Jeremy to the West

June 6 2018 Wed $125 Day 23

Most towns I've encountered in BC so far have involved either turning onto a descending road to enter them, or just riding through on fairly flat ground. Kamloops, though? Hwy 1 leading to Kamploops' city centre is called Summit Drive. And it's just as much a bitch to climb on a loaded bike as it sounds.

But it should even out and then angle in a cyclist's favour once the city centre is passed—right? Yeah, no, it doesn't. I pedalled from my entry at the east end of the city to the cheapest motel I could find at the west end. And it was uphill. All. The fucking. Way.

There were even moments it looked like I was coming to a decline, but it was just an illusion. A trick played by a shallowing incline. I've seen this in Alberta and BC and sometimes you can look to the side of the road and see you're still rising, as I could for this particular ascent. But when it happens outside a city, you just have to feel for it because nature does a damn good job hiding any indication of these sorts of climbs from your eyes.

Regardless (get it?) of whether or not you can spot any indication of it, the illusion still stands because the road ahead of you still appears flat, or like it's lowering. This makes these sorts of inclines often just as frustrating as even the steepest ones because they make you feel pathetic. Like your legs have turned to jelly, or someone mopped the pavement with sticky pop moments before you arrived.

I always peer down at my tires in these moments, having learned to expect the worst first. Sometimes I even dismount and squeeze them to be extra sure. But once I've confirmed that they're not to blame, I know I've come to another of those damn illusory inclines.

So I climb it, cursing and throwing a tantrum because even my knowledge of the obstacle doesn't exempt me from its morale-draining effect. And when I find its crest, I feel no better for having conquered it because it reduced me to nothing more than a raging child in that moment. Which is definitely its function.

Phone took a picture while I was still preparing it. Didn't turn out too bad.

Shuswap? Like, right on left, left on right? Or am I supposed to find someone to trade with?

I've never felt the urge to take a picture of my car before, despite that I'm supposed to feel an attachment to it just for the simple fact that it's my car or some shit. But this bike? This thing has taken me across the country. And that's a hell of a lot more meaningful than getting me to and from a job every day.