Ok world, our last 9 days of the trip were pretty much the same until we hit the road to Whistler, BC. The scenery was just like it had been with trees, road, a few more cars (starting summer season up north), and the weather doing whatever the weather wants to do up here. Of course cold-cool and some rain here and there. The biggest change in scenery was the road which led to Whistler, or should I say mountain ..ughhhh. This was one of those rides you don’t forget!
The climb to Whistler was crushing on the legs, and if you didn’t have your mind right, crushing on your mental abilities to keep pushing as well. We ascended 7,700 feet that day! And of course we had our descends as well, which we enjoyed every moment of! Going up into the mountains, even though rainy, was quite beautiful. You had tunnels, towns, rivers flowing, sides of mountains you could look into valleys where other towns laid, and then of course, a few animals that graced us with their presence. I think the views were what kept us pushing, making strokes with enthusiasm of what we would see next. It took us 10.5 hours to tackle this journey into Whistler and by the time we got there, we had an issue.
Williams brakes started to give out on him while tackling the mountain. Not good. Actually a bit scary to be honest with the steep downhills that were wet. We managed to get to the town of Whistler safely, but we knew we had to try to fix this problem before moving forward. We went searching to find what we needed in the town, and we weren’t successful. The rain started to come down harder and we really knew we had an issue in our hands, so we decided to stay the night there in town and figure out what would be best.
After sleeping on the issue and waking up to more rain, we decided to load up the bikes on our support vehicle and take it to Vancouver where we knew we’d find what we needed after making a few phone calls the night before. But before we made the hour and forty-five minute drive to Vancouver we saw a really neat gondola on the way where we knew we must stop and check out.
The gondola place was called Sea to Sky. It took us up on the mountain 885 meters above sea level and dropped us off where there was a restaurant, trails, and a bridge that crossed from one point on the mountain to another. Many of the guest up there had been walking or running the trails on the mountain. Seems like that kind of workout would be a kick in the face. But I’ll tell ya, many of those people looked well in shape. I supposed you would have to be to survive those trails up there. So we chatted with some locals, walked across the bridge, gave the gift shop a look, and had us an early lunch before heading back down the gondola.
From there it was about a hour drive into Vancouver. Being it was Vancouver, we had to stay at least 2 days to explore a bit before hitting the border. Duh! So we got a nice hotel in the city.
Vancouver was gorgeous! The views from the city were amazing surrounded by water and mountains. We took a sunset boat ride that really accentuated its beauty, and explored the many shops and restaurants it had to offer. Vancouver was a very walkable city, and the temperature was perfect while there. And best yet, it had a bike shop for what we needed! So after the 2 days it was time to finish up this leg and hit the Canada/Washington State border.
We woke early for sunrise and hit the road for our 40 mile trek to the border. The sun was shining and the cars were out. We past through neighborhoods and very crowded roadways. We were stoked to know today was our last day of Leg 1 of our trip. Almost couldn’t believe it to be honest. We had seen so much in the 6 weeks starting in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska down through Canada. There was a feeling of Proud and Surprise! How’d did we just accomplish so much and on a bicycle?!? And in so little time really? Thousands of miles, elevation like we’ve never experienced, putting our bodies and minds to the test. And even through all of it still wanting to achieve more. We really hope we have inspired others to get outside and enjoy what the planet has to offer. Reading about what is out there is always much different than seeing/doing it. Don’t be afraid! Step out and see for yourself the beauty of our planet . And by us exploring Part of North America by bicycle, not only has it kept our bodies healthy being active, but it saves the environment from the pollution that is caused by other ways of transportation as well.
Pulling into the area of crossing the border was such a cool feeling. They flagged us around the cars to enter into the federal building to show our citizenship and we explained where we were headed. The workers cheered us on after hearing about our trip and all we have accomplished thus far. They gave us a green light and we hopped back on our bikes to officially cross into the US into Washington! We did it!
It was now time to take a few months rest to attend to events, family, and prior engagements. What an amazing feeling and accomplishment! We will see you all again when we hop back on the bikes to travel down the Pacific West Coast in August!! Until then, enjoy your Summer!!