Wednesday, May 19th - I had to work all day but left a bit early, cycled home, grabbed my bags and headed for the airport. After an uneventful flight, I landed in Abbotsford and one of my cousins transported me to my grandmother’s house.

Thursday, May 20th - I set my bicycle up quite quickly and easily and headed out for a test spin. It was a beautifully warm, sunny day and I was in shorts and a short sleeved shirt - wonderful! One of the first things I noticed as I rode down the street was the lack of potholes … and how clean it was!! The street was perfectly smooth! There were no gaping holes, no clumps of asphalt and tar, no gravel, no broken glass … it was a cyclist’s heaven!! The next thing I noticed was that my legs didn’t feel quite ready for the hills I was climbing.

Friday, May 21st - It was overcast when I woke up. I was picked up at 2 pm by one of my teammates and his wife, and by the time we got out to Harrison Hot Springs, it had started to rain lightly. We got our room, saw another team off for their 4 pm start, and by that time our whole team was assembled: Stephen and Lyle from BC, Mike from Arizona, and me from Manitoba making up the Harrison Hopefools II. After supper, we started to get ready for the ride while exchanging stories of the various rides we’ve done. It was then that I discovered what I had forgotten: my neoprene gloves. I had only packed light gloves and I knew that they would never do. Fortunately Stephen’s wife, Carol, had some gloves with her which she loaned to me, and for which I was very grateful.

Shortly after 7 pm the 4 of us gathered at front of the hotel for a photo, and then we cycled off into the rain. For the next two hours, the ride proceeded along at a comfortably fast pace (for me) and despite the fact that the rain was coming down steadily, I was enjoying myself. After coming from a province that was barren, brown, and recently snow-covered, it was so nice to see all the greenery and to smell all the growing things. (I was also glad I’d thought to take a Claritin). Stephen had his first flat in this stretch, but that was OK with me because it gave me a chance to take a little break and eat something.

We rolled into Hope (43.2 kms), our first control, at 9 pm where we quickly took care of business and then headed back out onto the road … and onto Highway 1 (TransCanada). By now it was dark and still raining … and I made a very significant discovery. My Lightspin dynamo does not work in the rain - it skips. I also discovered that my back-up battery light wasn’t really bright enough in rainy conditions. I’ve never ridden through the night in rain before and had no idea that the rain seems to absorb light. The road surface was completely black to me. The rain was coming down hard by this point so that my glasses were completely covered in raindrops. The lights from oncoming cars would refract into stars in front of my eyes, effectively blinding me. And the road conditions weren’t ideal. We were on Hwy 1 which has paved shoulders but has rumble strips just inside the white line on one side, and deep ditches or concrete barriers on the other side. I rode that whole stretch trying to keep my bicycle pointed somewhere between the two taillights I could see in front of me. There was enough rain by this time that we were bogging down in puddles and the waves as we went through were coming up over our feet, sometimes as high as our knees.

You cannot imagine my relief when we finally pulled off Hwy 1 onto a quieter road. Shortly after we got onto that road, we reached a turnoff back to Harrison, and Lyle decided that he had enough and opted to return. The remaining 3 of us continued on. Moments after Lyle left us, the rain stopped for about 30 minutes - what a nice reprieve.

We rolled into a Tim Hortons in Chilliwack a little after 11 pm and I was pleased to discover hand dryers in the washroom. I have a waterproof jacket, but even so my sleeves were damp and I was able to make them a little warmer and drier. One of the things I enjoy about these rides is the reactions and conversations with the people we meet along the way. We chatted with a couple of guys at the table next to us who were amazed at what we were doing (and probably thought we were completely nuts).

Just after midnight we set off into more rain and a light headwind … or at least it seemed light to me, but then I was tucked in behind Stephen and Mike trying to see the road with their lights. I now understand the attraction of those Schmidt hubs!!

We reached the border crossing at Sumas about 2 am and had no difficulty getting across into the US. The rain stopped and started for the next 3 hours or so. When it stopped, and the road dried a little bit, my light would come on, but as soon as the rain started again, or I made the mistake of riding through a puddle, it was off. I’m a night person and I felt great through the night but I think both Stephen and Mike struggled a bit. However, as 5 am approached and the sky began to lighten everyone perked up … including the roosters that crowed on every farm for quite a ways. For my part, it was so nice to actually be able to see where I was going again!

We arrived in Burlington, our furthest point, just before 6 am to discover that the only place open was a convenience store. I was hungry, but not for convenience store food. I wanted a real meal. We headed back through town in the hopes that one of the restaurants might have opened at 6 am, but everything was quiet and we cycled on. Just then two things happened almost simultaneously … I spotted a steakhouse that served breakfasts and was open, and Stephen had his second flat. I suggested that he change the flat under the awning of “that building over there” … and then suggested that while he was changing the flat, I’d just slip in and order breakfast! That meal hit the spot and I could have probably eaten two of them! They also had a little decorative pond in the corner and I figured that was a perfect spot to wring out my soaked gloves.

While we were in the restaurant, the rain really started coming down and we departed in another torrential downpour … so much for wringing out my gloves! However, since the sun was up, somewhere behind all those thick clouds, we could see a bit of the scenery around and I think it is beautiful there. Everything was so green and hilly with tiny little farms tucked in the curves of the hills along the way. Meanwhile, the rain fortunately began to let up a bit.

