Kelowna Killer Beez

Seems like the September Sundays are cursed :)

Considering the weather forecast, we are moving the special ride to Saturday (Sept 21) as it should be a sunny and warm day, compared to Sunday.

We decided to do the Armstrong ride instead of Green Mountain as it is lower, has shortcut options if needed and seemed to be very popular, based on your feedback. We want the special rides to be safe excursions that everybody enjoys!

So here are the details for Saturday:

Armstrong Classic on September 21^th

We will meet at 8:45am at the Memorial Park in Armstrong (where the Century Ride starts); you should be ready to start cycling by 9:00am.  Please try to car pool to Armstrong with other cyclists if you can – meet at 7:30am at the Bean Scene on Dickson to catch or offer a ride. 

The park washrooms will be open in Armstrong.  Remember to bring enough food and drinks for the ride. We are planning on doing the 90km route from Armstrong via Grindrod and Enderby back to Armstrong (980m elevation gain). There will be a resupply at Farmer John’s in Grindrod (at 63km); they have drinks, snacks, ice cream etc.  After the ride we can decide if we want to go for lunch somewhere.

Watch this blog for a last update on September 21^th at 6am to confirm (or cancel if we really have to) the ride, based on weather. But the forecast looks good!

If the weather is decent on Sunday morning at 9am, we will meet for the regular Sunday ride at the Bean Scene and adjust length if necessary, depending on the forecast.

Green Mountain Ride September 22 (weather permitting) 

Meet at 7:45am at Starbucks on 2231 Louie Drive in West Kelowna to carpool. If you have room for another rider or are looking for a ride, please meet us there!  The ride starts in Penticton at 9am in the Skaha Lake Parking lot (corner Elm Ave and Cypress St). 

The ride is approximately 90km long with almost 1100m of climbing, see GPS here. Bring enough food and drinks for this distance (one resupply point at 47km).

We will regroup and wait for everybody at the very least at the Apex turnoff, the junction with Highway 3A, Twin Lake Golf Course (to resupply) and Okanagan Falls. If waiting to regroup is not for you, feel free to organize a separate ride!

Watch this blog for a last update on Sept 22 at 6am to confirm (or cancel) the ride, based on weather.

As per Tom Ferguson:

“I am going to call a “no go” [for the Armstrong ride on Sunday Sept 15] now … the weather forecast doesn’t look good. People might as well know now so they can plan their day.”

We might try to reschedule for sometime in the future but no date yet. 

With 80-90% chance of rain in Penticton and Keremeos all morning, it is wise to leave this ride for a dry day! The route is too remote to be caught in downpours or thunderstorms. We will postpone to September 22, in two weeks (next weekend is Tom’s Armstrong Classic).

If the roads are dry in Kelowna at 9am today, we can ride from the Bean Scene and stay close to town and shortcuts. If it’s wet, just coffee :)