Our Journey

July 30, Day 30

Regina International Airport - Vancouver

I apologize for this sudden notice without warning. Even I was caught by surprise that the change of tides came by so quickly. The reason that we decided to call it off was due to unforeseen circumstances regarding everyone's safety on the team.

The day before, on July 28, we were cycling on Highway 11 from Bethune to Regina. On certain sections of the highway, the shoulder was extremely narrow and there was only gravel by the side of the roads. This left us with little room for error as one small deviation from the pavement would either mean getting too close to traffic or slipping on gravel. And that was exactly what happened; on a particular section, I almost lost control on the gravel and because he was not able to react in time, Wayne had to brake hard and caused him to fall off his bicycle. It was a miracle that a police car was driving behind us as Wayne fell, the officer turned on the lights to block all traffic from driving on the right lane. Wayne suffered a large wound on his elbow, and some muscle damage on his legs as the bike fell on him.

From this point on, my father became stressed that our safety would be in danger if we continued. Of course, we knew that the risk was high from the start, but this accident made us all realize how fragile life really is and how worried my mum must be every passing day. Therefore, the next day my mum asked us to fly back. However, Wayne decided that he is going to continue the journey. On behalf of our family, we wish him the best and now we will follow his blog as well.

Another interesting incident that occurred today was when my dad and I were taking apart our bikes to store in boxes to ship on the plane with us back to Vancouver, my knife slipped while cutting a zip-tie and I managed to give myself a large gash just below the nail on my index finger. I immediately rushed to the nearest clinic and received six stitches. All of the nurses remarked: "What a birthday present!"

How coincidental it is that all of this happened on my birthday; I would say that it was an eventful one filled with surprises. For now, that is all. I hope everyone reading my website could feel the emotions and experience what was going on through my eyes.

July 29, Day 29 (67km; 2115km total)

Bethune - Regina

Waking up to the irritating chirping of prairie dogs, I found myself sweating profusely inside my sleeping bag and tent. The bright sun was already shining through and providing heat we haven't experienced for a while. As I step out, there was not a single cloud in the sky. The azure shade of the open sky set a perfect mood for the start of my day. I quickly gathered my belongings from the tent and organized it on my bike as a daily routine and ate breakfast before departure.

Halfway to Regina, we stopped at our would-be destination for yesterday, Lumsden. We ate at a Subway for the fourth day in a row, found that there was no internet to do research or update my blog, and left swiftly. Because Regina is only a 60 kilometre ride from Bethune, we were within city limits just after 2pm. Stopping at Mcdonalds for the first time in a week, we took the time to relax and treat ourselves to some sundaes.

At the moment, I am updating last night's entry as well as today's, as there was no internet last night. Our campsite for tonight is along the Number 1 Highway, where we will continue to travel Eastward. Hopefully the shower tonight will wash away all the dirt and sweat from these two days.

July 28, Day 28 (90km)

Davidson - Bethune

After a blissful night roasting marshmallows and smokies above the welcoming fire, we were planning to ride to Lumsden, a larger town near. However, many factors delayed our successful arrival to Lumsden.

Highway 11 is a really dangerous freeway with unexpected road conditions. There were road constructions so we had to ride carefully on a two-way lane, the shoulders were poorly paved and cracked, and in some cases the shoulder was nearly nonexistent. Sometimes the semi-trucks were roaring past us just a merely three feet from our bicycles and beside the shoulder was gravel that poses a great hazard for tire slips.

By around 5pm, we decided that it was too late and risky to continue on, as we were getting fatigued and it was getting late. We stopped at Bethune, a small village just about 28 kilometres from Lumsden. The campground was actually an RV site, so there were no washrooms. That meant that we unfortunately had to do our business all out in the tall grass and bushes. Nevertheless, the site was peaceful and provided a great view of the golden sunset.

