Day 6

Tuesday, June 29th
Hope BC to Spences Bridge BC
123km

There are several one-liners that might sum up today's ride:
- So this IS a cycling trip after all
- OK BC...we get it...you have a lot of mountains
- F@@K!!!

Todays ride was probably the hardest I have ever done.  There were several long, steep climbs as we travelled slowly through the mountains.

Since my bike was not in fine form, I rode with some new (slower) people today.  The ride started out with a long decent out of the campsite.  (This explained all of the truck engine sounds I heard last night.)  For the first 40km we did a lot more down than up, and I aggressively charged up every rise in the terran that we encountered.  There were a few tunnels along the way as well.  At the first tunnel, the whole group stopped, but on all sorts of reflective clothing, turned on bike lights, and carefully rode through the tunnel single file.  By the last of the tunnels, we decided to ride slowly on the small sidewalk, and skipp all the other stuff.

One of my favourite moments of the day came at the top of a long climb.  There was a small resteraunt at the side of the road, which we hoped would have cold water and washrooms for us.  We pulled over, only to see that there was a small “Back in 5 minutes” sign on the locked door.  Murray's line was perfect, “Where the hell you gonna go in 5 minutes from here?”.

The biggest climb of the day was called Jackass pass.  This was the recipe  for a tough climb: Take one long, steep hill.  Add generous amounts of direct sunlight, and bounce somemore heat off of the rock cliffs besode the road.  Finally, add fresh ashfault, being poured even as we climbed the hill.  Bake (and pedal) until done.

At the top of the climb, was a beautiful view of the mountains and river below.  I devoured a bottle of water and took a bunch of photos.  Other people described celebrationswith high-fives and cheering.  Then I got back on my bike, cycled arounf the bend in the mountain, and discovered the secound half of Jackass Pass.  I certainly felt like one.
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Daniel Longo
CIBC Corporate Development
(416) 956-3831