06 Sept 2012

Crawford Bay to Kaslo BC 30 miles (TNV 186 miles)

The scenery today has gone from Great to Grand. The mountains have become steeper and pointier, the lake narrowing to bring the other side into closer view, and the view from our room here in Kaslo is a view to beat all others:

Today brought another hilly day on the bikes but unlike yesterday, fewer miles to cover. This didn’t stop Gina from dropping me multiple times, a feat that really takes nothing more than her opting to continuously pedal rather than cycle along in her more typical style of pedal, coast, talk, pedal, coast, talk, pedal, coast, talk. During one particularly long uphill stretch, after Gina got smaller and smaller until disappearing around the bend at the top of the hill, I realized I had been watching way too many re-runs of Criminal Minds. This happened when I saw a delivery truck approaching from behind, just him and me out here on this isolated highway, and I thought to myself “Hmmm. Perfect setting for him to pass by, flash his brake lights, pull over, and toss me into the back with the other loaves of bread.” I really must stop watching that show. It turns idyllic countryside cycling into paranoid heebie jeebies. After all, the only thing the bread truck driver did to me was give me a wide berth when he flew on by.

Besides, there are other cyclists to pick from out here on these roads today. In addition to Gina and myself, there are Bob and Marnie, friendly fellow cycle tourists from Fort Collins, Colorado, who we met on the ferry crossing from Crawford Bay to Balfour. The ferry – a free one; our favorite kind – operates as part of the highway transportation system, providing the only link in the area between the eastern and western shores of Kootenay Lake, and today it is chock-a-block full of cars, pickup trucks, camping trailers, motorcycles, logging trucks, and fellow travelers. While crossing, Gina has a lovely chat with Bob and Marnie about all routes cycling while I’m engaged by an easygoing Canadian car-touring couple out on a grand road-trip. This is what I love about traveling – you just never who you’ll meet along the way and even if you share nothing more than a good conversation over a 30 minute ferry ride, you’ll feel all the more enriched that you had that experience.