Sunshine!

After lots of crappy weather and some not-so-crappy weather, we've finally got some sun! It's not super hot, but I won't complain about that! Probably better to ride if it's not sweltering out any way.

I got a new wheel for my bike. No broken spokes since then! But, I've had three flats... Oh well, flats are easier to deal with. The first flat was about 8km out of Creston. We'd stopped to look at the view of the valley (very beautiful!) and when I started up again, Dan noticed that I'd lost some air. As we changed the tube, the nice weather disappeared and we ended up riding into Creston in a downpour! All the others were in a motel, so we hid out in their rooms waiting for the rain to let up. It didn't. The weather report was calling for rain all night and possibly lightening. We agreed that a hotel room was a good idea.

The Creston Valley Motel is very bike friendly! They gave us drop-sheets to put on the floor so we could bring the bikes into our room. And they gave us rags to wipe down the bikes! Plus, the bed was the best I've slept in for a long time!! If you're ever in Creston and need a place to stay, I recommend them! It doesn't look very fancy, but it's comfy.

We spent the next night (Thursday, 12 June) in Cranbrook. This is where my parents met. Greg (my favourite brother) and I found the old building that we think our mom was teaching in when she was there. It's used for something else now, but definitely has that school look to it.

The ride from Cranbrook to Radium Hot Springs is amazing!!! Cranbrook to just past Wasa is a great ride! Fast and fun! And a tail wind most of the way! The shoulders are a bit ugly - slightly rough, so you end up vibrating as you ride, but if they ever cleaned that up it'd be awesome. That was our longest ride so far - 147km. The whole route is fairly flat - long, rolling hills that are great for riding. Long straight stretches. Great scenery. Unfortunately, there are a lot of big trucks on the route and it is a bit busy.

We left the others in Fairmont and continued on to Radium. As soon as we got through Fairmont, we hit a head wind. The long, rolling hills became a bit of a slog. About 3km out of Radium is 1 mile hill. About half way down that, I got a flat! How frustrating! I wanted to just coast into town on my rim, but knew that would wreck my nice new wheel. Luckily, we were beside a great view point, so we had lots of space to change the tube and a view to look at while we did it.

We're staying with our friends Grant and Claudia and their girls while we are in Radium. We're having a great time here (not just because I don't have to sit on a bike for 2 days...). Grant and Claudia have opened up their home to us and have shown us around Radium. I really like it here. The mountains are beautiful! It's very tempting to stay... But, I know on Monday I'll put my poor butt back on that bike seat and head off for Kootenay Lodge in Kootenay National Park. I hear it's a bit of a climb...

Oh yeah... Our driver, Gord, is heading home today and we have three new people joining us! We still have vehicle support - Linda, Daphne and Richard drove out in Laura's truck.

I was asked about Joe. He's doing great! He's not fond of the rain though - I need to get him some rain gear. Here's a picture of him with Greg in an old train in Cranbrook.