Barrierre to Clearwater

Today we met our first fellow touring cyclist, who was riding from Calgary to Vancouver. We shared information on burgers(!), hills and motels. He was obviously “old school”, wearing a poncho, running shorts and his panniers were well worn.

The rain, which was otherwise constant, let up briefly while we enjoyed the rest of last night’s pizza on the banks of a very full, North Thompson River. We had earlier stopped for respite from the rain at Little Fort, where we shared an enormous slice of Bumble Berry pie, (guilt-free cycling!).

Observing birds is a day to day joy along the road. The highlights so far have been two active osprey nests and, today, a long- billed curlew perched on top of a tree.

We’re still doing minor adjustments to alleviate pressure on hands and derrière, but are also noticing that some things are improving, like neck strain. We are becoming more adept at avoiding falls – falls happen when we don’t unclip quickly enough (thankfully, no longer a problem for Lois) and because of the weight of our panniers, which can make the bikes unstable. Lois fell three times one day before we realized her panniers were unevenly weighted! The bruising is still resolving!

Day off tomorrow, before 3 long days to Jasper!

We stayed again on the traditional territory of the Shuswap Nation.