Penticton-Osoyoos:GPS Route, Pictures and Journal

Today's route was southern Penticton to Ok Falls to Oliver and on to Osoyoos and then back again.  My phone was drained out of power during the western ascent out of OK falls on the way back, so it is missing roughly 13 km of tracking as I know longer had the phone's GPS to track me.  The pictures are from the bridge separating Northern and Southern Lake Osoyoos facing south.

Leaving Penticton on the Eastern route of Lake Skaha was fairly uneventful with low winds coming off the lake, which was nice.  Between OK Falls and Oliver the route is about 22 km and always seems to be the hardest part of the ride, however this year it seemed to be go by quickly and I reached the southern end of Oliver with an average speed of 29.5km which is my fastest 40 km this year.  Between the Oliver and Osoyoos there where a couple of road constructions stops and a lot of strange people wandering the highway.   In general the route from OK falls to Osoyoos heading south would be considered more of a descending route.  The official stats for the first half of the ride where; 57.9km in 1.55min with an average speed 28.9km

Heading back seems to all ascending, and wind.  Just like last year, the wind is the worst between Oliver and OK Falls.  In comes in waves and for moments goes away and you make up some ground only to be by another wave of wind that seems to take the speed right of you no matter how hard you pedal.

Final stage, OK Falls back to Pentiction I had decided earlier in the day to mountain climb and take a longer route back this year and complete a circle around Lake Skaha (last the year the wind killed me between Oliver and Ok falls and I only managed to ride between Penticton and Oliver and back before "loosing my legs" along the eastern side of the Lake Skaha which I thought would be easier).  In truth, I thought that the western route out of Ok Falls would give me a long down hill route heading back but I had forgotten just how much climbing the route has and overestimated how  much descending you get.  Still I managed to hit 100km in Oliver with enough energy to climb away and head upward and on ward for the last 18km.

Well there you have, finally completed this route after a year of saying that I would.  It would be nice to see how easier and faster the route would be riding in a group or at least with 1 other partner as opposed to going it solo.  Sharing the wind breaking alone I think would help immensely. 

Name: Penticton-Osoyoos
Date: 2010-06-30 8:07 am
Distance: 105 kilometers
Elapsed Time: 4:04:03
Avg Speed: 25.8 km/h
Max Speed: 55.5 km/h
Avg Pace: 02' 20" per km
Min Altitude: 145 m
Max Altitude: 473 m
Start Time: 2010-06-30T15:07:59Z
Start Location:  Latitude: 49.461217º N  Longitude: 119.578555º W
End Location:  Latitude: 49.378718º N  Longitude: 119.613211º W

Buck List: Cycle from PENTICTON to OSOYOOS - COMPLETED!

Well, 4.45 hours and 118 km later and I am done.  My legs will take about 3-4 hours to recover and my neck is sore for some unknown reason but this is one of the goals I set last year when i started getting back into shape and cycling.  I'll post the GPS route info, some pictures and a bit of a ride journal later on today.  For now, time to float down the Penticton river, soak up some sun and rest for a few hours. 

Michael
=8-) 

1st Penticton Ride for 2010

Michael uses MotionX-GPS on the iPhone 3G or 3GS and is sharing with you the following track:

Comment: Ride around Skaha Lake with sun! Took the cimbing route today. No better place to ride then here.
Name: 1st Penticton Ride 2010
Date: 2010-05-30 7:55 am
Distance: 31.0 kilometers
Elapsed Time: 1:15:01
Avg Speed: 24.8 km/h
Max Speed: 52.6 km/h
Avg Pace: 02' 25" per km
Min Altitude: 324 m
Max Altitude: 475 m
Start Time: 2010-05-30 T:14:55:17
Start Location:  Latitude: 49.461434º N  Longitude: 119.578919º W
End Location:  Latitude: 49.461372º N  Longitude: 119.579057º W

Quick Ride On An Old Route


Today was highlighted by two things; lots of stops messing around with equipment and 'heavy legs" as I like to call it.   Along the route I stopped at Bicycle Sport Pacific and picked up a great brass schrader to presta adaptor for air compressors and 'air stations' at local gas stations.  For $1.09 I can finally fill up my tires to their full capacity and it turns out they needed it.   I finally found a gas station with air working and once I filled up both tires in turns out I have been riding roughly 35-40 psi low for months.  My emergency hand pump and supposed powerful foot pump just could not get the air into the tires that is really needed.

