Smelly in Nelson

June 8: Christina Lake to Castlegar (71.62 km)

Today, I became a man. Gone is the boy that you all know. Sure he was cute and you just wanted to pinch his cheeks and present him to your mother, but he is no more. Now I present to you the tougher, leaner and yes meaner me. For instance, I no longer shave with a razor or even a blade. I now shave with a match and some iodine. I am Rambo, hear me roar.

What made me a man? Paulson Pass. Today's journey was similar to the one on the Anarchist Pass in that the weather was cold during a long continuous climb and the rain started shortly after we reached the summit. The major difference between today and the Anarchist was that the climb was higher and steeper. I was huffing and puffing up that hill and fighting my demons as a result.

I was slow to start this morning as Tony and I rented two movies the night before (Freedomland - pretty bad - and 3:10 to Yuma - very good). Anyways, Tony left about half an hour before me and I figured that I would see him in Castlegar. I wasn't even sure if I was going to make it as I didn't feel top shape when I woke up and I knew we had a big climb to do. I figured I would try and if I saw that the legs weren't up to the task then I would turn back. That being said, it would have been a shame not to do a lot of riding as the forecast was pretty good for the day and the coming days were not as positive. Anyways, I left and after a climbing for God knows how long, I caught up to Tony near the top of the pass (about 30 km after Christina Lake). I was able to catch up to him largely because he had met another cross country rider and they had stopped to chat for a long while. Serge is a guy from Cambelton, NB, who now lives in Montreal. He left a week earlier from Vancouver and had already caught up to us. He's clearly doing better time than we are.

Anyways, even though we suspected that the climb would never end, we finally reached the summit. As mentioned earlier, the clouds darkened at that point and the weather was very cool. We all changed our clothes and put our rain gear on and thank God for that. The descent which was 37km in length brought us straight to Castlegar. Along the way it rained, it poured, it hailed and it was thundering in the distance (no exaggeration). Thankfully I had put on dry clothes at the summit and I wore my new long fingered gloves. As a result, even though I was damp and a bit cold, it was nothing like a few days earlier. Tony wasn't as lucky however. He was very wet and while they waited for me in Castlegar (my parents will be happy to learn that I am very slow and cautious going down these hills) he got quite cold which sapped him of his energy.

June 9: Castegar to Nelson (46.23 km)

Today was a planned short ride. I wanted to see Nelson as I had heard a lot of good things and as has been mentioned in a few of the comments I have received, the movie Roxanne with Steve Martin was filmed here.

At this point Tony and I were going to go different paths. He planned on going to Salmo and then to Creston rather than doing a detour to Nelson. Tony has been an excellent biking partner and it has been a pleasure riding and sharing rooms with him.

The forecast said that the morning was supposed to be sunny with clouds and there would be rain in the afternoon. Never trust a weather man. They were dead wrong. As soon as my bike was loaded at 9AM it started to rain. My rain gear on, I set off anyway. Even though I was a bit cold and wet, I felt good. I put in as much effort as I needed to keep warm while not doing so much that I would sweat and get cold as a result. The ride to Nelson is beautiful. It is essentially rolling hills following a river and the views along the way were really nice if lessened by the foul weather that was upon us. Nevertheless I felt chipper along the ride and I was thinking about a number of things other than the weather.

Once arrived in Nelson, I headed for the Visitor Information Office. I turn a corner and I see these yellow arms flailing about - it was Tony! I was shocked. I was sure that Tony was comfortably in Salmo by now and that I wouldn't see him again. As it turns out, after he left Castlegar the clouds had darkened considerably and he didn't want to deal with the climb that awaited him if he went to Salmo. The ride to Nelson was much easier even though it was a detour (essentially you avoid two significant hills by going to Nelson but you add about 60km to the ride). Since he had left the motel a good hour ahead of me, he had gotten caught in much heavier rain than I had and had had a miserable day so far. Even though he had initially planned to go beyond Nelson, he decided to stop for the night because of the aforementioned miserable day and because he hadn't fully recovered from the chill he had gotten the day before. So here we are, together again in Nelson.

The plan for tomorrow is unclear. The weather is supposed to be horrible with a high of 10:( We may stay in Nelson or make a short jaunt to Balfour so that our next day to Creston will be more manageable.

I've explored a bit of Nelson so far and it is a cool place. Apparently it was a haven for draft dodgers during the 60s and it has maintained an artistic feel ever since. I hope to explore some more this evening once my clothes are clean and dry (I'm writing this post as most of my clothes is being washed).

Last anecdote: our motel room is pretty nice, but it has one quirky aspect to it, it has a mirror on the ceiling over my bed! I thought this was hilarious and have included a picture. Check it out.