060712 e-Mail from the Road

Newfie Travels

Been there and done that. I'm not in Newfoundland anymore. I got to Vancouver last night after a brief stay in the St. John's area but I've not had a chance to write a bulk letter yet to let people know how things have turned out. I've had a few social obligations and I, somewhat foolishly, promised to write an article for The Independent, the paper that Doug does editorial cartoons for. I guess I just had so many people saying that they liked my writing that I let it go to my head. I spent most of this morning writing for people that I don't know instead of keeping my friends informed. I've never tried writing newspaper-style before and it feels a bit unnatural. Of course if they offer to pay me for more articles it could start to feel more natural.
I'll probably spend most of tomorrow entertaining my niece Lisa, much as I did today and then head home on Friday so the bulk mail won't be getting done until Sunday or so. Oop. There's Lisa now.
Talk to you later. Brent 

End of the trip.

Cycle Canada, Day 12, May 16/06

May 16/06, Tuesday. Day 12                                                                       1028 Km

Abandon farmhouse ~ 13 Km West of Hanna, Alta.                               ~116 Kms                 ~ 6:15 Hrs

Day started off easy with a downhill and tail wind but neither lasted. Stopped about 8 Km down the road for the worst cup of coffee in the world.

Passed through Drumheller with a 2 hour pause to run errands. No HDV tapes. Doug got a basket for his bike. We took on lots of food and water and headed out. There has been no place to re-provision since leaving Drumheller about 55 Km back. We carried about 7 litres of water and drank most of it. A couple of beers too.

The 55 Km was hard won since most of it was up a gentle slope into a headwind that seemed to make the slope much steeper. Doug seemed to be having a bad psychological time with that and the inability to figure distances but I don't think it's that bad. I know that he's been dreading the thought of the prairies since we started. He's just a bit keyed up.

We chose to go west to east specifically because it's the same direction as the prevailing winds. I know we won't be going into a head wind for 2 weeks. We'll get a few days of good tail winds somewhere along the route.

Had a visit from a cop. He checked ID's and said that we should report into RCMP stations along our route so we could be tracked. I think the internet helps track us anyway.

The worst cup of coffee in the world is available at a gas station near the junction of Highways 9 & 21. We arrived at the coffee shop just as it opened and the first pot of coffee was still brewing. I expected it to be at least adiquate but when I tasted it I knew where the term 'dishwater' came from.

The abandon house was interesting. I think that it has been abandon for only a couple of years. The place it was built was a pretty nice place, as the bald prairies go, between 2 small streams. When I see an abandon farm I sometimes wonder what happened to the builders or the last residents. Sometimes the thought gives me a spooky feeling. This place doubly so because we took a wander through the house and I could see the uses of all of the rooms.

People talk about ghost towns but no one ever talks about ghost farms.

060515 e-Mail from the Road

No bear bait here!

Dear All:
It shouldn't be something that causes confusion but, just in case you heard things in the wrong order, it wasn't either Doug or I who got eaten by that bear in Banff on the weekend. Although we were in the neighbourhood at the time.
We're heading for the bald prairie where gophers, wind gusts and sleepy truckers are the biggest hazards. The plan right now is Highway #9 to the Saskatchewan border, #7 to Rosetown then #15 to Yorkton. We're just trying to get off the Trans-Canada so the traffic will be lighter.
Bye for now, Brent

Cycle Canada, Day 11, May 15/06

May 15/06, Monday Day 11                                                                                            912 Km

Behind some straw bales ~ 20 Km East of Beiseker, Alta.                                       ~ 105 Kms                ~ 5:10 Hrs

Got away late as I expected we might, (11:30) it was well past noon before we got out of town. Had to do about 16 Km on the #1 Highway. With flat roads & some-time tail winds we made great time at first but by 13:30/ 14:00 the wind had shifted to cross & head. Progress slowed but we still averaged over 20 Km/Hr on the flats. Super.

Doug found a miraculous piece of ice while we were on our bikes In Beiseker!

OOOooooo...... Spooky!

With any kind of tail wind I can see a few days of 140 -> 160+ Kms.

The night behind the hay bales was the first time that I felt uncomfortable camping. We were on private property and almost in plain sight. A cop came up the road and parked near the microwave relay tower behind our camping spot. After a while he drove away. I felt a bit better knowing that we were being consciously ignored. But I still didn't want to deal with the property owner, in case he turned out to be a jerk.

This was also the night of the "Stealth SUV." This thing cruised by our campsite at highway speed and was utterly silent. No motor noise. No wind noise. No tire noise.

Silent.

