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'Cycling the Trans Canada Trail across BC'

My thighs burned, my knees throbbed, and my back ached. I felt like Quasimodo hunched over my handle-bars. I wanted to give my heart, lungs and body a break after twelve punishing hours in the saddle, but I couldn’t. A little voice inside of me kept saying, “keep going Kelly, a little further, you’re almost there.” It was the same voice that has spurred me along on countless other adventures and one that I have never fully understood. My self-imposed destination for the day was the small dusty town of Coalmont, an old mining hamlet located on the dry side of the Cascade mountain range.

I had been cycling since sunrise with a friend of mine from Trails BC (the local stewards of the TCT). We had made a costly error the previous day resulting in five wasted hours trudging steep forestry roads in the wrong direction. I was stubbornly determined to make up the time. Eight years to the day in fact I had made a similar exhausting march as part of my backpacking trip across BC for the first Trans Canada Trail route. It was hard to admit to myself I felt more tired this time around and wondered if my thirty-something body was getting a little rusty.

My biking partner was twenty years older, but in excellent shape. He loved long days on the bike and often entered those silly twenty-four endurance races for the fun of it. He was also much more gregarious than me, chatting non-stop from dawn to dusk.

I had arranged with my partner, Christine to meet us at the Coalmont Hotel, a place better suited for the Australian outback than part of a quiet retirement community. As dusk approached we reached Tulameen, a mostly recreational retreat situated at the southern end of Otter Lake. The dry evening air diffused the retreating light to cast a soft glow over the water. We crossed the newly constructed bridge connecting the trail to the town and made our way to the general store. Dogs barked, and the occasional barbeque jockey looked up from their smoky grill to see who the ‘new strangers’ were. Years ago Tulameen was a thriving mining town. But since the mine closed, it has become a destination for Vancouver retirees and ‘married with children’ types escaping the city. The store was closed early due to the holiday, so we tried the payphone. But it too was on holiday. So with darkness falling and the promise of a hot shower and cold beer just an hour away we climbed back on our soar saddles and headed down the trail.

Just as the last vestiges of daylight faded behind the mountains we reached Coalmont. The hotel’s bright red building surrounded by motorcycles and pickups was easy to spot. We had cycled fourteen long hours to reach this oasis. My body was one big cramp, and my left knee felt like it had been used as a drum in a heavy metal band.

Relaxing on the back porch of the Coalmont with an ice cold pint of beer was pure bliss. Our bodies were covered head to toe in sweat and trail dust. It took the first pint just to re-hydrate our parched throats. Country music and the sound of pool balls ricocheting off of one another filtered through the open door. I almost fell asleep over my home made fries. I thought to myself how lucky I was to be out here, doing this, having this adventure. I

leaned back in my chair, looked at my friend and asked, “So . . . you wanna start a bit earlier tomorrow?”

My advice to anyone interested in cycling the TCT across British Columbia is to plan your trip as a series of smaller trips. Most of the trail across BC can be done as one-day bike rides.

If you are going:

Check out the links page first for some great information about the trail. I recommend taking a bike repair course so at the very least you can fix a flat tire. You don't need the 'hummer' of mountain bikes to ride this trail . . . just a good sense of humour!