Day 10: Banff – Calgary, job done!!!

The final day of the ride dawned perfectly.  A large breakfast and the now familiar routine of packing up the trucks for the day and pumping up of tyres for the journey ahead.   Again we had been anticipating the wind, if the winds were blowing the usual directions we should have a fairly straightforward, so it was with much relief that the trees seemed to be blowing in the ‘right’ direction.  I set out from Banff with Simon, Jen and Tom.  Again we had to negotiate the cattle grid at the edge of Banff before heading down highway 1 at pace.  We had set off behind a number of the others but soon we catching people up.  The weather was really perfect, the early morning sun glistened off the road surface and the temperature was just right.  It didn’t take long to realise that today was going to be another great day as we descended the remainders of the Rockies and entered prairie land.

Great cycling scenery:

Somewhere along here I managed to take my favorite photo of the whole tour, although I don’t really have any recollection of taking it!  

Cyclists, scenery and mountains – perfect:

Perhaps the only downside of today was the increased traffic – in fact a whole lot more traffic than we had been used to, pretty much since leaving Vancouver.  Unfortunately the dreaded rumble strips made a reappearance, though maybe this was a good thing to keep the cars and trucks from wandering into us? Most of today was pretty much downhill and the pace was fast.  Again I was worried about keeping up with Jen and Simon and Tom, but we seemed to ride along in a good peloton and keep the pace up.  In fact, and maybe I was just delusional at this point, but I could swear I could hear a similar whistle coming of the tires that you can here when sat on a French TGV train at 300 km/hr!!!  This was only interrupted by the very annoying creaking from my bike that was initially diagnosed as my pedals (well they were cheap), but was only finally pinned down a month later by my local bike shop as being the bottom bracket. 

We stopped briefly for lunch at a gas station and then headed out to for the final stint, by now well and truly out of the mountains and headed straight for Calgary.  There was only one minor nuisance of a hill – which I was reminded again of my need for more improvement in getting up hills.  However, I was still in good shape and the whole trip did not experience the ‘bonk’ phenomenon.  In fact I did get to experience that several weeks later when I cycled up two mountains in Vancouver in quick succession and it is a powerful incentive to make sure the energy levels are kept up.  But in this entire trip everything was good, much is made by non-cyclists of saddle soreness etc, this really wasn’t a problem for me and never has been.   In fact I arrived at the end of the trip feeling fitter than ever.  This, of course, included being non the worse for the previous nights celebrations for Canada day – as a Brit it is important to show we know how to drink and then be fully functional the next day, apparently this was not so for everyone! 

And so after 800 miles in just ten days we arrived in Calgary.  We had arranged a meeting point at the end just on the outskirts of Calgary where we would all gather before cycling en-masse in our Gearup4CF outfits to the Alberta Children’s hospital, a seemingly fitting place to end.  As we had been so speedy today we had a couple of hours before we were due to arrive so most of us went down to a local cycle store – store seems somehow to smaller word – to look at all the things we now wanted to buy for our bikes. 

The final leg to the children’s hospital:

The end of the ride really was quite something.  We arrived altogether at the hospital to be greeted by a camera crew and the local CF chapter with most welcome bottles of water and a gift of a bag of jelly beans.  The was not just a token gift, the number of jelly beans represented the number of tablets someone with CF typically has to take.  This was a powerful reminder of just what we were doing this ride for. 

Following many photographs we headed off to our hotel to pack up the bikes for the journey home.  The day was not quite over.  We were put up in the Sandman Hotel – one of our sponsors for the ride and then headed to my favorite North American restaurant – Earls -for a celebration dinner.  In fact I am well known in Vancouver for my fondness for an Earls cheese and bacon burger, not to mention their sticky toffee chocolate pudding.  So I’d been looking forward to this for quite a few days now and as ever it didn’t disappoint!   

Mission accomplished:

Conversation was already beginning to turn to the ride for next year, with a possible trip to Jasper being mooted.  Joy at finishing the ride was only tempered by sadness that it was now all over.  For me, and I know for some others, this had been the best 10 days of my life.  The cycling was great, but it was the people that had really made the trip so great, from all of my fellow cyclist many of whom I was wishing I had been able to spend more time riding with, to our wonderful support people – Faye, Daniella and Kate.  Not forgetting prior to the ride Joyce and Janet at the Vancouver CF chapter who also organised us all and helped make this happen.  The ride was a tremendous success raising more than twice as much as the previous year and giving us a great benchmark to move forward and raise even more. 

On a personal note, it had also given me an even better perspective for my research efforts for CF.  All the people on the ride, with their stories of CF helped me tremendously.  Most of all knowing that I was riding for Alex and his family, Clare, Ted and Nathan – all of whom I was very lucky to be able to meet after the ride.  This made the whole thing even more special and gave it considerably more meaning.  I am very grateful to them all for their tremendous generosity and allowing me into their lives. 

