Chuck:
Cool morning, long, steady climb in a big half-circle. Two miles later, I am high above the Rest Area and look down to my right front see our RV as Betty prepares to get on the road. When I pedal over Steamboat Summit, the road starts downward past a large rock formation shaped vaguely like a steamboat. Now coasting at 28 mph and increasing; the cool air and panoramic view are invigorating. The free ride slows a bit, but continues for almost six miles, then I crank up and over a ridge for more free miles. We are easing out of the Rockies and down into BC’s “Interior Plains”, actually forested hills. The first thirty miles were mostly easy; Betty meets me at a Rest Area. We have lunch and she goes on to Fort Nelson to check into a campground. I follow, but the last twenty miles seem to drag.
Fort Nelson is a small, active, working community, about 6,500. On our way back from a grocery store, Betty spots an “All Sports” and suggests that I check for bike tubes. A previous Internet search did not list any bike shops in Fort Nelson. Eureka! This little shop has all sorts of sports gear: hunting, fishing, kayaking, snow shoeing, hockey, football, trapping, etc. It is packed full. I asked the young clerk about bike tubes. He went back in the storage room and returned with three road bike tubes and two mountain bike tubes, all with the proper valves. Wow, later in the afternoon I would have been drilling the road bike wheels to accept the larger valve stems for tomorrows ride.
Betty: 283 miles to the finish at Mile marker 0 in Dawson Creek. Yeah! Reports are that it is a good road between here and there.