Summerland, B.C. - Princeton, B.C.

Today I cycled from Summerland to Princeton.

This morning I delayed starting as there was a slight drizzle when I woke up.  I hit the road at 8:00, not willing to wait any longer, but fortunately the rain stopped within minutes of beginning my ride.

I made good time heading south on Highway 97, backtracking the ten or so kilometres along Lake Okanagan that I had biked yesterday.

The Summerland Motel did not serve breakfast, so I stopped at Tim Horton's in Penticton and filled my panier with some food.

From there, rather than continue on the highway, I took the more relaxed route through downtown Penticton again before joining Highway 97 on the south side by the airport.

Penticton is bounded on the north by Lake Okanagan and to the south by Lake Saha.  The highway runs along the western bank of Lake Saha as well, and begins to climb up to the junction where 97 meets 3A.  At this point I was about 25 kilometres from Summerland and I was still making good time.

Highway 3A West leaves the Okanagan Valley and crosses a range of mountains before descending into the Similkameen Valley.  Almost as soon as I joined 3A I began climbing at what is for a highway an extremely steep grade.  

It was also an extremely desolate stretch, which was nice, because I would much rather be struggling over a mountain pass without having to worry about traffic.

Once again I enjoyed the climb more than I expected.  It felt awfully good to summit it and then, the real highlight, flying down the other side into the valley.  My speedometer topped out at over 60 kmph.

It was still before noon by the time I reached the village of Keremeos, where Highway 3A meets Highway 3.  I took a little shortcut around the village, past apple orchards, and met Highway 3 on the west side of the village.

After Keremeos it is about 65 kilometres to Princeton, and its more or less a false flat the whole way.  I think the total climb is only 250 metres, but there was some wind in my face as well, so it felt like a real slog.  

The old mining town of Hedley broke up the stretch a bit.

Apparently you can take tours of old gold mines around here, and the whole place felt like a bit of an historic relic.

Past Hedley the highway crosses the Similkameen River and then runs alongside it the rest of the way into Princeton.

I got to spend more time than I would have liked along the gorgeous river, because about ten kilometres out of Princeton I had to change a flat.

If there can be such a thing as ideal timing for a flat, this was it.  The weather was perfect, the view lovely, and I was close enough to the end of my day that I did not feel demoralized.  

I took my time getting the flat fixed, and got back on the road around 15:30.  I rolled into Princeton at around 16:00.  So including just under two hours of stops, it was an eight hour day of cycling to cover 125 kilometres, with an average speed of 20.7 kmph.  Certainly beat yesterday, but I was still disappointed it was so low.  

I made my first stop in Princeton at A&W for "lunch."  Here I met another cyclist, also working his way towards Vancouver, who had cycled from Keremeos today.  He had at least two, probably three decades on me, so I was embarrassed to tell him I was staying a motel while he was tenting!  We chatted casually about the next stretch, and he intimidated me a bit with how hard he made it sound.  

After lunch we wished each other luck and I cycled to the Deerview Motel to check in to my room.  I had laughed at the corniness of the name "Deerview," but I saw deer three separate times at the motel or close to it!  This was the most surprising sight, a whole bunch of deer right in the middle of the town!

The cyclist I met had mentioned he had stopped in at the tourist office to get information about the tomorrow's ride, so I headed over there as well to see what I could learn.  I was a bit taken aback when the lady said "there's no way you can make it to Hope in one day."  This was exactly what I intended to do, so now I was worried.  She gave me this little piece of paper to give me a sense of the climb:

Now I was intimidated and stressed, but probably more determined than ever that I would in fact make it to Hope tomorrow.

Kelowna, B.C. - Summerland, B.C.

This year, I planned to pick up my cross-Canada cycling tour where I left off in 2015, the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus, just outside of Kelowna.

I drove here over a couple of days with my girlfriend, Andrea, enjoying the mountains and many of the same spots I had cycled through in 2015, only this time without the physical exertion and flat tires.