In my entire research career before coming to Vancouver I had not even met someone with CF.  In fact the first person I met with CF was actually on a British Airways flight to Vancouver for my interview to come and work with David.  By pure chance I was reading my PhD thesis in preparation for my defence the week after and got into conversation with someone in a neighbouring seat who it transpired was someone with CF.  He was in his 30s and working for a major multinational organisation and seemed healthy.  That is of course what all this is for, working to a future where all people with CF lead full and healthy lives.  Here’s to that.

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Day 9: Radium to Banff

Unlike yesterdays record, today there will be lots of pictures as today’s ride was so spectacular that it would have been criminal to miss it.

The day started out with breakfast at the the local Husky’s, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten breakfast – or indeed any meal (!) – at a gas station before.  I must say by this point I’d begun to wish for the full English breakfast.  Those who have partaken in such a thing will know that it is distinctly different from the Canadian cooked breakfast, in fact I don’t think I’ve even seen ‘proper’ bacon.  Anyway, a slight digression, brought on by the memory of the weakest looking coffee I think I have ever seen. 

Long horned sheep crossing the main road in Radium first thing in the morning:

Breakfast was very early and it was cold in Radium.  We set off promptly conscious that there was a steep climb first thing this morning, very much like our day out of Osoyoos, it started immediately.  There was some discussion in the group of a race to the top to claim a King of the Hills jersey, a la the Tour de France.  As was the typical pattern I managed to start off behind a number of people and slot in somewhere behind the slightly faster guys.  Again Simon breezed past me on the uphill!  My trepidation about this climb seemed misplaced as it took only 54 mins or so and unlike some of the other climbs the weather was perfect and the scenery ideal.

This particular climb was made all the worthwhile by the incredible views to be had at the top as we entered the Kootenay National Park, below is the view down the tree lined valley we had ahead of us.

Jen, Simon and Hilda at the top of the climb out of Radium:

As was so commonly the them a long climb was swiftly followed by a rapid descent into the valley and then a welcome long stretch of relatively flat riding.  These parts now that we were all 9 days in were becoming, for me, some of the most enjoyable as they were completed at some speed.  I still wasn’t as confident as I might be and constantly feared being unable to keep up with Simon and Jen in particular.  So when they stopped for a toilet break before lunch I went on at a marginally reduced pace fully expecting to be overhauled any minute.  I learnt I should have some more confidence in my ability to keep up on the flat, at least – hills are still a given that I am much slower, when I reached lunch without them having caught up with me.  This prompted Jen to say I shouldn’t complain about riding alone when I left them all and couldn’t be caught up for 20 km.  Fair point!  In my defence, it was really a complement that I left them!!

 Lunch was in the middle of a valley that had been ravaged by a massive forest fire a few years before.  The trees were stripped of any greenery for much of it.  I had assumed that this had been due to the terrible ravages of the pine beetle – busy destroying the magnificent trees in BC.  This time they couldn’t be blamed.  One can only imagine, though, the hell that the area must have been in that time, with fires raging right up the sides of the mountains.  Our lunch stop contained photographic record of this and it was quite something.

Following lunch we scaled what was to be our final major climb of the ride.  This one was to the top of the continental divide.  I have to admit complete ignorance of this until I arrived at it, it is the point in Canada either side of which water flow to the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans.  It is a reflection of the sprawling flatness of much of eastern Canada that this point is so far west in the country.  The ride up to it had been very enjoyable and we were also treated to the view of a glacier further up in a mountain. 

It was also on this ascent that after nearly nine days of cycling that we crossed the border into Alberta.  I was highly entertained to note the difference between the signs marking entry to the different provinces.  Alberta had a rather dull looking sign welcoming people to rose country.  BC possesses no such modesty (and frankly why should it looking at some of the scenery), adorned with a great big sunshine and welcoming people to the most beautiful place on earth.  Superb!

Me, Jen and Tom at the top of the Continental divide (with apologies for my poor matching of cycling outfits, the leg warmers are to keep the mosquitos away and the shorts were the only comfortable pair I had and unfortunately didn’t match the top which was itself just an unfortunate choice!):

Again an ascent means a descent.  I followed Jen down the road that would finally link us back up with the Trans-Canada highway that we had left behind on day 2.  Here I hit my highest speed to date of over 40 miles an hour.  Still this was slow compared to both Zach and David who told me that they had reached even higher speeds.  I was also unable to keep up with Jen on the downhill, as I am (much) heavier, there must be a technique thing there I need to work on.