060514 e-Mail from the Road

At rest in Calgary

Bulk mail
Dear All:
First, since I've had a request, a log of the places we've been and stopped on the first week and a bit of our cross Canada cycling tour:
So far it's been all Trans-Canada Highway 1.
May 5 left Port Coquitlam to a rest stop someplace between Agassiz & Hope
May 6 to a rest stop just short of Lytton
May 7 to Cache Creek and a hotel room with hot showers and warm beds. The hotel manager made no secret of the fact that she preferred having Hell's Angels as guests rather than cyclists but she rented us the room anyway.
May 8 about 120Km, The first 90 had a lot of climbing to Kamloops and we took some great film of the area on the way in. Next 30 Km of mostly down hill and flats c/w a tail wind. We stopped at the end of the divided highway east of Kamloops and waited for Doug's friends who came and picked us up and took us to their place about 30 Km shy of Salmon Arm where we were given a barbeque supper, an evening around the campfire, showers and a warm place to sleep.
May 9 A late start saw us get only as far as a view point overlooking the lake just short of Sicamous. In practicle terms we were really in Sicamous because the next morning we hopped on the bikes and coasted the 7 K's into town. At breakfast we talked to a fellow about a cyclist he had known from Italy. It had been his dream to cycle across Canada and he finally made a start. A little more than a week into the trip he had been killed and eaten by a bear. That was it. That was the whole story. Not really inspirational for a couple of guys cycling into the Selkirks and Rockies - bear country.
May 10 Through Revelstoke and up the first 25 Km's of the climb to Roger's Pass. We spent the night in a closed picnic area by a river. Really a beautiful spot with good facilities although being off-season the wash house was locked. Doug took a bath in the glacier-fed river; foolish boy.
May 11 Our longest day so far. 45 more Km's up to the summit of Roger's Pass in the Selkirk range, the highest point on the Trans-Canada took 3:45 Hrs We took a break and drank the Tusker beer that I had brought down from Mt Kilimanjaro. The next 80 K's took just a little over 4 hrs and had some crazy down hill runs and the scariest and (possibly) stupidest thing I've done in my life. We went into a tunnel on a steep down-hill and about 100yrds into it it was completely black. I couldn't see the road or the wall of the tunnel, just a small square of light at the far end. I aimed for it and held on. Then I heard the truck. The transport was flying down the hill behind me and I heard him enter the tunnel. I had to get over and couldn't see the wall but I had to try for it anyway. I swung right and felt gravel under the tires straightened out just as the transport flew passed at about 120KpH. I heard and felt him pass but didn't see him as he was running without lights. Doug was ahead of me and pedalling like a madman. He cleared the tunnel about a second and a half in front of the truck and then swung over to the shoulder. It was all very close. I count this as my first near-death experience. Unfortunately we didn't get any of it on film.
We cycled into Golden, took a room and ordered pizza and beer.
May 12 Left Golden late. We passed through our first time zone someplace yesterday though I didn't see the sign. Right out of town there was a road block. We were told that there had been a rock slide about 10Km up the road and that it would take about an hour to clear it. We chatted with the flagger and persuader her to let us through so we could get a jump on traffic by riding up to the next check point. At the next check point we were held up and told "an hour." After an hour an 'white hardhat' came passed and said, "an hour and a half." We talked our way through to the next check point and then to the one after that. Finally, after about 2 1/2 hrs, we had covered the 10 Kms to get up to the slide. I was so disappointed. The slide consisted of a few dozen rocks strewn across the road for about 30 feet. A car couldn't get through but it would be easy for a bicycle or motorcycle. About 30 people were standing around preventing traffic from proceeding. We were told, "an hour." By 3:PM we'd used all of our patience. We ran the blockade. We grabbed our bikes and just started walking through the slide area. Two 'white hardhats' just turned their heads and walked away, One yelled at us to stop. We didn't break stride and were through it in 30 seconds. On the far side of the slide we found about 5 miles of parked traffic. Some folks had been there for over 6 hours being told, "An hour, an hour." We started riding passed yelling things like, "They're lying", "Abandon hope", "Turn back now" and "You're here for the night." Having lost 4 hours to a hazard that we walked across on 30 seconds our plan to make Lake Louise, Alberta had to be abandon so we spent the night in Field, B.C. We had a really good time talking, drinking and laughing with about a dozen people who had been trapped by the slide and decided to just call it an unscheduled vacation day. We camped behind the only gas station in town.
May 13 We awoke to a heavy frost. No surprize really since some of the waterfalls that feed the Kicking Horse River we camped beside are still frozen. We started up 'Field Hill' the last real climb through the Rockies before the long slopes down the Eastern Face to the prairies. About 1 Km from the top Rob Lunney and his daughter Kate came passed in their van so (having no pride) we through our bikes in and caught a ride all the way to Calgary where we were treated to food, wine, good music and good company. I feel vaguely as though we cheated but I won't tell anyone if you don't. It was mostly down hill anyway.
And that's the story so far. We're hanging out in Calgary for the day and will start out again on Monday. I hope this helps for people who want to stick pins in a map. And a special message for those of you with Voodoo dolls, "You can pull some of the pins out of my ass now. I'm sore enough on my own."
Keep those cards and letters coming. I love every one of them. It's a little harder to get to an e-mail service on this trip than on the last so I may be a bit slow in responding but I will write back.
Love to all, Brent

Cycle Canada, Day 10, May 14/06

May 14/06, Sunday Day 10

Rob & Jane's, Calgary, Alberta                                                          Rest Day

Yesterday I woke up in Field, B.C. in a frost covered tent, beside a frozen waterfall. This morning I'm sitting in Lunney's back yard in the hot sun, surrounded by suburbs.

Phoned Mom for Mother's Day. She sounds like she's still under the weather after her cero sepsis and bad reaction to antibiotics. They kept her in the hospital for about 10 days. She says she has no appetite. That's bad.

On our rest day in Calgary Doug and I didn't do a whole lot that I remember. In the Kensington area we went for a burger and beer and it cost us $20 each. I thought it was a bit high (being from Alberta) but Doug thought it was userous. He was right when you compare prices in the east. We were in Cottage Country before we ran into prices like that again.

When we were packing up to leave the house Doug found an item in his pocket. Jane had put in $100 with a note that said, "mad money." We had talked about mad money during the evening we'd spent together. Jane had said that when she was young her mother would give her $20 mad money whenever she went out. She was not to spend it on anything other than getting home once her fun money was gone.

We would use this Mad Money later.

Cycle Canada, Day 9, May 13/06

May 13/06 Day 9                                                                                           807 Km

Calgary, Alberta. (Rob & Jane's)                        ~ 9 Kms                        ~ 1:00 Hr

Saturday - Almost made it to the top of "Field Hill," about 1 Km shy when Rob showed up with Kate. We went for a big breakfast In Banff & then to Calgary & the Lunney's. Jane showed up a bit later. I bought some bike shorts. We went for sushi, drank, listened to music & talked 'til after midnight. Rob & Jane have to be up at 4:30 for a 7:30 flight to Barbados tomorrow (Sunday). They've left us the keys for the house and we'll stay here 'til Monday morning (rest day).

Rob & Jane are great people.

Climbing the Field Hill was interesting. It was cold out. Probably -5C or so. The climb was hard work. We worked to the point of almost over-heating while riding but, when we took a break after about a half hour it was hard to stay still long enough to eat a chocolate bar. I wanted to get back onto the bike to warm up from the cold.

