Wednesday July 24        Cycling Day 18

          Divide Lodge ( Y) to Watson Lake (Y)

Distance:  (Km). 137

Time:  6:11

Average Speed: (Km/ hr). 22.2

Ascent:  (m). 989

Heart Rate: (beats / min). 118

Cumulative Distance:   (km). 1927

Cumulative Ascent :  (m). 15,106

Punctures so far : 0

Another long day into Watson Lake with a Rest Day due tomorrow.

Had a good long look at the Continental Divide Lodge as I moved out onto the road this morning.

Rain was forecast for today and it had all the looks of it as we set out. To be sure, I donned my neoprene socks. Nothing as uncomfortable or as cold as wet socks at the end of a long day in the saddle. But the day didn’t turn out as expected. 

For the first 18 km I was covering familiar territory. Yesterday evening at Riders Meeting I was invited to comment on conditions for the early part of the ride, calling on my scouting experience. Again I powered up to the continental divide although the skyscape looked somewhat different. From there it was virtually all downhill to Rancheria RV Motel where we should have camped yesterday. Wisps of cloud hung in the valley waiting to be burned off by the morning sun. No wind whatsoever and all was so still on the many small lakes that we passed.

Plenty of mountains during the early part of the ride as we cycled down the Rancheria River valley. Mountains but not many hills to climb till we crossed over the Rancheria and crossed high ground to the Liard River valley. Today again it was more down than up although we climbed almost 1000 metres.

Just 10 km from Watson Lake there was a long flat stretch and I reckoned there wouldn’t be time for another climb. How wrong I was! Ahead of me appeared a 3 km hill (I didn’t know it was 3 km as I approached it) with gradient varying from 5 to 6.6%, and another short stiff one after that again on the edge of town. These hills at the end of the day are the pits.

Still I appreciated the Welcome to Watson Lake sign. The Alaska Highway runs right through the middle of ‘town’. It’s named after Frank Watson from California who headed to the Klondike in 1897 and worked a claim on Bonanza Creek. But in 1903 they headed here to the Upper  Liard River and worked as prospectors and trappers.

Being a base for the construction of the Alaska Highway, it signaled the true beginning of the town of Watson Lake.

Our hotel, Big Horn Hotel, was on the right hand side and I made sure I didn’t overshoot that mark. I had been well warned by all ( in a jocular manner) not to cycle on to Fort Nelson (the next Rest Day). I arrived at 2:30 to be told that rooms would not be ready till 3:30. Some of the fast riders had arrived as early as 1pm to receive the same news.

Just over the last 5 km heavy drops began to fall and got much heavier by the time I was in the room and showered. My lucky day!

While waiting for the room I mosied up the road attracted by the flags flying from the lamp-posts. And there in all its glory was the Tricolour blowing in the breeze. I enquired if a festival of some sort was in progress, but no ‘We do it at this time of year for the visitors’. I got that info in the Liquor Store after I had spotted and noted the price of Jameson there. It works out at €26 for a 750 cl bottle. And of course plenty of Baileys on offer.

Finally our room was ready (sharing still with Ed) and a sizable one it is too. Plenty of room to spread out our gear. Raining all evening but hoping that the sun shines tomorrow in order to dry out the tent.

Watson Lake won’t take much time to explore with a population of just over 1,200. In Jan it gets down to -27 deg and in July averages around 15 deg. Annual rainfall is just over 9 inches (a good lot of that fell here today) and in mid summer has 19 hours of daylight. I saw darkness for the first time last night between the flashes of lightning.

So, almost 280 km in the last two days....will sleep tonight and no packing of the tent in the morning.

Tell you more of the highlights of Watson Lake tomorrow.

Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.