Woke up to soaked ground, fog, and jacket worthy temperatures. May as well been back home I figured. I Packed up and left on a route north east that would bring me back on the old reliable TCH.
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| Post egg sandwich |
I rode through wet, foggy, and hilly Sooke up Sooke road feeling like a bit of a sook about my dumbassery. Cut up Humpback road which to no surprise had very steep hills and very thick tree cover. Well at some point the crappy weather broke and the sun came poking through the cover and I found myself in a little populated area with a corner store where I could get me a cold pop.
I was able to dry my tent and all things soggy as well as get the attention of a nice man who lived attached to the corner store. He tended to his great little garden which was put up in memorial to his recently deceased son and made me an egg sandwich with a glass of milk! If you read this, thanks again for the great meal! It really was a turning point for that day.
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| From atop the Malahat Summit |
From there it was steady up the TCH until I found I could not push the bike past 12 kph. The road seemed level and the wind wasn't too bad. I started thinking I was getting weak, the bike is too heavy, I won't be able to get across Canada at this pace... I'm not strong enough!
Turns out I was steadily climbing a deceptive incline that gradually went up 352m to the Malahat Summit, my very first summit! I had been fighting sneaky hills without knowing it. I learned to watch my odometer for changes in ascent because the highways look flat when they are not.
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| The giant here uses cars for skates |
Things went smoothly after that and I eventually rolled into quiet little Chemainus where I poked around and eventually settled for camping in the woods next to Chemainus lake.
