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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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.
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