September 2, 2010

We arrived to September, but the weather got warmer.  We are in southern BC, still relatively far north, but it is much warmer than Anchorage.  We are expecting some highs in the 80’s.  The climate is drier, as well, with some areas looking somewhat desert-like.

We only spent two nights in Kamloops, but we arrived relatively early in the day since we had made it most of the way before making our unplanned stop the night before.  We stopped at the visitor centre where we got some advice and checked our email.  Then we continued to the campground at Paul Lake Provincial Park, about 20 miles from town. 

We had a couple of wildlife encounters on the drive.  A black bear was walking along the road, a road that was mostly lined with cattle fences so I wasn’t really sure where it was going.  I also almost hit a deer as it ran out in front of me and then reconsidered and made a u-turn remarkably close to my bumper.  I wasn’t going very fast on the uphill stretch of a curvy road.  I wasn’t going to swerve so its life was in the hands of my brakes and its own cleverness.

We spent that beautiful afternoon walking down to the lake and along the shore.  We even climbed Gibraltar Rock, a strange formation that looks like a giant rock on the shore of the lake.  It was at least a couple hundred feet high.  We enjoyed the sunshine.  We ran into deer, squirrels, and chipmunks.  The lake is not completely surrounded by the park, so much of the shore is lined with houses.  I think total isolation is harder to find this far south.

As we walked along the road in the woods, my eye was caught.  My familiarity with Alaskan vegetation has me looking for certain things, primarily berries, without really thinking.  I stopped and stared at this short tree, trying to make sense of why I stopped and what I was looking at.  The leaves looked a lot like red currants and red currant leaves look a lot like maple leaves.  Sometimes the simplest explanation is the best.  I asked Kris, “What has leaves like a maple tree?”  Her odd look confirmed that she was also stuck a little in an Alaska frame of mind.  I even expected her to start listing the various plants that we know that have similar leaves.  We both enjoyed looking at this small and lonely little maple tree, complete with the little whirly seeds.  We have also since seen weeping willow trees and oak trees.

Kamloops is pretty well known for mountain biking.  Few mountain biking magazine issues fail to mention the town, often as the hometown of some professional rider.  We couldn’t pass through this area without at least sampling some of their trails.  We couldn’t find any really good information on where to ride, but the obvious choice was the ski resort.  We debated our options, primarily due to the cost of riding at the ski resort, but decided we couldn’t be sure we would find something we liked.  We decided to spend the money.

We arrived around opening time, but were shocked by the cold when we stepped out of the van.  We went in to the ticket office.  They told us that the temperature at the top of the mountain was below freezing.  Even at mid-mountain where the lift for mountain biking ends, the temperature was in the thirties.  The forecast for some rain showers wasn’t helping us commit to the expense.  We went back to the van and after some more deliberation, decided that we had enough clothes to bundle up adequately.  We went in and bought our tickets.

Clearly we were the oldest riders there.  We also were not equipped like most of the hardcore downhillers.  Their bikes are extreme, not too much more than mine, but noticeably different.  Kris’ bike is definitely more cross country in orientation and appearance.  The kids also wear significant safety gear to deal with the dangerous potential of crashing on harsh surfaces at high speeds.  They wear full face helmets, not typical biking helmets.  They wear body armor that consists of shin pads, knee pads, chest protectors and shoulder pads.  We looked out of place.  Everyone kept giving us the advice of riding the trails that were marked as easy. 

For our first run, we took their advice, even though we have ridden some rather advanced trails at other ski resorts and at other biking destinations all over the country.  We headed down Smooth Smoothy, which wasn’t nearly as smooth as the name implied.  It was a fun ride with a few small drops and jump options and one really bumpy rocky section.  As we descended the rocky section, several bikers came by on a parallel advanced trail moving at a speed that I couldn’t imagine on such a surface.  It reminded me that there is a difference between nerve and skill, just like skiing, and gravity is not a skill.

I was excited to try something more advanced, but it started raining when we got to the bottom.  My hands were numb from the constant bouncing and a bit cold, so we were going to take a break anyway.  We sat in the van, ate our lunch, and watched as only a few kids continued to make laps in the steady rain.  We had already spent our money, so we weren’t in a big hurry to call it quits.  And we didn’t have anything better to do on a rainy afternoon.  We waited for two hours, and debated just going out for one wet run.  Kris went to the restroom and talked to a young rider who told her that it was muddy, cold, and even snowing up top.  We were so unsure of what we wanted to do.

