My "lots of kilometers" plan sort of went out the window fast today. As soon as I left the town of Hope it was nothing but a hill for about 23 km which climbed 824m nonstop and took two hours. At the top I was brought to the famous and tragic "Hope slide" which happened in January of 1965 and is the largest recorded landslide in Canadian history. Sadly, four people who had stopped due to poor road conditions were killed under the 80m of rocks and debris that fell.
That day it was close to 40 degrees with no rain at all, and I was drinking alot of water and had to remove my shirt to stay cool. The ride down from the Hope slide was an amazing reward. The cool air was bliss. Unfortunately the ride down is always shorter than the one up and I was now facing a new hill.
I hadn't researched the climbs on these roads at all. Its mostly intentional so I don't dread the climb and I'm rewarded with an unexpected summit every time. Well, I now found myself at the base of a hill that climbs up to the Allison pass. This was by far the most difficult hill I've climbed. Ever.
This thing just went on and on. It played all the trickery I'd seen on the smaller hills, making me think the ground was level or that there was a decline coming as the tops of cars disappeared, but my odometer would keep ticking off another meter climbed. I just kept telling myself "Around that next bend it'll level out". I must have said that to myself 30 times. I took my breaks near streams to refill on water and splash myself all over to cool off. There is always the sweetest gust of cool air near the water as well.
Champion
The day was turning into evening as I climbed this monster. The area surrounding the road had grown very dense with tall trees and ravens screamed at me as I trudged on. The traffic was sparse and I felt very isolated. I started to get the fear. If I ran into a bear my only escape would be to flee downhill.
With all these concerns weighing on my mind the road took a softer incline and in the distance a summit sign I had grown so fond of poked its head up. Finally it was over, and I was happy to see I had climbed 1342m to the Allison summit . I threw my arms in the air and let out a "woohoo" while a few confused campers drove by.
A lovely woman going the other way stopped to ask me if I'd seen two other cyclists, which I hadn't. They are doing a cross country tour as well with their gear carried by car. I was awarded a banana and picture taking by the summit sign and told there were campgrounds just a few kilometers down.
I found I was in the EC Manning provincial park, and the first campgrounds I came across and stayed at was called Cold Spring. I had hoped I'd dodge the $21 fee due to the late time, but the ranger made one last round and I was stuck paying. Set up camp and slept well after a days climb.
A lovely woman going the other way stopped to ask me if I'd seen two other cyclists, which I hadn't. They are doing a cross country tour as well with their gear carried by car. I was awarded a banana and picture taking by the summit sign and told there were campgrounds just a few kilometers down.