Today's ride was also what I would call a "grinding it out" kind of experience.  I only had so much time today as I headed out late from watching too much World Cup Soccer, so I new it was going to be a shorter ride, but I just could not seem to get the momentum going to keep the pace up very high as my legs felt heavy and had no strength in them to to what I wanted today. I was hoping for 40-45km completed in 1.5 hours but instead has to settle for 35km.   Todays route was highlighted by a stop to the site of the now abandoned Fort Langley to Maple Ridge ferry.  In my earlier years of riding I got to know this ferry very well as I would ride from Delta and Cloverdale to Maple Ridge using the ferry to cross the Fraser River weekly to see my grandparents.  Now the system is all locked behind gates and the boats sit rusting away on the other side of the river banks, but the 5 fishing boats that have been moored their for decades still endure (see picture below).

Quote note about the pic.  It came from my iPhone and then was edited using the new CAMERA+ software I got for use with the phone (i highly recommend getting this app for your iPhone if you have one).  I try to take at least one shot to keep as a memento for the rides that I complete. Just a way of proving that I actually got to where the map says I was.  Next up, 1 week to go till our Penticton trip and the gruelling 100km+ rides begin.

Name: Quick ride on an old route
Date: 2010-06-20 1:00 pm
Distance: 35.5 kilometers
Elapsed Time: 1:22:12
Avg Speed: 25.9 km/h
Max Speed: 47.4 km/h
Avg Pace: 02' 19" per km
Min Altitude: 0 m
Max Altitude: 81 m
Start Time: 2010-06-20T20:00:36Z
Start Location:  Latitude: 49.117794º N  Longitude: 122.703222º W
End Location:  Latitude: 49.117676º N  Longitude: 122.703170º W

New Life Into a Little Used Standbye


Picked up a new iPhone app called CAMERA+ (www.campl.us). It has just about everything you need to make the poorly designed iPhone 3G(S) camera actually usefull. The app has been especially handy in removing the many blury pictures taken on the phone due to the stabilization feature that is built into the CAMERA+ software. It also has a number of neat editing fixes and effects to spruce up your pictures. Now if I could just take photos like my friend JohnSantic! (www.johnsanticphotography.com)

=8-)

 

4 Cities in 1 Ride

Michael uses MotionX-GPS on the iPhone 3G or 3GS and is sharing with you the following track:

Comment: Finally great weather!! Cloverdale to Cresent Beach to White Rock to Langley back to Home.
Name: 4 Cities, 1 Ride
Date: 2010-06-12 8:47 am
Distance: 58.7 kilometers
Elapsed Time: 2:19:01
Avg Speed: 25.3 km/h
Max Speed: 59.8 km/h
Avg Pace: 02' 22" per km
Min Altitude: 0 m
Max Altitude: 93 m
Start Time: 2010-06-12  T:15:47:09Z
Start Location:  Latitude: 49.117357º N  Longitude: 122.703073º W
End Location:  Latitude: 49.117831º N  Longitude: 122.703155º W

One Last Summer Ride before our Vacation

This mornings ride went off without a hitch.  The pace was slower, but no one gets left behind when we are training for Octobers 100km "Ride for Refugees".   Rob, Jay (see picture below) and myself managed to maneuver around the cars, bridge deck and traffic lights to get in a good ride today (1500+ calories burned is not bad either). Jay actually held is own since today was the first 30+km ride he has done. 

