Day 19: To Tete Jaune Cache

July 18, 2007

I slept until 9 and got away from the hotel at 10:15. But I didn't get on the road until 10:45 after stopping at the visitor center and buying groceries. Today is a short easy day compared to yesterday. The towns are spaced such that I often have to choose between either a short day or a very long day.

The weather was overcast, humid, and buggy with the usual gentle tailwind. I'm getting a lot of bites on my butt while pedaling the bike.

After only 16 km I stopped at an extremely buggy golf course/cafe for lunch. I was slow enough to be mosquito bait on the steepest climbs but most of the day was relatively flat where I could outpace the mosquitoes. I found that it's much better to stop adjacent to a pasture rather than a forested area. The forested areas are much buggier.

I think this is the Rocky mountains now.

I followed the Fraser river all day but didn't see the river often and only crossed it twice.

I'm glad to be getting closer to the Rocky mountains but I'm not enjoying having swarms of mosquitoes all the time. It's NOT my idea of a fun bike tour. I stopped at the only settlement along today's route, at the Tete Jaune Cache lodge. They had a nice little bakery at the lodge but I was glad I stocked up on groceries in the morning. I arrived at 4:30 with lots of daylight to spare. I'm not accustomed to having this much spare time in the evening.

The lodge is on the bank of the Fraser river in a beautiful setting with views of big mountains. The room was $79 plus tax. Not too bad for a resort. The room had a TV that gets two channels. There was a couple hours of sunshine after I arrived, followed by a significant thunderstorm. At least I had a spacious room to spread out in. As usual I hand-washed clothes, took a shower, and cooked dinner outside.

Fraser river at Te Jaune Cache resort, just before a storm.

I suspect the patio gets flooded now and then.

Today I saw two westbound bike tourists but I didn't talk to them. It was a short easy day due to the tailwind, minimal climbing, and short distance. I'm sick and tired of the mosquitoes, though. I surely have more than a hundred mosquito bites.

Distance: 68.8 km / 43 mi

Climbing: 361 m / 1190 ft

Average speed: 15.4 km/h / 9.6 mph

Maximum speed: 61 km/h / 38.1 mph

Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 1,604 km (996 miles)

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Charmaine RuppoltWow, you had over 100 mosquito bites! Ack!!!!
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