Day 2 started with a long, fairly steep climb out of Rossland, 1700′ over 14 miles. After the summit we were stopped for 15 minutes by road work, but we were rewarded with miles of steady downhill on buttery smooth fresh blacktop with no traffic at all. Believe me, it was great, even if it doesn’t sound like much to a non-cyclist. We arrived in the town of Castlegar for lunch. Castlegar sits at the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia rivers, set deep into towering rocks. It also bills itself as the sculpture capital of Canada, so there are lots of sculptures all over town. Unfortunately, one of our riders took a hard fall entering the town, suffering a fractured pelvis and a wrist fracture which will require an open repair. There’s always that risk. From there we had a steep climb up those towering rocks before proceding to Nelson. Nelson is a nice little town on the Columbia. We ate at a local farm-to-table restaurant. They bend the rules a little to serve chocolate for dessert, even though it’s hardly local to BC.