning my route I noticed that there was a shortcut I could take which would save me nearly 50 km. Brilliant! My map shows that about 15 km of this road is gravel. But hey, no biggie, I’ve done plenty of gravel roads on the Cassiar highway with no problems. I mean, how bad could it be?

The day started off real well. I made it to the town of Clinton where the junction for this road was. I managed to find it without any problems and was quickly on my way. The first 20 km of the road went by great. The road was a peaceful two lane road through rolling meadows which was really beautiful. There were hardly any cars on it and the climbs were not bad at all. I arrived at a provincial park called Downing Lake, which was really beautiful. The water of this lake was so clear and had such a brilliant color that it was truly a sight to behold.

Right after Downing Lake is where the gravel, as well as the fun, started. It was a one lane, rough gravel road. I really have no ideas how two cars could pass each other on it, as it simply wasn’t physically possible. After two kilometers of this gravel I saw a sign which made me both curse aloud and nearly break down into pitiful sobbing: “Steep Up-Grade 14% for 5 km”. For those of you who don’t know, a 14% grade is very steep. Add a dirt/gravel road, my skinny tires, and my sharp gearing to that mix and it spells disaster. I tell you my dear readers, it was bad. Very, very bad.

I can honestly say that it was one of the most painful experiences that I have ever endured in my life. What makes it real rough is that although you are exhausted from climbing, you really don’t want to stop, because if you do it’s very difficult to get back on your bicycle. Stepping into those clip-in pedals on a 14% grade is not at all easy.

Not expecting such a sharp climb I depleted my water supply quite early on. As luck would have it, a couple passed me by soon after. They first commented on the fact that I was crazy for taking such a route, then they asked me about my trip. One topic of conversation led to another and I was soon offered water. Unfortunately all that they had was frozen, so I ended up getting a two liter frozen block of ice. A great success either way as it slowly melted throughout the day, always staying cold. I once again thank the good Samaritans from Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia!

Soon after passing the couple who gave me the block of ice I came upon an ice cold mountain stream. I tell you my dear readers, I pounced upon that stream faster than a college student jumps at the opportunity to get free beer. As time was of the essence I decided to take my chances and pass on filtering the water. No worries, I’m still alive!

I soon figured out that the way down would not be much better than the way up. I may not have to pedal anywhere as fast, but there were countless other obstacles. Going down a one lane winding gravel road at 60 km/h is simply scary. Let’s just say that your holding onto your handlebars for dear life praying that you don’t wipe out and nearly soiling yourself on every bump and turn. After awhile the road got so bad that I had to constantly apply my brakes as I feared I would lose control and go down a 100 foot drop.

The road flattened out slightly after several kilometers, but was still fairly downhill. It was here that disaster struck. As I was going around a corner I came face to face with a car. I instinctively slammed on my brakes. Unfortunately, my bicycle isn’t equipped with anti-lock brakes and thus I slid all over the place then crashed. I didn’t hear the car at all as it was one of those hybrid cars, which are deadly silent. They may be good for the environment, but they are dangerous to cyclists like myself. Although I bled quite a bit I suffered a mere flesh wound. I quickly managed to bandage myself up and be on my way. What makes this all the more ironic is that the car which caused me to lose control was a government forest service car!

To make the day even more eventful than it already was I also saw two grizzly bears in the meantime. Me being so scary and all, when I yelled my bear yell, which is usually just random gibberish, they hightailed it into the woods. Disaster averted once again!

Pain and suffering aside, today was an absolutely gorgeous day. The views were simply spectacular and there was not a cloud in the sky. I am currently camped at a provincial campground not far from the city of Lillooet. This particular campground is really nice because it is provided free of charge by BC Hydro, all you have to do is register.

From what I am told the road tomorrow is quite brutal as well, involving numerous 14 and 15 percent climbs. However, since the roads are paved it makes them much more manageable. What makes this all even worse is that I have to cover 130 km of this brutal terrain to make it to Whistler tomorrow. I plan on waking up extra early!
Muttsta is offline