High in the sky in Revelstoke

After 10 straight days of cycling without a break (not exactly recommended practise by any means), it was nice to finally get a day off today in Revelstoke. It allowed us to recover and regain some strength for the remaining mountain passes to come.

While this was a "rest" day, we still had quite a lot to take care of. First things first, we got on the air at one of the local radio stations. It was a lot of fun, and hopefully we got the word out to a lot of people in the area. A few guys got checked out by a chiropractor friend of Barb's for some pains they had noticed, and no serious problems to report. We got our bikes back from tuneups, and they're all in top shape, no major mechanical problems. We even met with a reporter from the Revelstoke Times Review!

But this was all boring housekeeping for us. The best part of the day was the helicopter ride we got to take just after lunch!

A friend of Barb's flies helicopters out of Revelstoke airport, and had agreed to take us up for a spin. The first major step was deciding who got what seats. At lunch, Mike and Brian lost out on our makeshift "pick the joker" game, and were relegated to the middle seats away from the windows. Once arrived at the airport, it was down to Pat, Jon, and I for the co-pilot's seat, prime viewing location. Jonno lost out on a game of 'even or odd,' so it was down to Pat and I in a best-of-three rock-paper-scissors showdown. Pat took the first one, but I made a valiant comeback to claim the prized spot! I was pretty psyched about it, and Barb's got some photo evidence to prove it.

Except for Mike, none of us had ever been up in a helicopter before. It was something else. After a quick briefing, we were up and away, flying around the mountains around Revelstoke. It was surreal. Our pilot, Matt, took us around a nearby dam before taking a dive down towards the forest, which took us quite by surprise but was a really cool feeling. He then took us around Mount Begbie, high up into the glacier. It was so close you felt like you could touch it...and then he took another steep dive down the mountainside before heading back in. Eighteen minutes of pure exhileration. Thanks to Barb for setting it up for us, and thanks to Matt for taking us up! It was the experience of a lifetime.

To end our stay, Barb treated us to dinner. She's been wonderful to us, and it won't end here. Tomorrow we'll scale Roger's Pass before locking all of our gear up in a shed and getting driven back to stay at her place before continuing on to Golden the next day once she takes us back to our gear. There is absolutely nothing between here and Golden, so this is our safest option, and we really appreciate it!

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PS: For those who have commented about the lack of photos recently...we know. It's hard for us to find time to load them up to our site, but we've got loads and we'll try and get them on there as soon as possible for everyone to check out. Good things come to those who wait, I guess, but we appreciate that you want to see them so badly!

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