David and Zach’s speed did come with a slight consequence.   On descent I was mindful to follow the advice and not in fact join the Trans-Canada but rather go on highway 1A running parallel.  Such was Zach’s speed that he forgot this advice and he overshot the turn taking David with him, so they both missed highway 1A.  This was a great shame as it was gorgeous and freshly paved this year.  Tree lined on both sides it was a great finish to the day.

Simon heading down highway 1A into Banff.

Entry into Banff did eventually require getting back on highway 1, but there was one last hazard for the day which was the presence of cattle grids on the entry to Banff – the first of which I went straight over.  A very unwise choice!  These wide grids could send a cyclist flying and are best negotiated on foot alone.  Banff itself was stunning in the afternoon sun and our ride into the hotel marred only by the construction that someone had very wisely decided to do in the middle of the town in the middle of tourist season.

Upon arrival I was able to take a picture of Pierre, my mascot from Alex, who I had carried from Vancouver, sat against the Cascade mountain in Banff.

After dinner that evening many of us went out to celebrate Canada day in Banff.  This was a great evening and I think many people felt very much like the ride was ending very soon, certainly I think that many of us drank a bit like that.  The day was finished off by a sleep in the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in, in our residence at the Inns of Banff.

Celebrating Canada day:

Day 8: Cranbrook to Radium

I’ll start today with just about the only photo I have from during the ride today – right at the start when we were loading up the trucks ready for departure, this is a typical departure scene as we all try to load up our bags, fill up water bottles, pump up the tires and do any last minute bike adjustments.

Quite why I didn’t take more photos I don’t know!  People kept telling me that if I thought the scenery was good, just wait till we got to the Rockies.  In Cranbrook we had arrived at the side of the Rockies and were to head north out of Cranbrook for 140 km.  A substantial distance but not one marred by any significant climbs.  Today we had great tail winds again and we quickly left Cranbrook behind heading out to long flat and quiet roads.

Having loooked back at the photos, and whilst writing this, I’m quite concious that I only mention a few of the other riders names.  This has just to do with our relative positions on the road so I have less stories about them.  Everyone on this ride was amazing and in hindsight I’m slightly sorry I didn’t spend more time with some of the others – hopefully next year! 

The morning brought amazing scenery as I headed due North with the Rockies to the right of me the whole morning.  This was to prove a great stretch of road, with little in the way of traffic, just me and the bike.  The GPS plots for the day show climbed and descended around a 200 metre range – a piece of cake compared to previous days!! 

Lunch was at around half way point after which I had overtaken Chris who was absoutely flying today.  Our route took us along side the magnificient Columbia Lake (I think that is head of the Columbia river but could be wrong).  There was then this magnificent stone cliff face, the name of which evades me, but I have included a photo below, taken by Jan as I failed to take any decent pics today en-route as I was concentrating too much on the cycling.

Just after this Chris caught up with me and we decided to ride in formation and attempt to catch John and Heather ahead of me, which we eventually did.  I reallly like formation riding, you have to push when you are at the head of the formation and then you get a noticeable break when you go back into the tow of the person in front.  We did catch up with them and went past but I quickly realised in the fun of this afternoon’s riding I had completely mis-managed the drinks and the energy supply, so I was quickly tiring.  This was not helped by some last minute small climbs into Radium.  Nonetheless today was a good day, fantastic scenery, fast pace, just great.

Today we were staying in another motel with a large forecourt enabling us all to sit round and discuss the days endeavours.  Some people ventured up to check out the hot-springs.  As we were on a tight schedule to cover the distance in the time we had it was difficult to spend much time in many of the places we stayed and so it was a bit of a shame not to see more of some of the places we stayed.  Radium is situated in a valley and surrounded by the Rocky mountains, an incredible sight!  My camera really does not do justice.

Day 7: Creston – Cranbrook

Following some of the previous days, today was a comparatively easy day with just 106km to pedal.   It was also the beginning of an amazing few days in the run in to Calgary.    I set off on a light breakfast – just coffee and cereal plus an enjoyable science conversation with Rebecca – good to remember what I do!  I set off quickly today and was first to lunch with John and Heather.  Insects continued to pester and today was the first sign of any rain we had seen since Vancouver, although a slightly damp road hardly qualifies by Vancouver standards  The wind was kind and the first half of the day was fast.  I was equipped with a brand new set of rear brakes, having burned through my others on the descent from the Salmo Crest summit. 

