Day 3 last year was the big one – 180km, from Manning Park to the desert of Osoyoos.  This year on this route it is almost exactly the same in distance but this time a different destination – Penticton.

Because of the distance and anticipated heat in the desert areas later on, most of us woke early had a quicky breakfast of coffee, toast and cereal before heading out.  This morning the weather was looking tremendous, but as it was only 7 in the morning it was still cold.  I put on all my gear, pumped up the bikes tyres and left with David, Zach, Hilda and Chris B.

Chris B zipping up for the cold start to the day:

We set off down the familiar and fabulous tree-lined round that starts this day. The great advantage of this start is there is a lot of downhill first and this allows quite a distance to be covered relatively easily before any climbs.
Heading out on a long day:

Next was the climb up to Sunday summit, again this was made much easier by having done it last year and then knowning what to expect.  Here I was greeted by Fran (support driver on the Lance Gregson Memorial Route) and all the riders who had set off very early on and this provided a perfect opportunity to get a photo with my friends Max and Leona who played a big role in organising the ride this year and were about to head off on the other route later in the day.    The weather was just about perfect, unlike last year, with the sun shining down.

Leona, me and Max at the top of Sunday summit:

Following Sunday summit was a nice long downhill into Princeton, which brought with it the phenomenon that I had discovered on the first day – the forgotten hill. I usually have a great visual memory, but for some reason (I cannot imagine what) I had forgotten the location of a number of up-hills.  So my hopes of a long cruise were slightly dashed. Incidentally this phenomenon was not limited to me – Hilda said the very same thing later on. Over optimism on the Hill front in fact would turn out to be a repeating feature of this ride.

On the way into Princeton I stopped to lend a hand – well more a tyre pump to Bill who was helping Hunter fix his 3rd flat of the day. At this point I was feeling a little smug about my pre-ride purchase of kevlar lined tyres (no flats for me…so far!!).

After Princeton, I was fairly sure it was a long run with a very gentle decline. Last year I rode this flat out with John and Heather. Having caught up with Bill and his group I was no in a position to be able to ride this in a peloton with some others, including Bill, John E, David Strange and Hilda. Usually you cannot repeat really enjoyable experiences – not so this time. We blasted down into the beginning of the Okanagan Valley at speeds of at least 35 km/hr. When we arrived at the lunch spot at almost exactly half way David remarked to me that the group riding at speed had been one of the best experiences of his life. This for me was a real highlight – to see someone just get that buzz out of this event.

After a fairly lengthy stop for lunch I again headed out with a big group to complete the next section – through the Okanagan Valley to Keremeos. It would be here we would split, but for now I was able to ride in a very large group with Bill, Hunter, David Strange, Hilda, Brian Carlson, John J and John E. Again the Okanagan Valley was a joy, noticeably greener than last year too (probably a reflection of the very wet start to the year we’d seen in Vancouver).

Me in the Okanagan Valley:

By the time we got to Keremeos is was getting very hot and humid and I was beginning to feel more than a little tired. Refueling was available at the gas station in Keremeos and here I waited for as many people as possible from the other ride to say my farewells. If I do this ride again I hope a lot of the people from the other ride join us as it would be great to ride with them some more.

After a while it became clear it was getting just a bit too humid to stay around and so I set off with John Sullivan and Hilda to Penticton. John rode with us a bit, but it was clear quickly he had far too much pace for us – John is another incredible rider. After he had disappeared into the distance Hilda and I worked our way up the valley and then up the climb to the pass just before Penticton. I decided to try some music to get me up the last bit as it was taking a lot of energy. I have to say too at this point when my body started slowing up I decided to just do my best to ignore it. This is in part what this ride is about – some pysical exertion to raise money for people who have far more significant challenges in their lives than just completing 180+km through amazing scenery with support people! Specifically I though of Alex and his family and so not once did the thought of not finsihing enter my consience and I think this made it easier.

Just as the top of climb was approaching Elton John’s Take Me to the Pilot came on my earphones and that was more than enough to get me moving! Luckily there was also a tail wind that made the reminder of the climb and then the descent just a joy.

By this time I had left Hilda behind, but we met up at the bottom so we could navigate our way into Penticton together – excellent directions were provided this year, all took us straight to the motels, but after 170km energy depletion makes it easier with 2 sets of eyes to find the way!

And so the end of the longest day. And again it had been a tremendous experience. Better still the stats were looking good:

Trip distance: 184.57km
Trip time: 6hrs 16 mins 48secs
Average speed: 29.39

We finished the day off with a nice meal in a Greek restaurant, where we were joined by Simon who had been forced to leave us the day before to start a new job today. In fact he also met us in the car park of the motel too having jogged there – he makes it look so easy!