10/04/2012 - Cycling from kelowna to Vancouver. Day 09

Normally after a nights rest my knee would be ok to do about 20 km of cycling but this morning I was in pain from the time I woke up.
This meant that my injury is getting progressively worse. I found out that there was a walk-in clinic in Mission where I could go see a doctor but that was 40km away from where I camped.
It was an agonizing distance to cover where the last 10 km I had to peddle using only one leg - not an easy task.
I had given up just on the outskirts of town where I asked a guy with a trailer to give me a ride to the clinic. He saw how much I was struggling and thankfully helped me out.
Arriving at the clinic I paid $50 for the doctors consultation as I dont have a health care card and waited for a good hour before I was sat in the room waiting for the doctor to finish his lunch (I presume). When he finally did arrive he spent only 10 minutes with me and diagnosed my bad knee as Patello femoral syndrome, he prescribed me some anti-inflammatories and I was on my way, I wanted to ask more questions to get my money's worth but he just dissapeared, I suppose to get back to his lunch.
Anyway, I went to the pharmacy and picked up my prescription and went to maccy d's to eat some shitty food with the pills and hop on the free wifi.
I was looking for somewhere close I could stay using the warm showers list but no one was available I the area. Instead I had to cycle 25km down the highway to Maple ridge where I would be staying with Alex, Barb and their 3 kids.
Have a few hours break from cycling helped out my knee a lot and the anti-inflammatories seemed to work too.
At this point I was really enjoying the cycling and looking forward to making it to Vancouver tomorrow. It would be about 4500km I would have cycled across Canada in total. Not a bad effort. :)
My hosts for the evening were great, barb was on a liquid diet as she was about to go for an operation in a couple of days time and Alex seemed to be passionate (well, I would say obsessed) with bicycles as he owned 9 of them all hanging from the ceiling in the garage. On top of that the three young kids had at least 2 of their own so the garage was chock-o-block of bikes.
The kids were very picky with what they ate for dinner and as Barb was on this strict diet I only cooked for myself and Alex.
It was nothing special, just a quick stir fry by after dinner I had bought some Tim Tams for the kids to try a Tim Tam Slammer. If you don't know what a Tim Tam Slammer is, I'll explain it: a Tim tam is a biscuit thats from Australia, it's 2 biscuits with a soft fudge in the center surrounded with dairy milk chocolate, to make it a slammer you have to nibble off the two opposing corners and use it like a straw and suck a hot chocolate, coffee or tea; as the milk chocolate melts from the inside you have to throw it into your mouth before it falls apart between your fingers the explosion of sweetness is like no other its delicious and almost too sickly sweet but amazing no less.
It seemed like it was too weird for this family to try this fantastic new thing and the kids didnt even want to try it, if i was young and saw this i would not hesitate. Whatever, I ate 3 and savoured each one.