Not you Frankie! And I didn’t mean it in that way! I was merely talking about myself biking in really hot weather.
I left Fort Nelson on B.C. Day, it turned out to be a scorcher! I had hoped to go a long way, like 150 or so kilometers, I probably could have but along the way I ran into fellow tourers from Australia who told me about this free place to camp around the 110km mark that had spring water to drink. I was like, “sold, I’m staying there”. I relaxed, read, ate, let my tent dry out from the previous night’s condensation, ate more, and finally went to bed. The next day I got up and made breakfast and decided to wait to let my tent dry out from condensation again before heading on my way. That was a huge mistake. For one it took forever! I was waiting and waiting until almost 1000, and by then it was already starting to get oppressively hot. By the time I had reached Buckinghorse I had been alternating between dripping with sweat, which was making my eyes burn or having it dry on me leaving my face quite crusted. While it was nice to not have a headwind and at times a slight, and I stress slight tailwind, there are a couple of problems I run into. Especially on hot days, tailwinds do not let me evaporate sweat very well and I just am dripping, stinging my eyes making it very difficult to see. Another problem is that it allows the horse flies to keep up with me. With a headwind they are kind of kept at bay by not only fighting to keep up with me but also fighting the wind. I cannot believe I am bitching about a tailwind, but so here I was just being worn down by 33 degree Celsius heat and then to be attacked by horseflies like the Luftwaffe on London. My will was broken and I stopped at Buckinghorse River, very shy of my intention, but hey I got to shower there.
I made sure to set my alarm for the following morning and was able to beat the heat and make some really good distance to Wonowon where I had the most beautiful view from my tent of a gas station parking lot. The scenery of free camping while bike touring! The next day I got another pretty early start and biked to Charlie Lake which is more or less in Fort St. John, just 11 km outside of town. I chatted with the camp attendant named Christine, she stopped by later in the evening and brought by blueberries, oranges, and cookies for this hungry biketourer. She was a very sweet lady and I wish her nothing but the best! Tomorrow I will be biking to Dawson Creek which is the beginning (end for me) of the Alaska Highway!