Cycle Canada, Day 8, May 12/06

May 12/06, Friday Day 8                                     798 Kms

Field, B.C.                      ~ 60 Kms                       ~4:00 Hrs

Climbed the first hill out of Golden and found traffic blocked. Some sort of trouble, a slide, at the construction site 10 Km up the road. It will take an hour to clear. We chatted with the flag-lady a bit & persuaded her that it was okay to ride forward & get a jump on traffic, as long as we stayed away from the danger zone and machines. We managed the same thing with 2 more flaggers @ 2 more places they had traffic stopped. Each stop consumed time. We got to the 4th flagger and I was disappointed to find the slide consisted of a few dozen rocks on a path 20 feet wide. The contractors weren't going to clean the road or let anyone by until the slope was stabilized. An excavator at the top was pushing stuff over. Most of what was being pushed down the slope wasn't reaching the road. We kept being told, "An hour. An hour." It was all lies. They didn't have a clue. About 14:30 Doug & I started talking about making it to Field by dark (Lake Louise was now out) or if we would have to sleep on the side of the highway. About 15:00 we made a break. We pushed our bikes through the slide. Two "white hats" turned and walked the other way, pretending they didn't see us coming. One "white hat" tried to stop us but Doug kissed him off and we didn't break stride as we passed by. On the other side of the slide & out of sight of it was a line-up of cars at least 5 miles long. Some had been sitting since before 9:30 being told "An hour. An hour." We rode passed yelling things like, "They're lying." "Abandon hope." "I hope you have food & water." "You'll be here all night." We probably got 50 or 60 cars to turn around.

Field is a nice little place but without much in the way of services. We went to The Truffle Pig and ate overpriced (though tasty) food and drank good beer. Met about a dozen people who had turned around & were hoping to get through the next day. The folks who had resigned to being stuck were all in a pretty good mood.

Slept behind the convenience store and woke up to a heavy frost.

At the top of the hill, on the way out of Golden I saw a guy hitch hiking and made the silly quip that I wasn't taking any riders. This wasn't the last time we'd see this guy.

Working our way through all of the flag stops on the way to the rock slide was really frustrating. It made for a day without too much work, which was a nice change from the day before, but with stops every half hour that lasted an hour or more each we made very little progress. The plan had been to make Lake Louise that day. We had hoped to meet Rob & Kate somewhere on the road between Lake Louise and Banff so they wouldn't have to drive so far.

In the line up of vehicles on the east side of the slide we saw people taking the wait just about every way people could take a wait. Folks were walking, talking, speculating on the nature of the problem, playing Frisbee, playing with the dog, playing the radio. I saw one guy pouring gas into his pick up because he'd idled out of fuel while waiting.

The road between the slide and Field was a bit surreal. The road east had almost no traffic. Only those people who had turned around form the closure and they came in bunches when they came. There was almost no traffic heading west. Word had probably gotten out by then that the road was closed indefinitely. So mostly it was Doug & I, riding by ourselves on a ribbon of pavement through a high mountain pass. The silence was amazing. I started to feel the big loneliness that is most of Canada.

By the time we got to Field the town was full up. It was really cold and I would have been easy to talk into taking a motel room for the night if there had been one available. We stopped at the gas station/convenience store on the highway and there was a line up at the till of folks who had escaped the traffic jam. Three employees were gabbing behind the counter, to all appearances ignoring the line up. I went to get a cup of coffee and there was none. I made 2 pots because I figured the demand would be there when enough folks came back up the highway. One of the employees told me that the place would be closing in 10 minutes. With a line up at the till and a steady stream of folks coming in, Doug commented that none of the ladies at the till was an owner.

The folks we met at The Truffle Pig had a 'snowed in' kind of attitude. There wasn't any anger or even an air of resignation about them, it was more like the first day on a cruise. They were treating the delay as a surprise opportunity to relax. The atmosphere was almost festive. I think that says something about the society we've created for ourselves.

We stayed at the Pig until it was time to sleep then went back to the gas station and camped by the river. There was a frozen waterfall a few hundred yards up on the other side. It was cold out; the coldest night of our trip. In the morning Doug and I took turns sitting over the propane stove.

Cycle Canada, Day 7, May 11/06

May 11/06, Thursday Day 7    738 Kms

Motel in Golden, B.C. ~126 Km's ~8:00 Hrs.

- @ Roger's Pass Summit - We've come 45 Km's in 3:45. At least 42 K of it was up hill. That plus the 25 K up from Revelstoke made for a 70 K climb. Now I know what those truckers were laughing about yesterday. The last 3 miles was brutal. I had expected a few crashes and a few close calls but nothing quite this crazy.

Doug has contacted Rob, Jane and the clan  to meet us in Lake Louise tomorrow (Saturday) for the 50 K ride to Banff then a trucking to Calgary for the weekend. Sounds good. We need to make 88 Km's today (Friday). Hard shell helps. Pizza too.

There's a monument at the top of the Roger's Pass. The highest point on the Trans-Canada. When we got there we were both on the verge of weeping. "It's all down hill from here, buddy. All down hill from here." We split the Tusker beer I'd given Doug to carry at the beginning of the trip. I'd carried this beer up Kilimanjaro a few months earlier and the highest point on the THC seemed like a good place to drink it. My half went straight to my brain. We took a good, long break at the cafateria at the summit and charged one of the camera batteries.

It's funny, but without my notes I don't really remember most of the climb from the campsite to the summit. I remember the last kilometre or two and straining to keep going. At some point near the top (either the 'Summit 1 Km" sign or when the monument was in sight) Doug had enough energy to take off and push to the top. I was working near the ragged edge and was happy to just keep my pace to the top. Doug beat me there by at least 200 yards.

I don't know how steep the slope we came up was but on the way down the other side I remember thinking that the eastern side looked a whole lot longer and steeper and I was glad that we'd come from the west.

The encounter with the truck was crazy. We'd zoomed through several snow sheds with open sides and I was having a good time. I saw the sign that warned of a "Dark Tunnel" ahead and thought, "I know how to deal with this." Just as I do when I wake up in the middle of the night to pee, I closed one eye. I thought that with one eye pre-adjusted to darkness I'd be able to see okay in the tunnel.

Nope.

The down hill side of the tunnel is just about 2 lanes wide. People had been driving on the left and the lane was clean, the right shoulder area was covered with gravel. Perhaps the result of winter sanding that hadn't been cleaned up yet. I thought Doug went in on the gravel. I chose the pavement. I was only a few seconds in and the light faded to nothing. Openning my second eye didn't help. All I could see was the little postage stamp of light in the distance with Doug's silhouette in the lower right. I was scared at first but then though, "I can see there's nothing between me and the exit so I won't hit anything. If I follow Doug I shouldn't hit any potholes." I relaxed a bit.

