The ferry left us at the doors of Canada, with an hour difference due to the time zone change and facing an endless line of vehicles to cross the border. We still had a few kilometers to go and find a place to spend the night, which was certainly upon us.

While fro me it was a two minutes deal, where I only had to day that I was on my way back to Argentina, Oscar was further “inspected” for almost half an hour, with tons of questions; the karma of being Colombian in these lands of the north.

If my daily budget was small for these latitudes, Oscar’s was even smaller. We didn’t have the liberty to stay for free at the provincial campground like in the Yukon, where the isolation and lack of people let us pass unnoticed. In British Columbia, there were rangers whose only duty was to charge campers and the $14 fee to set up a tent were too much for us.  We better use that money for food! On the other hand, the private campgrounds were outside consideration: from $20 to $25 just for including a “free” shower! No, thanks!!

The answer to our lodging problems came at hand from the “road bible” that the Kullberg family gave me in Anchorage before the start of my trip: the Milepost! There, we have a detailed description of the rest areas and their location along the way. From that moment, we would “surf” every one of them, either to rest a bit, to eat something or to sleep. The omnipresent bear-proofed trash cans guaranteed that our food was safe from these little beasts and we would avoid undesirable visits!

Our first stop was at the edge of a small lake at 15 km from Prince Rupert. The night reached us while we were on the road, so we arrived in the middle of the dark. For the first time on the trip, I was setting up camp using the flashlight!

Without knowing it, we also started a tradition that would be the usual in our trip: to reach the campsite very late every day!! It wasn’t a strategy (because, in theory, you cannot spend the night at those rest stops), but because our relaxed Latin style or riding, we spent countless hours chatting, stopping for pictures, taking short naps after lunch or simple jumping into a lake or river if the weather permitted. What’s the rush?

From the usual two hours from the moment I woke up until I started riding, we went to more than three hours every morning. The breakfast was a ceremony that deserved its dedication. Oscar specialty were the oats, preparing every time, an abundant portion that was supplemented with anything at hand (lots of sugar, chocolate, raisins). And of course, we spent hours talking about our previous trips, the present, the future and many other things. The experience and knowledge that Oscar gained on his previous trip through South America were an invaluable source of information for my future courses.

Our first day riding together was impeccable. Plenty of sunshine, a terrain that was totally flat for the first time and with the wind on our backs. What else we could ask for?

As soon as we started we couldn’t resist the temptation of visiting the nearby Lake Diane and take a dip in it. A few km ahead we found again Jorg and Heike, the German couple that I saw for the 5th time on the road. It was impossible to refuse their kind invitation for coffee with them. When we got back to the road it was after 2pm and we rode only 10 km!!!







The road on that first section was just spectacular. Flanked by the Skeena River and impressive vertical rock walls, the road searched for its way on a hand to hand fight with the railways of the busy train. The green colored waters tried to catch our attention rivaling with the beauty of the surrounding peaks.

Definitively, the signs that promoted the “Beautiful British Columbia” were not exaggerating nor were vain: it was a beautiful place.

Our capacity to get astonished was greatly surpassed when we saw the rest areas where we were stopping: lawn neatly mowed tables with panoramic views, restrooms with plenty of toilet paper and even with antibacterial gel to wash our hands! It was more than enough! Some were even better than some campgrounds where I stayed, where they were mostly parking lots for RV’s as opposed to green spaces to camp. Here the grass was a temptation to set the tent up and never leave!!

That night, our good fortune, in combination with our deplorable appearance, provided us with much needed supplies. We were both low on food and the menu was reduced to the always welcomed instant noodles, reserved for emergency cases. But that was only a mere tingle in our stomachs. An occasional stop at a luxury lodge left us with a pair of huge sandwiches for a ridiculous cost. It was obvious that we were pitied. A bit later, and with the excuse of obtaining hot water from a huge RV, a ended up with a donation of 12 smoked sausages with bread and all the necessary condiments to make great hot-dogs. Now, we were done!!

The next day we parted ways temporarily. I had previously set to meet a family in Terrace and Oscar had the same but a bit further ahead, in Smithers. So, we decided to get back together a couple of days later, As soon as we separated, our good weather luck run out and the sky broke lose with two days of torrential rain. Poor Oscar. I felt bad for him while I was resting under a roof and he had to face the elements on the bike.

