CCCT 2012 - June 1, 2012

Cross Canada Cycling Tour - Friday, June 1, 2012
Christina Lake - Paulson Summit - Castlegar, BC. Trip 41.25 kms Time  1:33:55 hrs Max 52.2 kph

Bob of Wild Ways in Christina Lake, BC

Since we weren't being picked up until after lunch we slept in until 8:30 AM. I had tea, oatmeal, Greek yogurt with nuts and raisins and 1/2 a banana for breakfast. Did some packing and checked e-mail. I called Doris using my cellphone to appoint her as my representative for the "reading of the will". I left a voice mail on her cellphone. I then  called home and spoke to MJ. I told her I would like to have Doris represent me. She said I should confirm this in an email which I did.
I worked on my blog. Re-did May 24th and added 2 photos. We had warmed up quiche for lunch. Bob, from Wild Rides, called at 12:15 PM to say he would be around to pick us up in 1/2 an hour. We finished packing and put all our gear and bikes out front ready to be loaded in Bob's large 12 passenger van.

When Bob arrived, Peter the motel manager, helped lift our bikes up onto the large roof rack while Bev and I loaded our gear in the back of the van. Bob then drove us up to the PAULSON PASS (El. 1535m) and dropped us off. We were only to happy to pay him $50. After unloading our bikes and our gear and loading our bikes Bob wanted a photo for his Website. We were glad to oblige. I also took photos of Bob and his Van and the Paulson Summit sign.
We put our warm gear on and set off for CASTLEGAR. It was pretty well downhill all the way. I noticed a slight wobble coming from my rear tire!!! Not sure what that was all about. Our average speed was 26.35 kph usually it's in the low teens!!! We still had to stop a couple times to get the blood flowing in our hands and butts because of the constant braking.
I got a little ahead of myself when last working on my blog so am having to backtrack a bit.
We arrived in Castlegar at the Visitor's Centre at 3:00 PM and went in to get out BC passports stamped and to ask about the route to the BALFOUR FERRY and motels, etc. We cycled to the Flamingo Motel after picking up Bev's bike which had fallen over in the parking lot. We also had to put her chain back on. We managed to get a nice room at $75 (reg $85). After settling in and changing we walked 3 + kms to the "FAIR". We had to ask for directions as there were no signs to point us in the right direction!!! It was just out of sight around the corner a couple blocks away.
We had both worked up quite an appetite from the ride down from the Paulson Summit and the walk. There were all sorts of vendor carts selling a variety of fast foods from A to Z. I chose roast beef, cheese and tomato on a bun with Yam fries. Bev just had Yam fries. There was a concert about to start but we were more interested in getting back to our motel room. We were facing a long uphill walk and there didn't seem to be much in the way of public transportation. We asked a few people about the bus schedule and one person even looked it up on her i-phone. It seems we had just missed the last bus at 6:30 PM. She offered to drop us off at our motel. We gratefully accepted but asked to be dropped off at a nearby Pub as we wanted to get a pint of beer before retiring for the evening.
I've forgotten the name of the Pub but it sure had an interesting collage of T-shirts and Jerseys from the 4 corners of the world decorating every inch of available space on the walls and ceiling. I took a couple photos. We then walked a short distance back to our motel where I was able to check my email and FB.
Frank, the manager, came by with 2 rather pathetic looking muffins for our breakfast. We watched a 2 hour episode of "TOUCH" while I worked on DAY 25 of our journey. Then it was off to bed at 10:30. Had trouble falling asleep. The bed was quite uncomfortable.

Pub in Castlegar

Bev and Roly