Cycling Spallumcheen

On Saturday I almost caused Ken to go down on his road bike. He only stayed vertical on the road because of his years of cycling experience.

We were on the return leg of a long hot ride. I was in front, with him behind me, close on my wheel. We were switching the lead back and forth, in order to keep our speed up. The one behind gets a bit of a rest in the draft of the rider in front.

Our route took us along Heywood-Armstrong Road, which joins Salmon River Road at Glenemma. We were a few kilometres east of the bridge at Glenemma, and travelling at a good clip on shiny new asphalt, when I rounded a corner and saw a large black animal crossing the road in front of me.

Initially I assumed it was a very large dog. It took a few seconds to register that I was looking at a full-sized black bear. Without thinking, I yelled "Bear!" - and slammed on my brakes at the same time.

It was me slamming on the brakes without warning that was the problem. My yell spooked the bear and it ran off across the road into the forest. But my braking so suddenly caused a very close call for Ken as he was forced to both brake and keep himself from running into my rear wheel.

He skidded left, then right, on the slippery, hot pavement, then came within an inch of my wheel. He told me after he was convinced he was going to go down. However, he managed both to stay up and to avoid crashing into me.

While I have seen bears while cycling in the Cariboo, and in northern BC, this was my closest encounter with one while riding the roads accessible from Salmon Arm. I should not have been so surprised. After all, I do live in bear country, and I have seen a lot of other wildlife from the bike, including a fox carrying freshly caught prey in its mouth, moose and deer, turkey vultures, hawks, eagles, many songbirds and woodpeckers, and small mammals like squirrels, voles and chipmunks.

The roads around Enderby and Armstrong have become some of our favorite local area cycling routes.

The country that we ride through varies from the cedar and fir forests of Canyon Road near Enderby, to Ponderosa pine country along Salmon River Road. The roads are quiet, compared to the much busier back roads of Shuswap Lake country. Farming is the primary activity.

Along Canyon Road, just after the 3 km climb out of Enderby. The sign makes the area's priority clear. Cornfields such as this one dot the landscape throughout Spallumcheen.

Parkinson Road, between Enderby and Armstrong. Forested hills like those in the background provide an ever-present, and ever-changing vista for the cyclist.

Seen from Parkinson Road, looking towards the southern toe of Mount Ida. The gravel road is a private drive; the roads we cycle on are paved. 

Looking north from the top of Hallam Road, a short but steep climb up from Salmon River Road below

Lansdowne Road heading north towards Hulcar Road. We don't see too many tractors on the road, but if one is in sight, Ken will try to catch it so he can draft it. Tractors in "road gear" go very fast!

The varied fragrances along roadsides are one of the things I enjoy about cycling. In spring it is blossoms and wild roses. By August, many roadside weeds are in flower, and I have been surprised at how fragrant some of them are. The sun in the Douglas fir forests releases their scent and that wafts across the pavement as I ride. In farming country, hay fields are always intoxicating after the hay has been freshly cut.

Heywood-Armstrong Road looking north with Canada Goldenrod in the foreground.  

The roads around Spallumcheen are invigorating for many reasons. The undulating terrain means that the cyclist winds around curves, ascends hills that vary in steepness, then drops, then climbs again. There is a challenge in doing the hard work that can push legs and lungs to the limit of their endurance. But there are rewards -- the exhilarating rush against the wind, the intensity of living in the moment, the need for complete focus and being in "the zone" that makes the sense of time disappear.

Along Heywood-Armstrong Road looking west. This is the beginning of the descent to the Salmon River bridge at Glenemma.

Yankee Flats Road looking north towards Mt Ida. The Salmon River lies in the valley to the east (right of the photo). Plastic wrapped hay bales are in the background.

Lansdowne Road looking north

Looking north east from the same spot as the above photo on Lansdowne Road 

Along Parkinson Road looking south-west

Along Parkinson Road

Bee hives at Wild Mountain Honey Farm on Hallam Road.

Highland Park Road, looking north towards Schubert Road.

Along Hallam Road looking east towards the Highway 97 valley. Spallumcheen has many larger operations with big barns for dairy cows, pigs and chickens.

From open fields planted to corn or hay, to pastures for cows and horses, large barns for livestock, and small scale operations ... agriculture in Spallumcheen reflects a real diversity. The variety is made even more so by the pockets of undeveloped forest land interspersed with agricultural operations. The mix creates many opportunities for wildlife to survive alongside their domesticated counterparts.

I constantly hear bird song as I cycle -  the cries of hawks overhead, the chitter of kingbirds on wires above me, the whistles of flickers, the chirps of chickadees, and the melancholic drones of nuthatches. But sometimes the only sound I hear is the whoosh of the bicycle against the wind, tires singing against the pavement. .

Forests and farmland 

Lansdowne Road. The open road beckons!

Your author on the aptly named Sleepy Hollow Road; wooded and quiet, it is a great road for cycling.

I have shown images of some of the roads between Enderby and Armstrong. There are more wonderful cycling roads to the south-west of Armstrong -- Otter Lake, Grandview Flats, Corkscrew Road and St. Anne's Road are a few. The country is much more open in this area, less wooded.

In summer, Shuswap area roads can be very busy with holidayers and their vehicles pulling campers, trailers and boats. These can pose a hazard to the cyclist. Comparatively speaking, the Armstrong area is much more pleasant for road cycling...even including the possibility of bears. Now that I know that one can amble out onto the road when I least expect it, I will be more prepared on future rides.

The open road will always call me!