Lunch:

Post lunch I set off on my own and was blown along at 25 mph through some great scenery and relatively flat roads.  Of course it couldn’t quite continue like that and about 12 km from Cranbrook I got my second flat.  Feeling fully competent after my lesson from David I had the tube changed and the wheel back on the bike when Simon and Jen arrived on the scene.   They hung around to check I got it fully changed, which was very fortunate as with the wheel back on the bike I tried to inflate it and promptly snapped the valve off.  So with a second tube from Simon I changed it again and we set off for Cranbrook.  The final 12 km were fantastic as I got to ride with 2 of the fastest riders in the group – and kept up!  I’m sure they could have easily dropped me but it was so great to blast into Cranbrook with them, very good for my confidence, and I even allowed myself a very cheeky over taking move towards the end.  This last 12 km for me was so good as after the frustration of Day 6 I had started to feel I was getting stronger and today had been a great day.

So following stowage of the bike we met up with Tom who arrived quickly behind us and headed for Denny’s (one of our sponsors) for some food, cold drink and bike discussion.  These post-ride times were proving a favorite for me. 

Bike discussion:

The day was not over and after I had a quick trip to the pharmacist for more insect repellent and itch creme (what a pest these things are!!) – my first trip in the red van, ferried by Faye, we had dinner at Denny’s.  It was at this point we were grateful to be inside as a giant storm hit, apparently it was part of a storm that included a tornado hitting Creston where we had been the night before.   It was really quite amazing. 

After dinner many of us retired to David and Zach’s room for a discussion on CF, including myself and Rebecca contributing a perspective on what it is we do in research.  For me this was a great session and very useful.  I spend most of my day in the lab looking at the minutiae of the bugs that cause infection in CF.  Whilst I used to work on CF bugs in my previous world, it was only since coming to Vancouver that I have had access to the perspective of those who live with CF.  It certainly gives added impetus to one’s research endeavours.  It was also very useful to hear the questions of those who were raising money for research and find out the sorts of places it is used.

Discussion (Rebecca and Hilda):

Day 6: Trail to “We don’t want your type here” Creston

During a bike ride like this I think everyone has bad days.  I think probably today was that for me.  It started off very well indeed, Kate’s final act was to persuade the owners of the restaurant and pub where we ate last night to open especially for us in the morning and provide breakfast – and they did a great job of this.

Everything went well initially with a small bit of climbing and I saw – unusually for me – some wildlife with a deer crossing the road right in front of me, it had wisely shot across the road but only when I got nearer did I realise it had managed to leave it’s children behind as it stood atop the rock face at the other side of the busy road.  I decided not stick around to see the conclusion to that and head off down the road.

This morning I did probably the stupidest thing anyone did on the ride when my speedometer stopped working.  This functions by a small magnet mounted on the wheel rotating past a sensor mounted on the inside of the front fork.  If the speedo stops it is usually because one of these has come loose.  So I stopped and adjusted the magnet and carried on when it quickly stopped stopped working again, so I slowed down and reached down to move the sensor inwards a fraction.  Figuring I could do this safely without stopping it was something of a surprise when I caught my middle finger in the moving spokes of the wheel.  It was quickly obvious this was not a serious injury, but it so easily could have been worse and I felt somewhat guilty as had it been worse I would not wanted to have caused an unecessary hospital trip to add to the logistics burden of the ride!

So I arrived at lunch prior to our big climb of the day.  Lunch was provided by Daniella who had seamlessly taken over Kate’s role in the white support van – the other van being driven by Faye, who I rarely saw during the day because she usually had the back of the pack to keep an eye on.  Lunch was strategically positioned before the climb to the highest paved road that is open year round in Canada. 

Lunch (right to left: Zach, Heather, Daniella, Rebecca and Jon):

After lunch I set off alone some time behind John and Heather to climb this mountain.  This was a mistake – the road went on and on and on.  Instead of the swtich backs I had become used to I could see it heading off uphill into the distance, and just when you think you be near you’d round a corner and find more.  Non of this was aided by the ridiculous attraction that insects seem to have to me, I was by far the worse sufferer of this on the ride and had been covering myself in insect repellent.  By the time I finally got to the top I was not in the best of moods, not least as I knew I had to descend a long way and that meant the neck ache.

The long ascent – we all cycled all the way up that valley:

The top!

Again following the steep ascent was a steep descent, again the shoulder muscles ached, anywonder it went on and on for about 30 km.  I should have been able to enjoy this!!!!

By the time I got onto the flat it was getting hot and humid and I arrived in Creston with a pretty bad headache, caused maybe by the humidty or spending most of the day doing this alone or the neck muscles or even the fumes from all the insect repellent or most likely all those things!!!

