hello everyone!
Today is my birthday, even though I forgot until 4pm. Last night I had 4 hours of sleep. My body was craving calories and I ate for 2 hours and drank several bottles of water. I was so frustrated because I know that I need to sleep to recover properly but my body refused to shutdown. I wrote a bunch of songs in my head to pass the time. Eventually I went to sleep and woke up at 8 with a smile on my face. It was raining outside and there was a stiff wind coming from the east. Normally a person who has felt like they are dying slowly would be sad about having to bike 160km in the rain and wind for 7 hours. I have realized recently that I am not exactly normal. I opened my birthday presents which were a book on survival in the wilderness and a mug with a moose on it. I think I turned 40 not 18 haha I expected small children to pop out of the bathroom and jump on my stomach. This ride is my birthday present. I think it's the best thing that has ever been given to me, it's changed my life and my perspective in a very positive way...( I was pretty positive before btw). I did a little dance and prepared to go to battle. The day was so terrible. I am not going to get into it because Ii don't want to scare some of the parents that read this thing. I felt like my life was at risk. When the day was over I was just happy to be alive. The shoulder was literally a foot wide. One lane traffic with semis a foot and a half away. Sometimes I didn't have a shoulder and had to sprint as fast as I could to make it to the shoulder down the road. I can't explain to you how mad I was. It was a situation I couldn't control and I felt that my birthday was going to come to an end very quickly. I am way too happy right now to contemplate dying on this ride but the possibility is always there. I would not let my future children do this let me just put it that way. The headwind was brutal and sapped my legs as the day went on. Eventually I reached Sudbury with 20km to go but no water or bars. I was so hungry I felt like puking. I started to bonk on the foot wide shoulder and really pushed myself just to make it into the turnoff for town. Once I reached the car I fell to the 3 inch thick gravel and just about lost consciousness. I shoved nectarines into my mouth for sugar and choc milk and just about everything I could find while being extremely upset with my family for leaving me while I felt like I was slowly dying. Like I said, the ride today was terrible. I got in the car and felt really sick. I had a physio appt in town and got a massage which was really nice. Then I got to converse with family friends for hours and I felt like I hadn't been in normal civilization for years. I got the hang of talking again and started to get back to my old self. Mina is a very nice girl attending Queens in the fall as well. She is so nice that her grad class elected her for prom queen! I got as many photos as I could with the local celeb and when asked what she did with her tiarra she responded "I broke it up into the pieces and gave it to my friends" (perfect answer). I responded jokingly "Well I know I wore my tiarra for months and NO ONE could get that piece of plastic off my head". Anyways, I had dinner at a great greek restaurant with Mina and her family and mine and eventually made it home with my family. Operation "gunshot" was completed at 1100 hours. I had a lot of fun tonight even though I did pretty much nothing. Tomorrow will be really hard I think but I am ready for it. Thank you for all your comments again, I think reading them is the highlight of my day! haha Today someone donated $3,000! That puts me at $38,000 so far. That right there was one of the best birthday presents you could have ever given me and it's not even for me!. I am so proud to be doing this, its incredibly hard, harder than I could have ever imagined and puts me right to my limits everyday on so many levels. I will never give up, its as simple as that. So bring it on.
Goodnight
Adam Beaudoin
Sudbury ON
Wednesday 31 August 2011
Tuesday 30 August 2011
Day 25 137km tired but good day
Hello,
I write to you from Blind River. I am really really tired again and will keep this extremely short. I had a good day! I thought there were no good days left for me but I was wrong. I just spun the cranks and rode the easiest 138km of my life. I am crashing again though as I write this. It's the worst feeling in the world. I am going to bed and it's 8pm. 5 more days of this hell ride and then I am free and can lead a somewhat normal life. I am finishing this ride. I have biked for over 3800km and have sacrificed so much of my body and soul. I am starting to really fall apart after I get off the bike but I am confident I can hold out for 5 more days. Thank you so much for all your support...it is pulling me through the worst times. To Paul, your son is the reason I am killing myself everyday for hours. I wish him and your family the best. One day at a time and I got this thing. Its my 18th birthday tomorrow. I never thought I would enter adulthood in the state I am in but what the hell, life is one wild ride sometimes and right now I am just trying to hold on. Today was my easy day. The next 3 are somewhat difficult. Every 10km is a huge victory for me...I am happy in the mornings and completely fall apart in the evenings haha I can barely understand what's happening to my body and well being. I know it's from being over worked and it is finally starting to get to me. The ironic part is Lance and Thor are as strong as ever, it's just everything else that's starting to go. I know myself very well and I need a rest day. The difference between this ride and other charity rides is that I have a set end date. It's now a race against time and it changes so many dynamics compared to a ride across the country without a deadline. When I finish this thing I will be a bear in spirit and sleep for 24 hours. Till then I am a fighter, this trip has made me tough as nails and nothing is going to stop me from getting to Queens. I don't care if I end up having the wheel myself there in a wheel chair through the night. I have what it takes to do what seems to be impossible. I am going to bed. Last night I woke up at 4am starving and ate the piece of pizza haha. I had a dream that I was speaking to my high school about following your dreams and believing in yourself. I hope my ride has inspired you to make a positive change in your life. I have lived my life for others because that is what makes me truly happy. I use my powers for good instead of evil haha I have no S on my chest (I actually have an awkward V tan line) but sometimes I pretend to and end up doing crazy things like riding 4500km in 30 days. I am pumped because I know I am so close to achieving the greatest thing I have ever done. It has been a long road, I feel like it's been 2 years not 30 days haha but its almost all over. Wish me luck! Its goooo timeeeee haha
ps. I am staying at this small motel in this small town. 2 doors down is a young man who is attending Queens in the fall from SMU.....small world and it made me smile. I can't believe it's my birthday tomorrow....I have a secret plan called "gunshot". I will execute it in the final 10km of my day tomorrow and try to get it on video..that is all
Goodnight
Almost birthday boy-man
Blind River ON
I write to you from Blind River. I am really really tired again and will keep this extremely short. I had a good day! I thought there were no good days left for me but I was wrong. I just spun the cranks and rode the easiest 138km of my life. I am crashing again though as I write this. It's the worst feeling in the world. I am going to bed and it's 8pm. 5 more days of this hell ride and then I am free and can lead a somewhat normal life. I am finishing this ride. I have biked for over 3800km and have sacrificed so much of my body and soul. I am starting to really fall apart after I get off the bike but I am confident I can hold out for 5 more days. Thank you so much for all your support...it is pulling me through the worst times. To Paul, your son is the reason I am killing myself everyday for hours. I wish him and your family the best. One day at a time and I got this thing. Its my 18th birthday tomorrow. I never thought I would enter adulthood in the state I am in but what the hell, life is one wild ride sometimes and right now I am just trying to hold on. Today was my easy day. The next 3 are somewhat difficult. Every 10km is a huge victory for me...I am happy in the mornings and completely fall apart in the evenings haha I can barely understand what's happening to my body and well being. I know it's from being over worked and it is finally starting to get to me. The ironic part is Lance and Thor are as strong as ever, it's just everything else that's starting to go. I know myself very well and I need a rest day. The difference between this ride and other charity rides is that I have a set end date. It's now a race against time and it changes so many dynamics compared to a ride across the country without a deadline. When I finish this thing I will be a bear in spirit and sleep for 24 hours. Till then I am a fighter, this trip has made me tough as nails and nothing is going to stop me from getting to Queens. I don't care if I end up having the wheel myself there in a wheel chair through the night. I have what it takes to do what seems to be impossible. I am going to bed. Last night I woke up at 4am starving and ate the piece of pizza haha. I had a dream that I was speaking to my high school about following your dreams and believing in yourself. I hope my ride has inspired you to make a positive change in your life. I have lived my life for others because that is what makes me truly happy. I use my powers for good instead of evil haha I have no S on my chest (I actually have an awkward V tan line) but sometimes I pretend to and end up doing crazy things like riding 4500km in 30 days. I am pumped because I know I am so close to achieving the greatest thing I have ever done. It has been a long road, I feel like it's been 2 years not 30 days haha but its almost all over. Wish me luck! Its goooo timeeeee haha
ps. I am staying at this small motel in this small town. 2 doors down is a young man who is attending Queens in the fall from SMU.....small world and it made me smile. I can't believe it's my birthday tomorrow....I have a secret plan called "gunshot". I will execute it in the final 10km of my day tomorrow and try to get it on video..that is all
Goodnight
Almost birthday boy-man
Blind River ON
Monday 29 August 2011
169km, the hardest day in recent memory....I came out on top.
Today, like most days, I went through a huge mental change as the hours go by. I started out pretty strong and declined till I was reduced to a ghost and then clawed back to the living and powered through till the end. I don't have much time but I will try to cover the key moments. I started off by myself and biked the 30km back to campsite. By the time I reached the site I was done. I lay down on the grass feeling dejected and told mom and dad how much I hated this ride. It makes me feel so terrible everyday. The day is done and I am still not very fond of it. Only 6 days to go but holy it's going to be hard to make it. I felt like quitting today..that's how done I was. I am no longer doing this for any personal achievement. Now it's for the kids with cancer, the people in the next 5 years that will be diagnosed with this disease. I hope the funds I raise will give them the gift of life. That's why I have been doing this all along. Michael crashed into me today at 30km\h while I was stopped getting directions. My seat slammed into my back and now all the muscles have tightened up. The pain and suffering I feel now is different than anything I have ever felt. My body is pretty much done..I need a rest day so badly but I can't take one. I honestly don't know if I will make it on time now. I am starting to lose my strength...I am so tired writing this I am just shoving food into my mouth and praying tomorrow will be better. It's no longer one day at a time, it's one hour at a time. I climbed forever today. After the crash I ended up in the car just sitting and staring at a tree totally drained and could barely handle sitting in spandex let alone biking for another 69km. I drained a bottle of Coke and headed off to the worst hills in northern Ontario. I finished the day after 8pm in the dark with my dad. I feel like the life is being sucked out of me and I am just a walking body. I have been fatigued for 22 days so that would make sense. Today's achievment...I have biked 3,653km in 23 days. the tour de France riders ride the same amount in 26 days..that would explain why I am so tired. No one said this ride would be easy, and to be completly honest It was relativly easy until now. Sure I had tough days and was tired all the time but it was never terrible all the time. For the last 3 days it has been terrible all the time haha. I am not trying to whine and complain for sympathy. I am just explaining my position so everyone understands what I am going through. I need to go to bed and have another big day tomorrow. Wish me luck
Goodnight
Goodnight
178k Day 23
What up shaw city,
Hello again, I am camping for the 3rd time in a row and loving life as well. I think I am developing bipolar disorder (kidding) This trip is indescribable, at least for my writing abilities. Today I started out totally exhausted and literally stared at the top of the tent for 15 minutes thinking about why I am doing this to gain motivation. Mornings are tough...I got on the bike and just entered into a monologue. I talked to myself about the trip and how the next 7 days will be the hardest for sure. I headed off making okay time and enjoying my music. I started to get really tired and than just about burst into tears...This ride is so much bigger than me now, although I am one ultimately making the calls as to whether I continue or not its really already been decided, at least from my point of view. I battled onward making meager progress and met up with road side assistance ( mom and dad). Michael joined in and cheered me up but I could just tell I was near the end of the rope. I was exhausted and not recovering properly after efforts. The day went on and we laughed and joked. Eventually we met up with the car at 97km in. It was aproaching 4 pm and I was not making good time. My mom and I had a conversation that went like this "Adam you're getting in the car at Wawa and we are driving into the park."no" Adam you're too tired and you can't get run down like this". "Mom, I have been on the road for 23 days, I am finishing this thing my way" and with that I shot off onto the highway, I was pissed off, not at her (love da' mom) but at the day. I am working so hard and I know that it's only going to get harder. My mentality totally changed in the next 5km. It's time to stop messing around basically. I am a warrior. That sounds silly but basically I go to war with my my body and nature every day. I leave the camp site/sleeping area at 10am and finnish at 7pm for the day. The days are so long I could probably write a book on each one. I have this new drive now, I cant explain it unfortunately but I look a this thing now like a battle. Its so hard, but I am stronger. I get knocked down everyday but I get back up and punch back. When the going gets impossible I start throwing everything I have and dig so deep, deeper than I thought I could. No one understands my suffering, but you can all appreciate it. The mountain taught me that I can push myself until my heart stops beating and my legs stop pumping. That is really the only thing that scares me anymore (that and dying, but they are the same thing) I know how strong my mind is and how far I will go to do this thing. I am not afraid of actually failing to reach Queens, I am afraid of what state I'd be in if I were to throw in the towel. I never, ever want to get there. Back to the day...I told Michael to focus and start team time trialing with me. I suddenly felt extremely strong and welcomed the pain in my body because I knew I would overcome it. I blasted along at 40km\h while Michael went 30 on his pulls. We covered a great distance and Michael was exhausted after an hour and 20. He put the bike on the car and I shoved food into my body. I still had 58km of hills waiting for me. I charged up the climbs suffering tons but I didn't care. Like I said, I can no longer describe this ride as it should be told. It's too challenging(?) I don't even know if thats the right word haha. The reason why I say this is because what I am writing doesn't really make sense. Who welcomes pain???? haha but that's what's happening inside my head. It was just me and the road, I bike and biked and climbed and climbed and I watched Thor and Lance pump up and down with emense power. I wonder what my max wattage is now... My quads have grown 4 inches at least. The hills never ended but I kept on going until the sun started to disappear. The computer read 178km and my dad came up the highway to pick me up. There was still 33km left until the campsite and it was getting pretty dark. I am going back to the same spot tomorrow though where he picked me up. Tomorrow is full of hills and going to be a really, really hard day. I am no longer afraid of being in pain for 7 plus hours, there are only 7 days left..thats only 49 hours of riding! After the ride I went swimming in lake Superior while the sunset. The water was freezing but I loved it and frolicked like a baby dolphin. The sunset was beautiful and I was thankful for being able to have such a great experience. I met a great family and enjoyed a beer while conversing like a normal person. In 7 days I am going to be launched into a totally new world. I seem to thrive on change though and I'am not too concerned about making friends....If any of you are reading this....hello. It's bed time now and sleep is everything recovery wise. Tomorrow may be terrible or it may be great. The future is so unpredictable its ridiculus, I cant even make an educated prediction.
ps thanks Austin for the msg, Austy is attending UBC next year. He is smart, single and ready to mingle! Just watch out for dragons..till tomorrow!
