So today was the beginning of my mini-holiday. I washed and loaded up my bike last night so I was all set to go this morning.
I woke up to rain. Not the best way to start a trip, but oh well. I donned all my rain gear and a way I went. I only got to Purden before I had to stop and put on my clothes. (my hoodie and warmer gloves) My next stop was at Doom Diner, just to warm up a little. It was so cold. As I'm heading into McBride, (at about 180 km), my bike does a funny little jerk. I couldn't quite figure out what the heck had happened and then it did it again. I then realized that perhaps I needed to go on reserve. I couldn't believe it. As I mentioned earlier, I should be able to go at least 230-240 km before I hit reserve. But I guess with the wind and rain I did not get the fuel range that I should. I did make it into McBride though, so things were all good. So I stopped in McBride for gas. While I was there, I had to change back into my thinner gloves, because my warm gloves were soaked through. Yes, it was still raining at this point.
My next stop was at Mount Robson where my friend Steven and I were supposed to meet for lunch. (He was going to PG, while I was going to Edmonton) We arranged to meet at 11:00 am. Note to self: if we do this again, remember to specify BC or Alberta time. Unfortunately, Steven and Carol had to sit and wait for my for over an hour. I also had to buy a new hoodie because mine was soaked though. I changed my shirt too. Fortunately it had stopped raining by this point. For a little while at least.
Next stop: Jasper, for gas and more clothes changing. I had to get dry pants at this point. It felt like I did a lot of that this trip. But there was a lot of rain this trip too. ;) The trip was mostly quiet after Jasper. I stopped again in Edson and Entwistle for gas. It mostly stopped raining after the park but it was brutally windy and cold. I was just happy when I hit the "Welcome to Edmonton" sign because I knew my trip was almost over. So I thought.
It took me nearly another hour to get to my hotel. Taking the wrong exit onto the Whitemud didn't help, but what really slowed me down was the stupid construction on the Whitemud. Grooved pavement at 30 km and slower for 20-30 minutes is NOT fun. I finally got off at Fox drive instead of going all the way down to Calgary trail. I know Edmonton well enough to be able to find at least SOME alternate routes thank goodness.
Once I finally got into my hotel I spend a good hour cleaning all the mud off me. (I'll leave the bike until tomorrow).
I am not sure I have ever seen my bike so darn dirty. I was so tired of being on the bike though that I wimped out and got Dan to come and get me for dinner. I need the evening away from the bike to recover from today. It was a cold and LONG day.
As a point of interest, here is my animal count for the trip: 2 moose, 1 bear, 4 fox (a family), countless mountian goats. Amazing I saw all of these before I hit Alberta. (O.k. that's not completely true, the mountain goats were in the the park)
As much as all of this sounds like I didn't have a very good trip. And all though the trip was very cold and wet and windy, I did have a good time. Its the first time I've ever taken any sort of long trip by myself. I was proud of myself for doing as well as I did.
Start: 33,037 km - End: 33,799 km - Final Distance: 762 km
