Soon after the snack stop, one crosses into BC and into Kootenay National Park. The weather indeed improved and the roads were completely dry from this point on. And, even a bit of sun now and then! what heavy snowfall were these forecasters talking about, anyway?
The ride from the snack stop to lunch is quite nice. Almost all a gently sloping downhill on a road with very wide shoulders (but with occasional cracks that you need to watch out for!)
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Crossing into BC
Cycling southwest, into BC.
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Down in the Vermillion River Valley
An excellent downhill section, with lots of good scenery and wide shoulders (but watch out for those occasional 'end-of-the-world' cracks in the pavement). The weather steadily improves as we head down-valley. The road is nice and dry and it gets warmer - even a glimpse of sun now and then!
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Approaching Lunch
Two GT cyclists approach the lunch stop, with Split Peak towering above them.
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Graham arrives for lunch
Nice of you to drop by, Graham! And in good spirits, no less!
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Don Hollingshead, official EVCC photographer
Again, like last time, I saw it fitting to capture a picture of the capturer.... after all, Don does a lot of work capturing pictures of much of the ride.
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Lunch stop
A pleasant spot (actually, getting to be a nice termperature at this point) to have lunch.
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courtesy Graham
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Andrew closeup
Graham explores with his new Digital Camera by taking in a zoomed-in picture of me.
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Extravagant Service
The lunch stops are highlighted by a well-organized line that custom-assembles sandwiches to your liking! most excellent!
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Alternative cycle repair
Here's a GTer (can't help but think I know the name of this guy, but can't quite remember) fixing his "tricycle" style bike.
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Post-lunch grind
soon after lunch, we are treated to a bit of a climb, out of the Vermillion river valley and into the Kootenay river valley. Here, Caroline completes a relatively short but steep climb.
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GTers cycling merrily along
A couple of GT cyclists happen to be coming by as I take my picture.
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Snack Stop 2
The afternoon snack stop of the first day is at a scenic stop along the Kootenay River just before the highway starts up towards Sinclair Pass.
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Snack stop 2 supply van
We arrived a little ahead of the food van and had to wait a bit before we could get our cookies and drinks and bagels and... well, you get the idea.
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Ragged in the mist
A bleak and jagged peak visible from the second snack stop on the Kootenay River near Pitts Creek.
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courtesy Graham
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Andrew at Snack Stop 2
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Huh?
Caroline interrrupts the shot composition process...
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Graham and the Kootenay
It took a lot to get Graham set up for this shot, believe me!
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Grinding up to Sinclair Pass
After snack stop 2 is the biiiig climb up to Sinclair pass. Over 1000 feet in about 10km.
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After the afternoon snack stop, it is just one really big hill to Sinclair pass before all of the effort of the day is over. From there, it is a very steep and exciting descent through a rocky canyon into Radium. One the way down this big descent, just before getting to Radium (the township), one reaches the Radium Hot Springs. The EVCC provides a shuttle bus from the campground to here and back for those weary cyclists who want to soak for a while.
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Reaching Radium
Graham celebrates our arrival (or rather, our cycle-by) of the Radium hot springs site. We will be coming back here later after we've set up our tent for the evening.
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courtesy Graham
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Gateway to Radium
The descent down into Radium winds through a narrow and rocky canyon. This is the final narrows before the road emerges into the columbia river valley where Radium is located.
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Bag pick-up
Our gear is waiting for us at the Radium Baseball diamond, where we are allowed to take over as a campspot for the night.
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Radium's park has a baseball diamond, and the GT has taken it over to provide camping accommodations to those who want it (if desired, GTers can stay in a local hotel instead, at their own expense). The baseball diamond is right next to the area where the dinner is served.
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Our bags are in here somewhere.....
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Graham's Tri-horn hairdo
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Sleeping stuff now set up
The turf is nice, soft and level at the baseball diamond.
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A dip in the hot springs
we make our way up to the Radium hot springs site for a soothing soak in the pools.
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A bit of hackey-sack before bed.
A group of GTers play around after dinner.
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Interactive trackmap with photo points - Golden Triangle Day 1 - click map to view
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Cycle Route Data - GT 2004 - Day 1
Start Time:
8:05a.m.
End Time:
2:51p.m.
Duration:
6h45m
Distance:
106.36 km
(66.09 mi)
Average Speed:
15.8 km/hr
(9.8 mph)
Start Elevation:
4731ft
(1442m)
*
Max Elevation:
5725ft
(1745m)
*
Min Elevation:
2811ft
(857m)
*
End Elevation:
2812ft
(857m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
2407ft
(734m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
4320ft
(1317m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
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GT 2004 Day 1, Elevation over Distance
This is a GPS-derived Elevation profile of day 1, plotted over distance.
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GT 2004 Day 1, Elevation over Time
This is a GPS-derived Elevation profile of day 1, plotted over time.
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