It's funny but when the truck came my only thought was that the folks back home would be disappointed that I'd been killed so early on the trip.

It turns out that the gravel on the shoulder was a good thing because it let me know to straighten out before I hit the side wall at 60 or 70 Km/Hr. Still I didn't know how far into the gravel I was or how close to the wall I was drifting. Once again, it was like being on a roller coaster, you can't do anything so just relax.

Once out of the tunnel Doug and I stopped and compared notes before continuing to the bottom.

Something no one mentions is that after you coast for 40 minutes down from the highest point on the Trans-Canada you then have to climb back up to the second highest point on the Trans-Canada. The day finished with another good down hill run then about 20 Km's of flat to Golden. I was so beat that I almost couldn't make the 1 block round trip to the beer store; but I forced myself.

060510 e-Mail from the Road

On the road again

Dear All:

Well I've finally found a place where I can sit down and bang out a letter. It's just after 6:30 AM in Sicamous BC and the beginning of the 6th day of this cross-Canada trip that Doug Bird and I are taking together. It's been good weather and hard work so far. We're making 110 to 120Km/day which is pretty good for a couple of middle aged out-of-shape guys.
Night #4 we spent with some friends of Doug's on the other side of Salmon Arm. They treated us great with a barbeque dinner, campfire and coffee and pancakes for breakfast. We didn't get away from there place until after 1:00PM so yesterday was a short day and we only went about 60K and camped at a rest area overlooking Shushwap Lake. Now I know why people like to vacation in this area. It's so beautiful.
Well the nice man has just brought me breakfast so I've got to go and eat. Love to all.
Brent

Eleri: Thanks for all the Smilies. I haven't forgotten you. It just seems that way.
Lynda: It's good to be back in Canada. And now I'm going to see some of it.
Stephe & Yvonne: Thanks again for evening out.

Cycle Canada, Day 6, May 10/06

May 10/06 Day 6 612 Km

A closed picnic area about 25 Km east of Revelstoke 108 Kms ~ 6:45 Hrs

The second battery for the camera is now dead. I should have thought of charging one at the internet cafe in Sicamous. We were really in Sicamous last night though we didn't know it. We had already started down the hill when we stopped at the rest stop for the night; in the morning it was only about 8 Km's into town, 6 of them down hill. We got there in 20 minutes without even warming up. I was pretty cold by the time we got into the cafe. I got off a quick, bulk e-mail note but didn't spend a lot of time at it as I had food coming.

The ride today was mostly uphill, like yesterday. We had a few good swoops but over all was climb.

About 3 hours (40 Km's) out of Revelstoke we stopped at a gas station for a break. One guy asked me where we were headed. I said, "Revelstoke and points beyond." That got a good, spontaneous laugh from several people. We rode all the way to Revelstoke looking for "The Big Hill" but never found it. The worst part was climbing out of the east end of Revelstoke. The grade was 8% or better for a kilometre or so but once we joined the highway the slope became much more civilized.

It had been cold in the morning. We jumped on the bikes and started the coast down hill. My hands were really cold. I was tempted to slow down when they started to hurt. I wished that I'd put socks on them or something, even a nice hill to climb would be good.

Sicamous was closed, mostly. It was still before 7:00 and tourist season was a couple of weeks off yet. I started to think we might have to go without breakfast but, down a side street, we came across the internet cafe. A pleasant little spot, I don't think it had been in business very long, made in a converted old house, white picket fence and all.

The man and woman who were running the place were friendly. They told us about the crack-house that had been across the street and indicated a building that might have been built in the 30's of 40's. It was the size of a one-room cabin or single car garage.We took some film of their animatronic turtle as it crawled along the floor and sang, "You Got to Slow Down."

Whenever I drive through Revelstoke I think of it being in a valley (which it is) and the steep roads on both sides. Coming in to town I had expected a steeper drop. Leaving, the non-highway section was tough but once on the highway the road seemed to be mostly a gentle slope. Maybe it was just by comparison.

Sometime on the ride through the mountains (perhaps as early as the second day) Doug and I found that we were having trouble judging slopes. We started exchanging conversations like:

"Why are we working so hard? Isn't this down hill?"

"It looks down hill, but I can't tell by looking."

"Trust the pedals. The pedals know."

"The pedals say it's up hill."

Our camp site for the night was great. The only drawback was that the wash house was locked. I pitched the tent while Doug had a bath in the glacial runoff of the river. We had pasta and wine for supper in the covered cook house and got a small fire going in the wood stove. Sometime during the evening Doug had sized up the bear-proof garbage cans and figured that two people could fit into one if required. He rigged a string onto the latch of the one closest to the tent so that it could be openned from the inside. I hadn't given bears much thought up 'til that point but I know that if they had been around, at that time of year they'd be hungry and mean.

The Canadian Pacific Railway main line is on the opposite river bank from the picnic site. I never realized how much stuff gets moved by trains. A fully loaded one rolled passed every 8 to 10 minutes. When it came time to sleep, they didn't keep me awake.

Cycle Canada, Day 5, May 9/06

ay 9/06 Day 5 504 Km

Short of Samon Arm to Short of Sicamous 58 Kms ~ 3:45 Hrs

A late start & quick zoom down to Dave & Rebecca's place of business on the highway. Hung out for the rest of the morning & shot some tape while Doug did his cartoon for the week.

Stopped in Salmon Arm & did some shopping. Food, a knee brace @ Shopper's (It's a miracle! I'm cured!). Met a "Dull Normal" on a bike who led us to "the best bike shop in town," where I picked up some gloves to replace the lost ones and Doug got himself a tube - stupid Presta valves!

Not much day left & most of it was up hill.

At the rest stop where we camped we met the minister from Eganville Baptist Church. He said he grew up around Cobden but didn't recognize the Wallace name.

Also saw a big trucker out walking his poodle-y dog. It had a funny hair cut & a knitted sweater and looked very girly for a guy like that. Not quite natural.