Just to illustrate the magnitude of this day check out the gradient profile on the gearup4cf website:

Also not helping my mood was the attitude of the motel owners at what was going to be our motel for the night, which ultimately led to us all being thrown out of their motel.  I arrived to be told my bike was not going to be allowed in the room and had to be left outside, apparently they had had problems with cyclists before.  I said that I highly doubted my fellow riders would want to do that.  I wondered how much of the problem was the owners attitude after I then received a lecture on how to open the door with the key.  The next riders to arrive were non too amused by this either.  Before we knew it the owners had decided find us alternative accommodation at the neighbouring motel – they announced this to another one of us – also in no mood for this – by saying we’d be glad to know they’d found us somewhere else because “we don’t want your type here”

Well that was it, that lightened my mood instantly.  What a thing to say! 

The mind boggled as to what sort of type would be acceptable to them.  On this ride were at least 6 people entitled to call themselves Dr, a lawyer, a communications director, a web consultant, several people who run their own companies and more.   What more could we possibly do?  And why were we doing this?  To raise money for a important cause.  It then transpired that they probably were probably expecting bikers – motor bikers – and they would have been much more acceptable!!!  Amazing.

Our forced relocation turned out to be a benefit as the new place looked considerably nicer and many of us got separate rooms because of the arrangement of the place.  There must have been some biker thing going on because a further highlight (if that is the right word) was David’s attempt to test out some bikers staying at our motel by laying out his freshly laundered clothes on one of their bikes – which resulted in threats to his personal safety that you can read about here. 

The washing, incidentally, had been very kindly done by Rebecca, a fellow CF researcher from Calgary.  I didn’t think she’d remembered, though I do remember, meeting her once before at an American Society for Microbiology conference in New Orleans at her poster, in the year before the hurricane struck, and so another highlight of this trip was getting to know her a bit and allowing me to induldge in science talk from time to time. 

Day 5: Grand Forks – Trail

Today started with a trip back to the Russian restaurant for a handsome breakfast, only dissapointed by there only being beef and not pork sausages! 

The previous evening I’d listened to some advice on bike cleaning and had thoroughly cleaned my bike.  On long rides all the cogs and parts of the gear system benefit greatly from a good cleaning, dirt build up on these is not good for clean shifting of the gears and general performance of the bike.  Some would go as far as taking their back wheels off to give the cogs a good brushing out.  So all this done I felt good to go.

By now I was starting to get into a familiar pattern in terms of people I would ride with.  The day started with some pleasant flat riding but after riding alongside a nice like for a short while the climbing began again.  Today involved a long climb to the top of a 1500 mtere summit.  By now it had become very clear I did not have the outright pace of at least 4 other riders on the ride when it came to hill climbing.  That said I did manage to keep at the front of the pack and climbed the most part of the first hill with John and Heather.  Hard work as many of these hills were, the effort was often rewarded with amazing views into huge tree lined valleys.  This was a good example and here are my climbing partners standing part the way up the climb.

Here I discovered that there is a disadvantage to having an altimeter – you have to know what the final height is if you are aiming at it.  We knew we had a 1,000 meter climb this morning and when John said we were at 900m I thought it was not far to go, failing to realise we had started at 500m.  So I slightly faded towards the top of the mountain.  I didn’t – and indeed didn’t anywhere on the ride experience what riders call a bonk (yes, yes I was amused too, but either Canadian’s have not heard of the use of this word in Britain or they posses an amazing capacity to say it without a hint of amusement).  A bonk on a bike ride is when you completely run out of energy and cannot face going on.

I knew also we had some distance to go when we met David coming the other way in the van – who today was filling the role of a support person instead of a rider as today Kate was leaving us – informing us it was steep ahead.  Nonetheless the rest of the morning was uneventful and I made sure I filled up on water – a good rule on rides is to fill the water bottles at every opportunity, just in case and the support guys were doing a fantastic job in supplying water and Gatorade and other drinks to us.

Before I started cycling I always used to be perplexed by sports drinks.  What is wrong with just water? Well I can tell you – on it’s own water is not enough, not enough at all!  I first started using Gatorade a year or so ago when after longish rides my muscles would feel cramped.  After one bad bout of night cramp in my calf muscle (this is where you wake up in the night in agony from a cramping muscle) that left me limping the day after I started using sports drinks.  Others can provide a much more scientific explanation but when you exercise a lot your body sweats out a lot of electrolytes like sodium, potassium and calcium that your muscles need.  There is nowhere near enough of that in water so supplemented drinks are required.  I’ve not had any problems with cramp since.  Now I’m looking to some of the more professional drinks that also help supply lots of calories and things to keep you going on long rides – and thus avoid a bonk!!!

Lunch was at the intersection of Highway 3 and 3B, where we turned off to head towards Trail.  Yet more climbing followed, but this was a breeze fueled by lunch (a wrap stuffed with meet and salad).  Here I met Chris and Alkarim and we cycled off together heading towards the summit where upon I got my first flat of the ride.  Very fortunately for me, but not for them, these guys had gone passed the lunch stop.  So 10 seconds after I’d stopped with my flat David turned up in the van to offer food and drink and was then able to show me the way when it comes to changing road bike tyres.  I have changed many flats before, but I was caught out by just how hard the tyres are to get off compared to a hybrid bike.