There were two days totally resting and receiving the care and attention of Lovina Tyler and Dennis Gibney. I met them at the Alaska-Yukon border and they had invited me to visit them when I pass through Terrace. By chance, I happened to arrive just in time for Lovina’s birthday, a fact that contributed to recuperate my normal weight: it had been a long time since I enjoy myself so much and had so much homemade food. And as extra, they made the contacts to arrange an interview with the local newspaper.  (see the Aug 1st link in the Press section)

Such luxuries were spoiling me and I almost didn’t want to leave. Dennis’ stories about his backpacking trip through South America in the 80’s were a source of endless conversations.

But I had to keep going. Oscar was waiting for me 200 km ahead. In two days I arrived to the picturesque town of Smithers, with its Swiss-style-architecture main street and its arrange of services that was amazing for the few thousand inhabitants of the area.  
It was something that I grew used towith the kilometers passing. Even in towns with less than 20 thousand inhabitants, the business and commercial infrastructure offer surpassed that of many great cities in South America. The little great differenced of these latitudes.

During those days alone, a new companion added herself to my trip: Margarita, a rubber snake that I hit on the road shoulder and scared me to death! That’s all I needed: on top of bears, snakes! Now, she was proud on her new mode of transportation, looking at everything from the back of my bike.

During his stay in Smithers, Oscar got me a contact with a place to spend the night: An Argentinean home! Facundo and his partner, Nikki.  I arrived almost in the dark, after 125 km pedaling, crowned with a tiring and sweated 4 km climb to their place.  The warmth, the good vibes that were floating in the place and the songs of Kevin Johansen in the background, made me feel more than close to home. I never expected to listen to one of my favorite artist in these latitudes!! The feeling was even greater when the next morning we had breakfast with mate and dulce de leche on toasts!! Spectacular!!

The ‘Hungry Hill’ was waiting for us at the edge of town and with Oscar we did honor its devouring everything we have in the first rest area that crossed our path. That night we stopped in Houston, at Paul Comparelli’s house, a character that I’d met at the Top of the World Hwy, and who offered me his hospitality. But unfortunately, those days he was traveling with his family in the Canadian east coast so, with his approval (thanks to e-mail) we set up camp in his backyard. More precisely, we settled in his garage because the resistance to set up the tents always won.  We never saw so many bikes in one place outside a bike shop: racing bikes, mountain bikes, touring bikes, tandems, and recumbent bikes… they added up to more than 15. You can tell he loves cycling!

Leaving Houston we were witnesses to a strike, a bit unusual from my point of view. Sitting on chairs and holding strike signsfour road workers were expressing their disliking of the system. They wanted shorter labor contract, so they could negotiate their salaries more often.  Coming from a country were there a constant fight to get longer contract to assure some job stability, it was amazing to me. Different realities…


The “Six Mile Hill” turned out to be shorter that what its name transpired. Nevertheless, it made us sweat a great deal under a sunshine that was accompanying us since our reencounter with Oscar. He was already convinced that I had a pact with the devil to allow me to ride avoiding the rain. Would it be true?

Little by little the mountain ranges were ceding terrain to great rural expansions where from the first time in my trip, I saw cows and horses.  It was funny to see cows with mountains in the background being used to see these little beasts in the plains of the Argentinean Pampas.

The forest maintained its presence in spite of the huge logging activity in the region and the abundance of sawmills.  The main traffic on this part of the road consisted mostly of trucks carrying huge logs.

Our attention was caught by the pine trees that presented a particular reddish color. As far as I know, pine trees don’t change color in the fall and, after all, it was still summer. We found out that the color that popped out in our photos was the product of an insect that became a plague in the last few years: The pine beetle. Part of the natural cycle in the pine population control, its excessive reproduction has been destroying British Columbia forest. The lack of cold winters due to the effects of global climate change has permitted the survival of the larvae in disproportionate quantities, with the consequential destructive effect on the pine trees.  Carrier of a bluish fungus, its propagation clogs the nutrient access points for the tree, effectively killing it by starvation. The wood acquires the aforementioned color and loses its commercial value unless it’s recuperated in the first stages of infestation.

We could see that efforts were made to control the plague in several parts of this region, especially in National Parks and protected areas. Another problem derived from the irresponsible usage of natural resources by human beings…

As we were getting closer to Prince George, the biggest city in the region, with some 80 thousand people, the landscape became less attractive/ The human activity was more frequently visible with huge extensions of land for pasturing and farms.

