Today’s ride started off with a lovely downhill, running alongside a river where I spotted some deer and horses.

After 63km, there was a 2km section of fruit stands leading into Keremeos. I stopped at Parson’s fruit stand and had a maple and walnut milkshake, which the owner filled with at least four scoops of ice cream. Unfortunately the second half of the ride wasn’t very pleasant, the terrain seemed dry, a headwind kicked in and a 600m high hill tested my legs one last time.

Riding into Penticton was interesting, the town sits between two lakes, I rode past the first one, Lake Skaha, as a plane was landing overhead. The other one, Lake Okanagan stretches 135km north and I’ll be riding along that one later to reach Kelowna. Luckily I had a rest day, so after I arrived at my hostel, I researched different things I want to see and eat. I headed to a Greek restaurant and ate some ribs for the first time in three months. My hostel had a sleepy vibe and I was happy to get a good night’s rest.

Day 09: Exploring Penticton

I slept for ten hours and after breakfast, I headed to Mount Munson to get a view of the town. Penticton is full of wineries and part of the Kettle Valley Trail, which is a bike trail traversing the old railway tracks.

I had a double cheeseburger for lunch and headed back to the hostel to clean my bike and do some personal admin while it drizzled outside. Even on rest days I’m still hungry all the time, but I found some chocolate in my bag that was gifted from a friend in Tokyo. It was nice to slow down and take a break, although I’ve only completed the first 440km of the 5300km journey. After dinner and some light reading, I packed all my things and went to bed early.