The rest of the day was a fast down hill – VERY fast, with upto 10% gradients.  I decided to take it easy down these with my neck muscles aching yet again.  Our Motel for that evening was just near the bottom of one of these hills.  Our hosts were yet again very accommodating – providing flexibility on the rooms and plenty of ice for our beer cooler. 

David arriving, at speed following the long downhill, in Trail:

Dinner was at a pub just over the road and was our opportunity to bid farewell to Kate one of our support van drivers who had done a fantastic job organising us and supporting us throughout the ride so far.  On day 2 I had pulled up to the van having been thinking about drinking a can of coke for the last 15 miles or so – up hill.  Kate asked me what I wanted and I said that what I would really like was a coke and to my pleasant surprise she disappeared into the van and produced one (I didn’t think it would be something professional riders would admit to having!).  Kate was also one of several people on the ride who has a child with CF and for me as a research scientist it was great to be able to talk to these guys and get their perspective, one is very cut off from this in the lab.

Cheers Kate:

Day 4: Osoyoos to Grand Forks

Up early again, most of us started day 4 with a large breakfast to fuel our forthcoming major climb.  I chose the power breakfast, still wishing Canadian’s had ‘proper’ bacon – many do not know what they are missing out on!!!  Plenty of coffee and orange juice also appeared to be essentials at breakfast – but then that is true for me every day. 

The only slight problem with the large breakfast was that the first major climb of the day started almost immediately up the Anarchist mountain – a name, which if I weren’t an atheist, be all the more tempting to name antichrist.   The climb was steep, but not really too bad, we were cycling at the perfect hour – not too hot at all.  Simon demonstrated his climbing prowess again by breezing past me as did Jen to whom I remarked she made it look easy.  She protested it wasn’t but I wasn’t so sure!  Nonetheless there was a great view at a lookout before a rest stop right at the top.

Great view:

Just next to the above view was a long wire fence that I was told marked the US border.

Once reached the top there was a nice long stretch along winding rolling roads, only temporarily ruined by whoever maintains the highways.  To fix cracks in the road they had decided to lay down this gravel stuff that eventually compacts and fills in the cracks.   Gravel is as bad as ice for cyclists, we came across this section on a long downhill, you hit gravel at the wrong angle and it can send you flying.  Quite fortunately not one person one sent flying although at it did damage the gear mechansism on at least one persons bike.  The general consensous was that the word for the situation was asinine.

The rest of my morning was spent trying and failing to keep up with Jen and Simon who were off into the distance.  Eventually I arrived at truck weighing stop just before Midway and met up with Simon, Jen, Heather and John and discovered that the weigh bridge was active and we could weigh ourselves and bikes to the nearest 10 kg.  We thought it was closed but soon truck arrived on the scene wanting to get weighed – this was impressive sight as they weighed each axle on the truck and we and had some fun adding up the total weight and noting just how close some of the logging trucks were to their maximum load.

Weighing:

 

 Following lunch the rest of the day was generally unremarkable for me.  There was more climbing – again!  We passed through a strange little village that looked like something out of a cowboy film.   I did discover that my lack of time in the saddle of a road bike was a problem going downhill, this rather ruined the supposed reward of downhill at speed.  As I hadn’t spent much time with a bike with drop handle bars, going down long hill sections was starting to hurt my shoulder muscles – this is not great as you want to be able to retain full control for breaking at these speeds.  Also somewhat dispiriting as I was overtaken on the way into town down the hill. 

One of the people who zoomed past me – again!! – was Jen who completely unknown to me had just had the first and only real accident of the ride, apparently hitting rear tyre of Simon’s bike which sent her flying.  Very fortunately she was fine with only what David referred to as road rash on one arm.  Surprisingly she seemed happy about it, I can see why now -I have been cycling for several years now.  Nearly everyone I know who cycles has had some significant ‘off’ as they say in Formula 1.  I haven’t, not once.  I partly ascribe this to luck and partly to usually keeping a cool head in traffic.  Jen’s happiness I stemmed from having had the first thrown off bike moment and survived without too much injury.

Grand Forks, however, turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.  Our motel got my award for the best motel of the ride.  Run by a British couple who had moved out to Vancouver, the owners were great and provided everything we needed – what a sharp contrast to another place later on in the ride.  We ate in a Russian restaurant, which provided very handsome meals

After the ride we had one of our regular group meetings about the following day, planing where to stop for lunch.  These were regularly chaired by Chris, who was really great at bringing the group together.  This photo then is doubly ironic as it shows him writing the place for lunch on the side of the van for all to see clearly – he went right past the lunch stop the following day!!

