Day 6 - Did I get Toque? (Two-k')

STATS	DAY	MILES	CLIMBING	CALORIES
DAY	6	70.48	4370	4473
TOTALS		292.09	15,528	18,088

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After enjoying a dry night in a warm hotel bed (I had forgotten how good a real bed feels), we got up and made our way down to the Hotels coffee shop for the free continental breakfast.  Well, my comments on the free breakfasts have not been too complimentary, this one, however, was unique.  There were 3 heated serving pans.  In the first one was Home fries (actually, fried potato cubes), the second had bacon, and the third had an breakfast casserole made up of eggs, a little cheese, bacon, and fried potato cubes.  So, the choice was eggs with bacon and potatoes with a side of bacon and a side of  potatoes.  A little salt softened the blow, and, while it was not up to Tom's campsite cooking, it was good hearty road food for the 71 mile ride we had before us.

There were a couple of things I did not get to yesterday.  First, I didn’t do the Hotel Tiki theme justice in my picture of the tents.  This one should give you a better feel for the wonders that were contained within the walls:

Uga-cha-ka Uga-cha-ka Uga-cha-ka I can't stop this feeling, deep inside of me....

Our Canadian companion, Joe, (I’ll be bringing him more into the story as the days pass) was saying that there is a bit of an obesity problem in Canada (though not as bad as it is in the good ole USA). Observing the locals it is difficult to believe this the case in general.  Everyone up here appears to work hard to provide a life for themselves and their families.  The grocery store we went to yesterday reminded me of the conversation and gave me pause.

Is this the cause, the effect, or just an example of brilliant marketing?

We got on the road at about 9:30 with the instructions for the day:

Memorize these, as this is the only cue sheet you get (good thing there are no turns to make).

We get on the road and leave Fort Nelson and the first sign at the edge of town said "Check your fuel, next fuel 250km".  Check your fuel?  CHECK YOUR BLADDER!

The rain had stopped, however, the moisture mass was still in place and we were looking at a long and possible cold ride today.

I bet the view is even nicer in the sunshine

The scenery was pretty much as you see above.  Our big worry was this was the first alpine day as we have to climb over Steamboat Mountain.  As we begin the ascent, we worry that it may get damp.

Looks like we are going to climb into the clouds

As we climbed, we did climb into the clouds, and then the clouds started to break and we saw evidence of blue skies ahead of us.  The views were grand:

How many trees can you count?

We summit the climb in time for the sun to appear!

Brad and Joe are ON TOP OF THE WORLD!

After a break, we saw the road ahead of us:

OOOH, it's going to be a great downhill run (and it was)

The ramainder of the days ride was a few big climbs and lots of rollers.  Just as we were getting towards the end the first commercial sign of the day appeared along the road:

Who doesn't like hot buttery buns?

We arrive at Tetsa River Ranch, set up camp, and go and take care of a little personal business.

You can go #2 behind door #1, or you can trade for what's behind door #2, 3, or 4, but not 5.

Mike opted for the bed in a horse barn. 

Cindy, this is the first time I chose to stay in the barn!

So we are sitting around camp waiting for dinner (we were  hungry) and I get the chills and can't shake them.  I didn't bring a warm hat, just my stupid leather cow puncher hat and a scull cap.  I need to get my ears covered.  So I go over to the gift shop and ask is they sell stocking caps.  The guy walks over and looks at the clothing kind of confused and said "what do you want?" I said a stocking cap.  He said "Something for your cowboy hat?", No, something to cover my head and ears.  "Oh, you mean at Toque (two-k'), in Canada, we call them toques.  Ok, you got one?  "Nope..., wait, there may be one, but I warn you it is stylish".  I look at, and buy it.  As I am paying, he says "are you one of them bikers?".  Ya.  "What's Tom cooking up for you?"  Shrimp and pasta in garlic butter sauce.  "Oh, he's getting fancy."  Ya, though after a long ride anything tastes good.  To which he says:  "Then I bet shit on stick would taste good, eh?"  You gotta love it!

So anyway, here is my new toque:

Notice the pretty POM POMs?

So the question is "Did I get toque?"

CONTEST UPDATE:  I meant to cover this in Fort Nelson, but forget.  Sorry, no one got it.  A few came close.  The correct answer was Rufus and the yardstick.  There was room for Rufus in the duffle, but he did would not get in.  As for the yardstick, I discovered I would not have been able to bend my leg and sit in the airplane seat.

I'll kick off an easier contest shortly,

I am not getting as many comments on the facebook page as I had hoped.  I guess I had a little more faith in my followers.  Come on guys, pony up!

Tail of the tape. - be sure and check out the elevation profile.