July 10: There was love, not war, in Falkland

(As usual, click on photos to see larger versions and more info.)

It seems like throughout the Okanagan every day promised to be an ‘easy’ day of relatively flat riding but it usually turned out to be a little tougher than expected (though we were always tough enough) due to headwinds or underestimated hills. Today we finally had a ride that just whizzed by through the Salmon River valley. The scenery was very relaxing and we had some great solidarity riders who were happy to chat about issues including social justice and globalization. The only downside to the day was the last part on Hwy 97 which is very bicycle UNfriendly with some dodgy drivers and disappearing shoulders.


Everyday we see more and more dead trees killed off by pine beetles. The economic impact will be a real hardship for many people. Don't believe John Baird's disingenuous talk about protecting the economy being more important than our legal obligations under the Kyoto protocol.


Falkland is a not as small as expected. We arrived at the stampede grounds to be met by a bunch of people offering us watermelon slices and keen to take action on climate change.

We were disappointed to hear that that Falkland is becoming a bedroom community for people working in Vernon over 40km away. We really have to get away from this sprawling lifestyle of long commutes and inflated land/housing costs. Our host Monique hopes to expand her small parcel of land just to conserve some natural space from development.

We were so tired from our week of non-stop cycling, followed by exciting but tiring community events, that we all took several hours this afternoon to find a spot of shade and nap. The adults cyclists could be seen stretched out dozing all over the place, while the kids raced around exploring the empty grounds.

A few highlights of our later afternoon in Falkland included seeing the kids quite interested in watching the documentary The Corporation, eating gourmet veggie food from the colorful food caravan of Bar Nunn Cappucino and Grill and seeing the kids get really excited about cycling in the bike rally. We thought the children, both the local ones and the ones on our tour, would cycle one lap of the 1 km circuit, but they kept speeding around, completing as much as 25 laps! So great to see happy kids enjoying their bikes.