Day 5 – Summerland, BC (May 6, 2015)
Today, a number of things didn’t turn out as planned:
(1) – I realize that I had intended to stay at Princeton rather than traveling to Bromley Rock Provincial Park. That added an extra 20 km today (and yesterday)
(2) – my intent was to travel the Kettle Valley Trail today and take the road running parallel if the trail was too rugged for my touring bike. As it turns out, the Kettle Valley Trail, although as beautiful as I expected, was filled with loose gravel and stones that kept me from going any faster that 15 km/hr. This made me lose too much time so I decided to switch to the road.
(3) The pavement on the road running parallel called the Princeton-Summerland Road ended abruptly about halfway to Summerland and turns to gravel.
(4) – I had a head wind of at least 15 km/hr.
(5) – I had to stop several times to adjust my rear derailleur, which was giving me problems since I fixed my flat on Sunday.
(6) – the weather couldn’t make up it’s mind. Each time it started raining, I put on my rain gear. Each time it stopped for an extended time, I took it all off.
Now, for the bright side:
It was a beautiful day. Cool and sufficiently sunny. The scenery was very beautiful but much different than the mountains. I met a nice couple from Vancouver who were returning from fishing. They stopped and gave me some wine, bread and cheese.
As a result of my difficulties, I am staying in Summerland tonight instead of travelling to Penticton as I had planned. I also decided that tomorrow I would carry on toward Kelowna on the west side of the lake bypassing the Kettle Valley Trail through Myra Canyon and Trestles. It may be beautiful but if the trail continues to be as rough as it was from Princeton to Summerland I would not be able to stick to my planned distance and schedule.