Cursed & Blessed

Day 6: Rockwater Stone Cove Resort to Squamish. 60 miles. 3600 ft vertical. Weather wet.

Waking up to rain is not the best start to a bicycle day. To make matters worse, the place I was staying did not have breakfast until late in the morning. I started my ride wet and hungry. Those conditions also led to my first detour as I avoided the GNBR dirt, which I assume would be a muddy mess. I rode down the Sunshine Coast Highway in a drenching rainstorm.

When I could see the coast it was beautiful. Eventually I was able to get a strawberry drink and that tided me over until I got to the langsdale ferry terminal just before the 11:00 ferry. By that time I was soaking wet. The only good thing about being soaked is that you don’t have to stop to pee. No one will know the difference.

Once I parked my bike on the car deck of the ferry, I raced upstairs to the galley. Yes that’s what we call a kitchen on a ship. I’m kind of an expert on ships now that I’ve taken so many ferries:-). I get the All Aboard breakfast — three sausage, three bacon, two eggs, hash browns, and toast plus an additional bowl of oatmeal and 3 milks. I might be broke before I get to the other side of the country, but I sure need the calories.

The ferry took me to Horseshoe Bay. I then got on the BC 99 Highway and pedaled to Squamish. Thankfully, by that time the sun had come out and the trip up to Squamish was quite beautiful with flowers blooming everywhere. There were a few cars that tried to end my ride but overall the shoulder was sufficient and the drivers not too terrible.

It was worth all of the effort because once in Squamish my good friends Laura and Darcy Hunt came up from Vancouver, where they are serving a mandarin speaking mission for our church. Laura makes probably the best pecan pie in the world and she brought me several slices for the road. The First Slice was wonderful! We also enjoyed an Indian dinner together and an always Lively conversation.

Today both segments of the ride were described as very steep hills. The profile looked like a seismograph with a very high energy earthquake being recorded. Thankfully the miles were fewer and the overall elevations weren’t terrible. However, I’m mildly concerned because tomorrow I start up into the mountains near whistler.