One thing is for certain, I hate riding in the city. There are to many roads being torn up to add more and more services for the ever expanding neighborhood around us (not good when riding on tinny high performance road tires).  As well, only a few of the main roads have shoulders that can accommodate cyclist and cars simultaneously.  But once we reached the country side, the cars disappeared and the road became more open and ridable.  I must say that I have been spoiled riding in Penticton and throughout the BC interior this summer!

Well, next up is 3 weeks worth of running as the bike gets hung up in the rafters and we take flight to Florida.  I managed to pull off a couple 10km in 55mins runs this past July but the goal is 10km in 45min, so vacation or not, I still have the 'Sun Run' 10km, half marathon and possibly a city triathlon to work towards for next spring while away. 

Michael  =8-)

Michael uses MotionX-GPS on the iPhone 3G and is sharing with you the following track: Note the app crashed again so the map only has 37km worth of trail. Its seems as though it reaches the 2 hour mark or 45km mark and crashes. I will have to figure this once I get back) 

Date: 2009-08-15 7:12 am
Distance: 50.3 kilometers
Elapsed Time: 2:11:29
Avg Speed: 24.2 km/h
Max Speed: 44.9 km/h
Avg Pace: 03' 29" per km
Min Altitude: 0 m
Max Altitude: 79 m
Start Time: 2009-08-15 T:14:12:40
Start Location:  Latitude: 49.118007º N  Longitude: 122.702956º W
End Time: 2009-08-15T16:24:09Z
End Location:  Latitude: 49.117627º N  Longitude: 122.703258º W

 

Penticton to Oliver BC and Back

Great day, survived the ride.  My GPS app crashed again half way through, but at-least this time I completed the first half before it did (see stats below), so total ride was 81km from Penticton to Tinhorn Creek Winery, Oliver, BC.  

Although its warm up here, leaving at 6:30am helped as the wind was light and 70% of the road was in shade to Oliver.  I am still working on getting consistently above 30km on the road (climbs and all) but at-least with each ride my time is improving.  

The second half was completely different and difficult. The wind kicked up around 8:30am and the ride from Oliver back to Ok falls was like riding up hill for 22km straight.  It's also slightly more "uphill" going back then coming, which would have been fine if not for the "wind tunnel" I was riding in. 1/3 of the way from OK falls to Penticton there is an approx. 3km uphill grade that took out my legs and the last 13km or so I was riding with "dead weight" in my legs trying to fight the gust of wind coming off Skaha Lake right at me. 

Thankfully I am once again standing and walking and my legs are actually not yelling back at me.  So all is good.  Next major stage is to hit the 100km+ mark soon.  Bye the way, the wind cost me 30mins extra coming back so all told I was on the bike for 3.5 hours

Name: Track 009

Date: 2009-08-02 6:36 am

Distance: 44.3 kilometers

Elapsed Time: 1:35:35

Avg Speed: 27.8 km/h

Max Speed: 44.2 km/h

Avg Pace: 02' 09" per km

Min Altitude: 286 m

Max Altitude: 371 m

Start Time: 2009-08-02T13:36:41Z

Start Location:

Latitude: 49.461397º N

Longitude: 119.578854º W

End Time: 2009-08-02T15:12:16Z

End Location:

Latitude: 49.335962º N

Longitude: 119.570234º W

Motion X-GPS Track: July 28, 2009

New Route, more elevation changes than I thought. Still great day to be out in God's creation on the bike and you can't beat the weather we are having right now...SUN, SUN, SUN and LOTS of HEAT.

Name: Track 007

Date: 2009-07-28 5:56 am

Distance: 34.0 kilometers

Elapsed Time: 1:20:20

Avg Speed: 25.4 km/h

Max Speed: 54.4 km/h

Avg Pace: 02' 22" per km

Min Altitude: 0 m

Max Altitude: 63 m

Start Time: 2009-07-28T12:56:03Z

Start Location:

Latitude: 49.117821º N

Longitude: 122.703033º W

End Time: 2009-07-28T14:16:24Z

End Location:

Latitude: 49.117755º N

Longitude: 122.703198º W