After much discussion we decided to have breakfast at the hotel and be on the road by 7:30am. We have a massive day in front of us and we need to be on the road early. As it turn out, we set off on time for a change. There was no wondering when the uphill sections would start today. As soon as we left town the road pointed up and we started climbing. For the most part the gradient wasn't too bad but every so often we'd get a steep section of road that would last for a kilometer or so. The morning air was quite cool and although there was plenty of light the sun hadn't made it over the massive peaks in the east. We were riding about 30 meters above a river, with ... read more

We had a big day of 128kms in front of us, so we had a good breakfast at the hotel and sneaked a few things from the buffet into our jerseys for morning tea. We were riding from Kelowna to Verona (54km) and then on to Sicamous (74kms). Our ride out of Kalowna was along Lake Okanagan again. Much nicer scenery and much less noisy than the direct route on the highway. Not too far out of town we passed our first garage sale and made the mandatory stop for Jeff and Tom to have a peruse. Ironically it was me who bought something not them (tools for the bikes). A short while later we passed a bike shop and made a stop to check pressure in our tyres after the battering they had taken over ... read more

We had a decision to make - How to get to Kelowna? Our original plan was to go via the rail trail around the Myra Canyon and in to Kalowna. The Myra Canyon was the whole point of taking the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, it has 22 trestle bridges and numerous tunnels. But because the trail had been so bad, we reconsidered this option. Instead we would take the rail trail part way and then detour straight to Kelowna and head out to the Myra Canyon the next day. Settled! We had a good breakfast at Denny's and headed out on the trail. From the town of Penticton, and for the first 20kms the trail was very well groomed and easy to ride on. It was all up hill though at a constant 2% to 4% ... read more

We had the luxury this morning of not being in a hurry to leave. With only 26kms to travel to Princeton it is as good as rest day (you'd think). After a sleep-in we rose to a lazy breakfast. Mike came around and so did his lovely wife Sandra. What a great couple. We spent the best part of the morning chatting, hearing stories of freezing winters waste deep in snow with temperatures normally around -10C and summers that hit 40C. And stories of bears, cougars and deers in the local area - just what we wanted to hear. We enjoyed Mike and Sarah's company so much we arranged to meet them for dinner in Princeton that night We left Tulameen at midday with a prospect of the KVR being in better condition than yesterday and ... read more

Nothing like "Breakfast Included" to get everyone up reasonably on time and into the dining area. Sadly the standard was quite below par, the coffee undrinkable and the tea barely so. I guess a redeeming feature was the home cooked waffles. We set off about 8am after some advice from a local on some of the quieter roads to take. We trundled along quiet farm roads for the morning taking in the scenery. There was milking shed after milking shed for the first 30km, but strangely few cows to be seen. The ubiquitous corn fields streched out just as commonly, and staying true to yesterday, plenty of berries on offer, usually Blueberries but Strawberries and Blackberries as well. We made great time today in the morning. Not having to navigate exiting the city or trying to ... read more