Sham-Balla Tour

^^ click on the pic for deets... ^^

(Below is Tpick's account of his trip to the Kooteney's.  

Seven passes.  Nice. - Editor)

I have a friend who was getting married in Creston, so I decided that it would be an idea to ride my bike there. I found out that my friend Lyle was also heading that direction in a vehicle, that week to visit his family, so I decided not to ride to Creston. Getting a ride in the Lylevan was a pretty appealing idea, as I just wanted to ride bikes and didn't really have a plan. Lyle and I drove out to Rosemont, seeing many shamballa's along the way. I may have missed out on Shambala, but that wasn't gonna stop me from continuing with the party. Rave to the grave! We stopped in Osoyoos to jump in the lake and check out the latest bikinis on our way. Up to this point, I was pretty happy to be hooning around in a van, and not riding a bicycle. The bikes in the back of the van were enjoying the ride so far too. I particularily liked the Lode King truck. That guy was bad ass, and was passing everyone, holding a perfect line with two trailers. Most of the truck drivers we saw looked like they were sexting as they swerved over the rumble strip to get that bitch on vibrate. Arriving at Lyle's family house was good and his family treated me to a comfy bed, tasty food and concerns about my ride over the Salmo-Creston pass. 

Preparty Day 1: Lyle and I ride out to Salmo together. It was good to have the Lyletrain out there. After coffee, Lyle took me to the bottom of the hill and said goodbye. I made it into Creston-Lister that day.

151(Bacardi)kms. 23.5km/h Ave. 6:30h riding time.
Kootenay Pass Summit 1774m

Preparty Day 2: Biked out to Riondel along Kootenay Lake. A nice rolling ride with plenty of places to stop. Had lunch in Crawford Bay, where I found out there is a broom maker that made the brooms for Harry Potter (if that means anything). I had "I think we're alone now" stuck in my head for the journey. 

215kms. 27km/h ave. 8h riding time.

Stag Party Day 3: Hiked up a mountain for a stag and got wasted. Fell down a slab of rock, because I tripped on something and wasn't wearing a headlamp to see where I was going. Smashed up my leg and got a contusion on my right quad and whatever that muscle is on the outside of the leg between the ankle and the calf. I thought this would probably be the end of my tour days

Sham-Balla Recovery Day 4: Hiked down the mountain, drank beer. Iced my leg lots.

Wedding Day 5: Went to Khaled and Nadine's wedding. It was a very awesome ceremony, on top of a mountain. The barn dinner/party was fun and I danced so much I got a bruise on my foot. Had a bunch of drinks to keep the Sham-Balla in me alive and got to bed at 2am.

Sham-Balla Tour Day 6: Woke up at 6am, not enough sleep and hungover. Biked from Creston to Grand Forks. The last pass was a total bitch. It just kept going and going. Three passes in total.

231kms. 23.7km/h ave. 9:45h riding time
Summits: Kootenay Pass Summit 1774m, Bombi Summit 1214m, Paulson Summit 1535m.

Sham-Balla Tour Day 7: Biked from Grand Forks to Princeton. Good day over all, despite the headwind all the way in to Princeton after climbing out of Grand Forks. I had the chorus of a song that I've written in my head that goes "I just wanna have sex with you." Saw a dead bear, a live bear, dead dear all over the place and a bunch of long horned sheep. Stayed at the princeton motel. They have one tiny room that goes for $45.

245kms. 24.25km/h ave. 10:06h riding time. 
Eholt Summit, Anarchist Summit 1233m

Sham-Balla Tour Day 8: Biked from Princeton to Vancouver. Head wind all the way to Abbotsford. The wind was so bad around the Hope slide area, I actually called someone to see if they could pick me up in Hope, but noone answered. When you're going 30km down a steep hill pedaling it's the most unmotivational thing in the world. There were times where I was riding down a hill getting blown all over the place trying to hold 12 km/h. When I got into Hope, I called my Mom and asked her what the wind was doing in the valley. She said some numbers and I thought, ok I can do this, so I ended up riding back to Vancouver. I hammered from Abbotsford to Vancouver. When I was getting close to home, I noticed that my trip time was nearing 12 hours, so I tried to beat the clock. Hastings is pretty awesome at night when you can keep up with cars. In the end I missed the timeline by 5 minutes.

299.98km (I rode up half the block just to roll over 300 km), 24.8km/h ave,12:05h riding time
Sunday Summit 1282m, Allison Pass: 1342m

Sham-Bahonourable mentions: 
Khaled and Nadine for inviting me to Creston, without that I would never have biked. Lyle for Lyletext support. Shane for inspiring me to grab life by the balls. Shambala, for bringing out the balla in me. James for introducing me to the 28 cog. Sugar and Coffee and Beer. Sham-Balla Road Grime. Brrrrrrrraaappp Brraapp Braaappp!!!!