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| Day 4 - July 1 - Spence's Bridge to Merritt 82km |
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| I'm on breakfast duty this morning so I have to stay late and help pack up the truck. James and Chris are the sweepers today - their job is to stay at the back and make sure everyone gets to camp safely. I start out with Leslie, Jonathan and Jose thinking it'll be an easy day based on the distance. I fill all three of my water bottles to prepare for another scorcher. Our route maps (distributed every morning by Mat, our driver) tell us that there is only one corner store along the entire route and it's just 6km from the start. |
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| Highway 8 is very, very hilly. I'm in my small chainring (aka "the granny gear") on most of the hills for two reasons: to conserve energy and to be kind to my knees. Powering up a hill at high speed just makes me get tired sooner, which means I use up my water at a much faster rate. |
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| Throughout the day we take a few banana breaks and a few peanut butter sandwich breaks. It helps keep me going on those long rides. Now I know why I used to run low on energy on a long club ride at home. I wasn't eating enough. On this trip it's important to eat before you're hungry and drink before you're thirsty. I'm sure you've heard runners say that they "hit the wall", well cyclists will say that they "bonked" on a long ride or during a race. |
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| So we're all really tired and we're just 10km from Merritt. We're out of water and we just want to get into camp and call it a day. Then we see some kids with a sign advertising Kool-Aid, Gatorade and Powerade - 50 cents a glass. And was it ever good. |
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| We drift into Merritt at a moderate pace and spot an eagle's nest with a bald eagle sitting in it. There are supposed to be quite a few of them in this area. |
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| Leslie and I immediately do an A&W run to get a well-deserved burger and fries. Dinner is just an hour later and we chow down on perogies and pasta. Mat picks up a Canada Day cake for us for dessert. Some people go to the fireworks later on, but I go straight to bed. Another long day on the bike, but I'm really happy I'm here. I can't imagine a better way to spend a summer. |
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| Happy Canada Day!!! |
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