July 27, Day 27 (94km)

Outlook - Davidson

Starting today, we have begun picking up our pace, as we realized that we are a bit behind schedule. It is planned that from now on we will be riding on average about 100 kilometres a day. There is a buffer of six days or so, in case anything goes wrong or if something unexpected delays our advances. Theoretically, everything should go smoothly because Manitoba is said to be mostly flat terrain. There was a supposed thunderstorm coming at around 3-5pm today, but Mother Nature spared us some soaked clothes and the weather became quite nice with the sun finally peeking out from behind the fluffy clouds.

Although headwind seems to follow us wherever we go, we managed to make it to Davidson at 5pm. It seems like the only vegetables that we get nowadays are from salads at McDonalds or eating Subway, for some reason it is impossible to find groceries at shopping centres such as Walmart. The town is also a fairly large one, compared to the villages we stopped at last week, with a population of around a thousand. The campsite is provides nearly all services, with free firewood, a swimming pool, individual washrooms with showers, electricity, and water. Although I said last night that we were planning on cooking smokies, we couldn't find any in Outlook, so I guess we will make it up tonight.

July 26, Day 26 (76km)

Rosetown - Outlook

It was kind of sad leaving Rosetown this morning, more specifically the campsite; the facilities were amazing and the tenting grounds were on healthy, lush grass. Nothing particularly eventful happened during the ride today, canola and wheat were the typical features in the prairies.

However, I did manage to further swing my bias towards cats and further from dogs. Halfway through the day we stopped for lunch in front of a house by a barn and as soon as we got off our bicycles, two Yorkshire Terriers began barking aggressively at us. At first it was fine, dogs are protective and territorial and their natural instinct is to keep intruders out. But after about fifteen minutes in, one of the dogs was still running around and barking. Even as we finished and was about to leave half an hour later, it never calmed down.

We were at Outlook at around 4pm, a town founded in 1908 coined the "Irrigation Capital of Saskatchewan". There is thankfully a Subway, which we stayed for most of the evening working on the blog and eating. Our campsite is nestled between the South Saskatchewan River and the Trans Canada Trail, providing a brilliant view of the water provided with lots of greenery. For supper, we are thinking of buying some smokies at the convenience store and cooking them on the fire pit for tonight.

July 25, Day 25 (87km)

Kindersley - Rosetown

As we took off from Kindersley heading towards Rosetown on Highway 7, I started to notice that maybe this part of the route was not the most ideal. Large and heavy semi-trucks were passing back and forth, each time that they passed by a strong air current either sprayed a mouthful of sand into our faces and pushed us back, or they sucked us towards the centre. I had to basically hold my breath and squint my eyes for each time that one drove by. The scenery is also not entertaining, as we have been looking at the same landscape for about almost two weeks now. However, I downloaded some interesting podcasts to compliment the playlist I have been already listening to.

I have to say that the weather is spontaneous and unpredictable here. Last night we were caught in the middle of a large thunderstorm again and we had to hide underneath a picnic shelter. Although scary, I think it is a good opportunity to experience different kinds of situations. There was a stove in the shelter but the firewood outside was already wet, so it was an intense and anxious moment to try to keep the fire going and dry the firewood enough to be lit. When we got the fire stable and crackling, we huddled beside the warm stove and listened as lighting flashed in all directions in the dark skies and the booming as thunder reached us.

Today, the clouds were also piling up into dense heaps of condensation. They were interesting but also frightening to look at, because these types of clouds rarely form back in Vancouver. We arrived at Rosetown at around 5pm, which by the time our legs have already turned into Jello. Rosetown is also one of many old towns; it was founded in 1910 and it also has a old water tower. I've noticed that almost all towns and villages have some sort of water tower, whether big or small. It is an iconic landmark to see, as each water tower has some sort of welcome message or anniversary date.

July 24, Day 24 (68km)

Alsask - Kindersley

This morning, we waited until 10am for the gas station across the street to open and eat at the restaurant. The food was surprisingly cheap and delicious, I ordered a three egg omelette with toast and hash browns. Because the distance was only around 60 kilometres or so to the next larger town Kindersley, we were not in a big rush; not until I called the regional campground and the receptionist said that there were only three or four overflow sites left.

