Day 10 Know when to fold 'em

When Bryan climbed the 8% grade out of the protection of the Sikanni River valley, he quickly found that this would be a nasty morning. With the headwind wind funneling, pummeling him from all directions in the cold, he soon became chilled to the bone and mentally taxed. He said this reminded him of riding up the St. Laurence in Quebec  on his Canada cycling trip in the rain but without the hills and semi traffic that he had here. On a 6% downhill, he had to pedal hard or would not gain against the wind. As well, when he met 2 semis, they stopped in his tracks with their own gusts.  At least there wasn’t much traffic, none that passed him in the first 10 km.  Whenever he hears a vehicle on the rumble strip, he is cautious, especially if there’s no strip on the centre line, and hugs the far side of the shoulder.

 When I caught up to him after 27 km of this, thankfully with a close by pullout, he was physically spent. Sometimes, you just have to call the game when no one is winning.  He was never out of his lowest gear the whole way up to this point. And he has lots of gears! We decided to load the bike in Mama B and drive on together into the threatening clouds.

With a cup of hot coffee and good conversation, the trip improved from there on as the sun came out by 10 am. Bryan remarked that he might enjoy some cycling on that same stretch of road on the way home again.  Soon after, we passed the burned out Beaver Creek area… 19, 760 acres destroyed in July, 2015. It was good to see the undergrowth starting its slow reclamation.

Not far down the road, Bryan decided that he would pull in at the next pit stop to finish the 35 km into Fort Nelson.  It was still windy but warm sunshine makes such a difference.  He fueled up with an early lunch and was off.

I am glad that I stayed for a cup of tea because shortly after he left, the couple who had rescued me last night, Wayne and Carol, needed some help. They were worried about running their motorcycle out of gas with the tough headwind and hills they had been through since we said goodbye at their campfire.  It was my turn to help out by following them into Fort Nelson, just in case.  As I pulled into town, there they were at the Esso, ready for a final thanks and goodbye. Hugs all around from these new friends.

This day just kept getting better as we met LCBI alumnus and my former student, Katie Mosher and toddler, Ariel, at Boston Pizza where Katie and her husband, Jordan, are part owners. We shared a delicious late lunch and good conversation while Ariel entertained us until she had to go home for her nap and Bryan had to continue his cycling. Thanks, Katie!

I was happy to grab some groceries, tour the visitor information centre and then the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum.  What a great tribute to those who built the area! Marl Brown, co-founder of the museum, which includes many buildings and machines, added his wit and knowledge to the display. 

I learned from him that the BA (British American) sign we have would have originated before the 1950’s because after that, they were painted green and orange. Just a few years ago, Marl drove a 100 year old car from Ft. Nelson to Whitehorse return. The first modern-day support vehicle didn’t make it more than 30 miles! At 84, Marl still looks after these treasured vehicles and keeps many of them running.

How appropriate that there was a bike on top of a car with this sign!

 I could certainly relate to this sign on the green truck above....

As I left for the open road again, I was struck by the lush green ditches that an English country garner would envy. 

There was very little traffic and the going was smooth for Bryan.  Another feed, some planning and he was off again by 6:00 towards the challenge of the Steamboat Mountain summit.

That road included 10.8 km of 8% uphill grades that wound their way to the most beautiful view of the valley. This time, I was able to stop for photos twice to capture 180 degrees of majestic mountain grandeur. 

However, while I was enjoying the view and perfect weather, I couldn’t help but feel for Bryan as he slugged it out below.  He arrived at 8:30, exhausted from the interminable climb, ready to throw the bike over the edge! He noted that this was the toughest summit physically so far, citing the mental drain of thinking that he had reached the summit 3 times before the actual top.

By this time, the sun was low enough to hit the windshield so again, for the sake of safety I insisted that he hop in for the 35 km ride down the mountain into the Testa River campground for the night. As I drove,  I was relieved that we had made the decision. A lone biker on poor shoulders, with the sun in a driver’s eyes, would be too dangerous, especially with all of the curves.

So, in all, Bryan cycled 155 km today and we drove 155 km. Sometimes you have to “know when to fold ‘em”!