Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

I’m not sure I was quite ready to leave the Lower Mainland this morning. While there was still a lot of touring left to do, there is an excitement I get with riding west. From this point on, I’d be riding east back toward home…albeit a roundabout way home.  I was also confronted with some anxiety this morning- the Premier of Saskatchewan called a by-election in the Saskatoon Riversdale Constituency.  I still had two weeks of touring left, which meant that I would be missing nearly half of the campaign and would need to rely on the team we had in Saskatoon to get things moving.  As a hands-on person who finds it difficult to delegate, this caused significant discomfort.

The tour headed north today on the famous Sea to Sky Highway. Riding along the ocean to my left with sheer rock cliffs to my right makes it easy for my eyes to wander to take in the scenery as damp, salty air blew past my face. This was a great way to wake up in the morning and I was sad to say goodbye to the ocean as I reached Squamish.

Once past Squamish the road begins a long ascent into the Coast Mountains toward Whistler. There was not nearly as much construction as when I road this highway on the Magical Mystery Tour 2008, but there was enough around Whistler to delay me considerably. As I waited on the side of the road in a long ling of cars, dozens of yellowjackets swarmed my bike and I…this is common for late August and Silver was covered in dead bugs which I’m sure help to attracted the little stingers.

Soon after Whistler I reached Pemberton. My excitement level increased considerably as I pulled in to re-fuel and check my maps. The next leg of the journey is one of my favourite highways in BC…the Lillooet- Pemberton highway. This road has everything…sharp twisties, majestic scenery, little traffic, and has some of the worst pavement and several one- lane bridges to add a rustic feel. Also, just outside of town was the site of my brakes failing during a long descent of switchbacks on last year’s Magical Mystery Tour 2008.

I attacked the road with fervour, determined to make this an exciting final leg of the day. It’s amazing how the memory works. I tour through so many communities and so many roads and for the most part I can remember landmarks and other notable areas. However, this time everything I remembered seemed to fade as my surroundings were decidedly different than the memories I had of last year. I chalked this up to the fact that I was riding in the opposite direction. I eagerly anticipated the long, sharp ascent of switchbacks where my breaks died last year, but after 50 km it didn’t come. Surely I should have reached it by now…

That’s when it struck me. My memory isn’t bad. And this road is only 100km…there’s no way I could go half way and not reach that big ascent. I got off Silver and checked my map again….

I had gone the wrong way! I had missed a turn outside of town and I was heading to Anderson Lake (in fact I had almost reached it).

I backtracked and headed to the right road. I reached the ascent and continued on my journey in the right direction. After 40km down the right road I was finally able to laugh at my mistake, the only problem was that I was now in a hurry to beat the sun. My frustration was further aggravated when I stopped by the Cayoosh Creek for a break, and I found myself getting stung several times in the arm by a yellowjacket that was in my jacket sleeve. Damn thing must have crawled in there back in Whistler!

I completed the long descent into Lillooet just as the sun was going down over the mountaintops. Nestled between the Coast Mountains and the Fraser River, Lillooet is certainly an underrated community in terms of beauty. I’ll always try to visit here on each tour.

After a quick shower and some dinner I turned on the TV and kicked my feet up. It was then that I discovered that Ted Kennedy had died earlier in the day.