Day 9: Revelstoke to Golden - 92 miles - July 5

We left the campground at Revelstoke at 6:00 am today.   They wanted everyone out early because it is a long day (92 miles) with a big elevation climb.    We were on the transcontinental highway soon after leaving the campground.

We came across several construction sites along our ride.  The road crews were very friendly to us and gave us the "right away" at times when they didn't need to.  In fact, one lead car led about 30 bikers through the construction zone while the trucks and cars had to wait.  This area is called "Kicking Horse Pass" and I'm sure years ago that is the only way they were able to get their horse up these mountains.






We biked through 8 of these snow sheds that covered the highway.  These are built so that the road does not get covered during a snow avalanche.

We reached the summit of Roger's Pass and I thought I was doing pretty well.  I didn't realize that after the downhill from the pass there was another l o n g uphill climb.     We also passed the Continental Divide today.  Coming down from Roger's Pass I was going about 30 mph when I hit a pothole on the rode.  It stunned me and I thought I was going to go over the handle bars but by God's grace I was able to control the bike and stayed upright.  I thought for sure I was going to have a flat or a bent rim but the bike took it well.  I was very fortunate as there was a tanker truck speeding down the hill right next to me when I hit the pot hole.  

There is a place where trains go into a tunnel and spiral around inside the mountains.  They go into the mountain at one level and come out of the mountain at a much higher (or lower) level from when they went in.  

I finally made it into Golden at about 3:30 pm.  We biked for 9.5 hours.  My butt is not used to sitting on the bicycle seat that long.   We stayed at a campground in Golden.  I got up in the middle of the night to use the washroom and couldn't find my tent back on my return.  I wandered around a bit until I was able to locate the washroom once again and then was able to find my way to my tent.  The adventures on this trip continue.