The Big Cycle of 1996
or
Ken and Keith's Excellent Adventure

We left the north side of Shuswap Lake near the tiny village of Celiste on the morning of August 3, 1996 and took the road that goes up the west side of Adam's Lake and over to Louis Creek on the Yellowhead highway. We carried camping equipment including tent, sleeping bags, stove and a day's supply of food. Needless to say, out bikes were heavy, slow to accelerate, and correspondingly slower to bring to a stop. Our goal was to cycle up the Yellowhead highway to Jasper, south to Lake Louise, and then west back to our starting point on the north side of Shuswap Lake.

There was about 40 kilometers of gravel on the stretch that went along Adam's Lake. Fortunately the weather was cloudy so it was not that hot. We climbed about 300 meters above the lake and had some nice views.

The country between Adam's Lake and the Yellowhead Highway was beautiful. Coasting down the last few kilometers on pavement was a welcome relief despite the thundershowers. Our first day's ride was about 85 kilometers. I was very tired at the end of the day.

Our first night was spent at a campsite at Barriere. It was close to a restaurant where we had lasagna for supper. Later, we had a chocolate bar for dessert and I finished off the evening with a Mercendol just before we went to bed at 9:00. Oh my aching muscles!

Day Two - Barriere to Clearwater

We had decided we had too much clothing with us so we hid the extras at a rest stop just north of Barriere. We picked the bundle up two weeks later when we had finished the trip.

Cycling the 60 km the next day to Clearwater was so chilly that we could see our breath! It was also a very wet ride. New road construction between Little Fort and Clearwater created a no shoulder situation which didn't help either. The good thing was that we had a bit of a tail wind. I felt tired but that was to be expected as I was overweight hadn't done much training. My bike was concerning me a bit as the rear brake would drag if the right hand bolt was done up tightly. The bike mechanic I usually deal with had put a little washer on the left hand side to avoid this problem and I decided to try to get one for the right hand side in Jasper. The brakes worked fine but the thought of a dragging brake on such a long trip was very depressing. Ken discovered a very tight front axle. We hadn't brought cone wrenches and weren't able to correct the situation until we found a bike shop in Jasper.

We stayed at the Dutch Lake campsite in Clearwater, cleaned the grime from our bikes and did laundry. Looking out the laundry room window I saw fresh snow on a distant summit! The thought of days of cold rain was depressing.

Day Three - Clearwater to Blue River

The third day was spent cycling the 108 km from Clearwater to Blue River under threatening skies. We were off by about 7:00 am. Vavenby offered no services until later that morning so we cycled another 10 km to a small cafe and campsite. The day consisted of rolling ups and downs with a lot of fairly flat sections. We stopped at Avola for lunch. We had great tail winds after that, leading up to Massiter Summit. I drafted Ken for quite a while easily staying at about 30 km/h. The climb up Massiter Summit was about 5 or 6 % and about 5 km long. There was a nice downhill run down the north side. Dark skies at the end of the day convinced us to get a motel.

I felt tired again at the end of the day, but not as badly as I felt at Barriere. It was easy to stay hydrated and the breaks at the different cafes were very welcome.

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