The past three days contained much more pedalling than pushing. Good thing, I was about to rename my blog to “Cameron Pushes His Bike Across Canada”! From the Britton Creek Rest Area after a couple nights camping on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, I found my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: a Penticton motel, my first bed since Langley, and first shower in five days!

Cycling the KVR is a two-sided coin. On one side, it’s bumpy, rocky, slow, and roundabout. On the other side, peaceful, scenic, and historic.

May 9th started with a gentle cruise down the Coquihalla Highway – yes, downhill since I started at the Coq Summit. I then veered off Eastbound through Brookmere, finishing the day with two unexpected challenges. First, pushing my bike through about 20 metres of overflown water on the trail – a breeze compared to my Coquihalla River Trail excursion, and the water on my feet was actually refreshing!

Second, I ran out of multifuel when starting to boil water for quinoa dinner. This left me two options: feast on seeds and dried cranberries… Or build a campfire from scratch with visions of sweet quinoa salad. Any guesses on which I chose?

May 10th took me into Princeton – a long awaited sighting of “normal people food”!

After a couple errands in Princeton I hopped back on the trail to find more long wooden bridges, Kettle Valley landscapes, and farmland. I couldn’t even count how many cattleguards I rode over for my “By The Numbers” page (sorry fans!).

May 11th brought showers and taught me to schedule errands with rain when possible – I’d spent 3 hrs on errands in sunny Princeton the day before!

A long day of cycling carried me to the historic Kettle Valley Steam Railway station just before Summerland.

The trail of never-ending views continued as I approached Penticton through Summerland.

Arriving in Penticton at 8pm after a long, wet day of cycling, I treated myself to a motel. While I’ve enjoyed camping and waking to the sounds of woodpeckers pecking, birds chirping, and flowing rivers, being back in a bed was a great relief. Spent the night wicking mud off my bike and re-organizing, then filled up on White Spot’s endless “smash brown” potatoes on my way out of town. Looking forward to some Myra Canyon views, apparently one of the most scenic sections of the whole Trans Canada Trail!