Day 27: Grand Forks, BC -> Castlegar, BC

Date: Sunday, June 11, 2023
Start: Grand Forks, BC (Municipal Campground)
End: Castlegar, (Pass Creek Campground)
Distance: 100km

I woke to another beautiful day.  It was sunny and looking promising.  I packed and did some planning for what I was going to do during the day ahead.  The goal was Castlegar, which should be about 100km.  The challenge was that there was a 26km climb between me and there, and it was one of the notoriously difficult ones for this stretch of Highway.  No matter, I'd get over it eventually!

There were two other men at the campsite who were cycle touring.  I chatted with them for a while and checked out one of their tents, which was designed by a Calgary native named Dan Durston who is a bit of a legend in the Continental Divide Trail community.  I'd never seen one of his tents and so spent a while checking it out.  But all the chatting and gear scoping had drained a bunch of time, and it was time to go.

I watch the motorcycle gang head out, and then left myself.  I waved goodbye to the other tourers and headed to the hill out of the campground.  I shifted...and my chain came off the ring.  I was on a hill though, and as I dismounted and my bike went backwards a bit the chain got jammed between the frame and the chain rings.

I'd never seen something like this before.  It was VERY stuck.  The crank arms wouldn't budge.  I worked at it for a while, but turned back to the campground and unloaded the bike.  I washed my greasy hands, and put on the gloves I'd brought for just such an occasion.  I worked at it some more, but still nothing.  The tourers came over and looked, but were equally perplexed.  I did some phone research and the only options - it seemed - were to remove the chain rings or work it loose.  It was Sunday however, and the bike shops were closed.  So I began putting pressure on the crank arms to see if they'd budge...petrified that I was about to crush the chain.  At some point there was movement, and I was able to free it.  The chain seemed to be alright, and I was back on track.

The entire thing cost me 45 minutes.

It was now 9:30am, and I set off again.  When I got to the top of the hill where the jam had happened a man walking his dog said hello.  His name was Kim and he'd toured across Canada a few years ago.  He offered up advice on routes and places worth seeing (I'm thinking of doing The Gaspé Peninsula now).  It was a good chat, but I was getting antsy to get away.  I had a big climb in front of me and it was warming up!  Eventually we said our goodbyes.  It was now 9:50am.

I found a cafe and went inside.  It was busy.  There were three people in front of me to the till making their orders.  I stared at the menu and decided on borscht (the Doukhobours immigrated from Russia to the area of Grand Forks), a bagel, and a coffee.  It took 10 minutes to get to the front of the line, and then the cashier had to catch up on orders and drinks.  I waited and waited and felt sympathy for her.  It seemed like they were short staffed, and her boss was trying to help and saying things like "I don't know who trained you but they did a bad job" and "If you knew how to do it, it would look like this" or "I'm just trying to show you how it's actually done."  I watched this for almost 15 minutes.  It was now 10:25am.

When she finally came back to the till I ordered a bagel and she snapped at me "That'll be at least 20 minutes."  I said "For a bagel?" and she confirmed that was the case.  I said thank you and left.  No borscht for Jeremy today :(

I biked to the grocery store and grabbed some provisions, including a donut and some bread rolls.  I called my family and did a quick Sunday morning update and hello.  It was good to see some familiar faces, and I stuffed myself with whatever the grocery store had to offer.  At 11am I cut them off and said I had to go...because I did!

I set out of Grand Forks, sad that I'd missed out on a taste of it's Russian heritage.

The ride would take me to a little lake town called Christina Lake.  There I stopped at their visitor centre, which had a cafe, and ordered a grilled cheese and iced coffee.  I sat down next to someone else who looked to be on tour and chatted.

His name was Ian Turner.  He was from Ottawa and we were close in age.  We talked about our trips, our lives, and it felt nice to find someone else who just understood the magnitude and difficult of what we'd been doing.  He'd done Canada in sections, and was currently finishing off with Calgary to Victoria.  He'd eaten something that didn't agree with him though, and was having a rough couple of days.  I could tell his motivation was shot and all that was keeping him going was the promise of the end of the trip in a few days.  I hope he makes it.  I know that at any time I might be him...and if I'm not close to the end, it would be easy to give up.  Ride safe Ian and you can do it!!!

It was now 12:45pm and I hadn't started the climb yet.  I set off.  When my odometer reached 30km for the day, the climbing started.  It wouldn't stop until it hit 57km.  So I climbed.  And I climbed.  And I climbed.  I stopped frequently to catch my breath and take small drinks of water.  I'd bought some banana chips in Grand Forks and ate them frequently to keep my energy up.  The climb was difficult, but soon after starting I fell into rhythm and was feeling good!

Knowing how long the climb was and it's profile meant I knew what to expect.  This meant that the steeper sections - almost all in the last 10km - weren't demoralizing.  My climbing song was Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd.  I listened to it a couple of times, and it was appropriately epic!

Upon nearly reaching the top I went to the next song which ended up being I Am The Resurrection by The Stone Roses which - if you know it - has one of the greatest hard driving jams in the second half that got me over the top.  It felt incredible.  It had taken almost 3.5 hours total, but it was completely worth it!

I hooted and hollered at the top.  I snapped a few pictures, but I still had almost 45km till Castlegar so I pressed on.  And it turned out to be pretty easy because I was about to benefit from all the climbing!

I went downhill almost the entire way.  At times I cruised for an unknown amount of time at 35km/h.  It had taken me 3.5 hours to go 26km, but it only took me 1.5 hours to got the 45km into Castlegar.

I passed a park and a lake honouring Nancy Greene...who is from Ottawa!  But good job for honouring an accomplished Canadian there British Columbia!

I was so happy after getting over the top that I had completely forgot about another milestone: 2000km total for the trip.  I'd crossed 2000km just after the peak!

I dropped into Castlegar so quickly I was braking behind a semi-truck and at one point considered trying to pass him.  "Be careful" I could hear you all saying.  The temperature increased rapidly as I descended and it was WARM in Castlegar!  I stopped at the town sign and snapped a few pictures, messaged friends and family to let them know I was alright, and got back on my bike to head towards my destination.

I stayed at a small campground on a river on the edge of town.  On the way there I biked through downtown Castlegar which was all closed up as it was a Sunday evening.  The town has a series of sculptures that line it's main street and I admired them as I passed by.

Once on the other side of town I crossed the Columbia River - largest river in the Pacific Northwest - and took a minute to admire it.  It's one of the mighty and storied rivers that I would cross on this trip and I wanted to savor the moment.  I stood on the bridge and admired this one of the grandest rivers of North America.  It was once immortalized in song, and I popped in my headphones to listen to Woody Guthrie sing about it as I took a moment to enjoy:

I found my campground, registered, and found four others on bike tours.  Kim and Stephanie were on their way to Fernie and taking the same route I was planning to take, and then Bruce and Tracy were heading west across the area I'd just come from.  I setup camp, showered, and had dinner: instant mashed potatoes and mackerel again.  Can't get enough of that stuff!

We all met up and chatted about the routes we were taking.  I helped Bruce and Tracey find a way around a washout that Kim and Stephanie had discovered on the rail trail.  I spent the evening writing another blog post and turned in late after chatting with two other campers about my adventures.

Another LOOOOOOOOONNNNGGGG day for the books.  But it felt good to be over one of the longest climbs of the trip!