The rest of that evening at the Great Divide Lodge was spent socialising,waiting for a chance to have a hot shower and watching the boys cook themselves some dinner.One major event on the schedule though was the unofficial Great Divide Beach Volleyball Championships which was played with so much gusto that it rendered our nice hot, cleansing showers totally useless.Sadly for us the beach part of the volleyball court had closer resemblance to a dustbowl than that of Copacabana Beach but no matter we sacrificed cleanliness for the cause.The dust and dirt got in eveything and I even had to retire one pair of my beloved Injinji toe socks to the garbage as they were now well beyond anything close to hygenic rescue.
That nights sleep was pleasant and warmer than the last few but it was the sound of raindrops on my tarp that made me wonder just how far I would get that day.I woke at my usual 4am and promptly went back to sleep for another two hours while I waited for the weather to make up its mind.At 6am I emerged from nylon cocoon and went of a walk run along the highway to fill in the time until the restaurant opened and I could have my coffee fix for the morning.At 7am I was sat firmly at a table in the restaurant full of amusement at the firemaking skills of one of the girls who worked there.I watched her load a few big logs into the large potbelly stove sitting to one side of the room and wondered how she was going to light the damned thing without and paper or kindling.She soon solved that mystery when she left the room and came back holding a propane tank with a huge blowtorch attached.One flick of the ligher and away she went,those logs were toast."Instant Indian" she said and laughed as she walked away with the fire blazing behind her..
As the morning wore on the cyclists joined me in dribs and drabs until around 11am when the room was full of chilled cyclotourists escaping the dreadfull weather that had presented itself to us.I knew there was no bloody way I was going out in that squall and my decision was set in stone when the two Swiss,the Greman couple and English Brian rode up to the lodge and joined us looking like drowned rats.The mood among the toasty warm rabble who had camped that night with me turned to a sad resignation that they were in for a shitty day out on the highway and one by one the herd thinned in the restaurant as each individual and then each group summoned the courage to face the worst weather I'd seen on this trip.
I sat in the restaurant for most of the day chatting and writing in my blog and then set about doing some more research into the offending rear wheel that had caused me so much trouble.For the life of me I couldn't work it out but I had four tubes hanging on a tree that were now fully inflated and ready for service as well as the one in the rear tyre that was holding firm to the touch.Now maybe all would be well and I would be in Watson Lake at the end of the next day in time to catch up to the guys in front of me.In two days they would make their turn down the Cassiar Hwy and away from my chosen path which was down the ALCAN down to Dawson Creek,chances are I would never see any of them again after that.
One sad and frustrating turn of events happened during my stay on the second night at Continental Divide.After fixing my wheel I set about making a nice warm fire and was taking some photos when a young girl of about ten years approached the community woodpile that was very close to where I was camped and as soon as she said hello to me her mother called her away.The same thing happened with the young daughter of a guy camping nearby and again with two boys who were playing in the campground area where I was camped alone.I thought,what the hell is wrong with me?I know those of you who ae parents will say that they were being protective but really,am I guilty until proven innocent just because I am male?That is just not fair!Would the same assumption be made of me if I were female or as part of a couple or a group?It is just bullshit and something that I really hate as it has happened to me a few times before.I know it shouldn't bother me but it just does and it really gets to me every time.As a result I went to bed feeling very down and dejected and a shadow had been cast over what was otherwise a pretty great day..
No comments:
Post a Comment