concrete warrier
Awaga l
Hello again, I am camping for the 3rd time in a row and loving life as well. I think I am developing bipolar disorder (kidding) This trip is indescribable, at least for my writing abilities. Today I started out totally exhausted and literally stared at the top of the tent for 15 minutes thinking about why I am doing this to gain motivation. Mornings are tough...I got on the bike and just entered into a monologue. I talked to myself about the trip and how the next 7 days will be the hardest for sure. I headed off making okay time and enjoying my music. I started to get really tired and than just about burst into tears...This ride is so much bigger than me now, although I am one ultimately making the calls as to whether I continue or not its really already been decided, at least from my point of view. I battled onward making meager progress and met up with road side assistance ( mom and dad). Michael joined in and cheered me up but I could just tell I was near the end of the rope. I was exhausted and not recovering properly after efforts. The day went on and we laughed and joked. Eventually we met up with the car at 97km in. It was aproaching 4 pm and I was not making good time. My mom and I had a conversation that went like this "Adam you're getting in the car at Wawa and we are driving into the park."no" Adam you're too tired and you can't get run down like this". "Mom, I have been on the road for 23 days, I am finishing this thing my way" and with that I shot off onto the highway, I was pissed off, not at her (love da' mom) but at the day. I am working so hard and I know that it's only going to get harder. My mentality totally changed in the next 5km. It's time to stop messing around basically. I am a warrior. That sounds silly but basically I go to war with my my body and nature every day. I leave the camp site/sleeping area at 10am and finnish at 7pm for the day. The days are so long I could probably write a book on each one. I have this new drive now, I cant explain it unfortunately but I look a this thing now like a battle. Its so hard, but I am stronger. I get knocked down everyday but I get back up and punch back. When the going gets impossible I start throwing everything I have and dig so deep, deeper than I thought I could. No one understands my suffering, but you can all appreciate it. The mountain taught me that I can push myself until my heart stops beating and my legs stop pumping. That is really the only thing that scares me anymore (that and dying, but they are the same thing) I know how strong my mind is and how far I will go to do this thing. I am not afraid of actually failing to reach Queens, I am afraid of what state I'd be in if I were to throw in the towel. I never, ever want to get there. Back to the day...I told Michael to focus and start team time trialing with me. I suddenly felt extremely strong and welcomed the pain in my body because I knew I would overcome it. I blasted along at 40km\h while Michael went 30 on his pulls. We covered a great distance and Michael was exhausted after an hour and 20. He put the bike on the car and I shoved food into my body. I still had 58km of hills waiting for me. I charged up the climbs suffering tons but I didn't care. Like I said, I can no longer describe this ride as it should be told. It's too challenging(?) I don't even know if thats the right word haha. The reason why I say this is because what I am writing doesn't really make sense. Who welcomes pain???? haha but that's what's happening inside my head. It was just me and the road, I bike and biked and climbed and climbed and I watched Thor and Lance pump up and down with emense power. I wonder what my max wattage is now... My quads have grown 4 inches at least. The hills never ended but I kept on going until the sun started to disappear. The computer read 178km and my dad came up the highway to pick me up. There was still 33km left until the campsite and it was getting pretty dark. I am going back to the same spot tomorrow though where he picked me up. Tomorrow is full of hills and going to be a really, really hard day. I am no longer afraid of being in pain for 7 plus hours, there are only 7 days left..thats only 49 hours of riding! After the ride I went swimming in lake Superior while the sunset. The water was freezing but I loved it and frolicked like a baby dolphin. The sunset was beautiful and I was thankful for being able to have such a great experience. I met a great family and enjoyed a beer while conversing like a normal person. In 7 days I am going to be launched into a totally new world. I seem to thrive on change though and I'am not too concerned about making friends....If any of you are reading this....hello. It's bed time now and sleep is everything recovery wise. Tomorrow may be terrible or it may be great. The future is so unpredictable its ridiculus, I cant even make an educated prediction.
ps thanks Austin for the msg, Austy is attending UBC next year. He is smart, single and ready to mingle! Just watch out for dragons..till tomorrow!
concrete warrier
Awaga l
Sunday 28 August 2011
168k grueling day
Hello,
As I write this I am so exhausted I can barely function in a proper manner. I rode for 168km today and at least half of that was up hill. I started too late because I was so tired from yesterday's effort. Just 200 meters in I had to climb this huge hill and that really sucked. I grinded the whole day till 100km. The going was slow and there was so much climbing. I climbed forever it seemed, up down up down up up up up. My Dad joined me for the last 80k and that helped. I finally made it to Marathon completely exhausted. I have been out of cell service for quite sometime now but tapped into a motel's internet. That's the only reason yesterday's post was uploaded. I ate and met a man from Atlanta who was pretty cool. He was going on a fishing trip near where I was a few days before and was a cyclist himself. I ride an American century everyday. People train for months just to do one. I have done about 20 in a row. I don't even know anymore. I hate this feeling when I get off the bike. Imagine you're covered in hot and sticky sunscreen/bug guts/sweat for the last 6 hours in the powerful sun and then you get off the bike totally drained and feel like passing out. I ate dinner and felt like puking the whole time, I just stared at the dirt and hoped this sensation would pass...... It didn't. I went into the shower and tried to wash away all the after burn of the ride and feel like a normal person again. That didn't work either. Now I'm lying in the tent feeling totally done typing out this blog.. I can barely think let alone formulate intelligent sentences. Anyways enough of my complaining. This ride has great days and not so great days. Just like life except multiplied by a large number. Tomorrow will be the same and I will battle and dig deep into my muscles and soul. Each day I am tested so much. I have done very well up until this point and only have 8 days left....that's like Sask and MB though. There are no rest days left to take (out of luck there Kathy haha) I just have to hope I stay injury free and take each day with a positive attitude. Yeh Adam. haha I was going to attempt to make contact with the outside world and call friends in McGill and Victoria. As it turns out I am way too tired to do anything else except drink Boost and lie in the tent. I have developed a very high level of mental toughness and am already preparing for tomorrows challenges. I made it through today alive which is a big deal and my body is now scrambling to replenish its glycogen stores. I have lived on the road for 21 days and am used to this but boy oh boy is it ever hard sometimes. I brought my acoustic guitar along for this trip and university but have always been too tired to play it. None of you probably know this but I actually really like to play guitar and write music. I than perform for a very select audience...(females and old people) I actually played in front of 200 people this year for the first time performing in public (go big or go home). That was absolutely hilarious and a lot of fun. My stage name is Mystic Man and he also appears at a good party every once and a while. Mystic will make an appearance at Queens at some point but in a very mystical way haha maybe with a cape and a cool hat? (probably opt out of the hat) OKayyyyy so now I think I should really go to bed now. Goodnight, I found out today that I have 6000 views. I thought I had something like 200. Thanks so much for listening and supporting me on all different levels.
Kathy thanks for that email, I read it at the gas station in Marathon when I was destroyed and it made me feel like I can finnish the day with out major suffering. To Peter (the guy who emailed me 3 provinces ago) I have been too busy and tired to formulate a proper response but thanks! I look forward to meeting your daughter and looking at your blog once I reach Queens.
ps I already feel much better just in the last 45 min and am ready to destroy moderately large hills again tomorrow. If not I will be the one destroyed but something tells me that won't happen.
Goodnight
White Lake Provincial Park
As I write this I am so exhausted I can barely function in a proper manner. I rode for 168km today and at least half of that was up hill. I started too late because I was so tired from yesterday's effort. Just 200 meters in I had to climb this huge hill and that really sucked. I grinded the whole day till 100km. The going was slow and there was so much climbing. I climbed forever it seemed, up down up down up up up up. My Dad joined me for the last 80k and that helped. I finally made it to Marathon completely exhausted. I have been out of cell service for quite sometime now but tapped into a motel's internet. That's the only reason yesterday's post was uploaded. I ate and met a man from Atlanta who was pretty cool. He was going on a fishing trip near where I was a few days before and was a cyclist himself. I ride an American century everyday. People train for months just to do one. I have done about 20 in a row. I don't even know anymore. I hate this feeling when I get off the bike. Imagine you're covered in hot and sticky sunscreen/bug guts/sweat for the last 6 hours in the powerful sun and then you get off the bike totally drained and feel like passing out. I ate dinner and felt like puking the whole time, I just stared at the dirt and hoped this sensation would pass...... It didn't. I went into the shower and tried to wash away all the after burn of the ride and feel like a normal person again. That didn't work either. Now I'm lying in the tent feeling totally done typing out this blog.. I can barely think let alone formulate intelligent sentences. Anyways enough of my complaining. This ride has great days and not so great days. Just like life except multiplied by a large number. Tomorrow will be the same and I will battle and dig deep into my muscles and soul. Each day I am tested so much. I have done very well up until this point and only have 8 days left....that's like Sask and MB though. There are no rest days left to take (out of luck there Kathy haha) I just have to hope I stay injury free and take each day with a positive attitude. Yeh Adam. haha I was going to attempt to make contact with the outside world and call friends in McGill and Victoria. As it turns out I am way too tired to do anything else except drink Boost and lie in the tent. I have developed a very high level of mental toughness and am already preparing for tomorrows challenges. I made it through today alive which is a big deal and my body is now scrambling to replenish its glycogen stores. I have lived on the road for 21 days and am used to this but boy oh boy is it ever hard sometimes. I brought my acoustic guitar along for this trip and university but have always been too tired to play it. None of you probably know this but I actually really like to play guitar and write music. I than perform for a very select audience...(females and old people) I actually played in front of 200 people this year for the first time performing in public (go big or go home). That was absolutely hilarious and a lot of fun. My stage name is Mystic Man and he also appears at a good party every once and a while. Mystic will make an appearance at Queens at some point but in a very mystical way haha maybe with a cape and a cool hat? (probably opt out of the hat) OKayyyyy so now I think I should really go to bed now. Goodnight, I found out today that I have 6000 views. I thought I had something like 200. Thanks so much for listening and supporting me on all different levels.
Kathy thanks for that email, I read it at the gas station in Marathon when I was destroyed and it made me feel like I can finnish the day with out major suffering. To Peter (the guy who emailed me 3 provinces ago) I have been too busy and tired to formulate a proper response but thanks! I look forward to meeting your daughter and looking at your blog once I reach Queens.
ps I already feel much better just in the last 45 min and am ready to destroy moderately large hills again tomorrow. If not I will be the one destroyed but something tells me that won't happen.
Goodnight
White Lake Provincial Park
Saturday 27 August 2011
180k - Sometimes dangerous women turn into beautiful angels
Bonjour,
If I were to describe today in a word it would be amazing. I woke up feeling groggy and tired but eventually got it together and ate a large breakfast. I dressed for the expected thunder storm and we all piled into the car after some rearranging because mom went food shopping. We headed to Terry's memorial and Michael and I prepared for the day. It was already starting to spit and since we headed off at 10:10am I knew it was going to be a long long day. As Michael and I put in the early kilometers it started to pour down. This was not the rain that I am used to....I thought it was hail. I was soaked in 20 seconds and soon the winds picked up. Michael called the massive dark clouds over head CB clouds. It stands for Cessana Busters...it basically destroys airplanes. Suddenly the rain stopped and it was smooth sailing again. I knew something was wrong though because the sky was going yellow... we were heading into a raging dangerous women..(thunder storm). Normally when someone has to bike through hail and rain with wind while lightening rips the sky apart over head they get scared. I got really pumped up haha I think terrible weather makes me stronger and taps into my mystic man abilities. Canada has been my play ground for the last 20 days and I am used to a little weather, this however was a whole new ball game. Our parents met up with us for the usual food and water and I put on a better rain jacket. Mom was scared and tried to pull us into the car. I never get in the car and drive, she always forgets this. So the 2 brothers headed into the wild women and wondered what they would meet on the other side. Just 5km in the cars stopped driving, the temp dropped 10 degrees and the world went very very dark. Lightening ripped across the sky illuminating the stratosphere, I smiled and sped up, chasing the thunder as it rolled across the forests. Another huge 3 prong bolt exploded to our right and the roar of Thor was heard shortly after (not my quad) we were like 2 kids excited for Christmas. Lightening blew up right in front of us thousands of feet in the air, it was incredible. Than the rain started to pelt down with a vengeance. Puddles covered the road and as the lighting moved away to our right the rain thickened. My new MEC jacket is awesome and protected me from the downpour. Michael was wearing my MEC windbreaker and getting soaked. It wasn't too cold anymore and he was fine. The clouds eventually shifted and the sun came out. It was 10 degrees warmer in 5 minutes haha We biked and biked while joking around and recalling hilarious stories. We met mom and dad at a Husky at 97km in and Michael was done for the day. I set off down the highway with my moms ipod jamming to criminal by Beadoin Sound Clash (thanks Celina). After 10km I started to climb up a steep accent, the song switched to Eddie Vedders Into the Wild mix and it was about at this point were I realized how much I love my life. Its hard for me to explain and I thought about it for a while but what I am doing right now is probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am in the best shape of my life, I have incredible experiences every day and work really hard at my summer job (raising money for cancer research). There is so much pain and suffering in this trip as I have written about but if you can look past that this trip is my idea of bliss. As I charged up the extreamly large hills (800 ft at least) I was rewareded with spectalular views of Lake Superior. I would peddle and push my legs at 85 percent of an hour while cars would stare and wondered how I got there (these hills are really steep). Near the third hill I was at the 9km of climbing straight and my legs really started to burn. The old me would have probably gotten off the bike and walked...The new me sucked up the terrible pain and pushed my self up that mountain. The road from Thunder Bay to Rossport is so great, even to drive I am sure you will be in awe at the views you will see. As I flew down the mountain at 60km an hour I could not stop smiling, I kept on thinking about how much I love this ride and even though it is so so hard I have gotten to the point where my body just starts pushing back and withstands the stress. I chose the do this trip at probably the best time in my life, right at the critical point where one finds his or her identity in the adult world. The systems that kept us in line are now a thing of the past (high school) I go forth stronger than I could have expected and with a new confidence. I finished the day at 180km and went for a dip in the fridged yet crystal clear waters. I have destroyed the 160km a day mark and now only have to do 120km to reach Queens on the 4th. I won't slow down though, I perfer to finnish early and have a couple rest days before Frosh week begins... When I have more time and not 2 percent battery I will explain how my life would be completely different without my mom, I have 2 heroes, Terry Fox and my Mom. Both individuals are so selfless. People tell me how this is the most selfless act but in truth this ride is the most selfish thing I have done. I think about it all the time and feel actually really bad about how much my whole family had to give to make this happen but I just tell myself that we are raising around 35 thousand dollars for cancer reaserch depending on how donations and media go,. anyways I will get into that later. Good night for now.
