Mark's Ride Across Canada: Day 40: Princeton to Okanagan Park

I've been following the guidebook benchmarks for the west coast rides so far. The book assumes you're starting in BC so the first few rides are shorter to give you a chance to get in touring shape. Since I already put in 3160km before getting to BC, I didn't really need the break, but I've been happy to take it.

This means that today has been my first 100+km riding day since Newfoundland, and I have a couple of takeaways from the experience.

Number one - BC hills are nasty and long. They sap your energy and make 10km feel like 20. Number two - riding in the heat is a whole different beast I'm going to have to manage. I'm already sunburned, and expect to be pretty leathery by the end of this. More important - I sweat like a pig at the best of times, so hydration is always an issue. When I was running marathons I used to take two cups of water and an energy drink at every 5km water station and still finish the races 6-8 pounds lighter. On the bike I've been budgeting two one litre bottles of water and two one litre bottles of sport drink per 100km, which had been fine in cooler temperatures, but today pushed that allotment well over the limit. Going forward I have to make it a priority to make sure I have plenty of opportunities to replenish fluids on route.

That being said, today was another fantastic ride through gorgeous country. My stop for the night is Okanagan Park and the weather is perfect for camping.