I awoke the next morning dawned to blues skies above and a bright sun shining through the thin mist hovering above the lake.There was a distict smell of smoke in the air and off into the distant west I could see a plume of smoke rising from the lakeside forest.I was in no doubt that the fire had been started by the previous nights storm and my guess was confimed by the assembled mass of firefighting humanity that jammed the motel restaurant.The place was overflowing with tired looking men dressed in fithy,ash-stained overalls ravenously inhaling anything edible that was placed in front of them.The placed smelled like an old untened hearth and I could almost taste the charcoal in the air.
It turns out that these men had just ended a shift quelling one of the many fires that had started overnight and were having a well earned breakfast break before heading out to contain the fire that I could see across the lake from town.It would be another full days work in the woods until they were expected to be done and back working again at their real jobs but for the moment their lives were on hold until the danger was past.It was very cool to see these guys just dropping everything for the sake of the town and equally cool to see how the appreciation the management and staff had for these ordinary guys who were just doing what needed to be done.I felt kind of small and insignificant comapred to these guys and envied the sense of community that they had.
Once they firefighters had left in their convoy of trucks I sat down to breakfast and watched the remaining minutes of that days stage of the Tour de Fance before going back to my camp to see how eveything was drying out.Really all I needed to worry about was my tarp and some clothes but it gave me a chance to do some work on my bike and get it ready for the 140 kilometer day that I had planned.It was my intention to ride up and over the Great Divide and camp that night at Racheria Creek Lodge which would leave me an easy 120 kilometers to ride the next morning to Watson Lake.This was kind of the plan I had heard from the others already further down the road so I was hoping that we would all end up in the same place together.
The Korean was the first out of the starting blocks that day followed by John then myself and the Swiss.For me it was a chance to have some fun and try to catch those guys who had camped further up the road.I figured that it would be a pretty easy task and catching John easily after the first long climb out of Teslin showed me that my riding was getting stronger,my bike however had other ideas.Almost as soon as I passed john I got my first flat of the day.He stopped to help but I waived him on telling him that I would be fine and went about fixing the offending tyre.With the tyre fixed I was off again,in hot pursuit of the peleton I felt was riding up the road before me.
The next hour or so passed without incident but I was wondering where John was.I was riding very hard and fast and hadn't seen him at all which I though odd.Before I could come up with a plausible reason.I saw,climbing a hill ahead of me,four cyclists.They were lumbering up the steep hill like a quartet of small elephants,totally loaded down and wobbling in an ungainly manner up the road.I caught up to them very quickly and sat up for a chat as I passed first the young German couple and then Brian.Just as I told them I would meet them at the top my tyre blew for the second time.Damn!!
The three cyclists all stopped and chatted while I unhitched my trailer and took my rear wheel off.They told me that th Korean was just ahead and I said that I would be fine and that they should ride on and I'd see them a little later on.With that they wished me well and I went about fixing my tyre,again.
Back on the road again I made great time and was soon wondering where everyone was.I had not passed the Greman nor the Englishman Brian but was now closing fast on a very tired looking Korean.I blew by him with a wave and soon passed a sign that told me I was crossing into British Columbia.I knew we would duck into BC for a few kilometers that day and knew exactly where I was and even with my two flats was looking forward to maing it to Rancheria Creek by around 3pm.That was until my third flat.
I was getting pretty frustrated by this time as the flats were not caused by road debris but by something wrong with my wheels rim.All the punctures were on the underside of the tubes and for the life of me I could not find the cause.I laid new tape on the inside of the rim and put in a new tube hopefull that the problems were done for the day but about two kilometers up the road it happend again.This time I pulled completely off the side of the highway and went about overhauling my rear wheel and having a little tyre patching party on the side of the road.It was at that stage that Pierre passed me and asked if I was okay.He told me that everyone was behind me and that they were al thinking of stopping at Continental Divide due to the late start.I said I'd meet him there and off he went while I finished my repair duties.
On the road again and I was a happy for about twenty minutes when my fourth flat of the day stopped me.I repeated the process and then a further four kilometers away a fifth and then a sixth.By this time I'd had enough and stopped for a late lunch during which time the Mexicans and Andy passed me.During repairs to my seventh flat,the Korean and old John passed me and I was at the point of no loner caring about the flats,it was too much of a joke.I hung out,ate some food,chatted to a nice roadworker who stopped to see if I was okay and generally killed time walking around in the woods.I had to get going though and thankfully I found a tyre that would hold.I pushed hard those next thirty kilometers and started passing everyone again until I met up with a couple of the guys at Swift River who convinced me to keep riding until Continental Divide.I didn't want to ride anymore as the day had drained the enthusiasm out of me but hey insisted and I'm glad they did.The next 20 kilometers flew by and before I knew it I was rolling up to The Continental Divide Lodge to greet the three Mexicans who had arrived before me.This was it for the day,time to make camp.
First though I needed to eat and quickly went into the restaurant to order with five minute to spare before closing.I was given an awesome beef stew which lasted all of one minute before downing a very cold can of ginger ale which topped me off nicely.The lady in the restaurant could not believe how quickly I finished dinner but what I couldn't belive was that when I went outside to ride my bike over to the camping area I found waiting for me yet another flat tyre...WTF!!!
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