Day 3: Manning Park to Osoyoos

This day was always set to be a big day, and wow was it a big day!  As I write this looking back over the whole ride I cannot decide what was the highlight, there were so many.  In fact there were some days that just left me with that top of the world feeling and this was one of them.

The day started very early.  Previously David had told me this would be a 9 hour day, which sounded about right to me.  Aware that there was some climbing to be done today, but mostly a vast distance, we all got up before 6am and were headed out of the cottage after a brief breakfast – including the ever essential coffee for me.

Fortunately the early riding was downhill so this was an easy start.  The big climb of the day proved again that the approach to hill climbing was to get comfortable and maintain a reasonable pace.  At this point although we were heading towards the desert of Osoyoos we were still in park country and it was early in the morning too and so fairly cold.  The firs rest stop was going to be at the top of the first climb, but it was so cold that upon arrival with David, Zach, Jan, Hilda and Peter we decided immediate decent was the best option.

Cold at the top (left to right: David, Jan, Zach, Peter and Hilda):

So following this there was some long downhill section, good reward for the early climbing.  Here I also experienced Zach’s individual style of riding (see David’s reports) and was also amused at David’s desicion to have a try at sensitivity training for truck drivers by giving them all a quick wave as they headed toward us.

I then seemed to separate from the group and upon arrival in Princeton met up with Jon and Heather who had set out early and were well ahead of everyone – or at least far enough to have a breakfast wrap from Subway, sounded like a good idea to me!  They were ready to go and Kate and Brenda riding in the support van told us lunch would be an hour down the road.  So I headed off with them towards lunch and for the first time road in an organised train (peloton) with John and Heather each of us swapping the lead every 5km.  Riding like this can considerably reduce the effort you have to put in, the person in the front cuts through the wind providing a sort of pull effect behind.  Believe you me it does save a lot of effort – riding in three was fantastic as we each had 10km in the slipstream and just 5km in the wind.  We were lucky with the wind too it was slightly in our faces (vent de face as the French more aptly name it – headwind is something of a misnomer really, if you read David’s posts you can see why).  Doing this we arrived at lunch in what seemed like no time and with relatively little effort.

Lunch:

After a fairly lengthy lunch John, Heather and I set off for the final 90km of the day.  This took us through some great scenery, including the vineyards of the Oakanagan.  We had been warned that the valley we were going to pass through was shaped such that one either had a ‘vent de face’ or a ‘vent arriere’.  Guess what?  We got lucky, ‘vent arriere’ it was and we were away through the rolling valleys at speed stoping briefly in Keremeos at a service station for some welcome refeshment. 

Heather and Jon pushing on down the Oakanagan valley:

Just before Osoyoos we really started to enter the desert.  Here I discovered yet another cycling phenomena – stalling rollers.  These are rolling hills where the upward climbs are so long and steep that they stall your momentum and cause you to have to put in a lot more effort.  So there was a final climb of the day to be had followed by a fantastic high speed run down into Osoyoos, which we could see in the valley.  We could also see from our vantage point the hill we would have to climb the following day, but who really cared at this stage the end of the longest day was already in sight – and for the many of us who had simply never done such a distance in one this was a great acheivement.  For me it was a real thrill, not only had I done it, but with Heather and John had arrived first – note this was not the same as the fastest time, I believe Simon and Jen were a full 45 mins faster!!   Nonetheless this was an amazing day for me, 113miles completed in 6.5 hours of cycling time, an average speed of over 17 mph and I had been able to keep up with two very strong cyclists.  To date the best days cycling I’d done, thanks Jon and Heather!

Arrived in Osoyoos:

The amazing lake at Osoyoos:

Day 2: Harrison to Manning Park

The day dawned wet but drying and after a substantial breakfast, where there was a bit too much discussion of the first long climb of the ride that was ahead of us, attentions turned to getting the bikes out for the day.  I discovered today the marvels of the floor standing pump, used to easily get the high pressure into the tyres that road bikes use. 

Upon doing this I discovered that my tyres were running all day yesterday at a pathetic 60 psi and promptly inflated them to healthier 110 psi.  A floor mounted pump was one of the first things to go on my new must have list for when I get back.  I was one of the later riders leaving this morning – having discovered that many had taken off already to tackle the approaching day before I even realised it.  In fact just as I was about ready to go I saw John cycling back with a a wheel from Heather’s bike, who had just picked up the first flat of the day at something like only a single km from the start, beating Rebecca’s first day record.  This was also the first time my new tire spanners from BBB were to come in handy.  BBB had provided us all with a goodie bag of a spare tire, tire leavers, a saddle bag, a nice vest and a great drinks bottle (great because it does not leave a horrible rubber taste in the drink once it has been in there five minutes).

