21-09-05 LRRMC ride to Osprey Lake 650k m
For four of us the morning started with breakfast at Brogans Diner at 7 am and then be at McDonalds before 8:00 am, the departure time for this Sunday ride. Buy this time the very light sprinkle of rain that was in the air had stopped and now just cloudy Two more bikes were at McDonalds. This being a fairly long ride we headed straight to the freeway to get to Hope A&W where two more RoadRiders were waiting, Highway 3 to Princeton with a quick stop at the Manning Park to empty bladders and rest the behind. Onward to the Priceton-Sumerland road for 42 Km to get to Osprey Lake, the road is made for motorcycle riding with a variety of scenic areas for the eyes. A very short walk to the look at the very clear water in the lake. This road goes all the way to Summerland, but the pavement stops at or just beyond the Lake. As we got back to Hwy 5A Stan left to go home on the same roads we rode to get here. The rest of us rode the mostly new pavement to Merritt and Rotary Park to eat our packed lunch. Four of the remaining six riders decided they were going home the long way, this via Spences Bridge and Fraser Canyon. The other three followed the planned ride to Hope using the Coldwater road and Hwy 5. As we approached the onramp to Hwy 5 we stopped and agreed to ride the Coldwater road to a little historic town site of Brookmere which was on the Kettle Valley rail line and had a water tower which is still there. The last surviving one, On the 20 km ride to get there we saw the results of the forest fire that recently burned , but did not get to Brookmere. Back onto Hwy 5 and to Hope for the traditional DQ Icecream.
The other four that chose to ride home on Hwy through the Canyon must have rode about 750 km today
Link on some history of the Kettle Valley Railroad https://www.thekvr.com/summerland.php
