High Compliment

Day 5: Courtney to Rock Water Resort. 75 MI. 5200 ft of vertical. Weather perfect. These are estimates, since my GPS couldn’t handle the ferry crossings.

The day started very early. I wanted to make the 6:00 a.m. ferry, or I would not have enough time to do the ride I needed to do today. Accordingly, I was up at 4:45 and out the door at 5:00. I’ll admit it’s nice to pedal on the roads at 5:00 in the morning and watch the sun come up over the mountains across the ocean. I raced to the terminal, where I was promptly yelled at by the ticket agent for being in the car line. She said I was going to get killed. When I finally figured out where to buy my walk/bike ticket, they had loaded the other walk-ons. I was the last to board the ferry, but I was grateful to be on board. The ferry gave me a chance to have breakfast as we made the 90-minute crossing to Powell River.

Today, there were so many amazing sights that it almost became commonplace. I think we passed at least six beautiful lakes. Then we came down the coast, which was just incredible. It’s called the Sunshine Coast, and today it lived up to its name. Many of the trails today were quite incredible as well. However, by the last few miles, I was a bit worn out, and the trail went up and up. Regardless, it was a beautiful day.

After nine of us set out from Victoria at the same time, it didn’t take long for everybody to separate. Since day one, I haven’t seen any of the other Riders until today. Coming around a bend at one of the lakes, I ran into Monica and Trish. They’re from the Edmonton area. We rode on and off together most of the afternoon. During one of our pauses while chatting, Trish indicated she thought I was Canadian. I’m not ashamed of being American, but Canadians are so nice that I’m proud someone thought I was one.

In the picture above, we’re just getting off the second ferry ride of the day. The great thing about ferries is you can rest and eat, and they’re at sea level, so getting to them is downhill. Unfortunately, if you’re not near Death Valley or the Dead Sea, everything is uphill from the ferry. On both ferry crossings today, I got off and almost immediately started pushing my bike up the incredibly steep hills rising from sea level. But it was still worth it. The views from both ferries today were just outstanding, and the pictures don’t do them justice.

I haven’t forgotten my three goals. In fact. This morning, I made the cashier on the ferry smile. On the second ferry ride, I spoke with two other bicyclists who were on a short tour from Vancouver. I didn’t really find anybody to help, but I did leave a big tip for dinner tonight:-).