The day started in Hope with the hope I’d be able to tame what I expect will actually be the toughest section of the trip even though there’s still about 6,000 kilometres to go.

After a modest seven kilometre hill climb out of Hope, it was a gentle incline for about 18 km. Then the grades turned nasty for just a shade under 20 clicks. For most of the climb up to the infamous Coquihalla Summit (1,244 metres), I was crawling at between six or seven kilometres an hour. I took about four breaks along the way to hydrate with the sun beating down and rest my legs after pedalling a total of 145 kilometres on Day 1.

Another rider I encountered en route Saturday said going through the Great Bear Snowshed was scary. Fortunately, the snow had cleared and I was able to go on the gravel-filled path on the outside of the shed, much to my relief.

It took nearly four hours from Hope to the top and the former area where the toll booths used to be. But the exhilaration of conquering the Coq was worth it.

I then headed to the Britton Creek rest area to meet up with Brody. He had been worried his wobbly knee wouldn’t be able to handle that tough climb. But his fine fiddling friend Noriko volunteered to drive him there so he could start at a more reasonable point.

It was a beautiful spot, even with some snow hanging around on the ground. I had to wait for about an hour before Brody and Noriko arrived. Bless Brody’s heart, he emerged from the car carrying a bottle of Diet Coke, my addiction of choice. He even had a second in Noriko’s cooler. I was wondering how I was going to get my fix Sunday with no stores for the whole route.

They also came carrying food. They cobbled together a neat little curry lunch.

Brody also fixed up his clip shoes and his recumbent bike to lessen the pressure on his knee.

Finally shortly after 4 p.m., we were off. We figured there’d be more downhill than uphill after that with only 65 km to reach Merritt, which would benefit Brody.

How wrong we were. At first the inclines were slight. I was even pumping along at 25-30 km/h. Then came Larson Hill which was a tough couple of clicks to the top. Not quite as bad as the Coquilhalla Summit incline, but tough nonetheless.

For Brody and I it became almost treacherous trying to ride that fine line of road shoulder that runs about 10 centimetres between the rumble strips and the gravel/sandpits that make up the rest of the shoulder.

At the top, and just before a 4 km descent, I waited for Brody to catch up. And waited, and waited, and waited. The view, however, was fantastic.

An hour later he arrived. Turns out he’d fallen victim to the gravel pits and had to change a tire. He’d only been on the road for an hour and he’d been hit by another adversity!!!

The good news was he thought his knee felt good, and felt he’d make it to Merritt. So off we went again. We thought there was just one or two more hills in our way. How wrong we were!

After flying down that hill it seemed like for the next 20 kilometres every time I reached the crest of an uphill climb there would be only a short flat stretch, and yet another hill. And they kept coming, and coming, and coming.

Someone had said at least the ride into Merritt is downhill. Well yeah, the last 12 kilometres maybe. I reached Merritt, 120 hard kilometres from my morning start, just as the sun faded behind the mountains. In hindsight, I probably should have stuck with Brody. When it got dark he decided to camp at Comstock Road. A good move. Riding down that hill in the dark would not have been a good idea. Sorry about that Brody.

I, of course, headed for the nearest Travelodge.

Monday we’ll venture off the Coquihalla Highway to get to Kamloops. The Coq is about 80 kilometres from Merritt to The Loops, but there are lots of hills. So we’re going to head up the old highway, 5A, instead. Although it’s 12 km longer, it’s much less hilly and we’ll avoid having to deal with all those big trucks right up against the shoulder and vehicles flying by thanks to the 120 km speed limit.

After that it’s another 93 km to Little Fort to meet Brody’s dad Clive. Even though I’ve racked up 265 km in two days, we’ll probably take three days to join the originator of this epic journey.

• Glad to see such a good response from so many for this blog. Many thanks, especially to one of the early faithful followers, our Aunt Ruth. She turns 86 on Wednesday, so if I don’t do another blog before then Happy Birthday to a special woman who has five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Love you Aunt Ruth.