KVR

Sometimes things just work out... I woke up at the usual 5.30am on Rob and Jacqui's converted mobile home bus, laughing at the thunderstorm crackling overhead. A rest day, fish and chip dinner and the couple's inspiring adventure stories, brought my legs back in shape. Their dinning room table was full of gear as they were preparing for a six day kayak trip, including complete meals which they had dehydrated and heat wrapped themselves. My mind wandered through fantastic new plans and journeys.

A magnificent pancake breakfast set the scene and we were off the next day... for a sunday ride! Jacqui and Rob had kindly offered to ride with me through Myra Canyon on the Kettle Valley Rail trail. The KVR is a 600km off-road trail that follows the route of an disused rail corridor through the BC interior. What i didn't know was how ''off-road" this trail was going to be and if my bike would handle it... however the benefits would be a quiet days ride, no traffic, stunning scenery and a flat route all the way... it was time to find out... Jacqui and Rob would cycle with me and if the going was too tough they could bail me out, returning to Kelowna via car.




It turned out to be a great day of riding, the trestle bridges over the Myra Canyon were like nothing else i have seen and i have only admiration for the vision and engineering feat. The trail too was pleasantly easy to ride and as Jacqui and Rob turned back to Kelowna i was in good spirits.

I rattled along for the rest of day, thankfully without suffering any punctures or mechanicals. The recent fire which had destroyed many of the trestles and surrounding forest, opened up the landscape. Many of the other cyclist i met along the way commented on how the views across the Okanagan valley were now much better!









A kind couple gave me some peaches as i poked around at the eclectic Chute Lake cabin and 'museum' of junk, amusing myself at some very confused German tourists. I bumped my way down the rest of the trail, stopping often to soak in the uninterrupted panoramas of a sun drenched Okanagan lake, dodging chipmunks, rocks and noisy teenagers on quads. It was great to see Shirley (Kristi's mum) again at the end of the KVR, her beautiful home and orchard reminding me how lucky i was to met such lovely people.