Day 9 - Merritt to Kamloops

Merritt to Kamlooops
95 km. Overcast.
Light breeze, favourable wind for the last 30 km.

Piano day today. I just enjoyed the scenic route, wind rushing through my hair.

Food – I went for another sushi run yesterday, at the Golden Palace. This is the place to eat, as it (apparently) rivals Vancouver for sushi. Instead of the usual maki combo, I had the Roll Roll combo. That consisted of the usual (but always tasty) California Roll, the dynamite roll (2 prawns tempura and vegetables), and the house roll (tuna, salmon and egg). Sapporo was the beer of choice for the night. Everything was swell. Warning though, that combo is big – I had to be patient and finish the whole thing. That's all for the night.

Merritt. What can I say. The positives (worth mentioning) are: the kindness and good recommendations at the info centre (just out of town), the Nirvana cafe and computer shop, and the country displays (stars and murals). Besides that, it was a town I wasn't sad to leave. I felt paranoid during supper, and during my sleep. Looking around, I could see and feel the divide between the young (trouble-makers) and the old, no matter if they were caucasian or native. In Tofino, it seemed like there was no racism. You couldn't sense it. The folks there (no matter what age or background) were a civilized, sober, etc. Here, there are the litte eminems, the drunkards (age 17, as an example), and it looks like people dont really make an effort to be united.

So, during supper, with my bike locked up (just outside the window where I was sitting), I still felt paranoid about theft. Sleeping, well, that was another story. It was suggested that I sleep at this little school just on the outskirts of town. The kids would be mainlyl downtown, so it should be quiet. A bit misguided. The school was surrounded by houses, lower-income houses (visibly). I decided to check out the surroundings, and couldn't find a better spot. Back to the school. I decided to camp out on the asphalt, where I could be tucked in a bit (out of view). It sort of worked, but I could still hear the kids running across the school yard and occasionally saying “look at that”. Despite that, I did manage to fall asleep, but having a few “dreams” (the paranoia continued into the sleep). At 4 am, when I woke up, I realized I made it through the worse of the night. Sigh of relief. The next dream, I was about to race at Solstice, but I was quite disorganized. That's odd, as I'm pretty organized in general.

The morning. When I was getting dressed in the tent, I think someone threw a rock at the tent. I think, not sure. Maybe 10 minutes later, some prick in a pick-up truck comes over and informs me (after hitting the tent a bit) that it's not a public camp ground. Really, I was fooled. He could have been more polite. Oh well, I guess the world isn't perfect. But, he's right, technically, I did do something not 100% kosher. It was free though, and I survived.

The ride out of town – quite pleasing. The scenery was consistently pretty. There were these weird hills tht looked like superimposed pyramids. On the mp3 player, it was playing tunes in the “Y”, so a few Tom Waits, Blue Rodeo, Patsy Cline, Radiohead and Nick Cave. It was a mellower set, perfect for the day.

Kamloops. All I can say – hills, hills, hills. Hugh. It's 8% going into town. Downtown, hills no matter where you go. It'll be fun to climb out of here.

It's a rest stop. The plan was to rent a mountain bike, and hit the local trails. The only bike shop that rents bikes now, have these little Rocky Mountain Vapours (Alivio components). The trails I was recommended by one bike shop, off the map trails, I think I would break that bike. Dang. That plan is out now. I will just stick to hiking and spending time downtown.

For sleeping arrangements, one dude at the bike shop offered me the backyard of his house that he is renovating. It is fairly close to downtown. That is nice. I could tell he was trying to be accomodating for the bike rental. Genuine guy, I am grateful to Paul.

I had a nice shave and shower at the YMCA a few hours ago. When I tried to go do laundry, the laundromat just closed 5 minutes before (4:30). I did find a barber shop where I was finally able to get a haircut. The dude recommended to shave even closer than the usual #1, so now I feel I am looking like I am going through chemo. It feels nice, I am not sure of the look though. I prefer a bit of hair, which still shows that thinning top. I am sure I wont “bic” my head.

Coffee shop for Internet, having a beer. Okanagan Spring Pale Ale – tasty. I had this one in Tofino, we'll see what else they have.

Alright, that's basically the day, nothing exciting (a few pictures taken), but more to come.

In my head, during the ride, I was working on what I call a miscellaneous/tangent post that I will work on. Less about biking, just to break things up a bit. One thing I do miss are what I call “substance” talks, instead of “I biked x km, saw this and that, got the t-shirt”. For the people who know me, I do like to mix things up here and there (except for breakfast back home, some of you guys know what I'm talking about). So, over time, that puppy will pop up, and maybe there's going to be some interesting stuff on it. I'll try it, see how it works out. Any requests for that?

Oops, mixing Kenny with Willie. My bad, but not my forte.

Fun post coming up later tonight (my time) or tomorrow – stay tuned.

Cheers,

Rudolf