Just when I thought the worst of the prairies were over, Saskatchewan offered the most difficult terrain to ride in. The entire time we were going uphill and then gentle downhill, and all over again twenty times. I feel like this type of terrain is the hardest to cycle in, because the hard effort put into riding up those long uphills only give way to small downhills that don't really allow you to rest.

We arrived at Kindersley at around 3pm, which was particularly early compared to other days. By good luck, the Kindersley Campground still had spots left and we quickly set up camp so we could ride to McDonalds and Subway to get dinner. The storm had just come and passed, and the sun is back out. I am looking forward to the free warm shower tonight and snuggling back into my sleeping bag and drift into sleep.

July 23, Day 23 (90km)

Youngstown - Alsask

We have finally arrived in Saskatchewan! Ensuing a week of traversing through Alberta, we see the much sought after Saskatchewan border sign standing on the horizon. However, this was near the end of the day. There was ninety kilometres or so to ride before we left Alberta.

In the morning, we were happy to leave such a small town. It was the third day that we haven't seen a major restaurant food chain and I guess we were all missing some real food. It felt like heaven when we passed by Oyen, a busier town that had an A&W and a convenience store. We dug into our burgers and fries and restocked on our food and water with satisfaction before leaving again. It was the first time that we had tailwind the entire day, so we had an easy time pedalling.

As we turned into the municipal campground of Alsask, I was shocked to see that it was literally just flat land with a few tables and pit toilets. There was no water, no electricity, no flush toilets, and no showers. No wonder why it was free to set up camp; I feel like maybe a rest area would have been more luxurious. There was at least a gas station across the street which became our lifesaver. We got to refill water and wash up in the washrooms before eating spam sandwiches for dinner and falling asleep to my fine little playlist.

July 22, Day 22 (66km)

Prairie Oasis Park - Youngstown

The original plan that we had was that we were to make it to Cereal today, which is around a hundred kilometres or so. However, the gusts today were insanely difficult to ride in, especially when we were in the direction of headwind. Normally, our average speed would be around 15- 20 km/h. Today, we were averaging at a record speed of 9. In the first two and a half hours heading north on Highway 36, we covered twenty kilometres. It felt like I was riding uphill the entire time and by the time we got to a gas station, I was out of fumes.

After eating our lunch, we turned east and started heading down Highway 9. It turned into tailwind, so we made up lots of lost distance. We stopped at Youngstown, a tiny village with only around a hundred or so residents. This was the most rural place we have stayed yet so far. What was funny was that when we passed by a local and asked where the market was, he replied with: "Are you out of your mind? There's only around a hundred or so of us here". The only place to buy was the gas station at the entrance to the village.

By the time we have showered and gotten settled down the wind had also calmed. Day twenty- two ended wonderfully with few mosquitoes, a cool soothing temperature, a steaming shower, and a mellow sunset that coloured the sky with hues of orange and purple.

July 21, Day 21 (86km)

Hoodoos Trail - Prairie Oasis Park

To leave Drumheller, we needed to climb our way out of the hills and back to ground level again. The hill was steep, just like the rockies again. At the top, plains of grass all around were seen again and the strong wind blew across our faces to greet us. I am grateful that the winds weren't directly headwind as we were riding eastward. It was actually the first tailwind that we got since we crossed into Alberta, when we turned north on Highway 36.

Although the plains in Alberta were redundant, we passed by many interesting viewpoints today. Every time we rode past a herd of cattle, they all turn their heads toward us and appear to be curious as to what we were. We also happened to see a rustic, old grain silo still standing and a coyote which we unknowingly scared from the dense brushes by the road. If all else fails to entertain, I have my small playlist on my phone to listen to.

The campground that we are staying at tonight is located by an oasis. It is rare to find one; the Prairie Oasis is said to be surprisingly warm and many people were swimming when we arrived. Because the oasis is a large body of water, clouds easily form above or around the area, making thunderstorms fairly common. I didn't get to take a picture, but as we turned into the park and headed down the road, sinister-looking clouds were already waiting. Luck was on our side, however, and the weather held.