Rainbow Falls Prov Pk
If I were to describe today in a word it would be amazing. I woke up feeling groggy and tired but eventually got it together and ate a large breakfast. I dressed for the expected thunder storm and we all piled into the car after some rearranging because mom went food shopping. We headed to Terry's memorial and Michael and I prepared for the day. It was already starting to spit and since we headed off at 10:10am I knew it was going to be a long long day. As Michael and I put in the early kilometers it started to pour down. This was not the rain that I am used to....I thought it was hail. I was soaked in 20 seconds and soon the winds picked up. Michael called the massive dark clouds over head CB clouds. It stands for Cessana Busters...it basically destroys airplanes. Suddenly the rain stopped and it was smooth sailing again. I knew something was wrong though because the sky was going yellow... we were heading into a raging dangerous women..(thunder storm). Normally when someone has to bike through hail and rain with wind while lightening rips the sky apart over head they get scared. I got really pumped up haha I think terrible weather makes me stronger and taps into my mystic man abilities. Canada has been my play ground for the last 20 days and I am used to a little weather, this however was a whole new ball game. Our parents met up with us for the usual food and water and I put on a better rain jacket. Mom was scared and tried to pull us into the car. I never get in the car and drive, she always forgets this. So the 2 brothers headed into the wild women and wondered what they would meet on the other side. Just 5km in the cars stopped driving, the temp dropped 10 degrees and the world went very very dark. Lightening ripped across the sky illuminating the stratosphere, I smiled and sped up, chasing the thunder as it rolled across the forests. Another huge 3 prong bolt exploded to our right and the roar of Thor was heard shortly after (not my quad) we were like 2 kids excited for Christmas. Lightening blew up right in front of us thousands of feet in the air, it was incredible. Than the rain started to pelt down with a vengeance. Puddles covered the road and as the lighting moved away to our right the rain thickened. My new MEC jacket is awesome and protected me from the downpour. Michael was wearing my MEC windbreaker and getting soaked. It wasn't too cold anymore and he was fine. The clouds eventually shifted and the sun came out. It was 10 degrees warmer in 5 minutes haha We biked and biked while joking around and recalling hilarious stories. We met mom and dad at a Husky at 97km in and Michael was done for the day. I set off down the highway with my moms ipod jamming to criminal by Beadoin Sound Clash (thanks Celina). After 10km I started to climb up a steep accent, the song switched to Eddie Vedders Into the Wild mix and it was about at this point were I realized how much I love my life. Its hard for me to explain and I thought about it for a while but what I am doing right now is probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am in the best shape of my life, I have incredible experiences every day and work really hard at my summer job (raising money for cancer research). There is so much pain and suffering in this trip as I have written about but if you can look past that this trip is my idea of bliss. As I charged up the extreamly large hills (800 ft at least) I was rewareded with spectalular views of Lake Superior. I would peddle and push my legs at 85 percent of an hour while cars would stare and wondered how I got there (these hills are really steep). Near the third hill I was at the 9km of climbing straight and my legs really started to burn. The old me would have probably gotten off the bike and walked...The new me sucked up the terrible pain and pushed my self up that mountain. The road from Thunder Bay to Rossport is so great, even to drive I am sure you will be in awe at the views you will see. As I flew down the mountain at 60km an hour I could not stop smiling, I kept on thinking about how much I love this ride and even though it is so so hard I have gotten to the point where my body just starts pushing back and withstands the stress. I chose the do this trip at probably the best time in my life, right at the critical point where one finds his or her identity in the adult world. The systems that kept us in line are now a thing of the past (high school) I go forth stronger than I could have expected and with a new confidence. I finished the day at 180km and went for a dip in the fridged yet crystal clear waters. I have destroyed the 160km a day mark and now only have to do 120km to reach Queens on the 4th. I won't slow down though, I perfer to finnish early and have a couple rest days before Frosh week begins... When I have more time and not 2 percent battery I will explain how my life would be completely different without my mom, I have 2 heroes, Terry Fox and my Mom. Both individuals are so selfless. People tell me how this is the most selfless act but in truth this ride is the most selfish thing I have done. I think about it all the time and feel actually really bad about how much my whole family had to give to make this happen but I just tell myself that we are raising around 35 thousand dollars for cancer reaserch depending on how donations and media go,. anyways I will get into that later. Good night for now.
Rainbow Falls Prov Pk
Thursday 25 August 2011
139k....Thunder Bay and the final segment of my tour.
Hello everyone,
Today went really well for the most part. I still felt like a dirty worm when I woke up and seriously contemplated jumping in the lake right outside our tent. I forced some slimy eggs down and headed on the road. As soon as I took a couple rotations I knew I was going to kill it today. My legs felt really strong and I wasn't as sore as I usually am. Michael decided to join in today as well but after 20km he went into the car. As I said before this ride is really hard and sometimes you really want to quit. I had that sensation on the very first day after only 110km but I never ever really considered it as a viable option. I kept on riding through the mystical forests of the north and looked for moose..(still no luck!) My dad eventually joined in and we headed off in silence. I zoned out for a good 5km and thought about arriving in Queens and which celebratory dance I was going to throw down when I arrive. I snapped out of my dream and followed my Dad's steady pace at 30km/h. I was sprinting up hills and felt awesome....the day went on and we passed through a bunch of construction. I received a lovely flat tire which my Dad and I fixed. We met up with mom and Michael who were sleeping like a baby rodents in the car. (I think yesterday really tired him out) I was sitting in the drivers seat playing angry birds as my mom made me a sandwhich when I heard police sirens go off and then a KTM motorcycle and rider fly off at an incdredible speed down the road as the 5-0 chased. It was like a scene right out of COPS! The motorcycle accelerated at an astounding rate and sped past cars. I just starred in awe and wondered how far he would get before he crashed and died. (I was later told he was travelling at 240km/h.......!!!!!!!!!) Turns out the mystery rider escaped the cops ironically enough and was no where to be found. I finished today's ride at Terry Fox's memorial, I wish I had more time to talk about my thoughts on him and his journey but its already 11 and I have to biike 185 tomorrow. What Terry acheived is so special and important in Canadian history as a testiment to the strengh of the human spirit. I cannot even fathom running 42km a day on one leg and I bike for 7 hours a day through hell. On the day when I had to climb 3 mountains in 200km I thought of Terry on the final push. He is probably one of the only people that could have ever understood what was going through my mind and why I was continuing in such agony. Terry is one of my heros and I really look up to him. He raised 24 million dollars for cancer reaserch and united a country. His life was cut very short but what he achieved in 23 years is absolutely incredible. I wish I could talk to Terry and thank him for changing so many peoples lives. Tomorrow I bike to Rossport and am excited for the ride. Queens is coming up real quick and I am just about ready for summer to be over. I have grown up so much in the last 30 days its actually annoying, being a kid is so much easier haha. Life moves quick though as we all know and I will make the most out of every day. Thats all for now.
ps. Shout out to all my friends heading to Mcgill, they start their frosh week tomorrow I think and I already miss them. Mike Jones I found out today is down in San Fran checking out Rock The Bells and living in a hostel....good luck Mike! haha Thanks Don for the water again, we drank it all and probably would have had to syphen swamp water without that donation.
Keep it classy San Diego..
A
Today went really well for the most part. I still felt like a dirty worm when I woke up and seriously contemplated jumping in the lake right outside our tent. I forced some slimy eggs down and headed on the road. As soon as I took a couple rotations I knew I was going to kill it today. My legs felt really strong and I wasn't as sore as I usually am. Michael decided to join in today as well but after 20km he went into the car. As I said before this ride is really hard and sometimes you really want to quit. I had that sensation on the very first day after only 110km but I never ever really considered it as a viable option. I kept on riding through the mystical forests of the north and looked for moose..(still no luck!) My dad eventually joined in and we headed off in silence. I zoned out for a good 5km and thought about arriving in Queens and which celebratory dance I was going to throw down when I arrive. I snapped out of my dream and followed my Dad's steady pace at 30km/h. I was sprinting up hills and felt awesome....the day went on and we passed through a bunch of construction. I received a lovely flat tire which my Dad and I fixed. We met up with mom and Michael who were sleeping like a baby rodents in the car. (I think yesterday really tired him out) I was sitting in the drivers seat playing angry birds as my mom made me a sandwhich when I heard police sirens go off and then a KTM motorcycle and rider fly off at an incdredible speed down the road as the 5-0 chased. It was like a scene right out of COPS! The motorcycle accelerated at an astounding rate and sped past cars. I just starred in awe and wondered how far he would get before he crashed and died. (I was later told he was travelling at 240km/h.......!!!!!!!!!) Turns out the mystery rider escaped the cops ironically enough and was no where to be found. I finished today's ride at Terry Fox's memorial, I wish I had more time to talk about my thoughts on him and his journey but its already 11 and I have to biike 185 tomorrow. What Terry acheived is so special and important in Canadian history as a testiment to the strengh of the human spirit. I cannot even fathom running 42km a day on one leg and I bike for 7 hours a day through hell. On the day when I had to climb 3 mountains in 200km I thought of Terry on the final push. He is probably one of the only people that could have ever understood what was going through my mind and why I was continuing in such agony. Terry is one of my heros and I really look up to him. He raised 24 million dollars for cancer reaserch and united a country. His life was cut very short but what he achieved in 23 years is absolutely incredible. I wish I could talk to Terry and thank him for changing so many peoples lives. Tomorrow I bike to Rossport and am excited for the ride. Queens is coming up real quick and I am just about ready for summer to be over. I have grown up so much in the last 30 days its actually annoying, being a kid is so much easier haha. Life moves quick though as we all know and I will make the most out of every day. Thats all for now.
ps. Shout out to all my friends heading to Mcgill, they start their frosh week tomorrow I think and I already miss them. Mike Jones I found out today is down in San Fran checking out Rock The Bells and living in a hostel....good luck Mike! haha Thanks Don for the water again, we drank it all and probably would have had to syphen swamp water without that donation.
Keep it classy San Diego..
A
I write to you from the comfort of the rav 4....(its actually pretty comfortable)
Today was wet,wild and kinda fun. It all started pretty early back at Rainy Lake. I ate some food, pulled on the spandex and ran out the door. Michael was determined to ride with me today so we headed off into the rolling forests of the north. We travelled at a good speed and soon the sky looked like it was going to devour us at any time. It started to mist and than rain as we sped through the down pour. This was the first time it has rained on me and I was enjoying myself. Most people would think cycling in the rain for 7 and a half hours straight would be the worst day. I however have to look on the bright side because I don't really have a choice. I got a free shower today? haha As many of you know I live in Victoria.....not Hope. Living on the west coast makes me look forward to rain and wind instead of dread it. Bears are like a distant cousin too. After a couple hours of this I was still feeling pretty good and so was Michael. My legs seemed to have recovered well although after tonight I think its back to square one. At the start of this trip I used to think a small man with a mallet would sneak into my bed at night and take a couple whacks at Lance and Thor. I would get up and laugh at how much my legs hurt and how I was still going to have to climb a couple mountains.....those days are gone. Now I just am sore all the time but more of a solid suffering instead of "wow the small man with the mallet visited again" Anyways the day went on and I felt strong, even Michael carried on. I rode into Atikokan with lifted spirits because I knew today would not be terrible. I hunted for a moose who I called Bruce and the Brown bears that were no where to be seen. We took Don up on his offer to stop in and we met his wife and saw his 1949 Ford. Pretty cool car...he said that if the weather was better he would have taken us up in his float plane...now there is a reason to bike home from 1st year haha (just kidding....that would be terrible) Don was awesome and gave us a bunch of water and Michael had a million questions to ask about flying planes. I found I was asking the most questions however because his old job seemed to be pretty great. Bush pilot for a moderately large fishing outposts. After a small amount of time we left Don's and charged up the highway. This was Wet and Wild Wednesday after all. The final 30 km took forever and I thought I spotted some bears but really it was just some stumps. The wild life is actually pretty terrible here.(no offense to Ontarians) The highlight for wild life was darth vaders tyee fighter ship. It sounded like this..whaarrreeerrrraaaa as it rocketed past us..(it was really just a Semi hauling a bulldozer) Eventually the rain quit and we arrived at our "campsite". It's really just a rest stop for truckers on the side of the highway. I feel like a dirty worm but what can you do, we are camping. I am done for the night and Tomorrow will bring Thunder bay. It will be a huge milestone in the trip because that is where Terry's run for hope ended. I have come so far already and have gotten into the routine. Queens did an article on me for there paper like blog and I will post that up soon. It says I live in Hope BC haha thats some what unfortunate but at least its not Winnipeg MB. Round of applause for Michaelfor biking 175km today. That is a long ways to go and he is pretty beat. I have to probably do the exact same distance tomorrow but am up for the challenge as usual.....tomorrow is thunder storm thursday
Goodnight
side of the high way....northern Ontario
Goodnight
side of the high way....northern Ontario
Tuesday 23 August 2011
Day 17 97km.
Normally I would be really frustrated with cycling only 97km but sometimes things just don't go your way. It all started early this morning and I rolled out of bed to a massive pile of eggs, cheese and broccoli. I shoved that into the system and then ate some sandwiches and fruit. I have kinda slacked in the eating department I think. Maybe my body is just getting better at burning energy? I got on the bike a bit late and started to pedal..the first 15km are always really hard because your legs need to cycle the blood out of the muscles. I was feeling good and strong until I hit highway 71 and then my parents picked me up to drive me down to the 11. It's directly south of my position so don't worry about me cheating! The drive was an hour long and really killed my legs because they were just sitting there. The new road had 2 way traffic and and no shoulder...super awesome! I wasn't too stoked about it but I had to ride no matter what the road was. I set off and the heat started to increase along with the humidity. I thought I was in some tropical jungle but really it was just northern Ontario. I saw a pack of vultures and made my best attacking eagle scream. They weren't into it and flew off in a pack....no new friends today. The going was slow and my dad joined in on the fun. It was getting late in the day and the distance/day really sucked. My mom got stuck in construction and I had limited water in the 30 degree heat. That really sucked too. We kept on going and going until we reached one of the few signs of civilization out here. I met a man named Don (not my dad) and he was pretty cool. He drove a huge Harley and donated 5 bucks to the ride. Thanks Don! I looked down at my bike computer and saw it was only 97km done so far. The next town was 112km and it was 5pm. I had to take another tactical much to my own disliking and have an easy day. Apparently I only have to do 154km each day to make it to Queens on the 4th but I feel my body is starting to get run down. I will rest a bunch and do all of Kathy's tips but I think I will just push through it. I have to be strategic instead of just going as hard as possible each day. The ride is nearing the final 3rd and it's make or break time. Anyways we ended up at this awesome lake and I got to go for a swim and canoe into the sunset. Michael "found" a fishing rod and we set off to see if we would get lucky...as you can see today was not my lucky day. Tomorrow I will leave extra early and hopefully bike 200km. It will be a much different 200 than in the prairies and I will struggle tons but that's been my life for the past month. This ride has dominated every moment of the past 17 days whether I like it or not. I look forward to Queens for many reasons but I know I will miss some aspects of this wild adventure. I know my self pretty well by now and I will probably end up doing something pretty crazy when school gets out. An event on August 26th 2012 is sounding pretty good but I will actually have to train for that one. I think adventure racing is really cool and I may give that a whirl. Living your life the way I do leads to some pretty incredible experiences. If you want to start say yes instead of no next time someone asks you to do something outside your regular routine. Who knows maybe you will end up biking across the country in a couple years haha I should go to bed according to my mother....so I am going to bed. Holy I am tired!Goodnight from Little Turtle Lake ON (that is the girliest name I have ever heard)
Monday 22 August 2011
197km..This ones for Jack.
Today started pretty early and the family and I enjoyed another awesome breakfast. I headed out of town with my mom and was dropped off when the highway began. I think the spa made me forget about how hard this trip really is. I was hit by a stiff head wind and my legs didnt feel super. The pain is like a seperate emotion. Its almost always there in various degrees but I have trained myself to welcome and accept it. If this trip has taught me one thing its how to suffer and still be an efficient cyclist. I was grinding along at 25km/h and finally started to get used to the unrelenting winds. After 2 hours the family met upwith me and Michael tried out my day job. Turns out the shoulder disappeared and we had to ride right on the highway. I sent Michael back to the car pretty quick haha he has zero road riding experience and it wasn't safe. I risk my lfe again on the roads for this ride and rode without a shoulder for 25km. I think there should be a law because it is actually really dangerous. The problem is that it costs the gov so much money. These road projects cost millions. Anyways Dad met up with me after lunch and I just rode easy behind him. We were making really good time and Michael wanted to join in. We pedaled together for a while and then we hit Ontario. I have biked all the way to Ontario. That is a huge accomplishment for me and I don't say that often. Its not the distance but its how I did it. I rode 2554km in 16 days. Before I left on this ride over the last 3 years I have ridden maybe 2000km in total. I think almost everyone can ride their bike across Canada. Very few could do it in 30 days. We took some photos in front of the sign and I tried to lift my bike over my head but failed. I ended up doing a handstand for 10 seconds haha (you had to be there) After the sign we set off again but this time I felt horrible. I just thought I was tired but when I was lying in a parking lot with 30km to go feeling like I had mono and was intoxicated I realized that I had taken no electro lytes all day. Essentially I 'bonked'..my energy stores were completely depleated. I downed a bunch of gaterade and a couple jells to try to reboot the system. It took sometime but eventually I was ready to smash through the highway once more. I pushed myself just trying to finish the ride and finally arrived with Michael and dad to our motel. Back to the grind as one would say. Tomorrow will be just as hard but probably worse. I am used to this though and tomorrow is just another day. Michael told me my calfs look like they have been carved with the finest marble. Rock crusher and Thunder punch are just trying to survive. I am really enjoying Northern Ontario so far and am loving the hills. Till tomorrow..
goodnight
Kenora ON
Sunday 21 August 2011
0km has never felt so good.
