Today I got to drown my sorrows in hot springs.

Because I slept in a house last night (what a luxury!) I was able to get an early start on the day. I rolled out of Crystal Sands at Mara Lake around 7.15am, ready for what was forecasted to be the best cycling weather of the trip (so far). I rode along the edge of Mara Lake pretty much until I got to Sicamous. It was a cold but beautiful ride.

Eventually the road led me to Sicamous, and after a quick detour through the city (town?) I found myself right across the road from D Dutchmen Dairy. I remember getting ice cream there with my grandparents many years ago!

Most of the riding until I got near Revelstoke was uneventful as the road followed a winding river. To prove how uneventful it was, here are two highlights from this section of road:

  1. I saw where the final spike was put in the railroad that connected Canada from coast to coast (1885)
  2. I stopped at Enchanted Forest for a quick snack. That place is super weird–at least from the outside.

I carried on, passing beautiful mountains and roadside lakes. While that might sound like I had an amazing cycle, I did NOT. There’s few things that frustrate me as much as headwinds when cycling. I thought I was losing my mind because I was pedalling downhill and felt like I need a break. At first I was wondering if I’ve lost my perception of what’s flat. Then I was thinking that something must be stuck in my wheel, or that my breaks were rubbing. NOPE, just shitty headwinds. I was able to confirm that I in fact am not going crazy (yet) when I biked past a flag blowing directly against the direction I was headed (the picture makes me sound dramatic, but I promise the wind was roaring).

Unfortunately the headwind wasn’t letting up, so I had to just deal with it. Today I learned how to be more patient in life (after screaming at the wind a few times).