Wonderful Rail

Day 12: Princeton to Penticton. 73 miles. 3334 feet elevation.  Weather warm

If you look really closely through the tunnel, you’ll see my new best friend, Russ. About 8 miles out of Princeton, I ran into him. He’s from Vancouver and out for a week-long ride. Eventually, he dropped off after we had ridden and spoken together for quite a while. I’m not sure if he just didn’t want a companion or wanted to take a different pace, but regardless, I accomplished goal number two for the day.

It was another beautiful day of skirting along the edges of lakes and over beautiful mountain streams. Today, I felt better than I had on the previous days. I tried to take the pace a little more reasonably. I even stopped and soaked my legs in this lake while I ate lunch. Additionally, we were on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, which gave us a good 4% grade climb instead of some of the crazier angles we’ve had.

I had two wonderful, kind Canadian experiences today. As I struggled up a steep hill, two people checked on me. This nice lady actually stopped her car and got out to get me some water from her trunk, which was so kind of her. It is a good place to ride a bike, with good people and a beautiful country. The KBR is an especially nice place.

I was pretty late getting down to Penticton, but it was well worth it and still light. I walked along the beach, soaked my legs again, and got some food. My son Logan needs to tell his buddies to come here for their summer boat trips rather than those puddles of water in the southwest. These lakes you could start on in the morning, pulling a skier and going one direction for the entire morning, never turning. They’re beautiful and massive.

Well, I’m off to continue up the other side of the canyon on the KVR. I’ve been blessed to ride down that Canyon twice, and this will be my first time up. Thankfully, since it’s a rail trail, it shouldn’t be too steep.