Hello,
Today was more of a personal health day than a rest day. It started pretty early and I headed down for a complimentary breakfast. I had steak and eggs which was a new experience for me. I was living large haha. After breakfast I headed to bed again and watched tv...I was really taking it easy. The family went for a walk around the city and I headed to the gym to poke around. I ended up on a treadmill oddly enough and had a leisurely walk. Later my brother came back to the room and we went swimming. I did 30 lengths and jumped in the hot tub. I miss swimming and running because they are a great total body workout and actually really fun. After the pool I headed down to the room for a nap. I was awaken by my dad calling telling me I had my massage appt in 40 min 5 blocks away. I got dressed in a ridiculas outfit that consisted of knee high socks, 5 year old t shirt and some soccer shorts and skate board shoes. I was ready to hit the town haha I jogged/walked to the appt and checked in. I have never been to a spa before and was basically a bull in a china shop. I have been going at 100 percent for the last 2 weeks so relaxing actually took some effort. I enjoyed some snacks and a magazine while elderly people looked at me in an awkward fashion. Eventually my massage theripist came up and shook my hand. I was hoping for a guy named Boris who was 250 pounds of muscle to re organize Lance and Thor and the kids because they grew up way too fast. Instead I got a guy who weighed less than me. I had an open mind about this though and headed into the room. I squirmed under the blanket and started to doze off. Jake was actually really good at inflicting pain all over my body and stripping my whole back. It hurt a bunch but felt so good afterwards. I told him about my ride and this was one of my few rest days. I think he extended the massage which was awesome. When I was released I had a shower, shaved for the first time in a while and steamed. I felt like an average person again! I walked back to the Hotel to find my whole family on the front grass working on the bikes. That was actually fun and I got Kelly in order for the final push to destroy the final province. I am really looking forward to the hills actually, it's way more exciting than flat lonely fields. Tomorrow we will pile in the car and get out of Winnipeg before I set off. It will be a lot different having other riders with me and I am a little concerned with whether Michael and dad will be able to keep up. I can't really wait up because It takes so long to bike 160km already. My legs feel awesome and stronger than ever. I am just past halfway and still have so far to go...I hope I don't injure myself in Ontario. That would be really unfortunate for me seeing as I would probably ride through it. That's all for now.
Goodnight
Winnipeg MB
Today was more of a personal health day than a rest day. It started pretty early and I headed down for a complimentary breakfast. I had steak and eggs which was a new experience for me. I was living large haha. After breakfast I headed to bed again and watched tv...I was really taking it easy. The family went for a walk around the city and I headed to the gym to poke around. I ended up on a treadmill oddly enough and had a leisurely walk. Later my brother came back to the room and we went swimming. I did 30 lengths and jumped in the hot tub. I miss swimming and running because they are a great total body workout and actually really fun. After the pool I headed down to the room for a nap. I was awaken by my dad calling telling me I had my massage appt in 40 min 5 blocks away. I got dressed in a ridiculas outfit that consisted of knee high socks, 5 year old t shirt and some soccer shorts and skate board shoes. I was ready to hit the town haha I jogged/walked to the appt and checked in. I have never been to a spa before and was basically a bull in a china shop. I have been going at 100 percent for the last 2 weeks so relaxing actually took some effort. I enjoyed some snacks and a magazine while elderly people looked at me in an awkward fashion. Eventually my massage theripist came up and shook my hand. I was hoping for a guy named Boris who was 250 pounds of muscle to re organize Lance and Thor and the kids because they grew up way too fast. Instead I got a guy who weighed less than me. I had an open mind about this though and headed into the room. I squirmed under the blanket and started to doze off. Jake was actually really good at inflicting pain all over my body and stripping my whole back. It hurt a bunch but felt so good afterwards. I told him about my ride and this was one of my few rest days. I think he extended the massage which was awesome. When I was released I had a shower, shaved for the first time in a while and steamed. I felt like an average person again! I walked back to the Hotel to find my whole family on the front grass working on the bikes. That was actually fun and I got Kelly in order for the final push to destroy the final province. I am really looking forward to the hills actually, it's way more exciting than flat lonely fields. Tomorrow we will pile in the car and get out of Winnipeg before I set off. It will be a lot different having other riders with me and I am a little concerned with whether Michael and dad will be able to keep up. I can't really wait up because It takes so long to bike 160km already. My legs feel awesome and stronger than ever. I am just past halfway and still have so far to go...I hope I don't injure myself in Ontario. That would be really unfortunate for me seeing as I would probably ride through it. That's all for now.
Goodnight
Winnipeg MB
Saturday 20 August 2011
150km another easy day and a family reunion.
Hello guys,
This will have to be a short one because its getting late. I woke up this morn in a field after a really terrible dream. I was driven back to the highway and than set off on the bike. I was in a super good mood because I was having a rest day tomorrow. I just had to grind through 150km to get to Winnipeg and than I am home free. The weather was actually a bit chilly from what I am used to and I just cruzed along. Pretty average day except for 2 things. I was peddling along when I noticed an old air plane with a radial engine. It noticed me as well and started to drop a gas over the crops below. As it reached the highway I sprinted so I would pass directly underneath it as it sped 20 feet overhead. I felt like a kid again haha that was really cool. I had another near death/serious injury incident today. I was merging onto an overpass like bridge and shoulder checked as I crossed lanes. I kept peddling as the shoulder got smaller over the bridge and shoulder checked once more before I entered the lane. All I saw was a mix of grey and black wizzing past me at 100km/h. Turns out a semi was about a foot away from me and if I wouldn't have looked I would be dead. Having good instincts on the road literally keeps you alive. I froze and my body pretty much went into shock for 10 seconds. I looked into the cab and the driver just looked back to see if I was still there. I don't think he liked cyclist very much. After that I rode into town and went to the hotel we will be staying at for 2 nights with my Dad and brother who arrived tonight. It's really nice to just kick back and not worry about tomorrow and the pain I will have to endure. I think I will go for a swim instead.
Goodnight
Winnipeg MB
This will have to be a short one because its getting late. I woke up this morn in a field after a really terrible dream. I was driven back to the highway and than set off on the bike. I was in a super good mood because I was having a rest day tomorrow. I just had to grind through 150km to get to Winnipeg and than I am home free. The weather was actually a bit chilly from what I am used to and I just cruzed along. Pretty average day except for 2 things. I was peddling along when I noticed an old air plane with a radial engine. It noticed me as well and started to drop a gas over the crops below. As it reached the highway I sprinted so I would pass directly underneath it as it sped 20 feet overhead. I felt like a kid again haha that was really cool. I had another near death/serious injury incident today. I was merging onto an overpass like bridge and shoulder checked as I crossed lanes. I kept peddling as the shoulder got smaller over the bridge and shoulder checked once more before I entered the lane. All I saw was a mix of grey and black wizzing past me at 100km/h. Turns out a semi was about a foot away from me and if I wouldn't have looked I would be dead. Having good instincts on the road literally keeps you alive. I froze and my body pretty much went into shock for 10 seconds. I looked into the cab and the driver just looked back to see if I was still there. I don't think he liked cyclist very much. After that I rode into town and went to the hotel we will be staying at for 2 nights with my Dad and brother who arrived tonight. It's really nice to just kick back and not worry about tomorrow and the pain I will have to endure. I think I will go for a swim instead.
Goodnight
Winnipeg MB
118km easy day Sacred Sand Dunes will have a special place in my heart
Today`s ride is for Lise and her family. Couldn't post last night because we had no cell coverage.
I write to you from deep inside the flooded forests of Manitoba. My mom and I are camping in a field with that 23 dollar tent again near some sacred sand dunes. I am really into it, I think she might be a bit scared...the real campground is flooded.
My day started really late because I couldn't get to sleep very well in the night. I realized why later but will talk about that after the day. I had an awesome breakfast and looked over my blog and email. To those of you that have written me and I haven`t responded don't take it personally. I read every one of your comments twice! but am literally too exhausted to respond when the day ends. After breakfast I suited up and took some hilarious photos with the Jobbins. I was soooo tired and looked wasted but managed a smile. We got in the car and I knew today was going to be a grind. The recipe was there for a disaster but than Kathy Gaul saved the day! She has helped me with many things this year like giving me advice on university to training and recovery. Every time I talk to her I am so amazed with her intellect and basically she just gets dealing with athletes and the problems that they bring. She told me to have an easy day or you're going to injure yourself. She also thought it would be a good idea for me to see a physio just to have a check up and see about my odd leg sensations I was having the prior day. I got off the phone and strattled my bike with a better mindset about the challenges ahead. For some reason I couldn`t stop smiling for 10 kilometers but soon that ended when what felt like 100 bug bites started up on the back of my legs. I was scratching like a wild monkey and was super uncomfortable. Eventually I stopped and met up with my mom. Kathy had arranged a physio in Brandon and I biked until my mom had to drive me to the physio. Chad was the guy I saw and he was pretty awesome. Turns out it was related to my posture on the bike and how I need to have a flatter back. After I left West Fit I got my mom to drop me off where she picked me up on the highway and started off. I have never biked with such a straight back! It's actually uncomfortable for extended periods of time but its better than nerves firing off in your legs..I biked and biked until Carberry and than hopped off the bike. I only biked 114km today but my legs feel great. I even went for a adventure run in the sand dunes to look at the sunset after the ride. Before my run I met some really nice people who were going to take some photos. I told them about my blog and they were amazed by what I was doing. That seems to happen a lot when I tell people about the ride so I guess its a reminder I am doing something special. On my run I saw some cool animals and probably witnessed one of the most gorgeous sunsets this year. (don't worry I snapped a photo). On the walk back I kept on expecting some wild animal to attack me from behind and envisioned a cougar emerging from the bushes and me having to fend it off with a pocket camera...it was a pretty epic battle. I made it back to the campsite and ate a massive dinner...I had 3 dinners tonight and will probably have a 4th after I post this. Tomorrow will be 160km to Winnipeg and than a much needed rest day. I have crossed 3 provinces and am about to destroy another. Everyone talks about northern Ontario like its some monster. I think I have slayed some pretty big beasts so far and am not to concerned as long as I am healthy.
To date I have raised over 20 000 dollars for cancer research and and have ridden 2210km in just 13 days. Burnt through thousands of calories and made a bunch of new friends along the way. I miss home but know what I am doing is really important and I look forward to the challenges of tomorrow. Having a good attitude is so important on the road. I blame my mom for pretty much everything that goes wrong, even things that she has no control over....like the wind. We laugh about it later and I am always thankful she is here. Without my parents I would probably be in Albeta trying to ride a horse named Vicky and eating mass quantities of fruit. Instead I am thousands of Kilometers from home achieving a dream. Thanks mom and dad
ps. Thanks Jobbins for having us, Betty your food was so tasty I am still eating your sandwiches over my mothers. Photography friends, my email is beaudoin.adam@gmail.com if you want to get in touch for what ever reason. I have never been to Winnipeg before and am stoked to see your city....landscaping is a very respectable job by the way.
Goodnight,I hope the bugs don't bite......there are several thousand
I write to you from deep inside the flooded forests of Manitoba. My mom and I are camping in a field with that 23 dollar tent again near some sacred sand dunes. I am really into it, I think she might be a bit scared...the real campground is flooded.
My day started really late because I couldn't get to sleep very well in the night. I realized why later but will talk about that after the day. I had an awesome breakfast and looked over my blog and email. To those of you that have written me and I haven`t responded don't take it personally. I read every one of your comments twice! but am literally too exhausted to respond when the day ends. After breakfast I suited up and took some hilarious photos with the Jobbins. I was soooo tired and looked wasted but managed a smile. We got in the car and I knew today was going to be a grind. The recipe was there for a disaster but than Kathy Gaul saved the day! She has helped me with many things this year like giving me advice on university to training and recovery. Every time I talk to her I am so amazed with her intellect and basically she just gets dealing with athletes and the problems that they bring. She told me to have an easy day or you're going to injure yourself. She also thought it would be a good idea for me to see a physio just to have a check up and see about my odd leg sensations I was having the prior day. I got off the phone and strattled my bike with a better mindset about the challenges ahead. For some reason I couldn`t stop smiling for 10 kilometers but soon that ended when what felt like 100 bug bites started up on the back of my legs. I was scratching like a wild monkey and was super uncomfortable. Eventually I stopped and met up with my mom. Kathy had arranged a physio in Brandon and I biked until my mom had to drive me to the physio. Chad was the guy I saw and he was pretty awesome. Turns out it was related to my posture on the bike and how I need to have a flatter back. After I left West Fit I got my mom to drop me off where she picked me up on the highway and started off. I have never biked with such a straight back! It's actually uncomfortable for extended periods of time but its better than nerves firing off in your legs..I biked and biked until Carberry and than hopped off the bike. I only biked 114km today but my legs feel great. I even went for a adventure run in the sand dunes to look at the sunset after the ride. Before my run I met some really nice people who were going to take some photos. I told them about my blog and they were amazed by what I was doing. That seems to happen a lot when I tell people about the ride so I guess its a reminder I am doing something special. On my run I saw some cool animals and probably witnessed one of the most gorgeous sunsets this year. (don't worry I snapped a photo). On the walk back I kept on expecting some wild animal to attack me from behind and envisioned a cougar emerging from the bushes and me having to fend it off with a pocket camera...it was a pretty epic battle. I made it back to the campsite and ate a massive dinner...I had 3 dinners tonight and will probably have a 4th after I post this. Tomorrow will be 160km to Winnipeg and than a much needed rest day. I have crossed 3 provinces and am about to destroy another. Everyone talks about northern Ontario like its some monster. I think I have slayed some pretty big beasts so far and am not to concerned as long as I am healthy.
To date I have raised over 20 000 dollars for cancer research and and have ridden 2210km in just 13 days. Burnt through thousands of calories and made a bunch of new friends along the way. I miss home but know what I am doing is really important and I look forward to the challenges of tomorrow. Having a good attitude is so important on the road. I blame my mom for pretty much everything that goes wrong, even things that she has no control over....like the wind. We laugh about it later and I am always thankful she is here. Without my parents I would probably be in Albeta trying to ride a horse named Vicky and eating mass quantities of fruit. Instead I am thousands of Kilometers from home achieving a dream. Thanks mom and dad
ps. Thanks Jobbins for having us, Betty your food was so tasty I am still eating your sandwiches over my mothers. Photography friends, my email is beaudoin.adam@gmail.com if you want to get in touch for what ever reason. I have never been to Winnipeg before and am stoked to see your city....landscaping is a very respectable job by the way.
