With Brody sidelined by his wobbly knee, I set out on my own Saturday to meet up with younger brother Clive on Highway 5.

I left about 9:30 a.m., and before noon I was in Mission. Although I had added a few more items to my packs, and also put two on the front which I hadn’t done for our little Vancouver Island diversion last week, the bike handled well.

While sporting my brand-new Jubilee Cycle jersey, I trundled along quite well over mostly flat terrain on a perfect day. As my new kilometre counter – expertly installed by former bike-shop expert Daniel late Friday night – got to 97 and I was buoyed by nearing 100 km, all of a sudden a hill emerged to put me and my lactic-acid filled legs in my place. It did not flatten out again until I hit that 100 milestone.

During that climb I encountered some randonneurs out for a leisurely 300-km weekend ride. One told me to do my best to avoid the big Great Bear snowshed when I’m climbing the Coquihalla suggesting I go on the outside if the snow is all gone. I’ll do my best to heed his advice. I may catch a ride with Brody and Noriko through the shed as they head north to meet me at the summit.

After taking a break at Agassiz at 2:30 I figured I might as well shoot for Hope. It was too early to call it quits and it was only about 35 km away. I tried to keep up a steady pace while trying not to turn my legs into putty. I had some success. There was only one 1-km hill the rest of the day, which of course, courtesy of the cycling numbers karma gods, came just as I was approaching the 125 kilometre mark.

I admit during the last few kilometres into Hope I felt a little lightheaded despite consuming two water bottles, a Super Big Gulp of Diet Coke and a can of calorie-free iced tea during the day with no washroom pit stops.

I rolled into Hope in time to find a motel, shower and watch the Vancouver Canucks get unlucky in the NHL Entry Draft. Again.

Hopefully a good night’s sleep will give me enough energy to conquer the Coquihalla. If nothing else, I’ll be mega-glad to reconnect with Brody as we make our way to meet up with Clive.