July 20, Day 20 (26km)

Drumheller - Hoodoos Trail

The Hoodoos Trail was not part of our agenda, but we decided to take a detour last minute and spend an extra day here to admire the beauty of the formations skillfully carved by Mother Nature. These formations, called hoodoos, are made of layered sandstone pillars that are protected by less erodible harder stone, like caps. The ones we went to on the Hoodoos Trail, had a steep hill behind it with climbing paths that lead up to grassy flats. Although it was extremely difficult to get to the top and back down, the view and breeze were entirely worth it.

However, we did not get to the hoodoos until late evening. My dad had a minor problem with his bicycle that needed to be adjusted and I was held back doing course selections for next semester. It was a scorching 31 degrees celsius when the afternoon arrived, so multiple layers of sunscreen had to be reapplied. The climate is absolutely dry over here, much like a desert, so lotion is also required. As we continue to make our way northeast tomorrow, the more rural it gets. I hope we will be able to keep up with rations and water.

July 19, Day 19 (55km)

Carbon - Drumheller

It was pretty funny how we arrived at a place that we were planning on to arrive the day after and we didn't even know it. Cruising downhill into the canyon of Drumheller, the dinosaur capital of the world, we see many references and figures of dinosaurs all around us. At first it didn't hit us that maybe this was the place everybody was talking about. it was only until we passed a sign that said: "Turn left for Royal Tyrrell Museum" that we started to realize what was going on.

From far away, maybe ten or twenty kilometres or so, Drumheller is not visible, as the entire town is below ground level, much like the Grand Canyon. Then, as you get closer, maybe one kilometre away, the road begins to steepen really quickly, opening up the gates to another world. At the bottom, it is possible to see the hills of where we were and between it, layers of rock through each time era can be seen. As each new layer of sediment is piled on, older layers are pushed underneath it, creating a sandwich-effect.

We followed the winding road down to the main town, along the lazy river on one side and mesmerizing hills on the other. We didn't go to the Royal Tyrrell Museum until evening, because my mum told us that the museum was in Drumheller after dinner.

About another five to six kilometre ride back west, the museum hid behind the very hills that we saw when we first entered. For anybody who has a chance to stop by in Alberta, I strongly recommend passing Drumheller and checking out the Royal Tyrrell Museum and see the amazing hills. The exhibits are truly inspiring, revealing just how awesome our planet is and how much we have yet to discover. Most of the displays are originals and you could spend an entire three to four hours exploring the large site. For tomorrow, we are heading South towards the Hoodoos, where the sandstone pillars are waiting for us.

July 18, Day 18 (108km)

Calgary - Carbon

Day 18 was the day full of surprises and events. Last night when I checked the weather, it said that there would be severe thunderstorms coming in our direction, so we woke up especially early this morning and headed to our destination for today. Whoever said the ride after the rockies is much easier on the plains are lying! The roads were awfully difficult to cycle on, because the uphills became long stretches and the wind was much more prominent.

Google Maps is also deceiving; what looks like a five kilometre street became a fifty kilometre marathon. We literally had trouble breathing at the top of each hill due to the head wind and rocky pavement. During the last leg of our trip, we start to see heavy dark clouds creeping up slowly behind us. Like in the movies, we were the people trying to get to cover while disaster was about to strike.

As soon as we rolled into the campsite, we immediately started panicking trying to decide which site had the most cover from the storm. We were super lucky however, as there wooden cabin for rent. I quickly dialed up the manager and asked if we could use the cabin for tonight. She said it would be totally fine, and that the cabin was the same rate as a campsite!

Right when we rushed our bikes in the cabin, the skies unleashed its wrath on us. I don't think I have ever seen such scary clouds in my life before. They were swirling fairly low towards us and lightning struck all over the valley. The winds blew fiercely through the trees, tore branches of their trunks and large raindrops splattered loudly on the window pane. Although it might be weird, it was somewhat calming to watch the storm pass by as we were safe in the cabin cooking some Mac'n'Cheese. Surely this is a night to remember.

July 17, Day 17 (118km)

Canmore - Calgary

We officially passed the Rocky Mountains!!! As we rode away from our campsite and entered the plains of Alberta, the almighty rugged mountains stood in the horizon watching over us. On Highway 1, the plains provided a completely different scenery than we have been looking at for the past two weeks or so. The hills were more gentle and soft; it was possible to see all the way to the horizon and past. However, the view got boring fairly quickly. All that I could look at were grass, cows, and more grass.