I'd thought that Rebecca & Dave's was closer to Salmon Arm but it was a bit of a ride to get to that town. I don't remember just how far it was but the cheat wasn't as long as I had first thought. Dave took some film of us as we swooped down the hill between the house and the highway.

The fellow we met in Salmon Arm was the first of the "idiots on bikes" we encountered on our trip. Ourselves excepted.

Cycle Canada,Day 4, May 8/06

May 8/06 Day 4 446 Km

Cache Creek to Single Hwy E. of Kamloops ~120 KM ~ 8:00 Hrs.

Lots of up hill today. Very slow going until the final approach to Kamloops then - ZOOM -.

"Six Mile Hill" outside of Walhachin (or was it Savona) turned out to be 6 K's but what a view from the top. We took a few minutes of film & panicked when we thought Doug's bike had been stolen. It turned out it was just perfectly parked behind a trash can.

My computer deely packed it in. It had been working sporadically but the pick-up finally failed. Bought a whole new apparatus @ Canadian Tire in Kamloops. I half hate paying for the full deal when all I needed was a bit of wire some Chinese child assembled for 4c.

Dave picked us up at the end of the divided highway & we went for beer, corn & pork chops @ Dave & Rebecca's in Salmon Arm. I think we saved about 80 Km of cycling but I'll have to find out for sure later.

I remember being very tired this day. We had turned east and lost the tail wind that had been following us for the first 3 days of the trip. There were a couple moderately steep climbs, or so it seemed at the time, and a lot of long shallow climbs. Not really too wearing in and of themselves but there just wasn't that rest time every ten minutes like there had been earlier, going through the up & down of the Coastals.

A few kilometres short of the # 5 junction (Kamloops- Merrit Highway) we met 3 riders (2 girls & a guy) who had spent a week coming from Vancouver the long way; via Pemberton. They told of taking a half day to climb one hill that was 15 Km's long at 12% grade. Later in the trip I would have fantasies of climbs that easy.

When we hit Highway 5 we had had to get off - No Bicycles Allowed. So we got on the bike route and headed down the hill, stopping at a gas station for a snack and Canadian Tire then swooped down some more until I thought we must be at the bottom of the hill. I took us back out onto the highway only to find that we were less than half way down. Too late now. We had a good run with the traffic for about 2 miles before we got to the turn off. We took another quick break and Doug finally got in touch with Dave. We headed east along the divided highway and the tail wind that had been missing all day finally caught up with us. We pedelled hard for about an hour. I was really tired and would have stopped but Doug wanted to make it to the end of the divided highway so Dave could turn around as soon as he saw us instead of having to continue to an exit.

We got to the end of the divide and stopped and Dave & his son showed up within 5 minutes. They had the cube-van from work. Doug and I were loaded in the back along with our bikes and gear and a couple of lawn chairs and a couple of chilled mugs and a beer-ball and a big fistful of pepperoni. I couldn't have been happier if I had been sitting on a warm beach sipping rum drinks with little umbrellas in them.

I have still don't know how much distance we cheated that day but I didn't feel the least bit bad about it.

Cycle Canada, Day 2, May 6/06

May 6/06

A rest stop Just short of Lytton, B.C. 120 Km ~7:15 Hrs

Hills started today. Makes for harder riding but still do-able. Rode on the small ring quite a bit. My ass hurts. A lot. My left knee isn't giving me any hassle but the right one feels like it has something in it.

Fatigue is a big factor. Doug & I burnt off a lot of our energy reserves yesterday and today rode on half empty tanks. The average speed was down quite a bit.

The "9 Km Hill" outside of Boston Bar never materialized. There were a couple of good sized hills including one that was almost 3 Km long & woo wee what a down-grade on the other side. We did about 70 K's passed a couple of middle aged guys pouring gas into a car. They had huge grins on their faces. I think they were a bit jealous.

"9 Km Hill" struck a bit of fear into us when we stopped at Boston Bar for breakfast. The name wasn't fully explained and we assumed that it was a hill 9 Km long. I think it was in fact the 3 Km long hill that was about 9 Km north of town. Even at 3 Km it was a hard climb and I kept setting myself goals a couple of hundred yards at a time. Doug was doing better than me though he told me that he was setting goals along the way too. I finally stopped for a rest after more than 2.5 Km and with no top in sight.

When we got back on the bikes the top of the hill was around a slight curve and about 300 Yds. farther on. At the time I felt like I'd cheated myself. Like if I'd known that the top of the hill was so close I could have pushed on and made it without the rest break.

Cycle Canada, Day 1 Friday, May 5/06

Friday, May 5/06

Leaving mileage ~ 1855Km

Rest stop ~ 15Km from Hope/Yale turn off. 110 Km ~ 6 Hrs.

It was a good ride today. We climbed a few hills (2) that seemed long going up but seemed longer going down. Very strange. On the 11% grade down from the hill-top fountain I hit 73 K/Hr. I swept around a couple of curves, dragging the brakes on the off-camber one and headed down the straight away to the flats. By the time I thought to look at my speedo it was at seventy three point something and dropping. No hassles from the trailer.

When I first loaded the trailer it seemed a bit tippy & twitchy but I've gotten mostly used to it already.

My ass hurts. It's been hurting pretty good for the last 30 K or so. I got a case of numb dong a little before reaching Deroche too. My legs are achy but we'll see how they feel tomorrow. I didn't expect to make the trip without a few aches but, this being the first day, I didn't want to over-stress myself. The only thing I'm sure will hurt tomorrow is my neck.

We did a little filming today. A few roadway shots, some departing shots, and a few shots while riding.

We had a great campsite this night. Someone had taken down most of the "No Camping" signs at the rest stop. The wash house had electric lights and hot water. It was a nice easing into the camping that was to come later.

Cycle Canada: Prologue

In the Spring of 2005, Doug Bird phoned me from St. John's and said something like. "I'll be out in Port Coquitlam this fall. Why don't you come out and we can ride our bikes back to Calgary and visit Rob?"

He meant ride our Bicycles!

Doug and I had gone to high school together in Port Coquitlam, B. C., graduating in 1976. After high school we shared an apartment, drank together, rode motorcycles together, and shared many of the same friends.

