2018 BC Epic: Midway, Rock Creek, Osoyoos, Princeton, Tulameen, Merritt.

Leaving Midway on July 8th, my thoughts turned to pontificating on where I needed to be in the next few days and therefore how much distance I needed to cover. I wanted to be in Vancouver on July 10 so I decided to go through the Okanagan Valley via Osoyoos on the road rather than sticking to the Epic route. That would save about 100k and scratch me from Trackleaders. The Okanagan was hot but I managed just fine unlike the day I rode to  Castlegar. The Kettle Valley Rail Trail near Princeton had some rough sections of rocks, washboard and erosion caused by motorized vehicles which was hard on this old body. If I was to do this again I would like to try a Lauf fork and Specialized CG-R seatpost to take the edge off the small hits. Paved Coldwater Road descending into Merritt was a nice way to finish the route. I went to the bike store, but it was closed. I had a nice lunch at a cafe on the main drag and decided I was done riding. Did about 1400 kilometers in eight days of riding.  The next day I took a greyhound bus to Vancouver and my son met me at the bus station with a submarine sandwich and chocolate milk. Awesome.

N.B. I think Greyhound is discontinuing all service in BC in 2019 except for the routes going to the US. Hopefully some other bus companies will take up some of these routes.

2018 BC Epic: Castleger, Christina Lake, Grand Forks, Greenwood, Midway.

Columbia and Western Rail Trail

On July 7th I was heading westerly from Castlegar towards the Bulldog Tunnel on The Columbia and Western Rail Trail. This was a very scenic and enjoyable section with a good surface and impressive tunnels and trestles. I made good time and at a fairly remote section a few kilometers past the Bulldog tunnel which skirts The 24 Mile Rec Site I had my bear encounter. I spotted him before he saw me with still a good distance between us. He was walking the other way down the

Granby Tunnel Emergency Shelter

middle of the rail trail. I made my presence known with my whistle and was a little unnerved when rather than running away he started walking towards me. However, after getting a good look at me and catching my scent he left the trail and we both went on our way without incident.
It was C&WRT the rest of the day but from just before Greenwood to Rock Creek it basically parallels highway 3. The slag heeps at Greenwood reminiscent of another time, reenforced the feeling that I was passing through a ghost town.  Midway was not much more than a restaurant and gas station at a turn in the road that goes to the US. The waitress at the restaurant was shocked at how fast the rack of ribs special disappeared from my plate.

2018 BC Epic: Cranbrook, Grey Creek, Nelson, Salmo, Trail, Castlegar.

Between Fernie and Cranbrook and beyond, I passed some of the BC Epic 1000 riders going the other way. More often than not one of us was going downhill fast and not keen about stopping the loaded rig so no chit chat. I did however have a nice conversation with an eastbound rider from Castlegar while finishing a milkshake and cheeseburgers at the Koocanusa Campsite & Marina.

Eastbound BC Epic 1000 Riders on Day 5.

St. Mary's River crossing on approach to Grey Creek Road.

Grey Creek Pass was the toughest climb on the tour. There is about 80k of no services before the pass and about 25k of gradual climbing on logging road before the climb proper which is about 12k. The locals claim the springs along the road are crystal clear, ice cold and potable. I concur. Once over the summit it's a wicked 15k switchback descent with 15% grades down to Grey Creek and the general store for snacks. After that I rolled down to the free Kootenay Lake Ferry to Balfour and paved road to Nelson.

Snowbowl at summit of Grey Creek Pass ~6800ft.

Columbia River MTB trail

The Brilliant Suspension Bridge, Castlegar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Suspension_Bridge

The next day, July 6th, I rode through brown bear habitat between Nelson and Salmo, then had a nice lunch at a cafe in Salmo. It was easy riding to Trail but as I was getting close to Castlegar on the Columbia river MTB trail I was starting to suffer from the 37 degree heat so made a short day of it taking a motel after about 135k.

2018 BC Epic: Canmore to Fernie

Riding south out of Canmore July 3rd before dawn it was raining and cold so I was wearing basically everything I had except for my down puffy which I wanted to keep dry for sleeping. I was climbing through a pass on a gavel road with Ha Ling off to my left but could not see it or the Ha Ling Trailhead which I passed somewhere along this road. Following the little pink line on the Etrex30. 