Goodnight,I hope the bugs don't bite......there are several thousand
Thursday 18 August 2011
Today is..218km, Manitoba, a new timezone, 7 hours, better tan lines, stronger legs,new 40 timetrial record and a new day
Hello,
Today started pretty well. I had some awesome eggs from the lady who owns the bed and breakfast. I ate really as much as I could and than suited up for the day. Met a nice women who worked for the UN and her daughter. I don't know how old the daughter was but she seemed super smart. I realized something when I clipped in to the bike. The tail wind was back and that put a smile on my face. The spandex bullet was back with a vengence. I needed to prove to myself that I was still had the strength to do this thing. I shot off like a rocket, my legs pumping like pistons acclerating me forward along the farmland. I noticed today I am in really good shape. I was flying along at 45km/h breathing through my nose with a heartbeat below 100. I had my music bumping to something terrible and felt like I was on a motorcyle or something. Everything was going great and I had already done 70km in 2 hours. Suddenly I felt this odd sensation in my hamstring, almost like a bug was biting me on the downstroke. Recently I found out my right leg is slightly shorter than than my left....there goes a mutaion free code. To solve the problem I found some Mcdonalds and ripped apart the cardboard to create a small insole for my shoe. The pain subsided slightly and when I met with my mom and put in a better insole that was not made out of garbage. The day went on and I got pretty bored so I decided to ride off the highway through a field onto an abandoned highway. That was a pretty big rush because I was in waist high grass. I had no idea where I was going but ended up in the right spot eventually. After a quick lunch I got back to riding and noticed thousands of tomoatoes strewn out across the highway. There were hutterites trying to salvage some of the fruits, I was looking at the crisis when suddenly I went flying off the road. A gun shot like sound blasted off and I crashed out into some bushes laughing at myself. My back tire tube litterally exploded and I started to fix it. This man rolled up on a harley asking if I needed anything. He said he still had 2000km to go. I told him I had 2500km to go. He starred at my bike, looked at me, and said " you've got a lot of courage". He's probably right haha. This is a really challenging ride. I have new challenges every hour pretty much. Eventually I headed off and started to race again. I knew the border was coming up and I wanted to beat my mom there....she was in a car. I actually surprised myself. I maintained mid 40s for over an hour. My breathing was laboured and my legs were burning. It felt good to push my self. I biked 40km in under 60 min. Thats really fast, my mom beat me in the final km but I wasn't too choked about it. I hit the border with a smile and took some photos. I still had 40km to bike and I started to get tired for the first time today...I had already bike 170 haha. The last 20km were pretty terrible but they are always terrible. I am now at my neighbours grandparents house (thanks guys). We had a lovely dinner and now I am really, really tired. Rest day will happen either tomorrow..but probably in a couple days. Thanks for all the support I recieve, it really makes this ride easier for me. It is still such a battle everytime I step out that door. Everyday is different and the highs are great but the lows are like the worst day of the year. Sleep and protien are keys to sucess so thats what I,m going to hit up right now. Tomorrow will bring a hilarious story, I just have this feeling haha....I never told you guys about the time I actually tried to ride a horse. It was an experience for sure......males are agressive.
Goodnight
Today started pretty well. I had some awesome eggs from the lady who owns the bed and breakfast. I ate really as much as I could and than suited up for the day. Met a nice women who worked for the UN and her daughter. I don't know how old the daughter was but she seemed super smart. I realized something when I clipped in to the bike. The tail wind was back and that put a smile on my face. The spandex bullet was back with a vengence. I needed to prove to myself that I was still had the strength to do this thing. I shot off like a rocket, my legs pumping like pistons acclerating me forward along the farmland. I noticed today I am in really good shape. I was flying along at 45km/h breathing through my nose with a heartbeat below 100. I had my music bumping to something terrible and felt like I was on a motorcyle or something. Everything was going great and I had already done 70km in 2 hours. Suddenly I felt this odd sensation in my hamstring, almost like a bug was biting me on the downstroke. Recently I found out my right leg is slightly shorter than than my left....there goes a mutaion free code. To solve the problem I found some Mcdonalds and ripped apart the cardboard to create a small insole for my shoe. The pain subsided slightly and when I met with my mom and put in a better insole that was not made out of garbage. The day went on and I got pretty bored so I decided to ride off the highway through a field onto an abandoned highway. That was a pretty big rush because I was in waist high grass. I had no idea where I was going but ended up in the right spot eventually. After a quick lunch I got back to riding and noticed thousands of tomoatoes strewn out across the highway. There were hutterites trying to salvage some of the fruits, I was looking at the crisis when suddenly I went flying off the road. A gun shot like sound blasted off and I crashed out into some bushes laughing at myself. My back tire tube litterally exploded and I started to fix it. This man rolled up on a harley asking if I needed anything. He said he still had 2000km to go. I told him I had 2500km to go. He starred at my bike, looked at me, and said " you've got a lot of courage". He's probably right haha. This is a really challenging ride. I have new challenges every hour pretty much. Eventually I headed off and started to race again. I knew the border was coming up and I wanted to beat my mom there....she was in a car. I actually surprised myself. I maintained mid 40s for over an hour. My breathing was laboured and my legs were burning. It felt good to push my self. I biked 40km in under 60 min. Thats really fast, my mom beat me in the final km but I wasn't too choked about it. I hit the border with a smile and took some photos. I still had 40km to bike and I started to get tired for the first time today...I had already bike 170 haha. The last 20km were pretty terrible but they are always terrible. I am now at my neighbours grandparents house (thanks guys). We had a lovely dinner and now I am really, really tired. Rest day will happen either tomorrow..but probably in a couple days. Thanks for all the support I recieve, it really makes this ride easier for me. It is still such a battle everytime I step out that door. Everyday is different and the highs are great but the lows are like the worst day of the year. Sleep and protien are keys to sucess so thats what I,m going to hit up right now. Tomorrow will bring a hilarious story, I just have this feeling haha....I never told you guys about the time I actually tried to ride a horse. It was an experience for sure......males are agressive.
Goodnight
Wednesday 17 August 2011
138km...worst.day.ever.
Hello everyone,
Today was probably the worst day of the tour for a bunch of reasons. I broke a spoke out just before Regina and rode on a wheel that rubbed against my brake pads for 10km before realizing my predicament. I woke up this morning totally exhausted for lack of sleep, over training, dehydration and calorie deprivation. It was a rough start to say the least. I looked at my self in the mirror and didn't resemble the kid that walked out of his house on the 6th. I looked terrible haha. I had breakfast and just ate it because I know I have to. Food doesn`t really have a taste like it used to. Mashed potatoes are just carbs and steak is building blocks for Lance and Thor. By the way they have actually lost some muscle I think. My body is starting to eat its own tissue and muscle. The only thing that continues to grow is my core and oddly enough my back muscles from holding my body up all day.
Back to my day, I left the Motel wondering how terrible today would be and if I would just grind through it like most days. Turns out it was pretty terrible. There are 3 main compopnents to this ride: 1) the physical aspect of riding hunderds of kilometers everyday and the stress on your body that it yields 2 constantly feeding and hydrating your systems so you don't crash and burn the next hour or the next day and 3) the most important and most challenging aspect, the mental strength needed to endure 7 hours in complete solitaire confinement. Knowing that you still have to bike for 120km and your already exhausted and want to fall asleep every time you stop. I left the motel and suddenly I felt extremely lonely. This was a feeling I have never really felt before to this extent. I felt like I was the only person in the world. It was the most depressing thought! I started to miss home and all my friends and even a girl or two haha. It was actually horrible though....It took me till about 2pm to break out of it. I remember telling my mom how much I hate this ride and how I wish my friends were doing it with me. I don't like to whine and complain but this was different. Suddenly Global TV rolls up....the best timing. The interview cheered me up (people always cheer me up) and the day went on. I was going at such a slow speed because of a head wind and I was absolutely spent..I had only done 70km I think. As I passed through Regina I rode over the rollers on the highway and started to slow down. I kept on riding till I noticed how slow I was going. Turns out I broke a spoke...so frustrating! It was already such a bad day that this was just another thing to add to the list. I lay down in the small amount of shade that a sign provided and waited for my mom while bugs bite my arms. I swapped wheels out with my brother's bike and headed out yet again. I had no strength in my legs and was grinding along at 20km/h. I felt like I was going to pass out and the heat was incredibly strong. (30 degrees). I saw a sign that said Indian Head was 44km away. At my speed that would take 2 hours. This is were that mental strength is so important. I just stared at my feet and kept on chuggin along as Terry would say. I reached a small town and felt ablosultely done. I kept going as usual until my mom forced me into the car. I finished at 135km...I knew I should stop but it kills me to not hit my 160. I am way way ahead of schedule and will finnish 4 days early but thats not the point. We drove into Indian Head and found a beautiful bed and breakfast. Global tv texted me saying that my interview was removed because the dump burnt down and there was no room but they are posting it on their website. I just starred out the window and thought "today was worse than the mountain passes, at least I accomplished something back in Creston. Here I just failed" I didn't really fail but hopefully you understand where I am coming from.
Tomorrow will be another long day probably over 160km. I will get on my bike and ride for another 7 hours at least. I miss so many people and constantly relive experiences when I am on my own. I hate being by myself for so long its like a personal prison...its worse than a time out thats for sure. The one thing I can guarantee is 18 days from now I will roll into Queens. Nothing will stop me from reaching my goal. My mind works differently than most I think. I have so much focus and drive that it actually is a bit ridiculous. This year I was living by my self for a week at the house and it was just before end of term. My math mark was 65 or something terrible because I needed to do a bunch of work. I stayed after school till 6pm every night working on it and studying for 5 tests I had to do in 4 days....seriously. When I got home I would go for a run in the snow to wake myself up than sit down and study till 11pm. The first test i got 96, the second 94, than 95. On the last night I stayed up till 3 in the morning teaching my self a whole unite of identies and some form of anti derivatives and got an A on both. My mark was 93 at the end of term. I am not telling you this story to highlight my abilities in the public school system. I am telling you this because I want to show your that if you want something all you have to do is put the work in. This ride is the hardest thing I have ever done for so many reasons. Riding 160 plus is actaully the easiest part. Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully Manitoba. I am not even half way but the end is already in sight. I just have to bike there.
ps. Thank you to the women at Morse Cafe for giving me free pie, that was one of the few things that didn't just taste like carbs. Thank you to the guy at Esso, your dog is awesome and the gaterade was really helpful. Your story is a great example of why I am actually doing this ride. Thanks guys at the bike shop for fixing my bike spoke so fast, really awesome. To the girl at the gas station back in Christina Lake, your comment makes me smile every time haha you were so helpful! Lastly to the women in Subway, I think about you and your story often. I miss you too haha
Goodnight, I hope my body recovers.
A
Today was probably the worst day of the tour for a bunch of reasons. I broke a spoke out just before Regina and rode on a wheel that rubbed against my brake pads for 10km before realizing my predicament. I woke up this morning totally exhausted for lack of sleep, over training, dehydration and calorie deprivation. It was a rough start to say the least. I looked at my self in the mirror and didn't resemble the kid that walked out of his house on the 6th. I looked terrible haha. I had breakfast and just ate it because I know I have to. Food doesn`t really have a taste like it used to. Mashed potatoes are just carbs and steak is building blocks for Lance and Thor. By the way they have actually lost some muscle I think. My body is starting to eat its own tissue and muscle. The only thing that continues to grow is my core and oddly enough my back muscles from holding my body up all day.
Back to my day, I left the Motel wondering how terrible today would be and if I would just grind through it like most days. Turns out it was pretty terrible. There are 3 main compopnents to this ride: 1) the physical aspect of riding hunderds of kilometers everyday and the stress on your body that it yields 2 constantly feeding and hydrating your systems so you don't crash and burn the next hour or the next day and 3) the most important and most challenging aspect, the mental strength needed to endure 7 hours in complete solitaire confinement. Knowing that you still have to bike for 120km and your already exhausted and want to fall asleep every time you stop. I left the motel and suddenly I felt extremely lonely. This was a feeling I have never really felt before to this extent. I felt like I was the only person in the world. It was the most depressing thought! I started to miss home and all my friends and even a girl or two haha. It was actually horrible though....It took me till about 2pm to break out of it. I remember telling my mom how much I hate this ride and how I wish my friends were doing it with me. I don't like to whine and complain but this was different. Suddenly Global TV rolls up....the best timing. The interview cheered me up (people always cheer me up) and the day went on. I was going at such a slow speed because of a head wind and I was absolutely spent..I had only done 70km I think. As I passed through Regina I rode over the rollers on the highway and started to slow down. I kept on riding till I noticed how slow I was going. Turns out I broke a spoke...so frustrating! It was already such a bad day that this was just another thing to add to the list. I lay down in the small amount of shade that a sign provided and waited for my mom while bugs bite my arms. I swapped wheels out with my brother's bike and headed out yet again. I had no strength in my legs and was grinding along at 20km/h. I felt like I was going to pass out and the heat was incredibly strong. (30 degrees). I saw a sign that said Indian Head was 44km away. At my speed that would take 2 hours. This is were that mental strength is so important. I just stared at my feet and kept on chuggin along as Terry would say. I reached a small town and felt ablosultely done. I kept going as usual until my mom forced me into the car. I finished at 135km...I knew I should stop but it kills me to not hit my 160. I am way way ahead of schedule and will finnish 4 days early but thats not the point. We drove into Indian Head and found a beautiful bed and breakfast. Global tv texted me saying that my interview was removed because the dump burnt down and there was no room but they are posting it on their website. I just starred out the window and thought "today was worse than the mountain passes, at least I accomplished something back in Creston. Here I just failed" I didn't really fail but hopefully you understand where I am coming from.
Tomorrow will be another long day probably over 160km. I will get on my bike and ride for another 7 hours at least. I miss so many people and constantly relive experiences when I am on my own. I hate being by myself for so long its like a personal prison...its worse than a time out thats for sure. The one thing I can guarantee is 18 days from now I will roll into Queens. Nothing will stop me from reaching my goal. My mind works differently than most I think. I have so much focus and drive that it actually is a bit ridiculous. This year I was living by my self for a week at the house and it was just before end of term. My math mark was 65 or something terrible because I needed to do a bunch of work. I stayed after school till 6pm every night working on it and studying for 5 tests I had to do in 4 days....seriously. When I got home I would go for a run in the snow to wake myself up than sit down and study till 11pm. The first test i got 96, the second 94, than 95. On the last night I stayed up till 3 in the morning teaching my self a whole unite of identies and some form of anti derivatives and got an A on both. My mark was 93 at the end of term. I am not telling you this story to highlight my abilities in the public school system. I am telling you this because I want to show your that if you want something all you have to do is put the work in. This ride is the hardest thing I have ever done for so many reasons. Riding 160 plus is actaully the easiest part. Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully Manitoba. I am not even half way but the end is already in sight. I just have to bike there.
ps. Thank you to the women at Morse Cafe for giving me free pie, that was one of the few things that didn't just taste like carbs. Thank you to the guy at Esso, your dog is awesome and the gaterade was really helpful. Your story is a great example of why I am actually doing this ride. Thanks guys at the bike shop for fixing my bike spoke so fast, really awesome. To the girl at the gas station back in Christina Lake, your comment makes me smile every time haha you were so helpful! Lastly to the women in Subway, I think about you and your story often. I miss you too haha
Goodnight, I hope my body recovers.
