Canada, oh how I've missed you. After 20 some odd hours on the road, the "Man Van" arrived at the Canadian border. Full of 3 riders and more bikes, waiting to get in, take a nap, and let the good times begin. No big deal right? Wrong, Apparently large conspicuous vans don't pass through the border too easily. On the positive side, while we were forced to sit in the border inspection office while my vehicle was searched, we got to watch some World Cup soccer. The whole ride wasn't a bummer however. Plenty of good tunes were heard and pretty vistas viewed. We were lucky enough to come across an old rail road bridge with a rope swing over the Shasta river. What better spot to stop and make some peanut butter sandwiches. After putting on our best swimming attire we made our way past the interesting locals and showed them how we rope swing down in So. Cal. They were quite impressed. A couple flying squirrels and a torn callus later, we dried off and set back out on Interstate 5 for the great white north.
Our next big stop was in Portland at Voodoo Donut. We arrived in Portland around 12:30 and made our way to the spookiest and hippest donut shop this side of the Mississippi. After waiting in line with an assortment of people varying from vagrant teenaged skate bums, to punk rockers, and even a group finishing off their night of celebration for a bachelor party, we made our way into the tiny little hole of a shop. After perusing the menu of equally interestingly named donuts, I decided on a Maple blazer blunt, and a Portland cream, (their signature donut). Though the Butterfingering and triple chocolate penetration were close choices.Though, I do always have the way home to try them as well. After our sugar buzz started to wear down we had made our way just past Seattle and decided to cash in the chips just south of Ferndale. After a few hours of rest we got back on it and were on the road again. After a brief stop by the Kona Bikes office in Ferndale we finished up the drive to North Vancouver, our first destination in this week of cycling migration across B.C.
After settling into the hotel we checked in with Andreas Hestler and Dave Howell, we were invited over to Dave's for a BBQ and hang out while discussing the coming weeks daily epic rides. Dave is involved with the BC Bike Race and was a wealth of knowledge. After spending a few hours hanging out at Dave's we left stoked more than we were just hours before, excited and nervous about the trials and tribulations the trails would be soon putting us through, all in search of the most epic and fulfilling single track experience we can find. Now, we rest. Tomorrow is just the beginning.
Ride Free
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