Every time we thought we were out of the bear’s influence area, we saw one of them crossing the road like a disoriented dog. Of course, a black bear isn’t a canine, no matter how aggressive it is. Three times we were witnesses to those crossings, at mere 50 m of our path. A nice remainder to still be cautious about them.

The traffic was also increasing, so in the areas where the shoulder was narrow, it was constant the passing of vehicles very close to us.it was was difficult to keep our side by side formation while we were talking. Not to mention the frequent picture taking while moving, including during descents and at 50 km/h. That way we could capture the flags fully.

The previous day to our arrival to Prince George was out of the routine. We were in Fraser Lake, in the middle of out late lunch, when looking to the west we noticed that the sky turned black and in moments we would have torrential rain. The mere impression of what would happened to us if we stayed there, gave us enough energies to start riding and escape the storm. It was really frightening. You could hear the thunder and every once in a while, lighting appeared from the mass of dark clouds.

We rode like never before. We used a hellish rhythm, ignoring the bike weights. Every time we looked back to see the scary advancement of the storm, our rhythm accelerated even more, not caring for the frequent climbs ahead of us. At least the wind was on our backs and helped the effort. 

Nevertheless we couldn’t avoid ourselves and in spite of the urgency to get out of the way unless w wanted to get soaked and frozen cold, you could hear a dialogue like this every once in a while:

- Oscar, Oscar! Stop!!
- What’s up?
- Look, it’s amazing!!! Photo!!!!
- Uh, Yes! Here, take one with my camera too!!
- Ok, Me now!

.. Until the first drops announced us that we just had lost the scarce advantage we had and we needed to get away again. It was like a time trial in the Tour the France, but with 50 kg of gear on the bike and stopping for pictures!!!

Twenty kilometers ahead we could find shelter in a gas station as the storm passed by. It rained furiously and the wind blew rabidly. Half an hour later, the sun cam out and we decided to continue the last 40 km of the day. Paradoxically we had to slow down our pace so we wouldn’t catch the storm that was now in front of us. It wasn’t hard. The rainbows adorned the landscape and we took out time to take pictures while the storm went away. That night we ended up sleeping in the doghouse of a baseball field in Vanderhoof, just before started raining again.

With Oscar we got along very well. We both seem to be synchronized with the pedaling rhythm, we both loved photography and we even coincided with the times we were tired or hungry. We both were exhausted from our effort and our legs were begging for some rest. But once again, and from nowhere, another thunderstorm appeared, as black and menacing as the last one. In record time we covered the last 40 km to Prince George. But this time the wind was on our faces and the climbs were more than what we bargained form.  To keep the rhythm we took turns at the front, like in competition, with these bikes that defied any concept of aerodynamics.

With drained energy and starving, we went directly to the first big supermarket that we found and we sat on the door to stuff ourselves with food. We won against nature elements and we had to celebrate! Our fatigue showed in our faces, which added to the several days we spent on the road without a shower, gave us the look of bums! Fortunately, the bike nearby cleared any doubts about our appearance..

Richard Thompson and Magee Spice were our hosts in the town of Prince George. From our contacts on the warmshowers site, they proved to know by far what it’s like to host cyclists. The fed us with such dedication that during those days we gained a couple of Kg. each. On top of that, if they were not available, they sent us to have dinner with their friends.  Magee taught us the art of yoga and Richard gave us a game of juggling balls to each of us. Well, what’s another spot on the Tiger skin, eh? Another ½ kg to the gear…!

During one of those “resting” days what started as a routine cleaning of Maira, ended in the middle of the night with a session of intensive care, (flashlight on my head), playing surgeons with the delicate and diminutive parts of the shift gear. Who told us to put hand where we shouldn’t have? Thankfully we were able to reconstruct it even though the speedometer got stuck on the same place and for ever.

We still had 400 km to Jasper. Four days where the climbs were unavoidable. Nevertheless, our idiosyncrasy made us start in Prince George close to noon and at only 36 km from there, we were jumping in a river at the next rest stop. The “necessary” nap followed suit and we ended up jumping to the water form some rocks 4 m high, like adolescents. Invariably, we got to the next rest stop 30 km ahead with enough time to cook some dinner with the last lights of the day.

