Month: July 2026

• Yesterday morning, the wildfire smoke had gotten worse, and neither highway had reopened. I decided that waiting for things to improve was a fool’s errand – instead, my best bet was to hitch a ride on the freeway to Merritt, where I could resume my route on back highways
• It only took 20-30 minutes with my thumb out before a kind soul felt pity on me – thanks Rick!  The drive over the mountains went quickly, with Rick telling me the history of the highway, tidbits about his work as a geologist, and how Albertans are terrible drivers.
• After getting dropped off on the outskirts of Merritt, I rode into town to get a snack – ate at a cool cafe that served Bannock, a type of Native American fry bread. However, when I left the cafe, the smoke was so bad that there was ash all over my bike. I decided to play it safe and get yet another cheap motel, as the forecast said the air would be better in the morning.
• The air was not better in the morning. At this point, there was nothing left to do but strap on the N-95 mask I had bought for this scenario and head out of town. Riding with the mask wasn’t too bad, since the road was fairly flat – it only got tough when I hit a 500 for climb.
• The stretch from Merritt up to Kamloops didn’t really have any services for about 40 miles. Without the smoke I think it would have been a great ride – mostly high desert valleys with the occasional lake. I saw 4 bald eagles – one very close (but I didn’t have my phone out, so no pic).
• I had a bit of a tailwind and was making pretty good time until my first flat. I patched that, but upon reinflating the tire I heard another hiss – a new hole right next to the patch. New patch, reinflate, hiss again! New hole next to the new patch! I knew it wasn’t the tire, and after I inspected closer, I realized my rim tape – the tape in a wheel that protects the tube from the spoke holes – had shifted, leaving just enough hole exposed to allow the tube to rub and leak. Another new patch, and I took down the road – only 7 miles to the campsite. 2.5 miles away, and another flat! Same problem, different spot. That patch failed just as I rolled into the campsite (I rushed and used those dumb sticker patches that never work). At the site, I patched yet again, only to have THAT patch fail! I gave up, and put in a new tube. So far that is holding. Tomorrow I’ll try to get my wheel re-taped in Kamloops. But 6 flats in one day ties the bikebums record that Megan Books set way back in 2005! The good news is I didn’t lose my mind, and am now fed and showered, lying in my tent as the wind rustles the trees. Phew

Not many pics from the last few days – the smoke really hindered the views

I’ve gotten back on the road, but it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing.

• Kyle and Avvai, the warmshowers hosts we stayed with in Vancouver, are extremely kind, generous, and easy-going people. They had no problem with me staying 3 extra nights while I figured out my bike and health issues. I caught one of the city tours that Kyle runs, they offered me tons of food, and we watched the birding documentary ‘Listers‘ with one of their friends (which is amazing, by the way, and free on YouTube!). I had a great time staying with them
• Kissing Crows cycle shop did an amazing job getting my bike back in working order in a short period – they had to replace my bottom bracket, and overhaul my rear hub, but now it’s all running good as new. I’m lucky I ended up in Vancouver when I did, and that Avvai recommended them. Still a little bitter that my local shop did not catch any of these issues when I specifically asked them to check out those components, but it all seems to be working out.
• Unfortunately, right after Nick and Zach left, I started feeling not so hot, so I decided to stay a few extra days – until Saturday – hoping I would kick whatever was ailing me. I was also stalling in the hopes that the wildfires in the Fraser canyon (which I am planning on riding through) would get under control.

• When I finally left on Saturday morning (I had been in Vancouver since Tuesday), I was feeling pretty good. I took the light rail to skip some of the sprawl heading east out of the city (in 2009 we rode all the way out and I remember it being not much fun). However, once I got to riding, I started feeling not great and decided to just do a short day. I found a really beautiful campsite on a lake in Golden Ears provincial park, after a mostly easy 25 miles of riding.
• There was one catch though – my offline maps app led me on a horse trail that crossed the river. I had assumed there would be a bridge, but there wasn’t. I was too stubborn to backtrack to the last real bridge and add 10 miles to the ride, so instead I found a large stick for balance and made 4 trips shuttling my bike and gear across the river. I didn’t fall in once!
• On Sunday, I was making pretty decent time, but again was starting to feel crappy, so I did another short day and checked into a motel in the hopes I would recover quickly. I didn’t, and ended up staying an extra night. This morning, I was still feeling pretty rough, but I was too antsy to stick around. Instead, I rode 50 miles in 90 degree heat through a ton of wildfire smoke. It was pretty easy riding though – very flat, with a tailwind most of the way.
• Unfortunately, when I pulled into the town of Hope, I was greeted with a sign that the highway I planned on taking was closed – it turns out a new fire started today! And the alternate highway I was considering (heading east vs North) is also closed due to a fire! The only ways out of this town are back the way I came or on the major freeway that doesn’t allow bikes. I’m holed up here tonight, and hoping conditions improve tomorrow – we shall see!

We made it to Vancouver on Tuesday evening, and Nick and Zach headed off on the train yesterday morning. I’m taking some downtime while a bike shop looks into some issues with my bike (rear hub and bottom bracket). I’m staying with some great warmshowers hosts, Kyle and Avvai.

I’ll take a quick stab at summarizing the last week and a half of riding:

• We had really great weather, the only rainy day was when we took the ferry from Bamfield to Port Alberni. 60s and 70s pretty much the whole time
• The scenery was amazing. Lots of crystal clear rivers and ponds, super lush forests, gorgeous ocean views. A lot of the time it felt like we were riding in some prehistoric jungle or Ferngully.
• I had forgotten that Canadian road engineers don’t seem to care that much about maximum grades – in the US it’s rare to see anything beyond 8 or 9 percent, but here you see lots of 11, 12, 13 percent grades. A lot of this route was pretty challenging in that respect – we didn’t have too many major climbs, but there were a lot of very steep ups and downs.
• The ferry to Port Alberni had 8 other bike tourists on it – it was fun to go around and chat with them all about their various routes.
• We saw some good wildlife – lots of bald eagles, a seal patrolling the harbor, a pod of orcas…. We even scared a black bear up a tree!
• Overall a challenging, but fun week and a half of bike touring. But no one wants to read this slop – here’s some photos!

We’re having a blast on Vancouver Island. More details later, but here’s some pics

We rented a pickup to drive to Port Angeles and even though it seemed like 24 hours was plenty of time for a 13 hour drive, we still only made it to the ferry with like 15 minutes to spare. Highlights of the trip up include dinner at the Mount Shasta Fourth of July celebration (complete with live boomer rock) and a pancake breakfast in Yoncalla (Zach’s first).

After getting off the ferry in Victoria, we grabbed some food and headed to the house of our gracious hosts, Kelton, Kayleigh, and Renfrew. They are Kelton and Kayleigh are super cool high adventure parents, and Renfrew is a genuis at creating vampire fruit. It was great staying with them – they gave us some really good route advice, and even made us scones for breakfast!

On Sunday we grabbed some supplies and headed out of Victoria on the Galloping Goose rail trail. Victoria is a lovely city with great bicycle infrastructure. The rail trail was absolutely gorgeous, alternating between ocean views and dense forest. We camped at a provincial park on a river, where we met some other bike tourists on different routes.

We got a late start this morning, mostly due to dealing with the various mechanical and organizational issues that always need ironing out at the beginning of a tour. The route we took along the coast was beautiful and reminded me of highway one in mendacino, but with far fewer people. The wind really picked up in the afternoon – not in our direction – so we ended a bit early. We’re now preparing a delicious dinner of pierogi at a campsite high on a bluff overlooking the straight – pretty good stuff!