It was cold this morning but not as cold as it was the
morning out of Banff. I had left my
sweatshirt in the van so I had to get make a run out to get it. The sky was so smoky you could hardly see
the hills.
The ride was only 42 kms down the side of the road. I was driving down the highway and it was
only 36 kms. I had to make a stop at
the grocery store with the chef.
The grocery store turned out to be directly across the
street from the big truck in Sparwood. This truck is the world’s biggest dump
truck. The big truck is a Titan which
was built in 1969 by GM. It was powered
by a 3300 hp diesel electric motor and could haul 350 tons of coal. It ran from the pit to the
main processing facility. It took only
12 minutes to make the trip and the truck ran 24 hours a day seven days a
week. While it was a big work horse it
was a one of a kind machine and every breakdown meant special custom made parts
and a turbo charger failure finally ended its career.
The campsite is right off the main highway so it looks like
it is going to be a noise night.
Sadly the other Canadian staffer has decided to leave today
so I get to drive him into Fernie. Alan
will be missed.
On an up beat note Sofia our cook prepared a fabulous meal of pork chops (one of my favorites) with salad, rice and stir fried vegetables. There was a lot of cheering around the camp for her tonight.
Tomorrow is one of the biggest and most difficult on the
tour. It is 148 kms with two passes to
climb. I will not be able to follow with
the 4X4 so I will have to take another route into meet the riders for lunch.
Terry
2 comments:
Intrepid group of cyclists. I have done some wacky things, but my hat is off to these folks. Good of you to assist them. Thanks for the blog. Earnie
Looks like you are closing in on the border. That bunch of bikers look like they are dressed to hit the ski slopes. Must be cool. Ejoy your remaining days.
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