Let's review the "Adventure Cycling" event again - there are the three intrepid cyclists - my friend Roy who I've known for 30 years and my new friend Richard who has known Roy for many years as well. Our starting point was Richard's place near Naramata, British California and the idea was to cycle outward for 3 days and then cycle back for 3 more.
The very first day was a 70 kilometer pull uphill to Thirsk Lake in 30 degree+ temperatures. We did find solace in the odd bit of shade and by doing pushups into Trout Creek which flowed beside the trail. We had the pleasure of meeting a young couple who were riding the Trans Canada Trail from Banff to Vancouver Island. When we met them, it was day 23 for them on the trail.
Our second day started off with the bonus of finding a country store at a place called Bankier where Roy and Richard gobbled many slices of Bumbleberry pie ala mode and I contented myself with finding cold bottled water. We continued on to Princeton where we found the young couple already camped since they had taken the highway and gotten to the resort 2 hours in advance of us. The owners of the camp were thoughtful enough to go into Princeton and get us a six pack of cold, bottled Stellas.
On leaving Princeton the next morning, we had the pleasure of meeting a group of mounted horseback riders out on a ride in the mountains. Just outside of Princeton, we had been told that we would discover "Shangrila". The scenery was tranquil and the Tulameen River looked very inviting with this being another scorching hot day. We rode as far as Tulameen where we had a lunch of "Fish and Chips" without the fish. Shangrila indeed!
Richard is a strong rider (very fit) and after a lovely, refreshing swim in a bend of the Tulameen River, he rode at post haste into Princeton where he did a location scout and found us an air-conditioned Italian restaurant and also learned of a campground south of town where we could pitch our tents and get a head start the next morning toward our next objective - Keremeos.
So far, we had pedalled 191.269 kilometers and spent 21 and 3/4 hours actually in the saddle (wheels turning).
Next.....Dramatic forest fires! Stranded motorists! An historic abandoned mine! Camping in a peach orchard!
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