CCCT 2012 - June 8, 2012 - Day 20

Cross Canada Cycling Tour - Friday, June 20, 2012 - Day 20
Fernie to Sparwood, BC. Trip 32.11 Time 2:06 Max 42.3 kph

View from our hostel room in Fernie

My alarm went off at 6:00 AM. I was feeling a bit sore and quite tired from yesterday's 100 K + ride. Bev agreed to have a lie-in so I reset my alarm for 7:00 AM. We got up and packed our panniers. The hostel room was quite cold. We had a Greek yogurt and half a banana each before carrying some of our panniers down to the bike shed. We had to get the key from the front desk in order to get at our bikes so we could get some oatmeal and hot chocolate. We locked up and went down to the hostel kitchen where we met the manager and a young girl who was helping with the vacuuming. I put the kettle on after filling it up. The manager invited us to have pancakes! The griddle was already warmed up. I put some batter on it. My pancake quickly burnt and stuck to the griddle. I should have put some oil on first!!! The manager scraped my sorry looking pancake off the griddle and ditched it. After cleaning the griddle she oiled it and made a couple of pancakes for me. Bev was not very hungry and was complaining of a headache!!! I reminded her of her "home remedy" for curing headaches. After cleaning up our dirty dishes we went back up to our room to brush our teeth and finish packing. We checked out at 9:30 AM.
A local stopped and pulled over in his van as we were getting ready to leave. He wanted to know where we were from, where we were headed for, etc. He had cycled across Canada way back when before .... He just wanted to reminisce about his past cycling experiences and tell us what we could expect up ahead. We finally managed to get away and cycled to the Visitor's Centre and got information about the route and motels up ahead. We had to stop to put our rain covers/gear on. The paved shoulder was quite rough.
We arrived in Sparwood at 11:45 and went over to the RBC ATM to get some cash. RBC had FREE cup cakes and hot dogs. We waited for the wind and rain to let up but that wasn't happening. We went over to the Visitor's Centre and asked about accommodation. There were only 2 choices and the 2nd choice was not highly recommended. We chose the Causeway Bay Hotel. The V.C. staff told us the rooms started at $129. It was a bit more expensive than we were used to paying but because of the nasty weather we didn't have much choice. When checking in I gave the receptionist my usual sob story about being seniors on a tight budget, etc. She came up with a room for $85 plus taxes. It was just after noon and normal check-in time was 3:00 PM so we had to wait while our room was being cleaned. While waiting Bev asked about laundry facilities but there were none available in the hotel. A few minutes later the manager came over to us and offered us a $30 voucher for dinner and said we could do our laundry across the street. Bev went in to the restaurant to get us a hot chocolate and came back with 2 free hot chocolates!!! In spite of being a bit expensive I was beginning to like this hotel.
Many people, who were entering/leaving the restaurant, stopped to chat with us and ask about our cycling trip including a couple from Orleans who lived just around the corner from where Bev lived.
At last after a wait of 2 hours the receptionist informed us that our room was ready. We had to carry our gear and our bikes up to the 2nd floor as there was no elevator. It was a very large, very nice room. Well worth the wait. We gathered all our laundry and stuffed it into one of my large rear panniers. By this time I was feeling quite hungry so we had the ham and cheese sandwiches that Bev had prepared earlier. Bev showered and dressed and went out to do our laundry and look for some groceries while I worked on my blog. Managed to get Day 12 done.
I lay down for a short nap before going down to the restaurant for dinner. Had a cold beer and steak and spaghetti for dinner. It was excellent. The $30 voucher helped pay for our dinner. After dinner we went back up to our room. It was much to cold to go "walk about".  Watched a bit of TV and did some reading. Bev was quite tired and was off to bed at 8:30 PM. I put an ICY/HOT patch on my shoulder and took a couple Tylenol before retiring at 9:30 PM.

View from our hostel room in Fernie

Bev and Roly