You Take Me Up

“You take me up to the higher ground

You take me up so high

Now I never want to come back down”

I dont know if it's the high altitude or the pure mountain air, but I felt a bit lightheaded for several periods during my ride today. Not a fainting, wanna-pass-out feeling but rather a drunken/stoned one. My other preferred, and strictly anecdotal, theory is that certain fat cells store substances from good times which they release when you burn them. I have no idea what these substances are or how they got into my body <shrug>.

I was up early because the roadies of the roadies on a pampered bike tour at the campground were clanking up their breakfast. Their sergeant major started barking orders at 7am, "Start packing guys, meeting in thirty minutes". Ugh, I don't know if I could hack being in an organized cycling tour. At any rate I made and had my breakfast of oats and instant coffee, finished my packing and left before they loaded up their support trailer. Good thing they were headed the opposite direction, I'd like enough hot water a proper shower in the next campground :)

The sun quickly burned off the morning fog, the forecast promised a mostly sunny day. I put on socks and my normal cycling shoes for the first time in 4 days. There were some good climbs from the start, but the first 60 kilometres went by fast.

I decided to stop at the Ancient Forest, a hike which was highly recommended by David. It is a beautiful loop through some stands of Western Red Cedars, some of which are a thousand to two thousand years old. Despite the muddy conditions on the trail, it certainly did not disappoint and was the highlight of my day.

The Rockies loomed on my left as I emerged into the upper Fraser valley. The Columbia range on my right is equally impressive, as I was actually cycling on its formidable foothills. It made for a tiring roller coaster ride into the evening. Mercifully the last 20 kilometres into McBride were slightly downhill or flat, and I burned whatever energy I had left to hightail it to town as the massive mountains cast their long shadows into the valley. Perhaps cycling 150 kilometres of hilly terrain plus a hike was too much for one day.

“I know what it means to work hard on machinesIt's a labor of love so please don't ask me why.”