Hope to Merritt, 111km

Today was the first day of serious climbing. The route took us on Route 5, which required cycling over the Coquihalla to pass through the Coast Mountains. As I was getting ready to begin the day, I felt nervousness throughout camp. Everyone seemed to be in a rush rush mood to get out of camp and conquer the Coquihalla. The anxiety around camp rubbed off on me, especially when several people were leaving camp and I was not ready to get on the bike. However, Dan and Joyce were taking it easy as their attitude was, “we’ll get there when we get there,” and I appreciated that attitude because it reinforced the fact that it was not a race. This adventure was to be fun and racing to camp would take away from the enjoyment of the ride.

I left camp with a group of people (Dan, Joyce, Rob, Bill, Rene-Lise, Alain, and Jacques). We cycled on the highway together for about 15km but broke up quite quickly when we were met with the climb as all of a sudden I found myself cycling alone. The first hill wasn’t that bad but I definitely built up a sweat. It was the hill passing through the snowsheds and the one following that which were challenging. There were even designated areas for trucks to stop and chain-up during October to April because of the steepness of these passes in combination with potential bad weather. 

The pass through the snowsheds was 8% and I simply put my head down and cycled through. Once I passed the snowshed I stopped because I needed to catch my breath. Stopping was actually scary because my feet were clipped into my pedals and my legs weak from climbing the hill. I had a difficult time forcing my foot out of the pedal to ensure I would not topple over into traffic going 110km/hr. Once I caught my breath I could take in my view, which was absolutely spectacular. I guess it was worth climbing ;)

I looked ahead to lay eyes upon my next challenge which was intimidating. I became disheartened because it was a long gradual climb and I was tired. So I said to myself I would take the climb in segments. I found a spot which was a few metres ahead and said my goal was to get there. Once I made it there I set a new goal and so I puttered my way up the pass. Once I made it up I unclipped, set Paula down and paced to catch my breath. I met up with Eric at that point and cycled with him for the remainder of the day. We stopped at a rest area and I downed 3 PB&J sandwiches which surprised me, I knew I needed fuel but I did not expect I needed that much. Once Eric and I were fuelled up we made it to the Coquihalla summit which was 1244m.....I just cycled up 1244m! holy jumpin’ junies! :D what an accomplishment on day 3 of the tour.

The view at the summit was amazing but frightening as well because we were up so high. Eric and I stopped at a rest area where we met Dan and Joyce who we cycled with for the remainder of the day. After the rest stop there was quite a long and gradual decline. I was holding onto my brakes the entire time, daring not to let go because I would plummet forward but wishing I could because my hands were cramping. I was happy when the decent was over. At exit 256 we got off of Route 5 which was a relief because it was a highway with a fair bit of traffic and several trucks. However, the remainder of our journey consisted of a lot of up and downhill which was frustrating because we cycled up 1244m already that day. The last few kilometres were a killer because all of us were tired and we just wanted to get to camp. But soon enough Joyce said the magic words, pointing out the town of Merritt in the distance and I was so happy. One because I cycled through a mountain pass and two, the next day was a rest day so I could relax for a day and regain my energy. Part 1 of the tour was complete and I was thrilled with my accomplishment.