Saturday, May 5, 2007

Day 5: Osoyoos to Grand Forks

Anarchist conquered. BOOYAH! After an evening and night spent worrying about this climb, thinking that I'd be stopping every few feet, maybe even having to walk the 30 km mountain, it turned out to be not nearly as bad as I thought. Thank heavens. That said, it was still a 30 km climb where the first 8km is at an 8% grade. The road is really intimdating to look at. We took a picture from our hotel room (which doesn't do it justice). I'll post it when we've got the photo album up and running (within the next couple of days).

We had another beautiful day weather-wise. The ride was good...tons of climbing. The final distance total for today was 125km, our longest yet, and with as much or more climbing than we've done in any of our other days. Needless to say, exhaustion is currently rampant in our Ramada hotel room here in Grand Forks. The final descent into the town was a good downhill for 13 km. I was in a short-sleeved, thin jersey, and the headwind was brutal. "Cold" doesn't cut how I was feeling. Perhaps this is what spurred a final burst of energy as we were entering town after a well over 100 km day. I dunno, but I just somehow decided that I needed to warm up, and wanted to get to the hotel. So, I, uh, turned on the power boosters. I didn't realize the rest of my team was having trouble keeping up the pace. I admit it was a good feeling though since both Tanya and Warren are such phenomenal riders with considerable athletic backgrounds. Maybe I've got something in me yet.

Anyhoo, we're here now. Joanne has brought all our gear and food via rental car (the RV is still in Princeton being fixed...long story, but we hope it will be back with us again on Tuesday). Again, I can't say enough about the support we have. Family and friends with your words of encouragement, and particularly our parents who continue to rise far above the call of duty.

Tomorrow we head to Castlegar, then have a rest day there on Monday. HOORAY. Good news is that the ride tomorrow is about 100km, which is a decent length. Bad news is that it's a heck of a lot more climbing. I can't wait for the prairies.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

After following your blogs for a couple of days, I have now finally understood how to leave a comment. Computers, ugh. Anyway, the trip sounds fun/challenging/adventuresome so-far. Keep up the good rides.

Anonymous said...

Your right Eric, i've only been working with computers for 40 years, and I still have difficuties leaving a comment. Probably called senility.

Hillary said...

Sorry guys. I didn't realize it would be that difficult. Thanks for spending time figuring it out.
Eric and Care: Have a great time in Greece.