pedalpanam

After being on rather desolate highways for weeks, approaching a city of 70,000+ is quite overwhelming!  Especially around here, there is a lot of logging and farming, so there are trucks loaded high with lumber and bales of hay whizzing by.  Unlike the Cassiar, or even the Yellowhead Hwy a few days ago, the traffic is constant, so biking becomes less of a ride through scenery as it is a stressful chore.  A good reminder why taking the road less travelled is always so much more worth it.

Yesterday afternoon, as I was in Vanderhoof, thinking of riding another few miles to make today shorter, I ran into a cycling family from Scotland.  

Already avid kayakers, they decided to try cycling, and flew into Inuvik (above the Arctic Circle in the Northwest Territories) earlier this summer and are headed south for the next year and a half.  The dad and the 9 year old daughter have a tandem and mom is on her own bike.  I ended up staying in Vanderhoof, sharing a campsite with them, and very much enjoyed the time spent with them over dinner and breakfast.

As I mentioned before, I met a couple at the campground in Hyder, AK, who invited me to stay with them here in Prince George.  I had told them about Baptiste being a few days ahead of me, and told them they should shout something out the window on their way back home as they passed him (they are from France as well).  It turns out they met up with him, and he has been staying with them for the past few days, waiting for some bike parts to come in.  I had assumed he’d be long gone on his way south, so it has been good to catch up with him and swap stories of the road, which for the past two weeks we’ve expereinced a few days apart.

As for the accomodations here in Prince George, well let me tell you.  I’ve been set up with my own bedroom and a bed (!).  Having slept outdoors every night for the past 5 weeks, I am looking forward to not having to do the following:  set up my tent, crawl into my tent, blow up my Thermarest, unpack the sleeping bag from the stuff sack, listen to the traffic on the highway, pack everything up in the morning, etc etc.  Also, I’ll be doing laundry!