Day 55: Two days in one

Last night I met a group of cyclists at the campground and they invited me for dinner! The food was delicious, they gave me a cold beer and we had nice chats about cycle touring. At the end of the evening, there was madolin playing and we were singing campfire songs, it was lovely. 

This morning I got up early to ride up the big hill to get the ferry across Kooteney Lake at 7.10am. It was a nice ferry ride and still cool in the morning. On the road the other side of the lake I was in the dappled shade along another lakeshore heading west again, going up and down short hills, enjoying the lovely views and the morning weather. I rode into Nelson at 9.30, where I planned to have breakfast and continue to Castlegar before it got too hot, but Nelson looked so inviting and I decided to stay the day and ride the second 40km to Castlegar in the evening. 

I found a campsite, had a shower and saw the group of cyclists again, as they were staying in Nelson for the night! I left my stuff with their stuff and headed into town for much needed lunch.

In the afternoon I took my bike to a bike shop for a gear tune up and wandered around the lovely little shops in Nelson for a few hours, drinking lemonade and milkshakes in a bid to cool down.

When I went to pick my bike up, they hadn't just tuned up the gears, they'd tightened all the bolts, redone the ratty bar tape, adjusted the brakes and patched up the scraped paintwork with tape. She looked rejuvenated! They only charged me $11 and sent me on my way with an off-highway route recommendation and well wishes. Amazing! 

I sat by the lake in the shade reading my book until 6pm, when it was just starting to cool down a little. Then I headed out of town uphill in the low sun, sweating in granny gear. I found the turnoff to the recommended route and started climbing up the side of the mountain on the side road. It was like riding in a greenhouse! The smell of lush plants filled the humid air and wafts of sweet pollen swept over me as I rode past wildflowers. It was absolutely beautiful and the higher I got, the better the views. I went from 450m to 500m, 600m, 700m, almost to 800m in 10km of riding. Up and up until I was level with parts of the mountain on the other side of the valley that I'd oggled up at from the bottom. 

Then the descent - all the way back to 450m in just a few kilometres of hairpin bends and crazy downhills! By the time I got to the bottom, the sun had just dipped behind the mountain and I was free from the heat for the day. I crossed a wide, raging river and was back on the highway, downhill along a narrower valley with steep rocky sides all the way into Castlegar. It was so nice to ride in the evening, I had such a good day. The campsite here is by the river and I watched the sky turn from blue to pink to dark and skyped Dave whilst the stars came out.