A
Tuesday 16 August 2011
207 kms.... Farm animals are sometimes not friends
This is Adam's mom Ann. Short blog tonight as Adam is too tired to blog. He had another good day. Another day of great weather with a solid wind from the northwest. He found some more horses but they were not interested in having a 17 year old take them for a ride. Guess I should find some ranch to stay at before we leave the prairies so he can go for a proper ride on a horse. We stopped on Caronport tonight about 20 west of Moose Jaw. Tomorrow we stop in Regina for some media and a bike store so he will not get as many kms in. He will poat a more interesting blog tomorrow.
Monday 15 August 2011
224km, chasinG storms across the prairies. Farm animals are friends.
Today was a long one. It started late in Bow Island and I felt pretty drained. I got on the bike and headed off at 10:00. The start of the day was a grind but soon enough I put
Ironman on my ipod and I was off. After what seemed like quite a while I rode into Med Hat
and did some interviews. My mom made me a power sandwich and I devoured it. I left Med Hat and after 50k I hit SK. What an achievement. I was only in AB for two nights. The days of cycling on the Crowsnest Hwy3 are over. On to the trans Canada and new adventures. When I left Med Hat the spandex bullet was back in action. No tail wind just muscle...Thor and Lance have grown into fine men and the kids are pulling their weight. I looked at myself in the mirror today and had to take a double look. I have lost what ever fat I had..the bottom part of me looks like a tour de France rider. The top resembles a under fed 12 year old boy with a stomach that juts out like a water melon. I am in the best cycling shape of my life and it's pretty awesome to see just how strong I really am on the bike. Anyways once in Sask I started to pin it. I whipped past animals and tons of grass. Eventually I started hunting for bison but that didn't go to well.....buffalo soldier, in the heart of America. I was just peddling along thinking about how majestic horses are when I saw 6 wild horses chilling like villains on the other side of the fence. This was the moment Fernando had been waiting for. I hopped off the bike and picked up some grass. They galloped in a pack around the field while I starred in amazement. After some horse calling and pretending to hold a carrot they came over. Horses are beasts. They could destroy me at any moment but I didn't care....I was a horse whisperer. I tamed them and started to pet there massive bodies. All 6 were crowding for attention,shoving their bodies towards me. The Fernando in me almost ripped off his shirt and stratled the largest to attempt bare back riding. The Adam in me thought your going to kill yourself and probably make your mother upset. I left the horses and continued on. We shall meet again majestic animals and Fernando will have his way... http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=CA#/watch?v=8rrCJRYVQGw. After that some idiot just about killed me, a car swerved into my shoulder and onto the gravel at 100km/h. He was just a 100m ahead of me. Rattled my chains but life moves on. I peddled and peddled till I saw a tempest forming behind. The race was on. Winds punched me in the face and I leaned just to balance, I was battling for ever km and loving life. I felt alive out in the open road fending off attacks while thunder roared across the prairie. Nature is like a dangerous women,if you don't respect her, she will kill you. I arrived at Gull Lake at 8pm. Turns out we are camping in the dangerous women. This is exciting and lame because I am in a 23 dollar 2 men Walmart tent with my mom. Tomorrow is a new day and fresh legs, the spandex bullet is destroying provinces and has no intention of slowing down (sorry dad) another 225 km hopefully tomorrow for Moose Jaw...I just want to fly like the wind on a wild white horse but thats life I guess. Till tomorrow,
Goodnight
Sunday 14 August 2011
206km in just over 6 hours..the spandex bullet has been born...
hey hey hey,
Today started late and I had a moderately large breakfast. As soon as i got on the bike I felt this wild wind whipping across from the west. I started out and it was pulling me sideways. I had to fight it and it beat me up just trying to ride. Eventually I turned onto the highway and bam I was off. This was that tail wind that was whispered about in a hushed voice among cyclist that I had met. Soon I was traveling at 50km/h and loving life. I started to push it and hit 57 on the flats, I was like a missile rocketing across the horizon. Soon I had reached 40km in just over an hour...a new record. Not too much time later hit 80km in just 2 hours. I had 2 flat tires in a row til I switched my rear wheel out for some new rubber. Eventually I reached Lethbridge and did some interviews and TV stuff. I left Lethbridge with the intention of getting to Medicine Hat for the night (160km away). I had already done 100km...the tailwind was pretty awesome but as soon as it was there it vanished. I grinded out the last 100km with no ipod because it died for good...mana souce depleted...I just leveled down like 23 times.....meats rattled. Like always the last bit is always terrible and I had to really push myself to reach the town of Bow Island. I burned thousands and thousands of calories today and got some really sweet tan lines. Tomorrow is Sask and a new province, finally I am in decent shape. It's late and I should head to bed. Skype with friends gets me through each day. I saw a bunch of bison today! That was really cool because they are such interesting animals. I used to read about bison runs that the Metis would have. Pople stare at me on the road like I am an alien. One kid started yelling at me like I was a monster...either that or he was saying gooooo in a really high pitch, awkward voice. Another interesting fact is I find tons of booze on the side of the road. At one point there was a Texas mickey and 30 Budwiser. That's not too good because drunk drivers tend to kill cyclists. Its okay though because the spandex bullet is far too fast to get hit by a 2 ton truck...thats all for now.
bon soir
A
Today started late and I had a moderately large breakfast. As soon as i got on the bike I felt this wild wind whipping across from the west. I started out and it was pulling me sideways. I had to fight it and it beat me up just trying to ride. Eventually I turned onto the highway and bam I was off. This was that tail wind that was whispered about in a hushed voice among cyclist that I had met. Soon I was traveling at 50km/h and loving life. I started to push it and hit 57 on the flats, I was like a missile rocketing across the horizon. Soon I had reached 40km in just over an hour...a new record. Not too much time later hit 80km in just 2 hours. I had 2 flat tires in a row til I switched my rear wheel out for some new rubber. Eventually I reached Lethbridge and did some interviews and TV stuff. I left Lethbridge with the intention of getting to Medicine Hat for the night (160km away). I had already done 100km...the tailwind was pretty awesome but as soon as it was there it vanished. I grinded out the last 100km with no ipod because it died for good...mana souce depleted...I just leveled down like 23 times.....meats rattled. Like always the last bit is always terrible and I had to really push myself to reach the town of Bow Island. I burned thousands and thousands of calories today and got some really sweet tan lines. Tomorrow is Sask and a new province, finally I am in decent shape. It's late and I should head to bed. Skype with friends gets me through each day. I saw a bunch of bison today! That was really cool because they are such interesting animals. I used to read about bison runs that the Metis would have. Pople stare at me on the road like I am an alien. One kid started yelling at me like I was a monster...either that or he was saying gooooo in a really high pitch, awkward voice. Another interesting fact is I find tons of booze on the side of the road. At one point there was a Texas mickey and 30 Budwiser. That's not too good because drunk drivers tend to kill cyclists. Its okay though because the spandex bullet is far too fast to get hit by a 2 ton truck...thats all for now.
bon soir
A
Saturday 13 August 2011
171km, the days are starting to blur.
Hello,
Today sucked. I left the Orr`s house way to late because I was too disorginized. I was in a lot of discomfort right off the bat and had to switch bib shorts. My legs felt okay but still were really tired from lack of sleep. My fault totally again. Thanks again guys for having me over for the night. I really can't thank you enough because it makes this ride so much easier for me and my family. I am absolutely drained as I write this. I was in some sort of pain for 90 percent of the day. Considering I rode 171km in just over 7 hours thats a lot of time. I arrived in Alberta today which was a small victory. The scenery is pretty amazing but most of the time I was in too much pain to think about it! haha My ipod died after just 2 hours so that was unfortunate. At km 120 i burned through all my glycogen stores and started to get totally wasted, then the bugs came out and I got hit by thousands of them on my face and body. This ride has a couple great highs but most of the time I am suffering in some way or form. I am okay witht that though, I knew it was going to be hard. There is a photo of me holding my bike up at the Albertan boundry and than another one of me passed out in the exact same spot a minute later. Staying positive is really important and I always try to look at the bright side of this situation. I was going to make this post humourous but I figured you guys should know exactly how I am. I think thats pretty cool because I am completely honest on this blog. Its more of a journal than anything. Tomorrow is Lethbridge and onward. I don't even know the day of the week anymore. I just think in kilometers. I will now leave you with one of my favorite songs on my ipod. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r0n9Dv6XnY ..........okay so as i was just about to post this i heard a bunch of scratching. There is a kid my age outside my window with long long hair dancing in a circle. He is just shuffling his feet like some weight watchers move. Cigrette in hand he spins and spins to no music at all haha. I really want to laugh but i think he will hear me and i have no one to share this with. He just lit a smoke while circle dancing, that requires some skills and dedication. Erin...you should be here. I finnish this with a smile on my face
ps some guy gave the the slow finger today out the car window and while i was wearing my piney. A gun shot went off shortly after. ahhhh Welcome to Alberta!http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2011/03/cinnamon-sugar-pull-apart-bread/
Today sucked. I left the Orr`s house way to late because I was too disorginized. I was in a lot of discomfort right off the bat and had to switch bib shorts. My legs felt okay but still were really tired from lack of sleep. My fault totally again. Thanks again guys for having me over for the night. I really can't thank you enough because it makes this ride so much easier for me and my family. I am absolutely drained as I write this. I was in some sort of pain for 90 percent of the day. Considering I rode 171km in just over 7 hours thats a lot of time. I arrived in Alberta today which was a small victory. The scenery is pretty amazing but most of the time I was in too much pain to think about it! haha My ipod died after just 2 hours so that was unfortunate. At km 120 i burned through all my glycogen stores and started to get totally wasted, then the bugs came out and I got hit by thousands of them on my face and body. This ride has a couple great highs but most of the time I am suffering in some way or form. I am okay witht that though, I knew it was going to be hard. There is a photo of me holding my bike up at the Albertan boundry and than another one of me passed out in the exact same spot a minute later. Staying positive is really important and I always try to look at the bright side of this situation. I was going to make this post humourous but I figured you guys should know exactly how I am. I think thats pretty cool because I am completely honest on this blog. Its more of a journal than anything. Tomorrow is Lethbridge and onward. I don't even know the day of the week anymore. I just think in kilometers. I will now leave you with one of my favorite songs on my ipod. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r0n9Dv6XnY ..........okay so as i was just about to post this i heard a bunch of scratching. There is a kid my age outside my window with long long hair dancing in a circle. He is just shuffling his feet like some weight watchers move. Cigrette in hand he spins and spins to no music at all haha. I really want to laugh but i think he will hear me and i have no one to share this with. He just lit a smoke while circle dancing, that requires some skills and dedication. Erin...you should be here. I finnish this with a smile on my face
ps some guy gave the the slow finger today out the car window and while i was wearing my piney. A gun shot went off shortly after. ahhhh Welcome to Alberta!http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2011/03/cinnamon-sugar-pull-apart-bread/
Friday 12 August 2011
I < 3 timezone changes
Hey everyone,
Left the Le roux residence today and got lost right off the bat.I laughed at my self and my inability to comprehend simple directions.... I got lost a lot today. I set off eventually in the right direction . I was missing the adventure of the road..It had only been 24 hours! I was rocken out to Back street boyzzzzz when I heard a hisss. I sighed and hopped off my bike to discover a slow leak. I learnt from earlier that I should replace it instead of riding on a 40psi tire....I put on some better music and fixed my first flat on the road. The rest of the day was pretty great, I climbed by this huge lake and some guy was water sking. I felt really strong and wasn't getting tired from the constant kilometers. I finally made it to Cranbrook and hung out at a bike shop with these pretty cool guys. Working in a bike shop with friends is way too much fun to be called work. On the road I was in such a good mood I had a minor dance party....one could have called it a "small rage". Cars got involved too which was hilarious. The ipod is like my mana source in world of war craft. I need to recharge it....or I die. I am staying with a friend of the Le roux's. They are awesome and I find it quite fascinating to live in such a small town. I meet with my mom tomorrow which is sweet for a bunch of reasons. One being I have a friend on the road that can provide the many amenities that I need. Two being I finally can wear my jersey that says what I am doing. I will be proud to slide that over my torso. My body has changed in the past from a total commitment to sport. I used to row 6 days a week last year and my back was like a gorilla. From the scientific point of view I think its pretty cool how your body can adapt to extreme stress. On the first 2 days I would literally lose my mind after I got of the bike...My body would shake feel forieng. I would feel really sick while my dad ran around like a crazy man trying to help me. Now I am perfectly fine after I get off. Just really, really hungry. My quads dont really belong to me anymore. Lance and Thor have started a family and have two kids called Rock crusher and Thunder punch. (my calfs) My legs are like pistons up the hills and propell me with speed I didnt really know I had. It's pretty cool to be in great condition so soon. I think genetics are who I owe a thank you to. Tomorrow is the same as today, 160km but who knows what will happen. Every day is so different and challenging. I think thats what I love about this ride so much. Till tomorrow..
A
Left the Le roux residence today and got lost right off the bat.I laughed at my self and my inability to comprehend simple directions.... I got lost a lot today. I set off eventually in the right direction . I was missing the adventure of the road..It had only been 24 hours! I was rocken out to Back street boyzzzzz when I heard a hisss. I sighed and hopped off my bike to discover a slow leak. I learnt from earlier that I should replace it instead of riding on a 40psi tire....I put on some better music and fixed my first flat on the road. The rest of the day was pretty great, I climbed by this huge lake and some guy was water sking. I felt really strong and wasn't getting tired from the constant kilometers. I finally made it to Cranbrook and hung out at a bike shop with these pretty cool guys. Working in a bike shop with friends is way too much fun to be called work. On the road I was in such a good mood I had a minor dance party....one could have called it a "small rage". Cars got involved too which was hilarious. The ipod is like my mana source in world of war craft. I need to recharge it....or I die. I am staying with a friend of the Le roux's. They are awesome and I find it quite fascinating to live in such a small town. I meet with my mom tomorrow which is sweet for a bunch of reasons. One being I have a friend on the road that can provide the many amenities that I need. Two being I finally can wear my jersey that says what I am doing. I will be proud to slide that over my torso. My body has changed in the past from a total commitment to sport. I used to row 6 days a week last year and my back was like a gorilla. From the scientific point of view I think its pretty cool how your body can adapt to extreme stress. On the first 2 days I would literally lose my mind after I got of the bike...My body would shake feel forieng. I would feel really sick while my dad ran around like a crazy man trying to help me. Now I am perfectly fine after I get off. Just really, really hungry. My quads dont really belong to me anymore. Lance and Thor have started a family and have two kids called Rock crusher and Thunder punch. (my calfs) My legs are like pistons up the hills and propell me with speed I didnt really know I had. It's pretty cool to be in great condition so soon. I think genetics are who I owe a thank you to. Tomorrow is the same as today, 160km but who knows what will happen. Every day is so different and challenging. I think thats what I love about this ride so much. Till tomorrow..
A
Times Colonist
This is for Jeff Bell,
We keep on playing phone tag. I finally reached your desk today but you were away. I left my phone charger back in Christina lake because It was too heavy. My email is beaudoin.adam@gmail.com, Email me and I will respond tomorrow night. I can maybe skype you like a telephone tomorrow at about 6-7pm? Just let me know.