The first part of the day was a dream of flat running through to a town called Hope (for me this still evokes memories of “I still believe in a place called Hope” spoken during an election campaign by the greatest American President of my lifetime, how times have changed – but anyway I digress!!!).  This consequently meant we had to go past the sign melodramatically announcing “you are now leaving Hope”, right before the much hyped first climb.   I start the big hill climb with Simon and Jen who quickly left me in their dust, something that would become a recurring theme!  My own pace up the hill was not too shoddy though and I used the tried and tested technique of settling into the lowest gear, sitting back and just going at a comfortable pace.   

I reached the top alone and thought as it had been not too bad I couldn’t be there yet and kept going.  Lunch was scheduled to be at the top of the first climb so when it quickly dawned on me that something was wrong.  I stopped and waited and waited but no one turned up, stupidly I’d overshot lunch!  So I had to go back up hill I had just descended and added about another 5km onto my day.

Following a quick bite to eat the next part of the ride was fantastic, I rode with David and Zach for the most part here, thick Pine trees and past streams glowing with that rich emerald glow that many places in BC have from mineral deposits.  Truly magnificent.

This was sadly a the calm before the storm.  Having heard so much about the first climb I had not taken on board the significance of the rest of the climbing that day.  This was made worse by my first experience of something that I believe is called a false flat.  This seems to happen after a steep bit of climbing, the road appears to drop off and yet your speed does not pick up.  It took me a LONG time to realise that was because I was still climbing.  Several people on the ride had GPS devices that reported height – this way they knew when this was happening – there is a much cheaper way to figure this out which is just to look behind you!  If you’re pushing and still only going 11mph you are either on a hill or have a brutal headwind, I must remember this!!!

The extent of the days work was revealed when reachig the above summit sign – 1/3 higher than Cypress and also later by GPS.  After this there was a rapid descent to the Manning Park Lodge, only just getting wiped out by a corner blinded massive pot-hole on their entrance drive (thanks guys!!!).  I arrived just in time – it was getting very cold – Simon, Jen, John and Heather had arrived ahead of me and had gotten the heating going, which was most welcome.  

Today we were staying in a huge house with a seemingly infinite number of bedrooms and a giant living room which was great for getting to know everyone a bit more.  Soon the talk turned to the next day, which had been looming large in most people’s minds – 180km to Osoyoos.  Simon had also discovered why that day was intially under-reported – Google Maps just got it wrong and put our stay that night 15km further down the road than we actually were.

Simon, Tom and Jen discussing the impending 180km day ahead of us:

Day 1 Whiterock to Harrison

The day started out in Bayview Park in Whiterock overlooking the Georgia Strait, emphasising the Westerly nature of our start point.  Today there were 21 riders for the whole ride plus three others joining us for the first day.  Myself, I was half asleep – well it was Saturday morning and I had been up since 6am, but it was great to see everyone there and there was definitely a good sense of anticipation in the air. 

I was absolutely delighted to meet for the first time Clare, the mother of Alex, for whom I am riding this journey.  She’d made it all the way down to Whiterock in the early morning to see us all off on our journey.  We were also joined by various other family members and the guys from the CCFF Vancouver office who have done a great job organising this ride.

Me and Clare:

As would have to be the case, the start was rain soaked and it rained fairly hard for the first quarter of the day, leading to wet feet for the rest of the day.  Just about 3 km out of Whiterock, Rebecca clocked up the first puncture (flat for N.American’s).    It pretty much stopped raining as soon as we reached the Albion ferry and crossed to the lower mainland.  From there it was a relatively fast run to Mission and a very welcome lunch consisting of sandwiches and cookies.  There is always a slight dilemma at lunchtimes – one can eat too much and make the next leg very difficult, I think this time I got it pretty much right but it will be interesting to see how that changes over the ride.

The next leg was also the last, fully half the day non-stop – something I probably should have done in training.  But nonetheless this was a fast section for me, only slightly bothered by some hills about 2/3rds of the way in, which also had the benefit of me recording my fastest downhill time yet – 41.2mph. 

On the way into Harrison I was very pleased to be greeted from the side of the road by Maureen, our lab manager, who has a place out in Harrison Hot Springs for the weekend and was waiting to offer a beer, which was gratefully accepted!

So day 1 was without problem for me at least.  Completed at an average speed of 18 mph in around 3.5 hours.  The next few days will not be so fast – tomorrow apparently involves a lot of climbing, I think very few people actually like that, although I could be wrong.  Harrison: