Day 13 Quesnel to Purden Lake Resort

 

There was a lot of serious faces around breakfast as a lot of the riders had never ridden a century before and this was more than a century it was 172 kms and there was 3800 feet of climb as well.  A lot can go wrong in a century ride. Flats, bike malfunction, head winds, changing weather, and then there is rider error caused by fatigue.  But we did get out of camp a bit early and were treated to a glorious day. It was about 16 C with not a cloud in the sky and not a breath of wind anywhere.  

Right away there was a 400 meter climb and I was hot and sweaty by the time I got to the top of that.  But it was such a great day I was just so happy to be out on my bike. The road was great with nice wide shoulders and near perfect pavement. There was lots of  shorter climbs and some nice descents which kept the ride interesting and challenging.

At the 75 kms mark I reached the second big climb of the day which took us up this long winding road passed some microwave towers which could be seen for miles. There was no doubt where the summit was. After the summit the road had a long easy decline which went on for 10-15 kms.  I was riding along a 55-60 kms/hr.  By the time the next little roller came up I had knocked of 15 kms. It was great!

At 105 Kms we turned off Hwy 97 and took the Old Cariboo Highway which is kind of a city bypass road around Prince George.  The traffic had been building steadily and was getting worst so taking the turn off  lost 90% of the traffic and this was great.

Just a few kms up the road was lunch and I was happy to jump off the bike for lunch. We had made pretty good time as it was only 12:15 Pm. This left just 60 kms to go and only a few kms to go before heading east on Hwy 16,  Once we made the right turn onto Hwy 16 we had a nice tail wind which helped a bunch.

 I was glad to see the Purden Lake sign come up and after a quick picture of  entrance to the campground rolled on down to the campsite. Ken C rides a big steel bike ( it is a custom fitted bike and quite a beauty) so Ed and I made him lift the bike over his head for the gate way picture.

Everyone was in except for Ken T and he had taken the turnoff into the Provincial Park. So his wife was dispatched with the car to go find him.  I don’t know how I could have made the instructions any clearer; “It’s the big log lodge right off the Highway on the left.”  Instead Ken road 23 kms up the Provincial Park road.  Ken would up riding 200 kms and was more than a little upset.  I felt bad that he took the wrong road.

 We had a great supper and everyone hit the hay early.

 

Terry