The week-end started off innocently enough, but it didn't take me long to declare it "dirty text week-end". Please allow me to clarify. For those of you who know Crash and Mars from NOW Radio, you know that every Tuesday morning, they have a contest dubbed "Dirty Text Tuesday", where people are supposed to text in with a sexual innuendo that, of course, can be read on the air. We laughed all week-end when something was said that could somehow become a sexual inuendo. I had already come up with my first dirty text from the night before as a couple of young guys at the local bike shop were attempting to put my saddle on my seat post (that sounds dirty in and of itself). They couldn't figure out how to do it and then one of the guys just simply thought outside the box and put the seat post on from the back of the seat - "Well," I said, "I never thought of entering it from behind!". First dirty text of the week-end! I digress. Back to the Silver Triangle - that's what this ride was called.
When seven people - Ernie, Bernie, Angela, Irene, Wayne, me, along with our trusty driver, Scotty, pile into a van for a road trip, there is bound to be a lot of fun along the way, and indeed there was! The other eight cyclists - Larry, Bob, Ed, Barb, Glenn, Pete, Justin and Euna - who we were to meet in Nakusp, don't know what they missed. We stopped at a beautiful water fall along the way and as somebody was trying to get the entire waterfall into view for a picture, Bernie said "Can you get it all in?" Yikes! Second dirty text. Time flew by and before we knew it, we were there...and the weather? A lot nicer than in Edmonton.
After we checked into our motel in Nakusp, some of us surveyed this quaint little town and later we all met and went out for dinner at a cozy Italian restaurant on the lake - the restaurant with a million dollar view. Time for some shut-eye...tomorrow is a long day.
Day 1—Nakusp to Kaslo - 92 km, climbing 1,030 metres
We awoke to a sunny morning. First thing's first - breakfast. Glenn and Pete treated us to a wholesome meal of bagels, cream cheese and fruit. During breakfast, Glenn was being true to form while he was thinking of me and the contest I would enter, when he showed me a pine cone from his back yard. "Nice cone!" - oops, was that out loud? Third text, and we hadn't even started our first day of riding yet! I was storing all my dirty ideas in drafts on my phone so as to quickly be able to submit them when the time came.
After breakfast we packed up our lunches and departed for our first day of cycling, bound for Kaslo.
Who mapped out this ride anyway??? Bob!!!! Within two minutes, we were climbing a hill. What the hell? At the first rest stop - 16 km into the ride, we were at Summit Lake Provincial Park and we all wondered what happened to Irene; she wasn't there. Did she miss the stop? Did she have a flat tire? We didn't know. Scotty drove ahead to see if he could find her. There she was. She did miss the stop, so we all told her to read her map more carefully.
Onwards and upwards to the next rest stop - lunch at New Denver Campground. So far, so good. Bob has planned nice rest stops, but what's with the climbs as soon as we start riding?
After lunch we started an 18 km climb followed by a 28 km down hill. It was cold up top, as you can see by the snow in the picture. It was beautiful though. The downhill was so long that I was actually getting tired of it. Since there was a head wind, it wasn't a very speedy ride either, which added to the boredom. I love speed. Entering Kaslo I felt like I was riding into a scene from Gunsmoke, and our hotel looked like a saloon. Whoever was responsible for booking our rooms deserves a medal. Well done! We stayed in condominiums with a huge veranda overlooking the lake - another million dollar view.
Everybody split up and did their own thing. Some went for a leisurely stroll, some went to dinner. May Days was on in Kaslo, and there were plenty of activities going on throughout town, including a lumberjack contest - "nice pole.!" D'oh fourth text.
Day 2—Kaslo to Nelson - 69 km, climbing 830 metres
Breakfast in Kaslo was fabulous because we had kitchens and real tables and chairs. The only downfall was the weather. It was raining. I guess this means we have to wear our rain gear instead of sunscreen.
Leave it to Angela to say "I'm wet already!" - Fifth text.
Within a couple of minutes of our start to the day, we started climbing. Again, Bob? Really? We haven't even had time to warm up yet. The rain subsided and turned to drizzle. In fact, it was actually warming up. About an hour after we started our ride, we were at Ainsworth Hotsprings. We opted to not go to the springs because we would have been too rushed.
Our next rest stop was at Kokanee Creek Provincial Campground, but not before I made an unscheduled pitstop at a small bakery at the Balfour ferry. While I was eating a very sinful cinnamon bun at the picnic table outside, suddenly Bob appeared, and then as Irene rode by, I yelled at her to come and join us in bakery heaven. Since one cinnamon bun wasn't enough, I had two because they were so delicious. I could have justified it by the amount of cycling I was doing, but I didn't feel like justifying it. Not long after that, as Angela and Barb rode by, I beckoned them to join us. It was a small party as we ate baked goods in the rain.
As we climbed on our trusty steeds, the rain really started coming down. It wasn't a full downpour, but enough to make me put on my waterproof gloves. We talked about the fires in Slave Lake, which led to further discussions about sexy fire men, and I said "Can I hold onto your hose!", as if I was talking to one of them - sixth text.
By the time we got to the lunch stop, the rain subsided. I wasn't the only person who thought this was a good time to change into some dry socks. If you've ever ridden a bike in the rain, you know that you will do anything to stay warm. I put ziplock bags around my feet inside my cycling shoes. You gotta do what you gotta do.
As we rode into Nelson, the sun was shining. We came upon some steep climbs, and at one point when I had to stop on a hill, I couldn't get going fast enough to clip both shoes in, and as I started to fall, I couldn't unclip so went over with my bike. My hip and head smashed into the pavement. Good thing I was wearing a helmet. I know a person who says he doesn't wear a helmet because he rides slow. I don't think you can get much slower than I was - at an almost standstill - when I was glad I was wearing a helmet - you don't need to be going fast to hurt yourself.
We checked into the Dancing Bear Inn hostel, showered and met up to go out for pizza. Pete's role was playing the waiter. After dinner some of us walked around the hippie town.
Day 3—Nelson to New Denver - 100 km, climbing 830 metres
The next morning we awoke to a much nicer day than the previous day. It wasn't really sunny, but at least it was relatively warm with no signs of rain on the horizon. Angela and I cooked breakfast - pancakes, strawberries and bacon - and it went over well and now that our tummies were full, we were ready to take on the last leg of this fabulous trip.
Again, like the other two days, we had a climb within a couple of minutes. My neck was beginning to get sore by this point, so the ride wasn't as enjoyable for me as it had been up to now. We eventually had a tail wind and we were all drafting each other. It was nice to be riding fast. There‘s nothing sweeter than the sound of tires rolling on pavement!
Next stop - lunch, and guess what? It was across the road from a bakery, so guess what a few of us did? You got it. We went to the bakery to get baked goods or coffee. After we finished our lunch, we carried on our journey, all except Angela and me. We were now in the sag wagon as support. By the time we got to the top of the last climb, I had wished I kept riding. The downhill from the top was fantastic, or at least it seemed like it would have been.
When we arrived in New Denver, the ride was over. We checked into our lovely domed motel and several of us took advantage of the hot tub. The hot tub was getting mighty steamy, what with the conversation and all, but we didn't make any part of it into a dirty text. It wasn't that kind of hot tub.
Drive back to Edmonton
The van was a bit cramped driving back to Edmonton because Bob joined us. Originally he met us in BC and his wife drove home. I had a ton of fun riding, joking, talking dirty texts, and just plain being silly. Oh, and the winner for the dirty text contest: "Keep pumping; it'll eventually get hard", for a whopping total of seven dirty texts. Maaan, was that ever a fun week-end.
