A Teacher trying to Divide - day 2
Tuesday July 9th
All night it had been trying to get into the hut, I hardly slept a wink. Sometimes the banging noise that I made with my Sigg water bottle seemed to work for twenty minutes or so, other times it made no difference at all. When dawn finally arrived I didn’t waste much time in getting out of my sleeping bag, a brew on and my gear stowed back into my bike bags. I should have known by the state of the hut that there were bound to be rodents but my fear of bears had affected my judgment.
horses up the trail from cabin
I quickly got into a rhythm of cruising on the aero bars on the flat sections of the trail and made good progress. At one point I had to ride through a group of horses who did not seem bothered by a cyclist one bit. I thought to myself that there can’t be any bears around here if there were horses about, so that helped me relax. The scale of the trail was still blowing me away, on some of the undulating sections it was hard for me to tell whether it was two miles, or ten miles to the next landmark. As I got nearer and nearer to the road to Elkford I started to pass more and more vehicles. As I approached one truck the driver flashed his lights and the passenger waved out the window… it was Ryan and Ramsay! Incredible to think that only two days into the ride I was meeting folk I already knew. They had managed to get spares for the fishing kit and find a motel for the evening. My Canadian fishermen friends were pretty impressed with my progress for the day which gave me another boost. Before I reached Elkford I had two enjoyable stops : one to collect and filter fresh water through my Sawyer and the other to simply enjoy sitting at the side of a lovely meadow. Slowly but surely I could feel myself tuning into my own rhythm on the trail : ride, eat, ride, drink, stop to take in the view and then ride again. I felt so, so lucky to be able to do this at last.
resupply in Elkford
As I approached Elkford the road turned to pavement and I passed more and more houses and ranches. In the middle of town I found a truck stop/grill which was perfect for my needs. The women working there were really friendly, their food was hot and tasty and the coffee of course free flowing. I phoned home and got to speak with Rachel, Ciara, Edana and Eoghain. It was a great feeling to be able to tell her that it was going well as Rachel had given me so much support and trust to do this. I also told her about the grizzly cub. Eoghain was quite interested in the encounter too but then quickly moved on to ask me if I had experienced any mechanicals yet! I loaded up on snack bars, sandwiches and Coke then headed outside to pack them on the bike. Over the last year and a half I had found what sort of bike luggage worked for me. To maximise carrying capacity in my frame triangle I had gone back to my old Alpkit Stingray frame bag where I stored my repair kits, stove, a small first aid kit and spare batteries. My Revelate Sweetroll was where I kept my sleeping kit: tent, sleeping bag and air bed. Around that I had a Wildcat Gear Lion harness and Lioness bag which stored important stuff like passport, phone, wallet, maps and extra food during the day. I really liked how easy it was to remove when resupplying and how well it fitted another product such as the Sweetroll. Finally on the seat post was a Wildcat Cheetah pouch and at the other end of the top tube an Alpkit Fuel Pod which was perfect for storing bars, sweets and any other food that took my fancy. Whilst bent over repacking a dry bag I heard the throaty rasp of a chopper approach, then park up beside me. When I stood up to say hello, I was greeted by a silver haired rider who was resplendent from head to toe in immaculate brown leathers. In no time at all Quincy had introduced himself; he had lived and worked in Elkford for 37 in the mines as a sparky. At one time he had the biggest house plot in the town. Now he was retired and on a road trip. Quincy was having trouble with the electrics on his chopper and headed into the grill to borrow some WD40 which did the trick - I am sure 37 years ago he was fixing mining machinery with the same panache. Quincy suggested that with the weather they had just experienced in the area I was best to take Highway 43 to Sparwood, who was I to argue. We wished one another well and shook hands before swinging a leg over our rigs and hitting the road.
yard cars on Hwy 43
Quincy on Hwy 43
Highway 43 was really chilled, lots more homesteads and farmland to enjoy while I cranked out the miles to Sparwood. Sure enough on Lower Elk River Road who passed me but Quincy, we smiled and waved at one another. By now I was starting to feel like a local! That soon stopped when I pulled into Sparwood...yes I had an appointment with the Terex 33-19 Titan!
Terex 33-19 Titan
By now the 70-80 degree heat was really starting to get to me and it was a relief to get inside a gas station to buy some more food and at least two cans of Coke. I was disappointed with my decision not to head into the Flathead but after yesterday’s encounter I just did not feel confident riding in a valley that is sometimes referred to as the ‘Grizzly Zoo’. The twenty miles on Highway 3 did not take much effort, or time and I was soon checking into the luxury of the RV/Campground at Fernie. Tomorrow the US border.
Tobermory Cabin to Fernie, 83 miles, 2544 feet of ascent, 11 hours ( 7 ¾ hours riding + 3 ¼ stopped)
