Had a pretty leisurely morning as Reuben made me pancakes and bacon and we chatted some more. Eventually we said  our farewells and I was on my way. Some initial highway riding into and through town before turning off to join an adjacent dirt trail. 

 

The trail weaved up and down, crossing some streams, and was pretty wet from all the recent rain. As I made a quick turn to avoid a large puddle, the front wheel slipped out and I tumbled over. Jumped straight back up and thankfully I was unhurt. But on lifting the bike up I noticed one of the clasps which holds the panniers to my rear rack had snapped off. I have some spare straps with me, so was able to strap it onto the rack well enough to get down off the trail into the next town of Sparwood. 

I debated what to do but thought I might as well make the most of the fact I hadn’t got far and messaged Reuben to see if there was any chance of a lift back into town. He was very obliging and came and got me and we drove back to Fernie, which was better equipped with shops which might have a replacement. 

 

Nowhere stocked panniers but on getting to one bike shop the guy took a quick look and said ‘I’m pretty sure I can fix that’. The clasp itself was intact but the plastic fastening had snapped, so he was able to replace this with a new screw and some washers and it was good to go. Very relieved to have such a quick fix as I was feeling pretty annoyed with myself. 

 

By this point it was mid afternoon and with Reuben offering to host me for another night I cut my losses and decided to try again in the morning. Cleaned the bike and sorted my stuff out whilst he finished work and then we headed into town for an excellent Indian meal. Zach and Kara had also got into town so said hello to those guys too. Went back for a couple of beers on the patio. 

 

A day of zero progress with the route but this was the best place for any incident to happen where I could get help and things fixed so quickly. Having spent two months riding almost exclusively on dry roads and trails, it was a bit of a shock to be riding in the wet and mud. But Canada has been almost exclusively rainy so far, so I better get used to it.