2:55 am - I'm ready and I leave the apartment with my loaded bicycle. I cannot believe the amount of traffic out there at that hour! It's probably all the people coming home from the bar . . . wonderful . . . I'm out there on a bicycle among a bunch of drivers who likely have been drinking.

3:10 am - I arrive at the place where I'm going to get a ride to the start. Fortunately it was an uneventful trip.

3:40 am - We arrive at the start and I set my bicycle up. Here's where I run into my first problems. I have a lot of trouble getting my handlebar bag back on, and then discover that my rear brakes which have been giving me problems, have clamped themselves to my back wheel so that I can't spin it. I have to disable them completely and end up fighting with the wire for the rest of the ride.

4:00 am - 10 of us (5 girls, 5 guys) are briefed on the ride and off we go. I am using my new map case for the map even though I know the route. I want to see if it will work for future, longer rides. It's very cloudy and dark, but fortunately the wind isn't too strong, and the temperature is a comfortable 12°. 5 of the riders sprint off the start and disappear in the distance, 3 of us ride at a comfortable pace which is what I prefer, and 2 of the riders (on a tandem) drop back.

5:30 am - It starts to rain - not pouring but just a steady, constant rain. As the sun comes up, the sky lightens a bit, but it never does become really light because of the heavy clouds which are present for the whole day. The two riders I'm with and I are prepared for the rain so we just put on our rain gear and keep rolling quite comfortably. We find out later that the rest of the riders were not prepared for the rain and were drenched and uncomfortable. It rains like this for the next 5 hours - enough to get everything in our bags, completely wet.

10:30 am - The rain slows to a light drizzle and then settles into a mist. Oddly the wind is coming from the north-east so it is a tailwind. That was definitely not forecast, and is a very pleasant surprise! We stop at a small campground for a few minutes and there we join up with 2 of the riders who had set off at a much faster pace at the beginning. We have now reached the hilly section of the ride, and I managed to roll up these hills without much difficulty at all.

11:40 am - After a short ride into a light headwind from the south, we reach the Canada/US border and cross into the States without incident. In fact, the border guards are much more friendly than usual.

12:20 pm - We roll into Roseau for lunch. I have one of my favourite brevet meals: french toast, iced tea, and hot tea. I did forget one thing: in the States, they don't serve sweetened iced tea so I have to gather up and empty a whole bunch of sugar packets into it to get it right.

3:00 pm - After riding with a beautiful tailwind, we reach another Canada/US border crossing and cross back into Canada again. The border guards here are very friendly too. Shortly after this we turn into another headwind. Now the wind is coming from the west. The 5 of us get into a 4 minute pace line and ride like that for the next 30 kms. We make a short "chip stop", where we are joined by the tandem couple who has been behind us, and when we leave that town, the wind has shifted so that it is coming more from the south, so we don't use the paceline anymore. There are enough trees to block the wind and we can keep up a pretty good pace.

6:15 pm - We arrive at our supper stop in Vita. I order perogies and french fries and am hungry enough to eat most of it. Unfortunately I'm starting to not feel so good. I developed a cold on Friday, which I've been dealing with the whole way, but now I'm really fighting with it. Most of the time, I can't breath through my nose, and I start varying between hot flashes and chills. I'm pretty sure I have a fever, and I'm starting to feel quite cranky. My knees also feel very, very tight and sore. The group is talking about taking their time for the rest of the ride and coming in around 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. I have a goal to beat my previous best time (1:00 am), and I really don't want to be out there until 4:00 am, feeling like I am. So I take the lead and pull for a while a fairly fast pace. Then we start another 4 minute paceline.

7:15 pm - We turn so that we have a tailwind and the tandem couple takes the lead and brings the pace up to 28 km/h. This is really nice and I feel happier with the pace. It keeps my mind off how bad I'm feeling and makes me feel like we're getting somewhere.

8:30 pm - The whole group decides to drop the pace down to about 18 km/h despite the fact that we still have a nice tailwind. I'm not sure what is going on and the tandem couple and I wait around a bit to see if we're going to pick up the pace again, but it doesn't look like it, so we take off and we get the pace up to 30 km/h.

9:10 pm - We arrive at the next control where I stop to fix my taillight which has gone dead, and the group gathers together again. But most of the group is still talking about taking it easy, and some are talking about stopping for pizza at the next control. That's the last thing I want to do. I'm really not feeling well, and I just want to get in. Also, I'm not sure how long my front light is going to last. I had to use my spare batteries to fix my taillight, so I don't have extras for the front light. We all leave the control together, with 78 kms to go, but very quickly I realize that they really are planning to take their time coming in, so I start gradually increasing my pace hoping that they will too. They don't.

11:05 pm - I fly into the next control, get my card signed, down a small energy bar and I'm off again. I'm going through more stages of heat and sweating and then chills so bad I'm shaking. I'm also starting to feel nauseated. It's pitch black by now and sprinkling lightly. I am moving quite quickly out there and by the odd street light, as I pass through little towns, I see that I'm travelling about 25 km/h. Here's where I discover that my map case is invaluable. I'm not that familiar with the area I'm travelling through, I've always just followed those who know it better than me, but now it's dark and I'm on my own. I have it set up so that a light shines on it and I can easily follow it. I'm quite pleased with this. I also discover something else - my knees which had been bothering me have started to loosen off. I think all that riding in pacelines might have contributed to the problem because of all the pedalling, then coasting, then braking so as not to hit the person in front, then dodging the person in front, then pedalling again. On my own I'm spinning comfortably at my own pace. That said, I think I prefer riding with people on these rides, but there are times when it is good to head out on my own. Meanwhile, I'm watching my front light start to dim, and so I increase my pace just a bit . . . and then I was there!

12:30 am - I sail into the final control, a gas station convenience store, and dash in to get my card signed. 20.5 hours. I had beat my previous time by half an hour! My light died as I rolled in. I know I should probably eat, but I feel quite nauseated now so I just have something cold to drink instead. I'm not sure where everyone else is, so I buy a magazine and sit down to read.

1:00 am - The tandem couple comes in and 10 minutes later the rest of the group came in. We loaded up the cars and headed home.

2:00 am - I am finally home again, having been up for over 24 hours. I do not feel well at all and shortly after my shower, I finally throw up. I also discover that my suspicions were correct, I am feverish and probably have been for a while. Shortly after that I am in bed.

I had a restless first few hours of sleep, but then dropped into a really deep sleep until 3:00 pm. Today, my knees feel some better - they are losing their stiffness. My ankles held up really well, all taped up like that - they feel fine. I've still got a nasty cold, and I'm still a bit feverish. I think I will still have to do some set-up work on my bicycle. For one thing I have to figure out something else for my handlebar bag - I'm not used to having such limited hand positions. I might also need to tilt my saddle nose up a bit more - I felt a bit like I was sliding forward and putting a lot of weight on my hands - they are a little sore. I may also want to look at my handlebar height - could be that it should come up a tad. I have three weeks until my 600K to sort all this out.