Got up at 7:30am after a good recovery sleep. Started packing the bike again and did a little tune-up. Met with Mel and Kev at 9am, checked out and went for breakfast (or brunch) at a Denny's close to downtown Kamloops. Had a huge breakfast since it was going to be a short 65Km ride and I wasn't planning to stop until Chase. We had a bit of a late start, we left Denny's at 11am straight to Highway 1. I decided to wear my rain gear and sandals since the forecast said isolated showers. I was leading the pack and at the first light I tried to pull my foot off the pedal cage but my sandal got stuck and fell flat on my right side. Hopefully it was while I stopped and no traffic. Then Kevin went ahead and I rode together with Mel. Big shoulders on Trans-Canada Highway so no major fears but we had some head wind that wouldn't let us go past 17Km/h. We rode for about one hour and no signs of Kevin, we would stop every once in a while to call him but his cellphone was off. We were starting to get worried about he might have missed a turn or maybe had an accident. We kept on riding and about 45Km his phone was on again. He had been riding just ahead of us killing it on time (on a Canadian Tire fully loaded bike) Kudos to him for the pace but he made us worried.
We stopped at a gas station in Pritchard. Took a 15 minute break while loading up some coconut water and trail mix. We were about 15Km away from Chase, we continued to make it to town before 3PM. Got there to the tourist information but it was closed for the next 2 days. Immediately started pouring on us and when I pulled out the map and the hostel address it turns out it was still about 10Km east of Chase in a town called Squilax. (which means Black Bear in Native language)
Riding those 10Km in the rain and across some segway hills/downhills was a bit scary nut we rode as a pack and very close to the right on the shoulder until the very end that Mel got behind. I saw the entrance to the Hostel and pulled away with Kevin to check in. It was about 4:15 but it didn't open until 5pm. Blair the manager let us in to get us away from the rain 9thanks) and we checked in. Mel wasn't coming so I came out looking for her and she was just arriving. She told us she had just witnessed and accident where a 75 year old lady hit a motorcyclist and the police was taking her report on the facts. We'll have to keep an eye out for senior drivers I guess. No one was badly hurt.
Riding those 10Km in the rain and across some segway hills/downhills was a bit scary nut we rode as a pack and very close to the right on the shoulder until the very end that Mel got behind. I saw the entrance to the Hostel and pulled away with Kevin to check in. It was about 4:15 but it didn't open until 5pm. Blair the manager let us in to get us away from the rain 9thanks) and we checked in. Mel wasn't coming so I came out looking for her and she was just arriving. She told us she had just witnessed and accident where a 75 year old lady hit a motorcyclist and the police was taking her report on the facts. We'll have to keep an eye out for senior drivers I guess. No one was badly hurt.
Blair showed us where we'd be staying and I was in shock for the next 3 hours (good shock) An old abandon train (4 wagons) right beside Lake Shuswap that had been turned into dorms with 3 bunk beds each. We got train #1 and if the outside was cool looking the inside was even better. We were told to store our bikes under the train so they get covered from the rain. We brought all the panniers inside, took a warm shower and changed clothes. We went back to the main area and the lounge was amazing with a big window with a view to the lake and many music instruments since Tom the other manager is a musician/composer. We bought stuff at the store for dinner and ended cooking pasta for the 3 of us. The we went to the main lounge room to meet the other travellers staying at this coll funky looking hostel. There were Laurie and Jen, a lovely couple from Australia, then Victoria and Andy from Germany (with whom we shared our train), Madeleine from France, Sarah from Switzerland, and Lena (Germany and Victor (Spain) who were working at the hostel helping out with the day by day duties and learning English while staying at the hostel. Victor is a really nice kid who was so happy to finally encounter another traveller who speaks spanish (myself) after a whole month of dealing with english speaking passers by. He's very funny and with an enormous heart who reminded me of my friend Lorenzo back in Venezuela. If I ever go to Barcelona I'll be contacting him for sure.
After dinner I checked the weather report and tomorrow wednesday was gonna be a very cold and rainy day so we voted for a day off to rest and catch up with the blogging and diaries. Chilling here until the weather improves. Ozzy's "Crazy Train" in my head now!
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