A
We keep on playing phone tag. I finally reached your desk today but you were away. I left my phone charger back in Christina lake because It was too heavy. My email is beaudoin.adam@gmail.com, Email me and I will respond tomorrow night. I can maybe skype you like a telephone tomorrow at about 6-7pm? Just let me know.
A
Rest Day, oh yay.
Hello,
I woke up today with a smile on my face. What a crazy day yesterday! I feel like a new man..(key word being man). I went upstairs to a wonderful breakfast....I love this family. I know that they will read my blog and see this . I have yet to work up the courage to tell them how great they are. They are from South Africa and are all beautiful people. I don't mean that in the way of physical looks but spiritually they are wonderful. I am so happy that I was able to spend some time with such great people.I am still riding on the high of yesterday. What happened to me on that mountain I will carry with me till the day I pass away. It showed me that anything is possible, and not just in the physical aspect of life. I can do anything, be anyone and live life exactly how I want. Imagine feeling that. Its like I have a new life, I used to read about how people go through life changing experiences and wondered if it would ever happen to me. I am so so so soo soooooo thankful it did. As I head off to university I go on with a new confidence and I think that's really important. I met a man named Terry today, what a sweet guy. I got to see how kokenee is made and Wild cat as well. Pretty cool to see the beers I will be enjoying soon..... once I am legal of course (lol). After the tour I saw what he does and met his co-workers.Some shook my hand, others offered a smile.This made me smile too. I don't know how often you guys look at the global news but the world is not doing so well. The Global economy is faltering off the fake relief of the stimulus plans. Europe's economy is falling apart, there are massive nightly riots in London, Afghanistan was a failed mission and cost of lifes and money. The old way of life will return after a couple years, we just wont hear about it on CNN. I think that my story and what I do offers some light in such a dark situation we are in. I have full belief in the power of the human spirit. Ive seen its power first hand and I would have never attempted to save 2 peoples lifes if I thought differently. I think its really important to find something to believe in, to have faith. Im not talking about religion, I mean to believe in your self, your family. Belief that human nature is naturally good deep down. Our past forms who we are today but the future is a complete variable. That's just the way I think at least. In my grad write up I wrote "The only constant in life is death, everything else is a variable. This, is a beautiful thing." I think that's why I live the life I live. Anyways, I should go to bed, I have to ride 152km tomorrow and am sooo worried. Not actually haha I will be fine. The rest day was awesome and was the right descion. I go forth to the final leg..24 days, of my journey. I will never have a day like yesterday for a while, probably ever. That's okay though because you only need to feel that wild,powerful, moving moment once.
Goodnight
I woke up today with a smile on my face. What a crazy day yesterday! I feel like a new man..(key word being man). I went upstairs to a wonderful breakfast....I love this family. I know that they will read my blog and see this . I have yet to work up the courage to tell them how great they are. They are from South Africa and are all beautiful people. I don't mean that in the way of physical looks but spiritually they are wonderful. I am so happy that I was able to spend some time with such great people.I am still riding on the high of yesterday. What happened to me on that mountain I will carry with me till the day I pass away. It showed me that anything is possible, and not just in the physical aspect of life. I can do anything, be anyone and live life exactly how I want. Imagine feeling that. Its like I have a new life, I used to read about how people go through life changing experiences and wondered if it would ever happen to me. I am so so so soo soooooo thankful it did. As I head off to university I go on with a new confidence and I think that's really important. I met a man named Terry today, what a sweet guy. I got to see how kokenee is made and Wild cat as well. Pretty cool to see the beers I will be enjoying soon..... once I am legal of course (lol). After the tour I saw what he does and met his co-workers.Some shook my hand, others offered a smile.This made me smile too. I don't know how often you guys look at the global news but the world is not doing so well. The Global economy is faltering off the fake relief of the stimulus plans. Europe's economy is falling apart, there are massive nightly riots in London, Afghanistan was a failed mission and cost of lifes and money. The old way of life will return after a couple years, we just wont hear about it on CNN. I think that my story and what I do offers some light in such a dark situation we are in. I have full belief in the power of the human spirit. Ive seen its power first hand and I would have never attempted to save 2 peoples lifes if I thought differently. I think its really important to find something to believe in, to have faith. Im not talking about religion, I mean to believe in your self, your family. Belief that human nature is naturally good deep down. Our past forms who we are today but the future is a complete variable. That's just the way I think at least. In my grad write up I wrote "The only constant in life is death, everything else is a variable. This, is a beautiful thing." I think that's why I live the life I live. Anyways, I should go to bed, I have to ride 152km tomorrow and am sooo worried. Not actually haha I will be fine. The rest day was awesome and was the right descion. I go forth to the final leg..24 days, of my journey. I will never have a day like yesterday for a while, probably ever. That's okay though because you only need to feel that wild,powerful, moving moment once.
Goodnight
Thursday 11 August 2011
Day 5. 200km, 3 mountain passes with over 13 thousand feet of climbing and a day I will remember for the rest of my life..
Hello.
This post will be hard to put into words. I spent the whole day thinking about what to say. I will start with my day. I woke up at 6:30am totally committed to the challenge ahead. I was excited and confident and ready to face the challenge of a life time. I left lakeview motel at around 7 30am. If anyone is ever in Christina Lake...stay there. The women ( Jen?) who runs it is the bomb! (sorry Jen about the small pile of crumbs on the floor, I felt really bad and send my deepest apologize) I was a man on a mission. I started climbing up Bonaza pass (5094ft) just as the sun started to heat up. A women yesterday told me it would take 6 hours to get up to the top so I decided to take a "tactical"(not the type of tactical you take on a Friday night...Ryland..Mish) and wait to take it on the next day.When I got into it I literally flew up that mountain. I felt like I had wings and it took me one hour and thirty minutes. Now that climb is about 34km..I do a 40km time trail in an hour 15.. I was ripping. At the top I gave a little woop woop fist pump dance yell and started to descend. I coasted down the other side and arrived in Castlegar a little beat up. Little did I know there was another mountain I had to climb that day....I was sooo pumped about that (not actually). This pass must have been 3000ft?I started pounding it and was really pissed off because I left my chamois cream somewhere in the last pass. I am going to paint you a picture here. Imagine you take a electiric sander, turn it on, place it between your legs and hold it there for a couple minuites than ride a bike for several hours. Yep I was in some pain. About half way in I started to get thristy and realized I needed to find a water source. Time to enter survival mode. I located a river down an embankment. There was a huge pipe like structure feeding the river and was the only logical way down. I had this awesome idea of holding on and gracefully swinging down to safety. Instead I held on, dropped the legs, and fell to the bottom. Thank goodness I didn't cut my feet of the rusty bolts down below! I was pretty concerned about bears so I started yelling wildly at the bushes. Someone would have thought I was a wild forest man with dirty spandex. Anyways I filled up and climbed out of there, strattled to bike and started off. Nothing makes a man climb faster than a swarm of black flies trying to bite you. They can fly at around 14km an hour. I had to race up the mountain to avoid being devoured. Once I reached the top I was pretty wasted but happy to be over with that. I cycled to Solamo and ate some Subway ( thanks for the gift cards again! your awesome) The worker at Subway told me she biked the pass when she was 11 and it wasn't that bad. I was feeling alright and confident in this women....BIG MISTAKE. I have learnt to never trust a non athlete about difficulties of the road. I set off and this song came onto my ipod ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4Mc-NYPHaQ&ob=av3n ) It pumped me up just as I entered the gates of hell..(some gates at the start of the climb). All of a sudden my ipod died. I knew today would be the day I would become a man if I complete this task and I saw this coming. I put it away and started up the 5982ft climb..the highest pass in Canada. Suddenly I feel this excruciating pain under my sitting bones. Saddle sores were starting up. I was in so much pain! I started screaming the F word at the top of my lungs. I was infuriated and pissed off. I tried to channel that energy into power but it hurt every second I was sitting down. What a way to start the climb. I thought I could maybe stand the whole way...the climb is 54km. I realized I needed to suck it up even though it was horrible and battle onward. I climbed and screamed and grunted and grimaced. Eventually I was going okay and than saw what looked like a line in a mountain far ahead..."that cant be the road, there is no way an engineer would be dumb enough to put a road there......oh god, that IS the road" I broke down. I was in so much pain already and seeing the challenge ahead makes the going so much harder. I looked deep inside my self and asked what the hell I was doing. To be honest I didn't think of Cole or the thousand of Kids battling cancer. I certainly didn't think about my self and how this is soooo cooool. I don't know what happened up there, thousands of feet above sea level, but something happened, something big. I looked over between the blinding agony and noticed a waterfall. Out of no were there was a water fall cascading down into the ground. I didn't even question what I had to do.I unclipped, stirpt down, and headed into it. It was like I was re born. Everything was clear to me, I had to get up this mountain or I was going to die trying. That's how focused I was. I stood in the frigged water thinking about my past life and how amazing its been. How thankful I am for the people and experiences Ive had. How it has all led up to this moment of self against Nature, Self against Self. This was my moment. I prayed to god asking to help me up this mountain of hell and suffering and deliver me to my friends on the other side. This was it. The only thing that was going to stop me was a fall over the other side.....and that's when it almost all ended. I walked my bike to the right shoulder. Put my shirt and helmet on my bars and clipped in my right foot, tried to clip the left but the grade was so steep that I started to go sideways. There was a Cliff just below me and if I were to go over the edge I was sure to die. I saw the edge and my body weight starting to go over it. Somehow I slammed my hand against the side wall just before I toppled over the edge and fell to the road. Unreal experience I was having to say the least. I stood up and shook off another near death moment and climbed with strength that I never knew I had. The pain was there and it was worse than ever but it didn't matter. I was climbing to the top of this beast no matter what the situation was. Every tendon in Lance and Thor was pulsating and bursting with power ( they had a couple kids today btw..congratulations!!) I climbed and climbed and as I knew the top was near I started to sing...that's weird eh. It just kinda happened and soon I was belting out a song that was about this ride. I reached the top and shouted and was so happy. Happier than I ever was in recent memory. What I just accomplished few cyclist in the world have tried. It was some of the most challenging climbing in Canada and I conquered it. I hit my limit, punched it right in the face and knock it out cold. there are no limits, our mind sets the limitations and if you can unlock that, your set free. I don't want to be free i am free. Before this ride I ran the Grand canyon. All the way down and than all the way up in just under 5 hours,32km. That was easy. This was the hardest thing I think I will ever do in my life. I honestly think an IRONMAN would have been easier for me than what I did today. I am not worried about the rest of the trip. I will do it and probably finish early. Today, in the mountains after hours and hours of climbing, my life changed. I feel so amazing, I feel like I've experienced a select few people get to have in there life's. I hope this post inspires you to reach for the stars, do something wonderful with your life or just do what makes you happy. We all only have one life to live and its far to short to waste a single day. In case you were wondering I biked down the 40km descent with a smile. There was no pain, just a 70km/h descent haha I'm at a Buddy's now in Creston and will probably take tomorrow off to heal. I have to average 154km if I do so that's cool. I think I was a bit ahead of schedule. That's all for now...can you only believe its been 5 days!
Thanks
This post will be hard to put into words. I spent the whole day thinking about what to say. I will start with my day. I woke up at 6:30am totally committed to the challenge ahead. I was excited and confident and ready to face the challenge of a life time. I left lakeview motel at around 7 30am. If anyone is ever in Christina Lake...stay there. The women ( Jen?) who runs it is the bomb! (sorry Jen about the small pile of crumbs on the floor, I felt really bad and send my deepest apologize) I was a man on a mission. I started climbing up Bonaza pass (5094ft) just as the sun started to heat up. A women yesterday told me it would take 6 hours to get up to the top so I decided to take a "tactical"(not the type of tactical you take on a Friday night...Ryland..Mish) and wait to take it on the next day.When I got into it I literally flew up that mountain. I felt like I had wings and it took me one hour and thirty minutes. Now that climb is about 34km..I do a 40km time trail in an hour 15.. I was ripping. At the top I gave a little woop woop fist pump dance yell and started to descend. I coasted down the other side and arrived in Castlegar a little beat up. Little did I know there was another mountain I had to climb that day....I was sooo pumped about that (not actually). This pass must have been 3000ft?I started pounding it and was really pissed off because I left my chamois cream somewhere in the last pass. I am going to paint you a picture here. Imagine you take a electiric sander, turn it on, place it between your legs and hold it there for a couple minuites than ride a bike for several hours. Yep I was in some pain. About half way in I started to get thristy and realized I needed to find a water source. Time to enter survival mode. I located a river down an embankment. There was a huge pipe like structure feeding the river and was the only logical way down. I had this awesome idea of holding on and gracefully swinging down to safety. Instead I held on, dropped the legs, and fell to the bottom. Thank goodness I didn't cut my feet of the rusty bolts down below! I was pretty concerned about bears so I started yelling wildly at the bushes. Someone would have thought I was a wild forest man with dirty spandex. Anyways I filled up and climbed out of there, strattled to bike and started off. Nothing makes a man climb faster than a swarm of black flies trying to bite you. They can fly at around 14km an hour. I had to race up the mountain to avoid being devoured. Once I reached the top I was pretty wasted but happy to be over with that. I cycled to Solamo and ate some Subway ( thanks for the gift cards again! your awesome) The worker at Subway told me she biked the pass when she was 11 and it wasn't that bad. I was feeling alright and confident in this women....BIG MISTAKE. I have learnt to never trust a non athlete about difficulties of the road. I set off and this song came onto my ipod ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4Mc-NYPHaQ&ob=av3n ) It pumped me up just as I entered the gates of hell..(some gates at the start of the climb). All of a sudden my ipod died. I knew today would be the day I would become a man if I complete this task and I saw this coming. I put it away and started up the 5982ft climb..the highest pass in Canada. Suddenly I feel this excruciating pain under my sitting bones. Saddle sores were starting up. I was in so much pain! I started screaming the F word at the top of my lungs. I was infuriated and pissed off. I tried to channel that energy into power but it hurt every second I was sitting down. What a way to start the climb. I thought I could maybe stand the whole way...the climb is 54km. I realized I needed to suck it up even though it was horrible and battle onward. I climbed and screamed and grunted and grimaced. Eventually I was going okay and than saw what looked like a line in a mountain far ahead..."that cant be the road, there is no way an engineer would be dumb enough to put a road there......oh god, that IS the road" I broke down. I was in so much pain already and seeing the challenge ahead makes the going so much harder. I looked deep inside my self and asked what the hell I was doing. To be honest I didn't think of Cole or the thousand of Kids battling cancer. I certainly didn't think about my self and how this is soooo cooool. I don't know what happened up there, thousands of feet above sea level, but something happened, something big. I looked over between the blinding agony and noticed a waterfall. Out of no were there was a water fall cascading down into the ground. I didn't even question what I had to do.I unclipped, stirpt down, and headed into it. It was like I was re born. Everything was clear to me, I had to get up this mountain or I was going to die trying. That's how focused I was. I stood in the frigged water thinking about my past life and how amazing its been. How thankful I am for the people and experiences Ive had. How it has all led up to this moment of self against Nature, Self against Self. This was my moment. I prayed to god asking to help me up this mountain of hell and suffering and deliver me to my friends on the other side. This was it. The only thing that was going to stop me was a fall over the other side.....and that's when it almost all ended. I walked my bike to the right shoulder. Put my shirt and helmet on my bars and clipped in my right foot, tried to clip the left but the grade was so steep that I started to go sideways. There was a Cliff just below me and if I were to go over the edge I was sure to die. I saw the edge and my body weight starting to go over it. Somehow I slammed my hand against the side wall just before I toppled over the edge and fell to the road. Unreal experience I was having to say the least. I stood up and shook off another near death moment and climbed with strength that I never knew I had. The pain was there and it was worse than ever but it didn't matter. I was climbing to the top of this beast no matter what the situation was. Every tendon in Lance and Thor was pulsating and bursting with power ( they had a couple kids today btw..congratulations!!) I climbed and climbed and as I knew the top was near I started to sing...that's weird eh. It just kinda happened and soon I was belting out a song that was about this ride. I reached the top and shouted and was so happy. Happier than I ever was in recent memory. What I just accomplished few cyclist in the world have tried. It was some of the most challenging climbing in Canada and I conquered it. I hit my limit, punched it right in the face and knock it out cold. there are no limits, our mind sets the limitations and if you can unlock that, your set free. I don't want to be free i am free. Before this ride I ran the Grand canyon. All the way down and than all the way up in just under 5 hours,32km. That was easy. This was the hardest thing I think I will ever do in my life. I honestly think an IRONMAN would have been easier for me than what I did today. I am not worried about the rest of the trip. I will do it and probably finish early. Today, in the mountains after hours and hours of climbing, my life changed. I feel so amazing, I feel like I've experienced a select few people get to have in there life's. I hope this post inspires you to reach for the stars, do something wonderful with your life or just do what makes you happy. We all only have one life to live and its far to short to waste a single day. In case you were wondering I biked down the 40km descent with a smile. There was no pain, just a 70km/h descent haha I'm at a Buddy's now in Creston and will probably take tomorrow off to heal. I have to average 154km if I do so that's cool. I think I was a bit ahead of schedule. That's all for now...can you only believe its been 5 days!