Just then we found ourselves in the middle of a bicycle race. There were “Race In Progress” signs, and pace cars, and then a group of cyclists, who didn’t look like they’d just spent the night before slogging through the rain, sailed past us. We debated about chasing them, but we didn’t want to make them look bad! About that time too, we saw one of the other teams who had started later than us heading the other way. That was a mental boost for me because I knew that at least we were over our half way point and on our way back.

It wasn’t long before we arrived back at the border crossing and again we had no difficulty getting across. We also discovered hand dryers in their washrooms. I have a whole new appreciation for hand dryers! Shortly after we crossed the border the rain stopped. It still sprinkled very lightly occasionally for the next 7.5 hours, but after 15.5 hours of fairly heavy rains, the rest of the ride felt basically dry.

We made one stop where we observed a pair of bald eagles, and other stop to lube our chains which were making horrible noises from the riding conditions the night before. As we set off again from that stop we were joined by a group of boisterous young boys on bicycles who serenaded us loudly with “We are the Champions”!! Shortly after that we were pulled over by a secret control who stamped our cards and then fed us cookies which gave us the energy we needed to make it back into Chilliwack again where we stopped at Quiznos for lunch. I was more than ready to eat by then, but just starting to feel a little nauseated and tired. I’m a night person, but not a morning person.

When we left Chilliwack, I struggled to keep awake. I was riding behind Stephen and Mike, as usual, and watching their pedal strokes was completely mesmerizing. It didn’t help that the temperature was going up and I was still decked out in all my gear. I was not feeling very well. But just then Stephen wanted to stop to take off his jacket - a great idea! I was fumbling with the straps on my Carradice bag when all of a sudden they started telling me to hurry up … because a cow was coming! A cow was walking down the road with a truck following it trying to herd it along. As the cow and truck got closer to us, the guy in the truck hopped out and hollered to us asking if we could herd the cow back toward him. Stephen took off after the cow and with some clever moves managed to direct the cow back into the field. He obviously missed his calling in life … to be a cowboy! I felt much better after that - nothing like a good laugh to wake a person up!

We continued on toward Hope, into the mountains again, but this time we could see them. It was daylight and the clouds had lifted to a high overcast. Living out on the prairies I miss the mountains so much and so I was absolutely delighted to be cycling among them again. It is so much more enjoyable to be cycling among breathtaking peaks, forests, and waterfalls … where every time you round a corner there’s something different to look at, than it is to cycle past one flat field after another.

Stephen got his third and fourth flats and by that time we were working together on changing flats like a well-oiled machine. On the fourth flat I handed over my spare folding tire - a bright yellow one that went nicely with his purple bicycle … we wouldn’t lose him for the rest of the ride! I wanted desperately to be in Hope by then and so I picked up the pace and we arrived back in Hope at our estimated time of 4:00. After a 15 minute break, we started the last leg of the journey back to Harrison. Again I was amazed at the beauty of the area we had been cycling through the night before.

Minutes before the 22 hour point of the ride, we arrived at the predesignated spot about 27 kms from the finish. On a fleche, riders have to complete at least 25 kms in the last 2 of the 24 hours. After signing our control cards we set off and flew in! That was fun!! Most of the time I was tucked in behind Stephen and Mike hanging on for dear life. I have never finished a 400K that strongly before!! We covered those last 27 kms in 55 minutes at an average speed of 29.5 km/h. And as we arrived in Harrison, the sky finally cleared to show blue above.

Saturday, May 22nd, evening - I showered then waited around for Paul’s team to get in - they just made it in their time limit and it was nice to see him again. Then I headed off to have a much needed supper with my team. Later we soaked in the hot springs which seemed to work wonders on my knees. And then it was off to sleep for the first time in 37 hours for me! Long day!!

Sunday, May 23rd - We were up, in brilliant sunshine, for the post ride brunch! I was desperately hungry and they put on quite a spread for us. Then each team was called up, presented with pins and allowed to briefly tell the tale of our rides. I really enjoyed that. None of our routes were exactly the same and few of our start times and locations were the same, but we crisscrossed routes all over the lower mainland and could relate to the other stories! From the sounds of it though, my team encountered the most rain. I also had the chance to meet and talk to many cyclists who I have heard of but never met, or hadn’t seen for quite a while.

Sunday night, back at my grandmother’s place I packed my bicycle, taking only an hour to do it - I’ve figured out how! And then on Monday afternoon, I flew home.

Epilogue

• Total 'official' distance: 404 kms completed in 22:55 (although we all had more on our computers).

• Stephen and Mike will tell you that the route was basically flat. It wasn’t. That was the hilliest route I’ve done on any of my rides since the PBP last August, and despite the fact that I thought I was doing hill training here, I quite obviously was not. I had a lot of difficulty on hills they considered nothing. I must work on that some more before the Great Southern!!

• They also had me riding at the upper level of my speed ‘comfort zone’ most of the way. That was good - I’ve been trying to work on my speed and I was pleased that I could hang in there on this ride and even have enough energy for a push at the end.

• I need to do something about my lighting - I can’t count on riding in dry conditions at night and even my upcoming 300K looks like it will be in rain. However, I have learned a bit about packing for rain.

• I was very pleased with my nutritional intake on the ride. In previous years I’ve struggled with eating on these long rides but I was able to devour real meals all along the way which really helped with my energy levels.

Despite the rain, I really enjoyed myself - it was a very good experience and a very good weekend!