Day 7 - Creston to Cranbrook 108 km

At last, today provided a ride to relax on and enjoy the beautiful countryside. The elevation profile tells the story...a gradual incline over one of the shortest rides we've done on the tour, and a nice fifteen kilometer glide into town.

<-- the route from Creston to Cranbrook. The actual starting point is not quite right. I forget to turn on my Garmin GPS until I was 8 kilometers down the road!

<---Our elevation profile. The actual distance we covered was 108 kilometers. For details about the route, as well as a larger map, click here.




This was a day for many riders to recover from the brutal hills that we encountered over the past few days. Unfortunately, one of them had to break off the ride today because both of his Achilles heels, which had been badly strained yesterday, were too painful for him to continue. This is not an easy ride! These past few days have been very hard on a number of our team members. So far, my body is holding up well - I've had no significant aches or pains after seven days of pretty tough cycling. I must say, however, I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight!

<--Breakfast in Creston. From left to right: Susan, Chris, Brian and John (click on the links for their bios).

After six days of touring, we're settling into a routine of rising to an alarm at 6:30 AM, heading out for breakfast at 7:00 AM, then head back to the hotel to quickly pack and load our luggage into a waiting support vehicle. Then, we're off, heading down the road.

Open highway, a sunny skys, nice gentle hills,
what more can a cyclist wish for?-->

This morning, I got everything done and was out the door by around 8:30 AM. Several of the riders had already left by then... they were obviously better organized than I was, However, once we were out of Creston, we found ourselves riding past fast flowing streams, fields filled with wild flowers and small country farms.

Along the way, we stopped briefly at a rest stop provided by Joyce. While we were there, a friendly man with a full grey beard and yellow reflector jacket walked up to us, curious about these bikers arriving off the highway. While chatting with him, it became obvious he was quite a colorful character.

I would have loved to have chatted with him, but I had to excuse myself... my friends were already heading up the highway and it's tough on a bike to catch up!!

A lake set in a beautiful valley below the highway-->

<--The Moyie firehall, built in 1907.



Along the way, we passed Moyie, a small town that is rich in mining history. The St. Eugene mine opened in the late 1800's with the discovery of a huge deposit of galena, the major ore mineral containing lead. Moyie quickly became one of the largest in the region until the mine shut down in 1911 and most of it essentially became a ghost town.

<-- Simon, one of the strongest riders in our group,
at a lunch stop on the way to Cranbrook

John, taking a short break from cycling-->

<--Getting ready to leave our lunch break for a final approach into Cranbrook. We're all looking a bit anxiously at the sky. I packed a rain jacket in my jersey, just in case.

Fortunately, it didn't rain on us. However, as we came closer to Cranbrook, it was clear that they had just had a torrential rain shower just hours and possibly minutes before. As a result the roads were still damp, forming small lakes in the 'wake-me-up' road ridges that have been punched into many of the highways in this region (it's never a good experience riding over them on a road bike... pretty jarring!!).

It was nice to arrive in Cranbrook early. The first priority was to get my poor mud-covered bike (and me) cleaned up.

Tom then offered to take us into town in his car. After being on a bike seat for hours, it was nice to be driven somewhere for a change. We all had different agendas, however. It quickly became clear that the Dairy Queen was high on the list, for a mandatory ice cream. It's sure nice to eat as many calories as you wish on a trip like this!. Then, the obligatory bike shop (I needed some new riding sun glasses). Then a Starbucks, just to satisfy a mutual and long-standing craving for a decent cup of coffee.

By the time we returned, we had just a half hour before Mike, the president of the Kinsmen of Cranbrook arrived to take us to the Mission Hills Golf Club for a barbecue dinner. It turned out it was also Mike's birthday that day, however, he arranged to have the party his family and friends were planning to start later in the evening so that he could join us for dinner.


Together with the dinner, the Kinsmen and Kinettes presented Joyce with a generous donation to Cystic Fibrosis. What remarkable support we have received on this trip from these great community service organizations.


<--The Cranbrook Kinsmen and Kinettes with our GearUp4CF cycling team.

Before leaving for the hotel, John and Trevor, who share a passion for golf, just had to drag Chris and James down to the driving range to fire off a few balls. The funniest incident happened when one of the balls (driven by someone who will remain anonymous) swung badly, causing the ball to ricochet off one of the posts of the building and nearly hit Trevor in the behind.


<--Chris, trying his hand at a devilishly difficult sport. Let's just say the ball didn't quite go where he wanted it to.

James, looking down at...?

"Drat, I must have missed the ball !!"--->

<---Simon, showing how it's done. Thankfully, he missed the bus driving along the highway in the distance.

And as for me? Well, I stayed out of the way, happily snapping photos. After the ITHA charity golf tournament I attended last month, I've decided it would be safer for the grass, and for everyone near me if I didin't go swinging a club!

In all, we had a very relaxing day. It was nearly dark when I emerged from the motel after dealing with some neglected chores. However, I made it just in time to see the most beautiful sunset of the trip to date. Tomorrow will be a bit more difficult and a bit longer than today, from Cranbrook to Invermere, 131 km.

For James and Chris' account of the day, check out their blog, located here .