In the Desert

I said goodbye to my new friends who stayed in town to meet a friend while I departed on my journey. I wasn't sure how far I would go which is usually the case every morning. I make plans the day of by checking Google Maps. It is hard to plan your journey too far ahead as everything depends on weather, your energy, road conditions, previous day's progress and how early you get up. Getting up early is very important for covering lots of ground. It provides a good morale boost in that you feel you have done so much work while still having lots of day time ahead and it pushes you to bike even more. If you start too late, it feels like you're chasing the clock hand.

In the mountains, it is hard to anticipate the weather as clouds can unexpectedly come from any direction. I spent most of the morning being chased by rain clouds that would disappear and then reappear behind mountains. Yesterday, the mountains were covered in dense trees. Today, it seemed as if I was in the middle of a desert. The climate was very dry and many mountains were only covered in grass.

The road wasn't as intense as yesterday and I felt way more relaxed. After every new bend in the road, a new mountain pops up ahead. I only had two albums on my phone - I listened the crap out of them on my bike trip. Two is the perfect amount. More albums leads you to focus less on enjoying the nature around you and your thoughts. Music also distracts from listening while biking - you can hear the cars behind you while also making sure you bike isn't making any new noises. Make sure your headphones have a microphone so you can bike and call people at the same time - saves time.

Eventually I reached Penticton. The road to Pentincton was beautiful with lots of valleys and view. After Penticton, the road hugged the lake and the shoulder became very small while the cars were very fast - stressful. Biking required a lot of focus and I tended to grip my handles real tight while raising my shoulders up. Biking like this for long periods of times is unhealthy as it can lead to carpel tunnel. My pinky and ring fingers would eventually turn permanently numb while my grip, the ability to write with a pen became a lot more difficult. I fixed this habit after Regina by forcing myself to relax my shoulders more. I am writing this in October - I can code in C++ real fast, but parts of my ring and pinky are still a little numb.

The west eagle campground where I stopped for the night was a field by a Walmart - nothing too crazy. At campgrounds I go for the unserviced spots. However, I leave my portable batteries to charge in the vacant serviced spots or in the bathrooms to make sure I've got power for the next day