Day 4: Donald, BC -> Revelstoke, BC

Stats:
Start: Donald, BC (Waitabit Campground)
End: Revelstoke, BC (Lamplighter Campground)
Distance: ~127km

I'd been dreading this day for almost two weeks.  Between Donald and Revelstoke is Roger's Pass.  It's the first major climb I'd have to do in the mountains (but nowhere near the worst), and the first test of my resolve.  I had also seen the forecast was calling for temperatures of 30C.  I set myself a 6am wakeup to try to get out and over the pass early before it was too hot.  But if you've been reading this far, you know how good Jeremy is at an early start...

I woke up and was immediately frozen.  It was cold in the valley, and Waitabit Creek and the Columbia River cooled it even further.  Because I'd left the fly off my tent, the cool air had settled a heavy layer of dew and everything in my tent was either damp or slightly wet.  I shivered as I climbed out.

I made breakfast and contemplated my options.  Either pack everything wet and dry it later in the day or the evening, or wait for the sun and dry it now.  I opted to dry it now...not wanting to risk a wet sleeping bag.  I ate breakfast and treated myself to an instant coffee (my favourite Starbucks Vias).  By 8am the sun was up and everything was laid out.  By 9am it was all dry and I put it all away.  By 9:30am I had a good layer of sunscreen and was ready to hit the road.  Classic Jeremy early start!

After leaving the campsite I immediately came across a plaque.  And we always read the plaque.  It was there to celebrate the construction of a large bridge over the Columbia River.  The Donald Bridge was completed in 2012 and widened the highway from 2 lanes to 4.  Beyond this...I can find nothing remarkable about it.  Yet somehow, this massive concrete pedestal and giant bronze plaque were created to celebrate it's opening.  There was a lot of irony in this for me.  The bridge might be built to last about 60-100 years.  The bronze plaque will easily last for over 1000.  The Minister of Roads and Transport might as well been named Ozymandias!

Almost immediately I started to climb.  I guessed this was the start of Roger's Pass.  It was about 10km of climbing, but the coffee and fresh legs meant I did it without much problem.  I  was pretty proud of myself once I'd got over it.  After about 2.5 hours I stopped at a rest area and chatted with a family from Cochrane.  They took my picture in front of the sign for Glacier National Park.  The smoke had also cleared and I was finally treated to some glorious mountain views.

I went downhill for a while and then started to climb again.  But this time it was 11:30am and the heat was hitting hard.

And this climb was much steeper than the one earlier in the day.

And I could see the vehicles taking sharp turns up ahead as if there was a king of switchback.

It took about 15 minutes for it to dawn on me.

THIS was Roger's Pass.  I hadn't done it in the morning, it was still in front of me.  And so I struggled up, taking frequent breaks for water and chewy gummies for sugar.  It was a grind.  It was everything I was expecting though, so it wasn't overwhelming.  A friend (HI NICOLA!) gave me some advice about touring: if you don't push yourself you can bike all day, but if you push you'll tire yourself out and drag the rest of the way.  With this in mind I went in my lowest gear (what Nicola called "The Granny Gear") and slow.  Low and slow.  When I was running a lot in 2018 I'd read that adopting some kind of mantra or saying would help keep the mind focused and the body going.  Mine had been "strong, smooth, relax".  I would tell myself this over and over and I pushed those pedals over and over again, slowly making my way up that pass.

Roger's Pass is famous for going through several avalanche corridors, and so these structures are built to protect the road.  They're like manufactured tunnels.  They're known as snow sheds.  I had to pass through them with the traffic.  The 4-5 snow sheds going up were ok...just ok.  The shoulder in there was wide enough that I felt safe.  The cars weren't too fast, and they were respectful.  The sheds coming down were a different story.  They were narrower and the painted lines had long since faded away to nothing.  There was no psychological barrier between me and them....or from their perspective, I was in their lane!  It felt much scarier, and several vehicles passed closer than I was comfortable with.  But I come out alright each time on the other side.

Eventually I reached the Roger's Pass Visitors Centre.  There I talked to a Park Ranger and discovered I was supposed to have a Parks Canada Pass to stop in these places, and was supposed to have one to stay in Monach Campground in Yoho two nights earlier.  I quickly bought one, not wanting to be some scofflaw and also because who doesn't support parks?  I talked with some curious travelers about my trip, ate lunch, and started down the Pass.

I stopped almost immediately because I wasn't rolling downhill like I usually do.  Something was wrong.  I took everything off the bike, checked it over, but everything was fine.  I loaded back and started again and the problem became immediately clear.  There was a headwind.  Enough that it would slow me to a dead stop one moderate down slopes.  This meant I was peddling downhill the rest of the way....and with another 70km to Revelstoke.

The rest of the day felt grueling.  Headwinds and heat slowed me down.  I emailed my campground to let them know I was slowed down but would be showing up.  I stopped more and more frequently for water and breaks.  Thankfully, they all helped.  I did manage to pass what is - so far - my favourite road sign:

About 12km out of Revelstoke the shoulder turned to gravel.  It was marked by a sign that said "loose gravel".  It annoyed me greatly.  About 6km after that sign, another told me this:

I wrote a strongly worded letter in my head to the BC Minister of Transportation.

At about 6pm I rolled into Revelstoke and my campground.  It had showers, laundry, AND wifi.  I couldn't believe my luck.  I jumped on the wifi and had a call with my parents, then setup camp.  I biked into town to buy some soap for a shower and immediately went to a pub for a burger and poutine.  I didn't feel hungry in the least, which was a sure sign I'd overdone it.  But the food was fantastic.  And the shower was one of the best I can remember.  In fresh clothes for the first time in almost 5 days, I fell asleep to Louis Prima singing Buona Sera.