June 8 - Castlegar to Gray Creek (through Nelson)

Bike Log: 99km, 840m of vertical, average speed 27.1 km/h

More rain today - I got thoroughly drenched for about an hour this morning. Then, it stopped and was kind of on again off again until Nelson. We stopped and had lunch in Nelson (which is where this picture of Cheryl is taken), while it poured, and then we had beautiful sunshine for the rest of the day. Completely unpredictable! Needless to say, the last half of the day was extremely enjoyable, especially compared to the first.

We spent a couple of hours in Nelson today. It is an interesting town. I passed through a few years back and always wanted to come back. I still do want to come back! It is very strange after travelling through so many small towns to come across something a bit larger. It is also quite urban. It seems like someone lifted a few blocks of Vancouver (maybe out of Kitsilano) and plopped it down on the west arm of Kootenay Lake, sprinkled in some earnest purple-clad salt spring island folks and garnished with a working sawmill and a power dam! Interesting mix, not really sure what to make of it! Lots of young folks about, which is good to see since many of the smaller towns we've been through seem to be mostly drying up as the population ages. Checked out the bike shop ("The Sacred Ride"), got a tire and tube replacement but not much selection on shoes.