Kamloops

July 16, 2018

I spoke prematurely yesterday when I said that the ride from Princeton to Merritt was the best day of the tour. It was the best until today, which was incredible. And, no flats!

Another hot day, another long ride, another early morning. We got up at five, ate in our motel room, and were on the road by 6:30. Conditions are ideal this morning - sunny, windless, about 55 degrees. We’re riding Highway 5A all day, the quiet, longer route to Kamloops from Merritt. Nearly everyone drives Four lane Highway 5, the Coquihalla Highway, leaving 5A as a perfect option for slower travelers. Once we left Merritt we found an essentially flat, smooth, empty road. The miles flew by quickly as we hummed along effortlessly - the easiest, most carefree riding we’ve found on this loop.

A few miles out of Merritt we came to the small community of Nicola, an early settlement that had aspirations of growing to the largest place around when it was settled long ago. That didn’t happen, but it did leave behind a lovely, well preserved church. Here’s a nice essay about the church and Nicola, giving some of its history.

Image not found :( — Leaving Merritt, about 6:30 AM. Sunny, calm, comfortably cool.

The Murray United Church, in Nicola. Built in 1876, it was one of the earliest churches in the region. It is now used only for weddings and other special events.

There were several of these fenced plots in the Nicola cemetery. I wish we’d stopped to look closer, but the ride has just started and we still have almost sixty miles ahead of us.

Nicola lies at the southwest end of Nicola Lake, a huge, dogleg shaped affair that we’ll bike beside for the next hour and a half. It’s a beautiful ride, still sailing along on our smooth, flat road, enjoying views up and down the 20 mile long lake.

As the day progresses, traffic picks up slightly. It’s never busy, but a good share of the vehicles are huge trucks, apparently avoiding highway 5 for their own reasons. They aren’t really a problem though even on this shoulderless road. You can hear them half a mile off and they all give you plenty of room.

The upper end of Nicola Lake. It’s huge - 20 miles long - and we’ll be biking it’s southeast shore for an hour and a half.

I am sorry to see the end of Nicola Lake, and expect we would start seeing some contour to the road. And we do, barely - there’s a slight rise, and then we drop to the next large lake in the chain, Stump Lake; and then Napier Lake; and then Trapp Lake. For forty miles we go on like this, with the valley gradually narrowing but the road hugging the shore of one mirror-surfaced lake after another.

At about 10 we stop for lunch beside the highway in the shadow of a tree. Sitting on a rise between Trapp Lake and the next one up the chain, we break out our feast (cold pizza, trail mix, banana, a chocolate donut) and enjoy the view, marveling at the reflections of the eroded green hills across a narrow stream. It is so still today, and the reflection is perfect. Between the green hill on one bank, the green meadow on the other, and the green reflection on the stream, it’s hard to see that there is a stream here at all.

Living the dream: the bike, the girl, the great outdoors, the cold pizza

When we start biking again, we continue to be amazed by the reflections on the lake. We soon come to Shumway Lake, the last in the chain, and it is mesmerizing to watch the reflections change as we bike along.

Finally though, after about fifty miles of cycling bliss the fun ends. We come to the only real climb of the day - a 650’ lift in about two miles, maybe a 7-8% grade most of the way. Not awful, but definitely not improved by the now quite hot sun blazing down on our backs. It’s a big relief when we see the road flatten out ahead of us; and soon we’re coasting down a 9% drop, barreling toward Kamloops.

You have to look carefully to see that the middle band is a reflection across Campbell Creek, the stream that drains Trapp Lake and feeds Shumway Lake.

In Knudsford, a tiny community at the top of the hill south of Kamloops

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Today's ride: 62 miles (100 km)
Total: 446 miles (718 km)

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Jacquie GaudetI spoke too soon! I haven't travelled 5A. It looks really nice!
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6 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Jacquie GaudetYup. It really is a lovely area. I’d like to come back here in the autumn some year, if we’re ever home at that time of year. There are several paved side roads that look worth exploring too.
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6 years ago

Ron SuchanekI'm amazed at this scenery and your photos.
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6 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Ron SuchanekI was amazed too, on this day as well as several of the previous ones. I’d really like to come back in the fall some year and see more of it.
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6 years ago

Lyle McLeodJust found your journal for this trip. Sounds like you had the same experience we did along the stretch from Princeton to Kamloops! Absolutely fabulous and very unique country. This day was one of K’s and my ‘top 5’ days on our 2015 x-Canada ride and the day before (Princeton to Merritt) almost made the cut too!
https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/ltkk2015/blue-skies-lakes-and-cowboys-day-6-merritt-to-kamloops/
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4 years ago

Scott AndersonYup, that’s the road alright. Thanks for reminding me of this amazing day. We still have hopes of coming up this way again, if Canadians ever let Americans in their door again. Surely that will happen someday?
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4 years ago