Because the terrain was beginning to flatten out, we cycled past a hundred kilometres and gained considerable mileage. at around 7pm, we stopped at a Tim Hortons to get dinner and use the wifi. The campsite we are staying at, called the Balzac RV park and campground, thankfully has showers. Out in the wild, a shower is literally the best I can ask for. Apparently there will be severe thunderstorms tomorrow in our area, so we will be most likely waiting it out in a mall or restaurant.

July 16, Day 16 (42km)

Banff - Canmore

Today, we chose to take it easy and take the day off to go around town, buy some groceries, and to do some fundraising. We walked around downtown with our bikes and took photos; soon we headed to Canmore. Canmore is a much larger town, it had all the services that we needed to basically spend the entire day there.

I think that I can honestly say that we spent close to three hours at McDonalds, taking advantage of their cheap food, free unlimited wifi, and electrical outlets to charge our devices. As I opened the door to leave, a gust of hot air blew into my face. There were no clouds in the sky, just the glaring sun. Later in the afternoon I would check the temperature to be 33 degrees celsius.

Underneath the ball of fire, we made our way to Canadian Tire and Save-on-foods. I would like to acknowledge that one gentleman donated one $50 straight out of his wallet with no hesitation. I was shocked and appreciated such a big gesture. I don't really want to talk about tonight's campsite, because during this time period since I've arrived, I have been bitten around fifty times by mosquitoes.

July 15th, Day 15 (88km)

Yoho National Park - Banff

Due to the amount of grinding uphill for the past few days, I woke up with considerably sore legs. To make it worse, we had a ten kilometre climb just outside our campsite. Although this was annoying, the bright side was that today was the last day in which we successfully crossed the most difficult part of our journey. As we crossed into Banff National Park and Alberta, the climbing evidently became less frequent. We were steadily doing around 20km/h.

Halfway to Banff, we stopped at the well-known Lake Louise. It was another four kilometres of intense uphill climbing, but I could say that the view was worth every drop of sweat. The pristine turquoise water met the mighty mountains that led up to the glaciers in the middle. We awed at the sight and took many photos. But because of time constraints, we had to depart in a short period of time.

At around 6pm when we finally arrived in the town of Banff, the atmosphere started buzzing again. People crowded the streets left and right and all of the stores were full of customers. Just like Whistler, Banff is a fairly new resort; we couldn't resist the welcoming sight. Our campsite, Tunnel Mountain Village 1, was a bit of a climb past downtown. Our former Japanese exchange student also met up with us, who kindly made us lunch for tomorrow and brought water. It was touching to meet her for the first time and how she cried in joy to be able to see us again.

July 14, Day 14 (66km)

Golden - Yoho National Park

Today was another day full of intense climbing and trekking through the Rocky Mountains. We were to climb another 600 or so metres up to a total of around 1300 meters in altitude. Sunscreen is a very important thing to use these past few weeks; the UV index from the blazing hot sun has been going off the charts. We each drink about three to four bottles of water on our trip and maybe another two or three more at the campsite.

By the time we reached Yoho National Park, all the campgrounds were fully packed and there were no spots available. Fortunately, one of the employees at the visitor centre managed to find us an overfill spot in Monarch campground.

Once we set up our tents in the tall grass field, we met this French couple who were taking a summer trip to travel around in BC. They have two children, whom were both amazingly cute. I played tag with them, listened to their fantastic stories, and went along with them to listen to a park event about the history of the railway. By the time it was their bedtime, they were sad to say goodbye. I hope that I will be able to see them in the morning again tomorrow to at least bid farewell and safe travels. Because it is going to be just above freezing tonight, I will be all bundled up in all the layers that I can manage.

July 13th, Day 13 (89km)

Glacier National Park - Golden

Like the calm after the storm, all of our hard work yesterday paid off well. Our first 20km or so were all downhill. It was the best ten minutes of my week; I don't think I even pedalled at all during the first leg of the day.