When we were finishing our second day of travel, I reached the 4000 km, surpassing my longest distance on the bike at the moment. It was a great joy for the feeling of personal achievement.

The wind kept behaving well with us and helped us with the daily push during the long days of pedaling. Little by little we were entering into the heart of the Rockies, to the origins of the Fraser River.

ThThe last day we passed by the imposing and majestic Mount Robson. It was another day full of stops to take secondary trails that uncovered hidden waterfalls and beautiful landscapes. Vertical wall and snow-covered peaks abounded in the area, with turquoise rivers and emerald lakes that showcased their chromatic scales under the sunshine. An exuberant forest reigned on the side of the road.

One of the rest areas was the prelude to Mount Terry Fox, named in honor to the young Canadian that became an icon of hope and tenacity when he tried to run across Canada in his fight against cancer. His illness would truncate his run half way and his life too. His spirit continues on with his example and is still alive with the yearly events that happen around the world for his cause. 

Con la tarde avanzada cruzamos el Yellowhead Pass y entramos en la provincia de Alberta. Nuestros relojes redujeron el día a 23 horas por el cambio de zona horaria y por fin llegamos a la entrada del Parque Nacional Jasper. Estábamos oficialmente en las Rocallosas!!

Late in the afternoon, we crossed the Yellowhead pass and entered the province of Alberta.  Our clocks went back one hour with the time zone change and finally we got to the entrance of the Jasper National Park. We were officially in the Rockies.
Our condition of long-haul cyclist let us enter the park without paying the $9 that is necessary to pay daily to stay within the park boundaries. It was a little fortune that would be better used in food. 

That night, August 9th we got together at the campground with Kathy Sauvageau, a friend of mine from my dearest province of Quebec, who coincidentally was biking from Edmonton to Calgary, taking advantage of the abundant trails in the area to go mountain-biking.

We went from a duo to a trio: The “Sudaca Team” became the “Sudacois”. As soon as we set up camp with Oscar, it started raining. How would it be the moment we start touring the heart of the Canadian Rockies?

Until the next time!

Good trails,

Damián

Acknowledgments

To Jorg and Heike: for all the encounters on the road, sharing landscapes, chatting and enjoying a good cup of coffee!

To Lovina Tyler and Dennis Gibney: for your kindness, your hospitality and so many attentions. Thanks from the bottom of my heart for including me in your family!

To Dustin Quezada, from the Terrace newspaper: for the good vibes and the great published article.

To Ken and Liza Zorn:  For lending me the technological support necessary to transfer my pictures to a DVD.

To Bret Wiebe : for the water and dried fruits that were wonderful in my first night after Terrace.

To Facundo Gastiazoro and Nikki Skuce:  for sharing with me that little piece of Argentina in Smithers.

To Patricia Dekens: for that soup and coffee that you gave us while passing through Telkna. They not only warmed up our tummies, but they also elevated our spirits.

To Paul Comparelli: who in spite of his absence, his generosity gave us the chance to have a place to rest and regain energies while passing through Houston.

To Richard Thompson and Magee Spicer: thanks to you, Prince George is in that little place reserved only for the good memories and great friends.

To Theresa and Sarah Sapergia: for sharing their yoga classes with Oscar and me. And for the incredible exchanges with Sarah’s kids, Thompson and Madeleine. After meeting 5 years old Thompson, he told me that he got a new toy truck as a present. I asked him how big it was and his original answer was: “bigger than a mouse and smaller than a giraffe”!!

To Pam and Richard de Montigny: who along with Arthur Barr invited us to a superb diner the night that Richard and Magee were busy.

To Kate Lamothe: for her complicity and craftiness at the entrance of Jasper National Park.

And special thanks to Lovina Tylor, Pam de Montigny and David & Crystal Desharnais for their generous and selfless monetary contributions that were rapidly invested in fuel for our legs!!


Some Statistics:

Days on the road: 67

Days on the bike: 46

Kilometers done: 4228 km (1120 on gravel)

Average Kilometers done per day: 91,9 km

Hours on the bike: 256h08m (10d16h08m)

Average speed: 16,52 km/h

Maximum speed: 70 km/h, descending to Skagway (18-07-2007)

Meters climbed: 35.269 m

Maximum height: 1352 msnm, Top of the World Hwy (22-06-2007

Amount of adrenaline pumped out when running away from the thunderstorms: liters!!!

Time that we stopped to take pictures with Oscar: Countless!