Snowing in the pass - July 3rd

Throughout the morning I remember Spray Valley Park, Peter Lougheed Park, and Highwood Pass but it was still raining off and on into the afternoon so I didn't want to stop. My only resupply today was to be Highwood House, a store about 100k from Canmore, but of course in the middle of the day Tuesday July 3rd; it was closed!

I had got it into my head that I would ride to Blairmore today so even though I was fully equipped to bivouac I kept going and by the time I hit the long gravel descent to Crowsnest Highway I was thrice bonked, dehydrated and totally shattered so it was all I could do to keep it between the ditches and not falldown. At the highway I went into the gas station and was there quite a while drinking hot chocolate and eating microwaved sandwiches from the cooler. I rolled down the road and stopped at dusk at the first motel I saw to dry out and recharge. The 235k this day was to be my best day for mileage on this tour.

Steps of City Hall, Fernie BC. Official Start/Finish of the 2018 BC Epic 1000.

The next morning, feeling pretty good, I rolled down to Sparwood and saw the biggest truck in the world. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terex_33-19_%22Titan%22#/media/File:SparTitan.JPG

Heading into Fernie I was greeted by the familiar Golden Arches and my queue to refuel after which I made my way over to City Hall. Evan Deustch & others were there to greet riders finishing the BC Epic 1000. I was too stunned to get the picture however a rider offered to get mine. Evan set the record of 2:19:46 and half a dozen others had broken the record from last year. I carried on towards Cranbrook.

2018 BC Epic: Ottawa to Canmore

The first significant snowfall of November is here and I've just now started to write something about my Epic ride in BC during last July. I didn't blog or write a journal at the time so I'm just going by what I can recall from memory after reviewing the few photographs I have. My idea was to go for ten days of riding, include the Epic 1000 route, and end up in Vancouver. In Vancouver I would reunite with my wife at the AirBnB we reserved in North Vancouver, visit family and attend a wedding.

El Mariachi ready to roll.

D-day was July 1st. My Canada Day celebration was to fly to Calgary and ride from the airport to Canmore. I had reserved a motel room in Canmore and would get a good rest before heading south on the Alberta Rockies 700 route to Coleman at Crowsnest Hwy. There was a section of the 1-A around and just after Cochrane that was a bit sketchy for riding which was narrow, no shoulder and fast moving traffic. I would not recommend that section, but the riding got much better as I got closer to Canmore.

My ride to Calgary

In retrospect it might have been better to start in Banff and take the GDMBR route south but in any case Canmore was expensive and touristy but a pleasant place to stop with everything I needed. At this point it was the weather forecast that concerned me. It was calling for two days of solid rain and cold temperatures which is not how I wanted to start my tour. I decided to spend July 2nd in Canmore and wait for the worst of it to pass.

View of Ha Ling Peak (right) from Canmore.

The next day I put on the Arcteryx shell. I bought some bear spray and  made sure I had a couple days supply of food. I hiked some local trails and found a nice place for coffee and snacks. The rain was still coming down in the evening and overnite but I had to get going so at 5am on the 3rd I was riding south in the rain. Apart from a sleep in Coleman the Arcteryx didn't come off until after Fernie.

Baja Divide 2018: After the Tour

I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to experience a big portion of the Baja Divide.
There were lots of special moments but the hilite of my tour had to be riding with Tony, Tony and Mark from Alaska.
My bike worked great, I aired up the tires a couple times and lubed the chain daily, that was it.
My body at 60 years old was not quite as solid. I started to have a problem with my left knee. This was a first for me and it's been fine since so I'll right it off as a result of not much riding in December followed by overdoing it a bit in the first few days of the tour.
There wasn't really anything I brought that I now feel I did not need to bring except for maybe my tin cup.  Things I would have liked to have include a peak on my helmet and white arm sleeves for sun protection. Also a better sleeping mat, and possibly a varga stove and pot would give me more eating options.
I brought an eTrex, smartphone and the National Geographic maps. I did not bring the Baja Almanac and there was probably only one day that I would have actually looked at it, the day we took the alternate route.
I figured that the last thing I would want to do on my holiday after the tour would be to ride my bike but I quite enjoyed riding Mission Trails Regional Park in San Diego and I'm already thinking about what my next adventure by bike will be.

Baja Divide 2018: San Jose de Commondu to La Paz, 15-18Jan.