Along the way, a woman came up to us and asked if we were biking far. Coincidentally, she and her college classmate were also heading towards Toronto. We met up a few times down the road, before we probably couldn't catch up to them anymore. I hope we will meet another day on this journey.

Arriving at Golden Municipal Campsite was a relief. Due to the time-zone change, we basically lose an hour of daylight, so that means we will have to wake up an hour early tomorrow. Being fatigued by many climbs, I have decided to go to bed "earlier"...

July 12th, Day 12 (67km)

Revelstoke - Glacier National Park

Waking up to the trains passing right behind our tent, I was ready to take on the Rogers Pass. Today was to be considerably the most difficult part of our trip. However, before all the riding Wayne had to change his back tire as it worn out from the weight put on it. I took the time to do some more fundraising at Save-on-foods and raised around another forty or so dollars.

As soon as we began to leave downtown Revelstoke, we were welcomed by a hefty uphill. This was to be the first out of hundreds we climbed that day. From the amount of climbing we did, I think I did enough leg day for the next year or so. Although the steepness got better near the end, the real mood killer was that there was no showers or even hot water.

I guess it was God's plan that we decided to choose our campsite next to a lovely and awesome couple. They helped us light a campfire, so that we wouldn't be cold when we were wiping ourselves down with freezing water. If that wasn't enough, they also invited us to their own fire and treated us to some beers. I would like to thank you for your affection. Even though the air was cold, their warm gestures kept us toasty all night long.

July 11th, Day 11 (70km)

Sicamous - Revelstoke

The morning after a pretty disastrous night was a frustrating one. Swarms of mosquitoes appeared out of nowhere and fed on my bare legs more than twenty times whilst cooking breakfast for the group. Itching like mad, I couldn't concentrate on the food so the bottom layer of pasta was burnt. It was only on the road that I would feel at peace again.

We continued our journey at around noon on Highway 1, in which we made a ton of mileage with average speeds of around 20 kilometres an hour. The first thing that we noticed when we arrived in Revelstoke were the Rocky Mountains. Not just any mountains, but peaks covered with dazzling glaciers scraping the sky. I could not help myself but to take at least ten photos in every direction.

The Lamplighter Campsite was pretty decent; they had hot showers and fast internet. The only downside was that my Macbook couldn't connect to the wifi, which sucked because here I am updating all three days worth of adventures. We also entered bear country, meaning that we had to take all of our food and store it in a food locker.

July 10th, Day 10 (81km)

Vernon - Sicamous

Due to the poor weather conditions forecasted, this morning I got to wake up at around 8am, which is very late for our standards. After waking up and eating some basic breakfast, our neighbour Janet came to the rescue and drove to our site to give us a care package with the stuff that we required but didn't bring. She also was able to help us take some equipment that was extra weight back, so if it wasn't for her, I don't think we'd have an easy time riding on the Rockies.

In the meantime, while we were waiting for the rain to settle in our destination, we went to try paddle boats that were provided to us by management. My dad and I made it about halfway across the lake before we headed back. That was actually my first time trying one and it was really fun to steer the boat.

The roads to Sicamous were plain; we had an average speed of around 22km/h so we reached here by around 4pm. This place is absolutely tiny, so we couldn't find many restaurants. After about half an hour, we finally found a Subway to eat. It took us another two hours to get to our campsite, and it had started raining again. Thankfully, the owner offered us a basic wooden cabin to stay so we didnt have to set up tents. The cabin is made with cedar wood, smelling all nice and cozy.

July 9th, Day 9 (68km)

Kelowna - Vernon

I don't know what the reason is, but my legs felt extremely sore today as soon as I opened my eyes to the world. We were told by the owner of the campsite that the trip to Vernon was an easy and fast ride. However, I should've taken his advice with a grain of salt.

As soon as we passed by UBC Okanagan Campus, the hills started appearing. At first I still thought that maybe it was only a few hills and the rest would be downhill. As we made it to the halfway point I could say that my jaw literally touched the ground. There were tons of steep climbs along the lakeside that leads to Vernon. Muttering and cursing under my breath, I quickly tried to clear my mind of negative thoughts and fought on. Maybe the climbs were worth it; when we got to the peak, it was all downhill from there. We must've covered over 10km within fifteen minutes.

