Cross Canada with BA

Sunday, June 7 marks the end of Bryan's first week. He's glad to say goodbye to mountains and hello to easy biking, as long as the weather cooperates. He was cold all day, bucking a headwind again but managed 185km and arrived in Lethbridge. There was 6 inches of snow in places along the way. He was welcomed by Felix and Sharon Tillmans and Jason Anderson. Thanks for the warm hospitality!

On to Medicine Hat Monday...can Saskatchewan be far behind?

With a stiff headwind, interspersed with snow, hail and rain, Bryan battled into Fernie, 130km. There was just a brief hour of sunshine to brighten the way. Other drivers, however, stopped to cheer him on. Two fascinated men from Germany took photos of Bryan, promising to send them when they get home. They just couldn't understand why or how anyone would bike through the mountains.

Bryan will enjoy the warmth of a motel room tonight in Sparwood, BC, north of Fernie. This brings his total to 1071 kms.
He had to eat more often to keep up his energy, including a stop at Tim Hortons and a good feed of barbequed ribs in Sparwood.

Bryan looks forward to reaching Lethbridge tomorrow and a visit with Jason Anderson and Felix and Sharon Tillmans.
That will be a good end to his first full week. It's been a very good one

After 195 kms that included two heavy rainstorms, thunder and lightning, and heat followed by cold wind, Bryan arrived in Cranbrook, BC. He passed a sign that told him he was in the same time zone as home.

He was interviewed at the Creston information centre by the local paper. Headline maker!

Bryan's routine starts with a big breakfast. He eats a big meal at 3:00, followed by a 30 minute rest, snacks while riding and eats again when he stops for the night around 10pm. It seems to be working for him. He feels great, actually said that he could have ridden longer tonight. A good day!

He plans to go to a local bike shop in the morning to get a proper bike helmet. He's just an hour from Fernie and hopes to get through the Crowsnest Pass. The forecast isn't good though...cold and snow/rain and 10km wind.
In the meantime, he has a hot shower and a queen size bed at the motel. So much for roughing it! Can't put a price on a good night's sleep though.

On Thursday, June 4, Bryan left the Grands Forks area, arriving almost 200km later at a resort cabin north of Nelson, BC. His total is now 773 km but this last leg was not without some trouble. His bike derailler needed some attention not long after he had left the campground area that morning. However, the owner of that campground soon came along and offered him a ride into Castlegar to make repairs, about 30km along.

That didn't stop Bryan for long though. On some very good advice, he took a route that led him to the Kootenay Lake ferry, the longest free ferry in BC, on a very large vessel. A 30 minute crossing, it was an amazing crossing with great scenery. He often mentions the scenic views and the low levels of traffic. That will change when he hits the Trans-Canada!

Another bit of trouble Thursday, was when he discovered that he had left his helmet somewhere along the way. Again, however, a fellow who had stopped to talk to him at a lookout spot noticed this and offered to give him a whitewater rafting helmet. It's a very good one though it is warmer than a bike helmet. Got to protect the melon!

More generosity offered when Bryan stopped for the night. The resort owner gave Bryan a reduced rate on a full-sized cabin but also warmed up a huge lasagna topped off with dessert to feed him. So many people had been so good to Bryan all day, including a guy who chatted over a free beer.

Bryan hopes to get half of the way to Fernie on Friday if all goes well.

Bryan arrived at the Kettle River campground just beyond Grand Forks after 143 kms of his day's work. It had been a long, hot, tough day but he sounded upbeat still. The 15 mile or so uphill out of Osoyoos was his toughest challenge yet.
He said that he would push hard for 10 minutes and then take a rest and so on till he was able to look back down at the town below. He called it a killer climb. Headwinds continued to make the ride a tough one.

However, when he stopped for the night, he got talking to the owner of the campground, a basketball coach. You think that maybe they had lots to talk about?

Bryan mentioned that he has met so many encouraging people on the way already. He travelled with another rider on Tuesday whose wife in the accompanying motorhome made sure that Bryan also had some tlc. I think that he will have no trouble building community wherever he goes.