It was Monday, day 13 of my tour, and we were headed to San Janvier on hilly double track. It took all morning to get there. We eventually came to a flatter, faster surface and the last 6k were on paved road. The road that goes from Loretto to the Mission.
We had a nice lunch in the hotel by the Mission then loaded up with 6 more litres of water. Most of the afternoon was spent riding down the wash. Rocky, sandy and lots of water crossings. Near the end of the day my left knee was starting to hurt again. Not good.

Got an early start the next morning as we wanted to reach Ciudad Constitution this day which was about 110k ride. Started out riding in the wash, then faster double track to the Tienda at Ley Federal #1 for drinks and snacks. The next section was easy riding dirt road through citrus groves and big fields of vegetables all the way to town. The agricultural hub of the region. At a Tienda on the outskirts of town we stopped for Tecate and an impromptu singalong with Pancho and his friend on guitar.

Once again feeling pretty lucky to be riding with the Alaskans as by myself I would not be as open to these experiences. We went into town and booked rooms at The Oasis Hotel. After cleaning up we hit the street for Tacos, walked the strip, then hung out in a UFC fighting bar for beers. Felt pretty good after a few days wild camping.
The next day, Wednesday January 17th, I decided to pull the plug on my ride. I probably could have ridden to La Paz in about three or four days but I was worried my knee issue might become chronic and I wanted to meet my wife at the San Diego airport on the 20th.

I said goodbye to my new friends from Palmer Alaska and took the Aguila bus to La Paz. I went to Hotel Pension California but it was booked so I went down the street to Hacienda San Jose. My room was 250 pesos, about $15. I walked down to the Malećon and had dinner at Burger King.
The next day I checked out the bike stores in the morning and walked the Malećon in the afternoon. I took a Volaris flight to Tijuana the following morning, crossed the border at the CBX, and rode my bike to Ocean Beach in San Diego.
On the morning of the 20th I met my wife at the airport and we started our holiday together.

Baja Divide 2018: Catavina to San Jose de Commondu,10-14Jan.

I think I met more bikepackers during my rest day at Catavina than anywhere else on the route. As well as Max and Willow, with whom I had only a brief conversation, there was Mike the photographer from UK; the Dutch couple; and a group of 5 or 6 riding together. I think they were from the Mexican mainland but they looked like Americans. Apparently they ran into mud after Nuevo Odisea and had to turn back and ride down the highway.

I was feeling rested after my stay at Mission Santa Maria in Catavina but still looking at skipping further south on the route. The weather looked better further south and it would put me within riding distance of La Paz in the the time that I had. The next morning I hitched a ride with a semi heading south on Mex1. It was the Dutch couple that arranged the ride with the truck driver as their spanish was much better than mine. I happily tagged along. Raúl, the driver, took me all the way to Vizcaino.

I had heard that the section that dipped down to the coast after Vizcaino was very sandy so I rode straight down to San Ignacio on the road and stayed at the Rice'n'Beans Motel. Great hospitality, WiFi, and they take Visa.
The next morning Friday, January the 12th, I rode through the San Ignacio oasis. I visited the Mission, got my supplies, hung out in the Plaza for awhile then rode south towards the San Ignacio Laguna where the Grey Whales calve. There was a store about 15k up the road and three bikepackers were there. I stopped. This is where I met Tony, Tony and Mark. We rode on together and camped about 10k out of El Datil.

From El Datil we headed south past La Ballena onto the alternate route as the web page indicated the road to Mulegé was very strenuous and storm damaged.  We stopped for lunch at The Scorpion Motel in a fishing village and from there were on paved road heading south along the coast. Once we reached the track that cuts east to La Purisma the sun was setting so we rode up the hill and camped.
The next day we got back on the route at San Isidro and rode to San Jose de Commondu. This was double track mountainous terrain and lots of coyotes at night so I was happy to be riding with Tony, Tony and Mark.

Baja Divide 2018: Santo Tomas to Catavina, 7-9Jan.

Having spent the night at a room in the El Palomar I had a chance to cleanup and recharge my gear. When the grocery store opened  at 7am I got my supplies. I had loaded the wrong track into my eTrex and so went off course coming out of Santo Tomas but it didn't take me long to get back on track and find the road climbing steeply out of town towards the Pacific coast.

