Day 5 - Princeton to Pentincton

100.51 kms - Total so far 432.45 kms - http://ridewithgps.com/trips/4798703

• Another glorious day weather wise. We left Princeton at 7:20 and once again we got to go downhill for a while. We followed the Similkamin that is a fairly slowly flowing river. Instead of thunderous river sounds today we were treated to bird songs. I swear some of those birds have a song that sounds like the cycling whistles that we have. Hélène and I use the whistles to communicate when separated. One whistle is stop. A few times Hélène having heard what she thought was my whistle did as agreed and stopped. We will be reviewing our signalling plan tonight.

• At about 10ish, we stopped at Hedly for our second breakfast of the day. Breakfast is turning out to be our favorite meal. at the restaurant, we ran into Kyle who was on his way to Osoyoos. It would appear that he is taking the southern route over the Kootenay Pass (elevation 1774 m) whereas we are heading further north and going through Rogers Pass (elevation 1327 m). Then again at Osoyoos, he can swing North up to Penticton.

  

  It is not uniquely the scenery that commands attention in BC

• We made it to Keremeos, a small town on the way to Penticton, well before lunch and spent a while at the tourist information and confirmed our route to Penticton. The lady mentioned that it was a fairly easy ride with just one climb and after the climb it was downhill to Penticton. She also told us about the best place to get ice cream, on the left right after the climb. She was very accurate on all counts. They have 31 varieties of hard ice cream and we got ourselves a large bowl of Peacan and Cream that we mixed with our own bluebrries that by then had 80 km of bouncing in the saddle bags. It was marvelouuuuuuuuuuus. 

  

  Downton Keremeos and the storm that has been causing havoc in the area

• We got to the campground, located 5 km South of Penticton at about 5 pm. At the beginning, we used to leave in the rain and arrive under sunny conditions, now is just the opposite. We were hit by a nasty little storm and had to set up tent in the rain. We are getting very good at doing that. Now the storm has passed, it remains pretty windy but the sun is out.

  

  Yellow Lake and just like Pink Lake back home it is low on oxygen

• Overall it was a good day. It was a test to cycle in the heat in the afternoon and we need to carry more water than the three bottles we have. Rest stops in BC don't always have potable drinking water. 

  

  Leaving the two leg bike stand at home might not have been a wise decision. Keeping the bikes of the ground is a challenge!

• Today I forgot my bear spray and belt in a washroom in Keremeos. The darn thing is really comfortable and you can easily forget you have it on, or in my case forget it altogether. At some distance down the road, I reached around for it and realized it was not there. When you are 14 km down the road and before you turn around you gotta ask yourself two questions: "Is the item critical?" and "Can it be replaced?". We chose not to turn around. 

• We are both getting stronger on the bikes and the plan is to continue increasing our daily mileage. 

  

  Working on our blog, after tent goes up but before bike maintenance and supper