After plenty of rest in A&W, we decided to do some fundraising at a Safeway near our campsite. Thankfully, the store manager was kind and allowed us to stand outside and fundraise. Today, we raised around $100! At this moment we have about a total of $1300 raised. Thank you to all of the kind people who donated, and even to those who didn't today, but donate regularly online themselves. At Swan Lake campsite, the owner gave us the perfect location, right by the edge of the water. We could see the cars and trains on other side of the lake and the water was pristine. Hopefully we will be lucky enough to be able to stay in more campsites like these afterwards.

July 8th, Day 8 (82km):

Penticton - Kelowna

This morning, the first thing that we did was to pass through McDonalds to refill water and use the wifi. We were to be headed towards Kelowna today, around 68 kilometres to the north. Along the route, we passed by small but welcoming villages such as Peachland and Summerland.

The highway was along the Okanagan lake, so the view was absolutely beautiful. However, there were strong headwinds so it was pretty difficult to ride. By the time we got to Kelowna, it was 4pm already. We first biked to the nearest mall where they had Mountain warehouse; our sleeping bags were too cold so we decided it would be best to exchange for bigger ones. After eating a satisfying subway at the food court, the atmosphere started to slow down and we slumbered back into our chairs.

We then had to ride another 4km back to our campsite and pick up some groceries along the way. Fortunately, there was electricity and water at the site so we could at least settle down quickly and get ready for bed.

July 7th, Day 7 (46km):

Keremeos - Penticton

It was yet another beautiful sunny morning as we set out early in the morning. The sunshine gleamed on our side mirrors as we turned unto Hwy 3A. Today's daily hill grind was not tough; only a 400m climb and then it was all downhill. As we reached the peak, I pedalled harder to achieve a greater speed and let the breeze blow comfortably by my face. In a short amount of time, I realized that we've already travelled around 6km closer to Penticton.

When we entered Penticton, I was so grateful to be in a larger town again. The first thing that we did was to ride to McDonalds and get some world famous burgers. After a satisfying two hours of complimentary wifi, it was decided that we check in to the South Beach Gardens RV resort. The lakefront view was gorgeous; gold sand covered the beach as airplanes flew low above us to land in the Penticton Airport.

And although I did not get a chance to take any photos, I will try to snap some tomorrow morning and upload them. As I am sitting underneath an overhang by a creek, I decided to take a shot of the colourful sunset. On our way to Kelowna tomorrow, there will be a cycling race event happening on Hwy-97. Currently I am debating whether we should compete in it with all the weight (two not-so-young men) we have... Hopefully we will be able to successfully arrive in Kelowna.

July 6th, Day 6 (70km):

Princeton - Keremeos

Waking up to the warm sun shining in through the tent is one of the best feelings next to getting lots of rest. I stumbled out of my tent in a t-shirt and shorts for the first time on our cycling journey and squinted in the brightness of early morning. Our ride today was mostly flat plains and downhill, so getting to Keremeos was not a big hurry.

En route to Keremeos, we passed by a small village called Hedley. The Hedley Mascot Mine was once a gold mine in the 1900s, where gold was first discovered in the nearby Nickel Plate Mountain in 1897. Basically, it was exactly like a setting in the old wild west movies; there were abandoned shacks, wooden barbed wire fences, and dirt roads all surrounded by barren mountains. I can say that this was one of the most impressive and engaging sights I have ever seen.

It took around three hours to arrive to our campsite, where the old Grist Mill was. As the picture foreshadows, a sudden thunderstorm passed by and completely soaked my father and Wayne. Thank goodness I was already inside the tent as soon as I heard the thunder. Tonight is going to be a tough one; there are no showers available...