My first view of the wild Pacific coast was a special moment and I was tempted to descend to the beach and go in the water but was satisfied with stopping to eat and take a photograph. I rode on to the Mercado in Erindeara where I met a bikepacker couple but they did not seem too interested in conversation or perhaps did not speak english. By the way, there is a big chainlink fence across the route just after Erindeara. I went down to the beach to get around it and then continued on the route as marked toward Punta Colonet. At this point I was thinking I would have to make up some time in order to get to La Paz by the 20th of January so when I got to Punta Colonet I rode south on Mex1 to Vincente Guerrero and checked into the Posada San Martin Hotel which was very nice for 600 pessos, about $30 US.

The next day did not look like a hard day on paper but from San Quinton to Nuevo Odisea there was lots of deep rutted sand sections and my left knee was starting to hurt so I started an advil regime. As I got close to Nuevo Odisea it looked like the route got wiped out by a high tide so I detoured and came into town through the Ejido, got some street tacos for 18 pesos each, then rode up into the hills and camped hoping tomorrow would be a better day.
The next day January 8th was another long day but my knee had responded to rest which was good because the first 30k had some steep, eroded, unrideable climbs. After the route turned south again I got onto some nice dirt road with long decents and made it to the roadhouse at El Sacrificio by 4:30pm for a hot meal and resupply costing a grand total of 220 pesos. Once again rode on up into the hills until after dark then glad to lie down and sleep. That night it started to rain at about 3am and got very windy and cold. It rained off and on most of the morning and I was wearing all of my clothes to stay warm. By the time I got to Catavina I decided I needed a rest day so I booked two nights at The Mission Santa Maria Hotel. I met Max and Willow just outside the Roadhouse across the street. I had been following their tracks for awhile. They were staying the night just up the road.

Baja Divide 2018: San Diego to Santo Tomas, 3-6Jan.

Made it to San Diego on the 2nd of January but my bike was still at Pearson in Toronto. Bummer. So much for The Grande Depart. The next flight out was tomorrow at noon, hopefully my bike would be on it. Oh well, nothing to do but see a little of San Diego so took a long walk and ended up at Super8 Seaworld. I would be well rested to start my ride.

My bike arrived the next day around noon. I had it togethor in about half an hour and headed for Tecate. I made good time without incident but since I hadn't started until around 1pm I had only a few hours of daylight. Met Jesse at the campground at the foot of Mt. Otay and then continued onto the climb in the dark. Legs started cramping and was reduced to walking but the view of the city lights and the stars at the summit was magnificent. I rode on for awhile more or less descending in the mountains and when sufficiently spent crawled up onto water tank 3-5 and slept.
January 4th there was a fair bit of climbing before making it to the border crossing at Tecate. Paid my $28 visa, resupplied in the Plaza, had a large meal at Subway then carried on towards Ojos Negros. More big climbs and some sandy sections. Rode until dark and camped.

This was my first experience in Baja California backcountry. Rugged terrain, beautiful weather, no water. Coming into Ojos Negros I was passed by several groups of offroad motorcycles and dessert buggies. Some kind of organized event, I think I was on the Baja 1000 route at that point. Not much more than a restaurant at Ojos Negros. Looks like whatever industry was here is now gone so I kept riding out to the highway where I had to pass a military security checkpoint to get over to the Hacienda by the PeMex. I had to ride off pavement for a bit to avoid traffic and when I pulled into the Hacienda I noticed dozens of little burr like thorns in both tires, yikes! I pulled a couple out and the sealant started coming out so I left the rest in and rode on. The tires sealed and I didn't even have to air up. Yay!
Crazy long decent on jeep road and then passing vineyards coming into Uruapan. Another long decent on pavement into Santo Tomas as the sun was going down. Took a motel room at El Palomar.

Baja Divide 2018: Preparation, December 2017.

A year after TATR I was looking for a new bikepacking experience. After reading through the info on bajadivide.com it was clear this would be a big challenge. Desert terrain, a different language and culture and longer than anything I'd done so far. It was easier for me to schedule time off in January and it would be an escape from mid winter weather in Ottawa.

All I had to do was build a plus sized dyno wheelset, figure out how to carry ten litres of water on my El Mariachi, and get started on duolingo. Thanks Lael Wilcox and Nicholas Carman for doing what you do which has made this experience a possibility for me.