My imagination was stirred when Roy described how he and his nephew rounded a bend in the trail, deep in the forest and there standing in the middle of the trail was a soldier who informed them that they were not going any further. "We have enough people lost in the woods - we don't need any more. You'll have to go back and find another route!" This was during the Okanagan Mountain fire. Just the encouragement I need to go!
 |
| The fire Richard, Roy and I experienced near Princeton |
When I think of how far I have come in the last five years riding almost the full length of the KVR, I'm now prepared to lead an expedition of my own. And I describe it that way as I sit here indoors and the temperature is still - 30 Celsius outside and too cold for me to be out riding - although I admire the cyclists who are out there right now braving the cold - people like Coreen. So I daydream...
 |
| Swimmers under the Cascade trestle |
The expedition will claw our way to various summits, camp in the middle of nowhere, be excited when we come upon a country store, enjoy any food that comes our way and most of all, discover history together and feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment as we swagger into town and act as though our trip was nothing as we regale neighbouring campers will tales of our exploits.
 |
| Love those tunnels! |
Like an expedition, there will be decisions to make on the trail, choices to be made. Weather is a always a factor. Too hot can be just as taxing as too cold. Conditioning (training) will play a key role in the amount of enjoyment riding the trails will bring. It will be easier for my daughter and I since we will train for the MS Bike tour in June and by doing the KVR, we will have a leg up on our training for the MS Mountain Tour in mid September.
 |
| The good old MS Tour in June |
I had to google KVR and now that I have I think it looks like an excellent place to cycle. Especially the trestles.
ReplyDeleteAlong with the tunnels, the trestles are the most exciting experience on the KVR. The trestles at the Myra Canyon are a head-shaking engineering feat and riding your bike over the curved trestle in Myra/Belleview Provincial Park (also on the KVR) is an exciting event!
ReplyDeleteI like stopping my bike and throwing stones off the trestles.