It was a cold night on Woss lake campground, colder than what we have had in weeks… maybe even a couple of months! I guess winter is coming and it’s time to head south. We were reluctant to get out of our sleeping bags but the local birds pecking away at our stuff outside eventually forced us out of bed. As we started digging through our supplies we realized that it wasn’t just the birds that got to our stash… Zoe left her pannier open and I forgot to zip up my tank bag and some rodent got to both of those, eating holes through our plastic bags and getting to the cereal bars, vitamin pills and chocolate coffee beans (this guy won’t be sleeping for a while!) Anyway, lesson learned, need to check twice to make sure all is buttoned up at night.
The plan for the day was to ride the 70km dirt road between Woss and Gold river then either carry on to Tahsis on the west coast or head to Campbell river on the east coast.
The gravel road was in fairly good shape, the usual pot holes and section recently resurfaced with loose rocks but nothing compared to the road to the Sloquet Hot Springs. About 20kms in I heard the unmistakable sound our air escaping a pressure vessel… something along the lines of ‘pop- pshhhhhhhh’! I stopped to investigate and sure enough, after few thousand kilometers of dirt roads and millions of rocks ridden on one finally turned around and bit the tire! A nice big hole right in the wall of the tire!
Zoe went back to Woss to make some calls and figure out where we can get a tire or tube from. Meanwhile I removed the tire off the rim to try and patch it. An hour later Zoe was back with intel and food. We came up with a plan, Zoe would ride all the way to Campbell River to get an inner tube and a new tire if available and I would see if I could get the punctured tire fixed enough to get back to Woss campground.
Long story short I couldn’t get the tire to seal on the rim and it wasn’t by lack of trying! Zoe came back 5 hours later just before 20:00 with a set of tubes (front and rear) and a brand new Heidenau rear tire, a bead buddy, and more food (saviour).
The “Scout” delivered by Zoe and ready to go on
We had no choice but to set up camp right on the side of the road and cook what food we had left for diner. Lucky for us the Triton crew had given us some fish and Zoe had picked up some rice and zucchini, so all in all we had a very nice meal! We were running low on water but that issue was solved when a campervan came down the road and filled up our jerrycan. (Friendly people around these parts!)
Yummy salmon courtesy of Triton
The night was once again very cold but quiet, no traffic on the back country roads at night.
We woke up to a very dewy and foggy morning. The sun was still hiding behind the trees and it took hours for the temperature to start rising. Meanwhile I got the hot drinks going followed by oatmeal most of which ended up in the dirt! The second batch worked out better and we got some food in our bellies!
Roadside camping!
Next task was mounting the new tire on the rim. Anyone with Heidenau experience will tell you that dealing with the “scout” AKA “K60” is a challenge! These tires are very stiff. I spent the best part of 3 hours wrestling with that tire, first to get it on the rim, then, once the tube was in* to set the bead. I cram led the pressure to 60 psi and yet not say it was going on. Anyway, with a lot of swearing and levering with the tire irons it popped into place.
Wrestling the Scout into place
In the meantime we had been drying out the tent and other gear and set to the task of packing up. All the contents of my bike had been removed and it took a little while to get it all back together.
From this…
… to this, and ready to go
By 1400 we were on the road again, about 24 hours since that rock sliced into the Anakee3 tire and ended its life. It’s quite interesting that after having carried spare tires for about 9000 kms the moment we take them off, this happens! Sod’s law i suppose. Anyway, lesson learned, from now on we will be carrying tubes for these sort of occasions.
Once on the road it took about 1.5 hours to get to Gold river where we stopped for food. We carried on all the way to the shore where the logging companies bring the fell trees to be bundled up into rafts to then be towed to the mills via sea. With some daylight left we got going on the road, paved this time, towards Campbell River.
Lots of logging going on around here
Gold River seaport
The end of the road, where the logs begin their journey to be made into household items
This is what yesterday’s track should have looked like!
We stopped about 40kms east of Gold River at the Buttle lake campground for the night. We set up camp, built a shower and went looking for food at a nearby lodge. As it were the lodge was set up for school camps and was only doing set meals for the kids but after some pleading, the staff was able to fix us a meal. The extra time in the forest had dug into the last of our food and since there were no shops in Gold river we were very low on supplies.
TA
*Both Zoe and I have tubeless tires which can be repaired if the damage is small and in the tread. On this occasion the hole was in the wall and quite large, so 2 reasons why it couldn’t be fixed. One solution was to inset a tube in the tire and slowly carry on. Even if replacing the tire with a new one, it would have been impossible to reset the bead with our compressor as the air would just escape between the tire and the rim. The only way to set a new tire on the road is with a CO2 cartridge (which we don’t have) or with an inner tube (which we didn’t have).
Your story started in a funny way with the rodents steeling what ever they could 😀 Luckily there were no bears around ! Be careful.
You’re having troubles with luck lately dear boy… first your keys now your tire… I’m not happy with the idea that Zoe had to drive all the up and down so far on her own ! I know you had no other choice since you left your other tires behind ….that’s how life goes and sure that’s part of the trip ! Hopefully your part of misery is over for a while and it’s time get on to better roads, weather, food and nice views….and maybe new encounters…
I lost count… How many Kms till now ?
A small hole turns into big disaster, oh boy!
Strong performance from Zoë as a single person disaster relief team!
First the key, now the tire, you’ve had your serving of counter luck these days.
A nuisance but almost inevitable with 2 horses and a combined 300+ days on the road.
As long as the riders get spared, all goes well!
Extra parts to be carried from now.
To avoid the cold and punctured tyres; go South via paved roads 😉
Baci mille