Yesterday morning, Sunday, September 4, when we arrived in Kelowna, I got on my bike at the UBC campus, and cycled to our hotel in Kelowna itself.

Andrea's sister flew in to meet us for the afternoon, and she will be driving home with Andrea as I go off on my bike.  

Today I mounted up at 10:00 and headed east, up into the hills above Kelowna, to join the Kettle Valley Railway trail.  It was supposed to be my easiest day, under one hundred kilometres to Summerland via the KVR.

   

From Kelowna up to the KVR was a twenty kilometre ride, with a total climb of over 1,000 metres!  Despite the steep grade, it was actually a really lovely ride, through orchards, past horses and vineyards, all with a view of Lake Okanagan and Kelowna down below.

Eventually though, the pavement met a forestry road, where the incline got even steeper, and pedaling through the gravel and dirt was getting me virtually nowhere.

I ended up pushing my bike most of the way up the four kilometres or so before meeting the trail itself.

I had expected the climb up to the KVR to be the most challenging portion of the day, but actually riding the KVR was at times extremely tough.  The grade was wonderful, since the trail used to be the rail bed, but the condition of the trail--which for long stretches is also a road--is much better suited for a mountain bike or ATV than hybrid commuter bicycle sans suspension loaded down with many pounds of rider and baggage.

Despite the rough riding, however, the scenery and isolation was amazing.  For some time I had more views of the lake to my right.

Then, about ten kilometres after joining the KVR I got to cross this trestle:

The original trestle was burnt in the big Kelowna-area forest first a few years ago, but volunteers and donors have rebuilt it.  Apparently there are many more of them in the direction opposite of the one I was traveling (i.e., roughly north vs. south), but this was the only one I got to cross.

I took my first break along a stretch of trail bounded on both sides by rock.  To the west the rocks were about double my height, but easily climbable, so I climbed up and had this view of the lake and Kelowna way down below.

For the next twenty-forty kilometres the trail was much more isolated, and I saw no more than a dozen other cyclists, ATVers, and drivers.

This was at a place called Chute Lake, where there's actually a little resort area.

After Chute Lake the trail began descending at a grade of about 2% as it switched-backed and wound its way towards Penticton.

Back when the KVR was actually a railroad, the route passed through the Adra Tunnel.  Now, the tunnel is apparently unsafe, so a steep shortcut has replaced it:

Volunteers are trying to raise money to restore the tunnel, and I guess they have opened up the first 100 metres or so.  I went down the trail to check it out. 

Honestly, I got spooked and decided not to enter.  I would probably want a companion and a good flashlight if I was going to go inside.  Anyway, it was pretty cool to see.

Once past the Adra Tunnel, the south end of Lake Okanagan became visible, and I could see Penticton and the lake's southern shore, and Summerland across on the western side.

For a wonderful brief stretch the trail here was actually paved, and it passed through another tunnel.

The trail went back to gravel on the other side of the tunnel, but now it was much better maintained, and the trail's traffic also increased dramatically as I neared Penticton.  Soon I was cycling through vineyards, again.  I "borrowed" a couple of grapes at this spot.

Out of interest, I cycled a bit of a longer way through Penticton then was necessary, just to see it, and get some cash at a bank.

Just where I was about to join Highway 97, heading north on the lake's western shore, I stopped for a very late lunch at A&W.  Actually this timing was very fortuitous, because it actually started raining while I was inside eating, and had stopped by the time I came out!

My motel in Summerland was about ten kilometres north of Penticton.  Highway 97 here is right next to the lake, and at a couple spots there were nice roadside turnoffs.

It was nearly 17:00 by the time I arrived in Summerland.

I had cycled about 98 kilometres by the time I reached my motel.

It took me 5:30 of riding time, at an average speed of only 17 kmph!  I had planned to ride the KVR tomorrow to Princeton, but decided now I would take the highway instead, even though it would be mean doubling back through Penticton.