Day 1. I left home early to catch a ferry over to Whidbey Island as part of my plan to not ride on an interstate today. Success! Hardly anyone on the ferry, either. The ride north to the border was moist - just a steady heavy mist.
The border crossing at Sumas was empty. I was the only person headed into Canada and it took about a minute. The Canucks are way more accommodating than we are. I have never had to do anything more than answer a few obvious questions when headed into Canada. Crossing back into the US usually entails removing my helmet and explaining why I would possibly want to come home. The line to cross into the US was a couple of blocks long.
Weather improved for my ride across the first part of British Columbia. A lot of those miles were spent riding through E. C. Manning Provincial Park. Imagine one of our national parks with a four lane highway through the middle of it and you have it about right. Unfortunately, scenery was in short supply because the clouds were persistent. So even though I stayed dry for a while, I didn't really see much.
Driving in Canada is pretty much the same as driving in the US. Speed limits are a lot lower - max speed on a 4 lane highway was 100 km/h (about 62 mph), and it wasn't unusual to have a limit of 80 km/h. It took a little while for me to realize my GPS unit had already translated km/h into mph and posted a suitable limit for me. Yay! The other interesting thing is they seem to be very conservative in how they post corners speed recommendations.
The second half of the ride was wet enough to choke a frog. I have good gear, but no amount of gear will stop complete immersion for any length of time. A drysuit would have been a better option. Everything survived except my gloves - those were absolutely drenched! I have two extra pairs but it seemed pointless to swap out that close to the end of my ride. It took 10-15 minutes for my hands to dry out when I stopped for dinner.
All-in-all, an OK day of riding. I tallied 449 miles. I had planned to do more, but the rain made me tired a little quicker and so I cut out a few stops to get to my room a little quicker. Tomorrow is supposed to be a little less wet, and it is a little longer day of riding, too. I am off to Lethbridge, Alberta tomorrow.
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| E. C. Manning Provincial Park |
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| One of my bonus stops today. It had just started to rain and my gloves were still mostly dry. |
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| My last bonus stop of the day. My gloves are completely saturated and very hard to get on and off. Must be time for pizza and beer. |
2 comments:
Congratulations on a successful first day. We will keep you in our thoughts and hope the weather improves for your upcoming days of riding. I didn't realize it at the time but I was on the same ferry as you were I admired the bike and thought of you heading off on your trip, and I didn't even realize that that was your bike otherwise I would've come and said hello. We went and played in a golf tournament on Whidbey. It was an early start today for all of us.
No worries, Jim. It has been a blast so far!
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