Day 7 GearUp4 CF Creston to Cranbrook

trying to wait out the rain at the
Skimmerhorn Motel … no luck! 

bracing fora rainy departure

On a better day this would have been a nice club ride. 103 km on a valley run from Creston to Cranbrook with rolling terrain and a relatively easy grade climb as you follow the creek. The major impediment to this was that it was not a better day. Weatherwise, Friday gave the Osoyoos to Grand Forks experience a good run for its money. Today, the rain started in earnest just as soon as left our lodgings and headed South and it did not let up until near the lunch break. We had 23 riders with the addition of Laura and Steven and right from the git go the pace was perhaps a bit high for us middle of the group riders. Walter Brennan and Emily Trant, our visitor from England who is very fit (from rowing) set a strong pace. The speeds were not excessively high but if you add on a steady uphill grade which sometimes approached 3% I definitely felt the burn.

Bill with Laura Brine, Max & Nash

One casualty of the pace was Wayne Darlington our rider from Kelowna who had to pull up as his knee started to swell. That is now the second casualty as John Sullivan has not ridden for 2 days due to saddle sores. The wet, cold weather does not help.

Eventually we got to our first rest stop and once we resumed riding the pace slackened off a bit. John Fettes my steadfast riding partner and I had decided to drop back but with the pullback we were able to tag on with the main group and get the benefit of their draft. The rest of the day was more of the same, although the fast group put in blistering pace from the final rest stop and three of us rode at a more relaxed pace for the final leg. The weather improved and the roads dried out and eventually we reached out destination that being the Sandman Hotel in Cranbrook. My bike was a mess and my gears were growling so it took a major clean to get it all back to rights. This as you might sense was not a favourite day for me. The road was increasingly busy and noisy with lots of commercial traffic, the orange bridges do not have shoulder lanes so you have to be wary about crossing them, and although some of our group were exhilarated by the challenge of riding in the rain, I was not of that mindset.

madness in the laundry room! 

That evening we were feted by the Kinsmen at the golf club in Cranbrook and five of us finished off the day with four holes of golf at the club.

gathering at the Kin dinner