July 5th, Day 5 (67km):

Manning Park - Princeton

What a great sleep last night. I woke up this morning feeling well rested in the first time in decades. Not surprisingly, we had another super large hill ahead of us. I don't know about my dad or Wayne, but I was ready to take on anything today. We managed to climb to a peak of around 1282m, called Sunday Summit. After the gruelling grind up, It was a swift ride down. Definitely not trying to brag, but I actually broke the speed limit at some points, going about 54km/h at 40km/h turns. I'm sorry that I couldn't resist the adrenaline and feeling of wind on my face.

As we reached Princeton, the sun was blistering 33 degrees celsius. We decided to all get large slurpees while eating Subway. After around an hour of recovery, we arrived at Princeton Municipal Campsite at 6pm, and had a nice, free shower. The day couldn't have gotten better; the air is cool and there is a light breeze tonight. The only downside is that I was bitten around fifteen times from the obnoxious mosquitoes.

July 4th, Day 4 (56km):

Sunshine Valley - Manning Park

Sleeping through the night was the coldest night yet on this trip. I was wrapped in three layers and a sleeping bag and was still shivering. However, as we set out for the great E.C Manning Park, the sun was already beaming and warming us up. Because of the low temperatures at night, none of us slept well at all. This did not stop us from climbing the great hills along the route. Even though the winds were not in our favour and we had a headwind the entire time, we still fought on and pushed even harder.

By the time we got to Hampton Campground at Manning, it was already around 7pm. No signal to contact people or update my website. Already hungry and tired, we find another inconvenience during set up for dinner and tent; the water system at Manning Park was found to have over maximum levels of arsenic, meaning that we couldn't cook or drink the water. All I could say was that it was a very sad night and I ate jerky and fruit bars to sleep.

July 3rd, Day 3 (28km):

Hope - Sunshine Valley

Last night and this morning was a disaster, but it started getting better in the afternoon. As soon as we starting drifting off into good sleep, we hear three to four raccoons outside our camp robbing our food. Every time we got up to check, they hid in the dense forest. When we woke in the morning, we found that our entire bag of granola bags have been eaten and only wrappers remain... We stayed in Hope until about 2pm, as my brakes needed adjustment and we ate a fabulous lunch at McDonalds.

The route to our next stop, Sunshine Valley, was extremely difficult; The entire first three quarters of the highway was steep, winding hills. After two hours of arduous riding, we finally got to the peak of the Crowsnest Hwy, which was about 736m in altitude. At the top, we awed at the Hope Slide, which was the second largest landslide ever recorded in Canadian history. The slide happened in the early morning of January 9, 1965. However, we suddenly realized that it was soon getting late and the sun was heading behind the mountains, so we swiftly headed towards our campsite. The campsite was the highlight of the day; extremely clean washrooms and hot showers. Although it is fairly cold, I am patiently waiting for the night sky to open up for the stars to be seen.

July 2nd, Day 2 (67km):

Harrison Mills - Hope

Throughout the night I slipped in and out of sleep; it was a bitter freezing night as I had to put my jacket on to keep warm. As the sun rose, so did we. Although none of us slept well at all, we still put our game faces on and battled the uphills and downhills ahead of us. Tonight we stopped in Hope; we went to Save-on-Foods where we restocked on some rations and we also raised around $80 for our fundraiser! So thankful for those who donated. At last, we set up camp right before the full gorgeous view of Kawkawa Lake, where we met a lovely couple who treated us with such hospitality. They treated us to hot dogs and asked us to join their bonfire. Thank you Jim and Maureen. Being exhausted again, I am sure we can sleep well tonight.

July 1st, Day 1 (95km): Happy Canada Day!

Vancouver - Harrison Mills

We started the journey! Starting from Burnaby, we made it to Harrison Mills late in the afternoon. As we pedalled out of our driveway, an anxious yet exciting atmosphere lingered in the air. The amount of humidity caused a foggy mist to form on the highway, and periodic light rain pattered on our helmets. It was only until we passed through Coquitlam that the rain stopped and skies started clearing. When we arrived at the campsite, exhaustion began setting in and pushed us to set our camp up faster. As about now at 10pm, the heavy clouds have allowed rain to fall again and is the perfect time to fall asleep to the soothing sound of light tapping on our tent.