First day under my belt – in a word, wow! Had an awesome day after a late start and couldn’t have been more impressed with what I found. Plenty to see and never knew what was going to come up around the next corner. It’s all just starting ….
Got a few jobs out of the way in Vancouver and the bike properly sorted. Rode out just after lunch – excellent views going over Lions Gate Bridge (the big one in photos from Stanley Park a few days ago). The run up the Straight of Georgia was busy, but it was hard to get off the major route north. Nice views of the coastline, but a highway, is a highway, is a highway, so just slabbed it up to Whistler. The roads then became a lot more secondary and, leading into Pemberton, pretty good. I did pull up at the site of the 2010 winter Olympics. Those ski jumps – craaaazy.
It was from Pemberton that things started to get interesting. It was 35 degrees (really hot for here) and the afternoon sun was belting down. The roads were some of the best bitumen I’ve ever ridden on – smooth and flowing. Riding on the ‘wrong’ side’s not an issue on a bike – would be a whole lot harder in a car though. The only thing I needed to keep a bit of an eye on was veering over to the left side on fast corners – not a good habit to get into. The roads followed fast flowing creeks and rivers for miles – there were some great campsites along the way and I was very temped to pull up. But, wanted to get a bit more riding in and had high hopes for a bit of dirt further on.
Went NE through Birken and Darcy before hitting the Seaton Portage Road. It was very steep, stony, loose gravel that went halfway up a mountain range and ran along the northern side of Lake Anderson. The lake was massive and, as I was to find later, led into a pretty significant hydro system. The only negative was the massive powerlines everywhere. The road went up around 1,000 m and the views were breathtaking. Stopped far too often and I had it all to myself.
The trail along the mountain side looking down over the lakes leading into Lillooet would have been close to 80 km and the Kato performed flawlessly – some great loose corners that she just chewed up and a few steep sections that were a good early test. My only moment was going over a pretty long bridge a hundred meters or so way above a ravine. The damn thing actually bounced and swayed with the weight of the bike. Not nice at all. I was still pinching myself hours later as the scenery and views continued. I’d stop for a photo and promise myself ‘no more for at least half an hour’. Then, as I came around the next corner ….. wow, it just got better.
As I got closer to Lillooet, the country got a lot more arid. Was following the Bridge River which, as I said earlier, was part of a big hydro system. It was done pretty well and didn’t impact too much on the environment, but it was stark and lonely. The river had cut deeply into the countryside and, with evening coming on, it was erie and quiet. There was the odd dwelling – mostly RV’s permanently placed, with car bodies and ‘stuff’ everywhere. I was to find that his was pretty common, even in the small towns.
I got to Reynolds Hotel at Lillooet about 8.30 pm just as it was getting dark. Lots of daylight in Canada which will help as I have a habit of riding late into the evenings. I really need to manage that better! A bit of maintenance on the bike needed after day 1 – chain to be tightened and lubed, the clock set to local time (after having disconnected the battery) and a few adjustments made to various bits n pieces. My gear all sat and rode well, but I wasn’t quite organised yet. Not far off though.
The pub had shut the kitchen by this time, so I ended up at the Chinese next door in my riding gear. Had dinner with the family – lots of noisy chatter and couldn’t understand a word that was said. They thought I was pretty funny in my bike armour (I was still saturated underneath it and it’s a bit of an effort to get it off). The food was excellent, especially the ‘hydrating’ beers. I went up to a really neat little room, had a shower, scrubbed out the riding gear and, before I knew it, it was close to midnight. About 370 km for the day – pretty happy with that.
Big Bar Ferry tomorrow.
Adventure USA 