Time and careers found Doug in St. John's, Newfoundland and me in Edmonton, Alberta, but we stayed in touch. I knew that Doug had bought a bike about 6 years earlier and had been riding hard ever since. I knew that I hadn't ridden a bicycle more than 5 times in the previous 12 years. I told him. "Let me think about it."

Pride wouldn't let me tell Doug that I couldn't make this insanely long trip with him "because I can't do it." I decided to haul the old ten-speed out of the basement and ride it until I could tell Doug, "I could do this trip, but I choose not to."

That became my goal, to say "No," from a position of strength.

I told myself that if I could ride 100 Km's in a day then riding 1,000 Km's in 9 or 10 days would just be a choice. A matter of scale. I hopped on the 10-speed and headed for the local Canadian Tire store. When I completed the 4 Km round trip my heart was pounding, my lungs burned and my legs shook so much that I almost couldn't climb the stairs (three) to my front door. How much worse could it get? After 4 Km's I hadn't ridden enough to know about bicycle seats.....

I set myself a schedule of rides and targets for distances and speeds each week. Six weeks later I did my first 100 Km ride.....well 96 really, but close enough. Good thing the next day was Sunday, I was toast.

More riding through the Summer and two more (honest) 100 Km rides had me feeling pretty confident. When Doug called to firm-up plans for his proposed ride I could say, "No" with pride.

When Doug called to firm-up plans for his proposed ride it didn't go according to script: He said that his plans had changed slightly and he would be in B.C. too late in the season to risk riding through the Rockies. Too much chance of snow and too cold in any case.

Woohoo! An open door to an exit. But I have to sound disappointed. "Too bad. I was really looking forward to it. You know I've been training. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to call it an unfulfilled dream.'

"Did you really want to go?"

"Yeah. Too Bad. I bought a new bike and everything. We should still get together though. Maybe go fishing."

"How about this then, why don't we ride across Canada next year?"

"............?"

"Well you really wanted to go right? You've been training. You bought a new bike and everything. And I know you can get the time off work."

"Let me think about it."

In early 2006 travel, work and cold, wet weather prevented me from doing as much training as I perhaps should have. By May 5th, when our journey started, my Spring training totalled 25 kilometres. I hooked the BOB trailer to the bike for the second time ever and packed for my very first over-night bike ride.

Bike training schedule to get someone from the couch to riding 100Km a day in 10 weeks.

Bike training schedule to get someone from the couch to riding 100Km a day in 10 weeks.

Before you go out for a ride tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.

Unless you are going to ride around and round the same block, your weekend rides will take you farther and farther from home. It's a good idea to learn some basic bike repair skills before you start, skills like fixing a flat, fixing a chain and adjusting a cable. Personally checking over and preparing your bike for the upcoming season should give you enough experience to handle most roadside emergencies.

Check your bike out. Make sure it's working well. Check the chain to see that its links all hinge properly. Give the wheels a spin and see that they rotate easily. Listen. No dragging brakes. No rattling bearings. Look. See that the wheels are straight and don't wobble. Check the shifters. Make sure that they work through their whole range. Spin the pedals. They should spin as easily as the wheels. Spin the crank, make sure that it operates smoothly, easily and makes no noises. Test the brakes. They should operate easily, grip well and release with the pads equally spaced on either side of the wheel/disc. Check the tires. Run your hand over them. Make sure the tread is good and sidewall isn't cracked. Feel for any lumps or bumps and make sure the tire is evenly seated on the rim. Pump the tires up hard. Use the maximum recommended pressure printed on the sidewall.

If there is a bike repair that you think you can't handle or that you are unsure of, take it in to a bike shop for repair. Don't take it to Canadian Tire or WalMart or places like that. The guys there probably have minimal training.

Road Rules:

While riding on the road you are covered by the Highways Traffic Act. That means that you must follow the rules set out for (slow moving) cars and trucks. Ride on the right and stick to the right-hand side of the lane or, preferably, to the shoulder.

You are entitled to use the car lane if you can keep up with traffic: Not all drivers know this so don't feel like you have to assert your rights if you are dealing with an ignorant driver. You won't win an argument with a car.

Don't ride on the left side of the road facing traffic. Some people feel more comfortable doing this because it's how they were taught to walk on roads and highways. Unfortunately, many times, drivers entering from a side street will look left for car traffic then turn right without checking to see if there is a cyclist barreling down the shoulder at 20 or 30 Km/Hr on the wrong side of the road. This almost always ends with the driver being late for his appointment and the cyclist going to the hospital.

Signal your turns and use a rear-view mirror of some sort. I have a helmet mounted one.

Be Seen!

Be sure your bike has reflectors. You need lights if you are riding at or after dusk. Not just a head light for you to see by, but a tail light or flasher as well.

Dress in bright colours. Reflectors on your helmet and pant-leg straps are a good idea too because you're not always close to your well-reflected bicycle. I wear a traffic vest. Some people think such things make you look dorky, but it's better to look dorky and be alive than it is to look cool in a casket. Besides, if you get hit by a car you probably won't look all that good in the casket anyway.

Be Heard!

Edmonton requires that you have a bell on your bike. That's fine if you're riding on the pathways and through the parks. In traffic the little ding-ding of a bicycle bell just isn't going to be heard. I have an Air Zound, it only weighs 4 or 5 ounces and is as loud as a car horn. You can get one at United Cycle for under $30. If you will be riding in traffic something like that is a good idea.
For this training routine you'll also need a speedometer/odometer. You can get a cheap one at Canadian Tire or some such place. You can get a nicer (more expensive) one at just about any bike shop.

Riding checklist:

Helmet

1st aid kit

Bicycle multi-tool

Pump and patch kit or spare tube

Water

Snack

Cell Phone

A little cash

ID

Training:
I'm a guy and guys like to measure. I have a cheap bike speedometer with an odometer and trip-meter. It cost about $20 at Canadian Tire. I've found it to be a great tool for training motivation and measuring progress.

I've divided the training schedule into 6 types of rides over 10 weeks to give you a bit of variety and to have you work on different aspects of your riding. Most will challenge you at some point in the training. Push and Sprint rides will build and test your legs, Steady and Hill rides will build your heart, lungs and endurance, the longer Weekend rides will test your resolve. Easy rides might seem difficult in the first few weeks but they will quickly become easy and, I hope, pleasurable.

