PowerCycle

09/01 Spent the day trying to get my touring groove back on. It almost felt like it was my first day again. When you are riding you get so used to every small change in the environment; things like the terrain, the traffic, the people… even the smells. Now suddenly I find myself not used to any of it because in a very short period of time everything changed. I hope this doesn’t last long because I’m not liking it.

Here’s a rough map showing my train/ferry rides from Denali to Port Hardy:

Vancouver Island is definitely unlike any other area I’ve ridden. I can smell the ocean very clearly. It’s not a horrible fish smell but you sure know you’re close to it. The people driving here don’t move over like they do almost everywhere else. No one came close but they very rarely move into the other lane. Truckers are the exception because they are cool like that. It’s a busy highway so I have to be careful not to weave out into the road especially since there is no shoulder. Leaving Port Hardy the road stayed very flat for 30 miles or so and then it got hilly as I neared Nimpkish lake. Nothing too bad though. The trees are mostly pine but along the coast there were a few hardwood trees that were just massive (not sure what kind). The underbrush is very thick so unless I find roads I won’t be camping in the woods. It’s hard to see much of the landscape because the road runs right through some thick forest.

Saw the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time this morning. Looking up I could see 2 ravens flying about 50 feet over the road heading toward me. All of a sudden the lowest bird started flying upside down! It did it for about 2-3 seconds and then flipped back over. Then it did it again for a couple more seconds. I guess it was just showing off.

Found a handmade “Camping” sign next to the road by the lake here so I headed down. And down and down. It’s gravel so the climb in the morning will suck a bit. Not too far off the main road I spotted a car stopped. It was a Mom and daughter and they hit gold! Not me pulling up–they found an apple tree. BC apples are about the best in the world so finding a tree was awesome. The mom made the daughter give me a couple even though I could have picked them just as easily. I’ll be back up there in the morning. The other really good thing in BC are the cherries. I ate an entire bag of them the other night.

A while ago a couple touring riders with a dog being towed in a trailer rode by the campsite here. Maybe they’ll stop over later. There’s a British couple touring the US/Canada in an RV next to me and we were chatting for a while. Nice people. Another RV just pulled up right next to them which basically blocked the British couple’s view of the lake. Unbelievable.

Update: This 2nd RV guy deserves his own update. What a piece of work. Not only does he pull into an occupied campsite (1 fire pit=1 campsite), he then started tossing firewood out of his RV onto the ground. Next it was out with the giant axe and for the next 10 minutes he chopped it on the freaking picnic table (again 1 table=1 campsite). He’s too morbidly obese to get some twigs to light the fire so he literally took almost an entire newspaper and used that. Now he has a raging bonfire going even though the province is under a fire ban. He also has 2 tiki torches set up even though there isn’t a single mosquito out here. Of course now the fire has been going for 15 minutes and he’s been inside the entire time. This guy represents everything wrong with this country. I’m so embarrassed.

GPX Track