Finally the rain seemed to be letting up and I said I was going for one run.  Kris agreed to suffer through one run.  The lift has covers, like Alyeska’s lift used to have, so we were able to close the cover and keep dry and out of the wind on the way up.  About halfway up, it stopped raining. 

We chose an intermediate run, which started out very nice with some interesting rock and root challenges.  The wetness of the trail became a problem as the trail got steeper and more visually intimidating.  I fell once, a slow sliding fall on the muddy surface.  We walked many of the scarier sections.  We took a cutoff to the easier trails at the first opportunity. 

Down low, I suggested we follow Root Dog to the finish.  This trail was somewhat a continuation to a trail called Route 66 which runs under the lift and looked like a relatively smooth but twisty trail.  I think I was confused by the words route and root so I was surprised by the roots.  We were soon bouncing down the coolest rooty trail I have ever ridden.  Parts of it were so visually intimidating with drops over roots coming like stairs going steeply down through the tight woods that we walked.  Kris walked most of it.

Surprisingly, it didn’t rain at all on that run.  When I got back to the van, I was surprised that Kris was open to taking another run on the easy trail.  I was concerned about how cold my fingers had felt on the previous run, making it difficult to control the brake levers, but couldn’t pass up another opportunity.

The second run on the easy trail was a lot of fun, with no concern of what might be around the next turn.  We flowed down the mountain continuously.  When the trail finished at the small gravel road, almost four miles and 2000 feet later, I stopped to consider if I wanted take Root Dog or if I was going to take the easy road back to the base. 

Kris made a comment that indicated that I was slowing her down on that run.  My hands were completely numb and I couldn’t imagine why she thought she could go faster.  I was setting a pace that was as fast as I was comfortable and I have a more forgiving bike.  I was confused.  I knew that my springs are a bit stiff for my current weight, and commented that maybe that was the problem as I pushed down on the fork to test the spring rate.  The fork didn’t compress at all.  I bounced it again, still nothing.  I put all my weight on it hard, and it finally moved, but it was clearly not working right.  I wonder when it went out, but at least I knew why my hands felt so bad.

After a brief stop, the feelings were returning and it wasn’t raining so I decided to finish with another try at Root Dog, even with a nonfunctioning fork.  Kris took the road out while I dropped into the woods.  The second time was much easier.  I still got off the bike for two sections that just looked too scary.  I also got off the bike two other times unintentionally.  I landed on my feet both times.  This was my kind of trail, a trail that is strictly about skill with speed being limited by the tight turns through the trees.  It still amazes me to look at what can be ridden on a bicycle.

The advanced terrain is really insane.  Steepness increases.  Steepness isn’t a problem on a mountain bike.  I am sure I can descend a steeper trail on a bike than I can on foot, but when they add challenges on steep terrain, it is more than I am prepared to attempt.  Often they have wooden platforms that lead nowhere, just off a cliff where the bike is supposed to land on the steep wall after a significant drop.  They have gap jumps that require having enough speed to avoid landing short in whatever obstacle is being jumped.  This sport has changed in the short time we have participated in it.  It was fun to see what people are doing, even though I can no longer ride the most advanced trails.  I was quite happy to have mountain biked in Kamloops.  I was glad that we waited two hours in the rain to get two more rain-free runs.  It was a fun day.

Yesterday was primarily a travel day.  We are now in Kelowna.  It was a tough hundred miles.  We had four lanes at times, but even then we had enough traffic to make it challenging.  We drove through one large town that added to the challenge.  It tested my patience, but I passed the test.

We are camped at a nice place.  A local orchard has set up a few campsites on their property.  Fruit trees and grape vines surround us.  The pears look like they are almost ripe.

We went downtown in the afternoon.  We walked along their waterfront on Okanagan Lake.  It was strange to be walking around a city again, even a small city like Kelowna.  People were everywhere.  They were riding bikes, skateboards, and rollerblades.  Some were swimming, some jogging.  Most were just hanging out.  Everything is unnatural, the beaches, the parks, the waterways.  They are beautifully designed and maintained, just unnatural.  It was a different kind of walk for us.