The weekday training rides are to be done in a given time over no specific distance. The weekend rides are to be done over a given distance with no specific time. As the training goes on, the times and distances get longer. Good thing the Spring days get longer too.

There are a total of 40 rides in this program. I've given you days on which to ride. You don't have to stick to those days, but try to do all of the rides given for a week in that week.

Be aware of your body. Some muscle ache is normal during training. Learn what is normal and what is too much. Normal aches should lessen in a day (the recovery time is usually longer early in an exercise program; say two days) and recovery should get faster as you get passed the fifth week. Joint pain or muscle pain that doesn't go away are things that you should see a doctor about.

In the first 2 weeks you shouldn't feel like you are working too hard.

Ride around the neighbourhood. Try to keep moving but don't rush. This is just intended to get your body used to the repetitive movements of cycling. And to harden your bum a bit. Bicycles have been around for 150 years and no one has ever made a comfortable seat...there are only less-uncomfortable ones.

Pace/cadence - It's hard to say what will be a comfortable/sustainable speed for you. Everyone is different with different muscle types, physiologies and recovery times. The experts say that you should rotate the pedals slightly faster than your heart beats. If your heart beat is 60 BPM you should pedal about 70 RPM.

I find the expert's cadence to be a little high but the point is to keep the workload on any pedal stroke light. If you feel like you're working as hard as you would to climb stairs then you're working 'way too hard. By the end of this program you will be riding for 4 or 5 or 6 hours in a day. Nobody climbs stairs for that length of time. Your chest would explode.

In general, beginners use too high a gear and too high a speed when starting. Start in a low gear and ride on the flat. Gear up until you feel resistance on the pedals then go down one gear. This is a good starting point. As your strength and endurance build your starting gear will go up.

The Easy Ride - Just what it sounds like. This is a time to find out what your "normal" pace is. Take the bike out and ride at an easy, comfortable pace. There should be little effort on the flats. You should work a bit going up rises and into the wind. Try not to coast down hills or with the wind, keep your legs moving. Check your speed a few times during the ride to make sure it doesn't drop off too much. That can happen on an easy ride if you're looking around and enjoying yourself.

The Weekend ride - The weekend ride has no specific work-out component. It's just a ride for you to get out on the road and enjoy yourself. Consider the distance you're aiming for today and think about where you would like to go to make up that distance. It's good to have a goal and a reward in mind before you start out. A coffee shop, a store, a town, a place with a nice view, a creek where you can picnic or some place you've never been before. If you want to use the ride as a test to see how you're doing so far or if you want to incorporate some of the training techniques used on the week-night rides that's fine but I advise you to save any of the drills for the last quarter of the ride. The last quarter is going to be the hard part anyway. There's no sense in burning yourself out too early. If you're starting to feel tired by the halfway point the return trip will likely be painful.

Be sure to carry water and/or Gatorade. Take snacks and a phone (this is especially important as your rides get longer). Check the weather report and carry appropriate clothes.

Week 1: Weekday rides - 15 to 20 minutes

Day 1 - Easy Ride

Day 3 - Easy Ride

Day 4 - Easy Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 16 Km ride No time Limit

Week 2: Weekday rides - 20 to 25 minutes

Day 1 - Easy Ride

Day 3 - Easy Ride

Day 4 - Easy Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 24 Km ride No time Limit

The Push Ride - Ride easily for 8 to 10 minutes to warm up. Note your speed. Ride 2 Km/H faster for about 2 minutes followed by about 2 minutes of your easy pace. Next ride 4 Km/H faster for about 2 minutes followed by about 2 minutes of your easy pace. Continue the pattern, increasing the push speed by 2 Km/H each time until you can't hold the speed 90 seconds. The work is almost finished now. Take the rest of the ride at a leisurely pace except for 1 sprint about 10 minutes before you finish.

The Steady Ride - This is a good one for a secondary highway or country road. What is your normal/average riding speed? Take a short warm up ride then add 2 to 5 Km/H to your normal riding speed and try to hold exactly that speed for as long as possible. Hold your speed up hills, down hills and on the flat. Don't just coast down the hills, gear up if you have to and keep your legs moving with slight pressure on the pedals but don't push or speed up more than the slope dictates. If you reach the point where you can't hold your chosen pace any longer, relax and finish the ride at an easy pace. At the end of the ride you should feel like you've done a long isometric squat. If you reach your time limit before you run out of energy then you should increase your normal/average riding speed.

Week 3: Weekday rides - 20 to 30 minutes

Day 1 - Push Ride

Day 3 - Steady Ride

Day 4 - Easy Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 30 Km ride No time Limit

Week 4: Weekday rides - 25 to 35 minutes

Day 1 - Steady Ride

Day 3 - Easy Ride

Day 4 - Push Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 40 Km ride No time Limit

The Sprint Ride - Ride easily for 8 to 10 minutes to warm up then do a sprint. Pick a spot (a tree, a rock, a clump of dirt, a cross road, a sign - not a STOP sign - or any other thing that you can fix your eye on) about 150 to 300 or 400 yards ahead. Race to that spot as hard as you can. Resume your easy pace for 8 to 10 minutes and keep repeating the pattern. It helps to do your sprints in different conditions, uphill, downhill, with and against the wind. An alternate to picking a spot to race to is to pick a time of 30, 60 or 75 seconds and go as hard as you can for that long. Finish the session with an easy pace to cool down.

The Hill Ride - If you can find a section of road with some rolling hills that would be great. Longer hills are better than steeper hills but a steep hill isn't bad either. If all you have nearby is one hill then this is going to be only slightly more interesting than riding a stationary bike.

Basically you're going to try to maintain your normal cadence (foot speed) while climbing a hill. It's your foot speed that you're trying to maintain, not your road speed. Gear down for the climb as soon as you feel your foot speed start to decrease. Waiting too long to gear down can cause problems. Hill climbing can be as much an exercise of balance as of strength. To maintain your cadence, gear down as much as you need to. Your speed will drop and it may become hard to hold a straight line. Work on it.

To change things up, try standing on the pedals to do your climb. I find that I use a higher gear standing than sitting. I have a decreased cadence but the same climbing road speed. Standing on the pedals works a different set of muscles and you can burn yourself out quickly if you're not used to it. If that is the case with you (as it surely was with me) then try incorporating some stand-up pedalling into your other rides. Add a little at a time.

