Day 2 didn’t get any easier. The rain was still coming down
and the temperature had dipped to around 3 degrees. We had a tough day of
climbing ahead of us and the bulk of it was right from the start. The first
50km was entirely uphill. We were feeling good, albeit very wet, as we made our
ascent into the foggy mountains surrounding the Coquihalla Highway. The rain
turned to snow and about 40km in I had a flat tire. Luckily Mom was close with
the van so I set to changing the flat as quick as I could as Dad pushed on into
the fog. After changing the flat I had been in the cold, covered in soaking wet
clothes for so long that I started shivering so intensely that I couldn’t go
on. Dad was left on his own to solo the remaining 80km.
Watching him from the car is terrifying. Every truck that
passes seems to just miss him and waiting for him to catch up when we drive
ahead is a nightmare of worry. Dad told us after he didn’t mind riding alone.
He imagined himself in a breakaway in the Tour de France, escaping the peloton
for a stage win with Phil Ligget announcing his every move, “Marsh seems to be
in fine form, today just might be the day for the big man from Canada to hold
off the pack and take the stage win in the mountains!” It was a long day with
almost 7 hours on the road but the sun may finally come out tomorrow, and
hopefully we can arrive in Kamloops dry and happy.
Erik
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