Re-tracing the road from 2009 into BC

 It is time that Bryan made good on his plan to bike from the Canadian border to the Mexican one along the Pacific west coast of the USA. He has studied the maps, talked to people and even cruised the internet to prepare. While he has not biked throughout the winter, he is in good shape and is certain that he is up for the challenge.

Unlike his 2009 trek across Canada, I am able to join him from the start as his support vehicle driver. And this time, we have a full month to explore our options along Highway 101. Starting south of Abbotsford, the distance is roughly equivalent to that of Vancouver to Brandon, Man. Not that far! As well, there is a dedicated bike lane going north to south, and we hear that the people there really like bikers...

Time to get this show on the road. Enough talk, now the action!  This morning after a warm send-off from Steve and Kathy Haugen, Bryan and I headed south out of Camrose, AB. It was -25 C or so but the sun was shining, full of promise. We just had to make one stop in Ponoka too see Cecil Akre, Bryan's 100 year old uncle. What an amazing man!

We were so glad that we had chosen to drive the route that Bryan had taken on his cross-Canada bike trip. He often pointed out places he had stayed, restaurants he had enjoyed and things that had impressed him.
The rest of the day, we drove into increasingly warm temperatures but ran into snow through the Crowsnest Pass. At Sparwood, Bryan remembered that day in 2009 when he had camped there but woke up to a couple inches on snow on his tent. And that was in June! Today, we pushed through wet snow, making good gas mileage but slow time. We arrived at Creston at 8:30pm, glad to park the vehicle. The temperature of -5C felt good too!

Tomorrow, we head to Matt and Sarah Kaminski's at Abbotsford. I hope that we leave the snow behind. Bryan would rather bike  in rain than wet snow but a dry highway would be nice. No promises!