When you reach the top of the hill don't rest. If you rest you'll cool off too much and chill on the way down. Take your rest as you coast down the hill. Enjoy the "Whoo hoo" moment. Now it's time to climb the next hill and the next (or the same one again and again if you've only got one).

Week 5: Weekday rides - 30 to 45 minutes

Day 1 - Sprint Ride

Day 3 - Hill Ride

Day 4 - Easy Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 60 Km ride No time Limit

Week 6: Weekday rides - 30 to 45 minutes

Day 1 - Easy Ride

Day 3 - Steady Ride

Day 4 - Sprint Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 50 Km ride No time Limit

Week 7: Weekday rides - 30 to 45 minutes

Day 1 - Push Ride

Day 3 - Easy Ride

Day 4 - Steady Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 65 Km ride No time Limit

Week 8: Weekday rides - 40 to 60minutes

Day 1 - Hill Ride

Day 3 - Push Ride

Day 4 - Sprint Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 85 Km ride No time Limit

Week 9: Weekday rides - 40 to 60minutes

Day 1 - Easy Ride

Day 3 - Sprint Ride

Day 4 - Steady Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 75 Km ride No time Limit

Week 10: Weekday rides - 45 to 60minutes

Day 1 - Push Ride

Day 3 - Sprint Ride

Day 4 - Easy Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 100 Km ride No time Limit

A word on snacks:

Snacks should be high energy and easily digestible. I like fruit and have been known to eat quite a lot of chocolate on longer rides. It's better to eat small amounts frequently rather than a big meal half way through the ride. I know some folks who attach a small bag of gummy bears to their handle bars and pop one every 10 or 20 minutes. I can't do that but I do make a point of stopping at semi-regular intervals (16 Km, 20 Km, hourly, whatever) getting off the bike, doing a quick bend & stretch and having a small snack and a drink of water.

A word on hydration:

Proper hydration is not a matter of how much you take in, it's a matter of how much you put out. While riding you will be sweating and you will be metabolising sugar. Both of these things require water. You need water to help you turn sugar into energy and to take away waste form that process. The way you get rid of the poisons produced by metabolising is by peeing. If you go on a ride of more than 2 hours and haven't had to take a pee break you're not drinking enough.

I carry 2 water bottles. One with water and one with half-strength Gatorade. Gatorade has sugar and salts (like Pedialite or Oral Rehydration Therapy mixtures), the combination speeds the take-up of water, I just don't like Gatorade full strength.

I use water bottles but some folks prefer a Camelback. Get used to drinking while you ride. Sip, sip, sip while you're riding is better than chugging at rest breaks.

Eating for a long ride:

Snacks are good for giving you quick energy if you start to flag while riding but in endurance sports your staying power comes mostly from the carbohydrates you ate the night before. For your evening meal the night before a weekend ride have a good feed of carbs - potatoes, pasta, rice, plantain, barley, whatever - it will help you go longer and maintain better energy between snacks.

While training it won't hurt to take in a bit more protein than normal. You don't have to go crazy with special training concoctions from the GNC store. An extra egg or a couple of bites of meat or quinoa on training days is probably enough.

Training is hungry work. After some rides you are going to feel like you're starving to death. It's okay to eat to recharge your batteries but resist the temptation to over-eat. You will need some extra food because you are expending more energy but it's common to get the urge to pig out, particularly in the first few weeks. To keep from going over board, weigh yourself before the program begins and a couple of times a week during. Don't worry if you gain a couple of pounds at the start of the program, that's common. Just make sure that the trend doesn't continue. Your weight should stabilize after a few weeks and then come back down to normal by the last couple of weeks of the program. If your weight continues to go up then you'll have to start being serious about tracking what you eat, denying yourself the "little extras" and get used to being hungry. That might sound a bit harsh but it's harsher to haul 20 extra pounds a hundred kilometres a day.

A word about Wind:

Wind is the enemy and it's everywhere on the prairies. Bucking a headwind can be the most spiritually draining thing in cycling. There are really only two things that you can do to save your sanity. First, you can think of wind as an invisible hill and gear down to maintain your cadence. Forget about trying to maintain your road speed, after all, you're climbing a hill. Second, get in with a group of riders and keep pace with them. At least it will seem like you're not doing so bad if you're keeping up with the crowd.

Riding philosophy/tactics:

Every bit of energy that drives the bike forward comes from you personally. Conserve all of the energy you can during a lengthy ride.

On a big ride event like MS 150 or Ride to Conquer Cancer or Tour D'Alberta ordinary people tend to start out too fast. On the first day resist the temptation to take off after the pack. This is hard to do and most people fall prey to the temptation at one time or another. You've ridden 75, 85 and 100 K's in a day and you know the pace that will allow you to do that. Check you speedometer every couple of minutes for the first hour. If you find yourself going too fast slow down, no matter how wrong it feels. A lot of the fast starters will burn themselves out in an hour or two, once you start passing them you will feel better about your steady pace.

On a group ride, try to find a person (or group) that rides at the same pace as you. Riding in groups is easier than riding solo. It's easier to be in second place than in first. In a large group try to be in the front third of the pack but not right out front. Let the people in front of you push the wind. The energy required to move forward goes up with the square of the speed so going 10% faster (increasing from 20 KpH to 22 KpH) takes 21% more energy. Going 20% faster (increasing from 20 KpH to 24 KpH) takes 44% more energy. You can reduce the energy you put out by riding with a group that is dragging the air along with them.

Be ready to use your brakes at any time but only use them if you have to. If you're riding in hilly terrain carry as much speed as you can from the down side of one hill to the up slope of the next. There's not much sense in applying the brakes when going down a hill and then having to climb all the way up the next hill if you could have coasted half way up using the speed you just threw away. But beware if riding in a group. Not everyone will share this same philosophy. Watch for someone in front of you hitting the brakes unexpectedly.

Last Word:

Remember to have fun. Feel the wind on your face, the power in your body and the freedom of the road.

And watch out for the crazy people.

If you have questions or things that you think should be changed in the training schedule, do let me know. You can comment or e-mail.

Brent