Thanks
Tuesday 9 August 2011
day 4 bonjour bonjour
hello hello,
I am in a small town called Christiana Lake. I had a bit of a rough go today to be honest. Left Rock Creek way too late and started grinding down the highway. I Stayed at a lovely b and b last night. If you are ever in Rock Creek ( because we all go there all the time) I recommend Grouse Ridge bed and breakfast, "where one can relax....naturally". Wilf will show you his homemade guitar and his lovely wife will make an excellent and nutritious breakfast! They also have a horse named Mister Cool. I really wanted to gallop around with my hair flowing, change my name to Fernando, and race over the grassy hills but decided I should probably stick to the bike..and the name Adam. I have this stupid bag on the back of my bike and it slows me down to a crawl up the mountains. I actually don't need any of the contents in there and really want to throw it on the ground so the bears can eat my sunscreen but I think my mom would be upset. I arrived in Grand forks after a long, long descent. I went into a Subway there to refill and use the washroom like a normal human being. I met a really great women there (I forget her name) and told her what I was doing. She was touched by my story and gave me a gift card for 25 dollars at Subways all over the country. 2 truckers also came in and put down 10 bucks for another card....now I am going to be honest here. The women probably doesn't make enough money to give 25 dollars away like that to every young man that walks in her joint. But its not the money that gets me. She offered for me to stay at her place for the night and told everyone she could what I was doing. I only knew her for 5 minuets..I don't even know her name! That really means a lot who ever you are and tomorrow, I am riding up that scary mt pass for about 5 hours and riding up to the highest pass in Canada right after for another 5 hours to reach Creston (200km) I am dedicating it to you, who ever you are. Its people like you that get me through 7 and half hours of pain and suffering. Tomorrow will be about 12 hours. I bought a bunch of food for dinner and am currently eating plain, raw, spinach..hmmmmm. I bought a whole box and am just entering mow town right now. Here are some interesting fax about my ride. I drink about 10 huge water bottles every 7 hours. I eat like a mad man right after I get off the bike and drink a liter or more of choc milk. I dance on my bike because I always listed to music and wave to cool cars along the road. Sometimes I yell at wild animals to see what they do and Instead of losing weight for this ride I think I'm gaining muscle every where. I actually don't want that because more muscle means more blood to pump for my heart.
Tomorrow will test me to my max. Its just like a really hard tour stage. Did you know that the tour de France is around 3700km. they have 26 days to do it. My ride is 4700km..I have only 4 more days. Blows, my, mind. Anyways I'm going to drink tons of water, bath in salts(thanks Jen) and hopefully make some new Friends. I started naming my bike and gear after girls in my life so I am always surrounded by women, therefore, never lonely. Pretty smart eh haha oh man. So far Ive biked somewhere near 500km. 500x5 is 2500. That's how much money I have raised just from riding alone. In another post I will tell you just how hard this ride really is. That's all for now!
ps, Lach, your music is hilarious and I think you need some counselling. Peter, I wish you were here bud. I lost your email......naturally. So mine is beaudoin.adam@gmail.com. Hope to hear from you soon.
Tomorrow will be a test of mind over excruciating pain. I named my quads Lance and Thor for the occasion. Female names didn't feel right.
Au revoir
I am in a small town called Christiana Lake. I had a bit of a rough go today to be honest. Left Rock Creek way too late and started grinding down the highway. I Stayed at a lovely b and b last night. If you are ever in Rock Creek ( because we all go there all the time) I recommend Grouse Ridge bed and breakfast, "where one can relax....naturally". Wilf will show you his homemade guitar and his lovely wife will make an excellent and nutritious breakfast! They also have a horse named Mister Cool. I really wanted to gallop around with my hair flowing, change my name to Fernando, and race over the grassy hills but decided I should probably stick to the bike..and the name Adam. I have this stupid bag on the back of my bike and it slows me down to a crawl up the mountains. I actually don't need any of the contents in there and really want to throw it on the ground so the bears can eat my sunscreen but I think my mom would be upset. I arrived in Grand forks after a long, long descent. I went into a Subway there to refill and use the washroom like a normal human being. I met a really great women there (I forget her name) and told her what I was doing. She was touched by my story and gave me a gift card for 25 dollars at Subways all over the country. 2 truckers also came in and put down 10 bucks for another card....now I am going to be honest here. The women probably doesn't make enough money to give 25 dollars away like that to every young man that walks in her joint. But its not the money that gets me. She offered for me to stay at her place for the night and told everyone she could what I was doing. I only knew her for 5 minuets..I don't even know her name! That really means a lot who ever you are and tomorrow, I am riding up that scary mt pass for about 5 hours and riding up to the highest pass in Canada right after for another 5 hours to reach Creston (200km) I am dedicating it to you, who ever you are. Its people like you that get me through 7 and half hours of pain and suffering. Tomorrow will be about 12 hours. I bought a bunch of food for dinner and am currently eating plain, raw, spinach..hmmmmm. I bought a whole box and am just entering mow town right now. Here are some interesting fax about my ride. I drink about 10 huge water bottles every 7 hours. I eat like a mad man right after I get off the bike and drink a liter or more of choc milk. I dance on my bike because I always listed to music and wave to cool cars along the road. Sometimes I yell at wild animals to see what they do and Instead of losing weight for this ride I think I'm gaining muscle every where. I actually don't want that because more muscle means more blood to pump for my heart.
Tomorrow will test me to my max. Its just like a really hard tour stage. Did you know that the tour de France is around 3700km. they have 26 days to do it. My ride is 4700km..I have only 4 more days. Blows, my, mind. Anyways I'm going to drink tons of water, bath in salts(thanks Jen) and hopefully make some new Friends. I started naming my bike and gear after girls in my life so I am always surrounded by women, therefore, never lonely. Pretty smart eh haha oh man. So far Ive biked somewhere near 500km. 500x5 is 2500. That's how much money I have raised just from riding alone. In another post I will tell you just how hard this ride really is. That's all for now!
ps, Lach, your music is hilarious and I think you need some counselling. Peter, I wish you were here bud. I lost your email......naturally. So mine is beaudoin.adam@gmail.com. Hope to hear from you soon.
Tomorrow will be a test of mind over excruciating pain. I named my quads Lance and Thor for the occasion. Female names didn't feel right.
Au revoir
Monday 8 August 2011
Day 3, Lach and Tyler in da houseeee (160km)
Hey everyone!
Today was awesome, I started in Princeton and am now at a small Bed and Breakfast in Rock creek. The first 10km sucked because I was back on the saddle that my body is still adjusting too. Eventually I got in my groove and listened to Michael Beuble's top hits (my moms music). Music is a huge part of this trip for me. Songs remind me of people, places and memories I have had over the years. Sammy Adams makes me think of Whistler. "babyyyyy your drivennn me crazzyyyy" haha anyways I destroyed the first 60 km and started to climb...and climb..and then climb some more. Osoyoos is very mountainous. Eventually I arrived at the lake and met up with 2 friends. That was really awesome for a couple reasons. It reminded me that I have friends. Also, I got to talk to someone besides my bike "Kelly" haha ( I don't actually talk to my bike, that's kinda weird) After a big lunch and a couple equipment adjustments I was off. it was 5:30pm (way too late) I started to climb out of the valley. Holy was that ever hard, I climbed for 25 km...!!!!!!! straight climbing. I feel like I'm in the tour. Somehow my quads were being pistons again and powered me to the top of mt Anarchy (4000ft). The road smoothed out and I started to descend and fly. New top speed! 74.8 km/hour...at that speed things start to get a little wild. I saw some deer today and a big bull, a couple lamas and a dog. Wildlife is kinda lame right now but I always make some weird noise as I ride by to see what they do. Most just stare like I'm some crazy animal zipping across the road but some jump around or run in herds. yep, that's what my highlights are of each day haha. I can't explain how beautiful this province is. To tell you the truth I secertly am falling in love with this. There is so much pain and suffering but once you get past that it is a once in a life time adventure. I feel like the young man in "Into the Wild". I powered past the B and B to reach 160km for the day. I feel so great! I will now give you this song to really express the feeling in my legs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSK9kkM7GL4
Its 10 pm and I need to sleep but so far the trip is going awesome. However,there will be extreme lows over the coming days, especially since my Dad is leaving. I will be alone for 5 nights. Pretty crazy considering how much he does for me while I'm out here battling. Big shout out to T-pain (Tarun) for improving the blog..The Global interview was hilarious. "but just an hour in, Adam, was already lost" That makes me laugh every time. I have come to the realization that I can actually do this. The next coming days are pretty much make or break though. Wish me luck. This will be my last post for 4 days. Kobus, if your reading. I will be at your place on the 10th. you know my number, Cell coverage is pretty terrible so I may just show up at your door. Surprise! haha Alright, Goodnight everyone, "and I'm feeling....goood"
Today was awesome, I started in Princeton and am now at a small Bed and Breakfast in Rock creek. The first 10km sucked because I was back on the saddle that my body is still adjusting too. Eventually I got in my groove and listened to Michael Beuble's top hits (my moms music). Music is a huge part of this trip for me. Songs remind me of people, places and memories I have had over the years. Sammy Adams makes me think of Whistler. "babyyyyy your drivennn me crazzyyyy" haha anyways I destroyed the first 60 km and started to climb...and climb..and then climb some more. Osoyoos is very mountainous. Eventually I arrived at the lake and met up with 2 friends. That was really awesome for a couple reasons. It reminded me that I have friends. Also, I got to talk to someone besides my bike "Kelly" haha ( I don't actually talk to my bike, that's kinda weird) After a big lunch and a couple equipment adjustments I was off. it was 5:30pm (way too late) I started to climb out of the valley. Holy was that ever hard, I climbed for 25 km...!!!!!!! straight climbing. I feel like I'm in the tour. Somehow my quads were being pistons again and powered me to the top of mt Anarchy (4000ft). The road smoothed out and I started to descend and fly. New top speed! 74.8 km/hour...at that speed things start to get a little wild. I saw some deer today and a big bull, a couple lamas and a dog. Wildlife is kinda lame right now but I always make some weird noise as I ride by to see what they do. Most just stare like I'm some crazy animal zipping across the road but some jump around or run in herds. yep, that's what my highlights are of each day haha. I can't explain how beautiful this province is. To tell you the truth I secertly am falling in love with this. There is so much pain and suffering but once you get past that it is a once in a life time adventure. I feel like the young man in "Into the Wild". I powered past the B and B to reach 160km for the day. I feel so great! I will now give you this song to really express the feeling in my legs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSK9kkM7GL4
Its 10 pm and I need to sleep but so far the trip is going awesome. However,there will be extreme lows over the coming days, especially since my Dad is leaving. I will be alone for 5 nights. Pretty crazy considering how much he does for me while I'm out here battling. Big shout out to T-pain (Tarun) for improving the blog..The Global interview was hilarious. "but just an hour in, Adam, was already lost" That makes me laugh every time. I have come to the realization that I can actually do this. The next coming days are pretty much make or break though. Wish me luck. This will be my last post for 4 days. Kobus, if your reading. I will be at your place on the 10th. you know my number, Cell coverage is pretty terrible so I may just show up at your door. Surprise! haha Alright, Goodnight everyone, "and I'm feeling....goood"
Sunday 7 August 2011
Day 2. 151km....too tired to think of anything better
Hello everyone,
Firstly I apologize if parts of this may sound weird, I had a long day. I left Hope At 9 today and immediately started to climb. I climb 4904ft to the top of mt Allison. It took me 3 hours to get up to the summit but my legs felt strong and I kept on going. I jumped into a river too cool down and soon the bugs started to attack me. About 30 km down the road a Black Bear ran out right in front of me. I hit the brakes as he ran across the road to safety. I climbed again for another 2 hours, this time I was flying up the mt. My legs were pumping like pistons and I was destroying the km. I realized there were cars parked on the road. I kept on climbing and passed hundreds of cars. It turns out there was a motorcycle accident. The bike was split in 2 and lying on opposite sides of the road...the helmet was farther up the road. I won't get into the details but It shook me up a bit knowing that someone died. I saw the person's water bottle still intact lying next to as I rode by. I picked up a small paint chip of the bike as a reminder for the danger of the roads ahead. "be thankful for your position in life because it can change in an instant" I'm risking my life every day I step out the door to do my 160. When you're out here, doing what I'm doing, you have to find something to believe in. The rest of the day went by as the first. I hit a wall at 100km and got super thirsty because my dad was stuck in the back up. I started to crash and had to take some drastic measures to maintain my energy levels. Eventually I arrived in Princeton after a really long day in the saddle. I have to take this thing one day at a time or my mind will probably just fall apart haha Time for bed but I hope tomorrow goes well. My legs need sleep. Wish me Luck
A
Firstly I apologize if parts of this may sound weird, I had a long day. I left Hope At 9 today and immediately started to climb. I climb 4904ft to the top of mt Allison. It took me 3 hours to get up to the summit but my legs felt strong and I kept on going. I jumped into a river too cool down and soon the bugs started to attack me. About 30 km down the road a Black Bear ran out right in front of me. I hit the brakes as he ran across the road to safety. I climbed again for another 2 hours, this time I was flying up the mt. My legs were pumping like pistons and I was destroying the km. I realized there were cars parked on the road. I kept on climbing and passed hundreds of cars. It turns out there was a motorcycle accident. The bike was split in 2 and lying on opposite sides of the road...the helmet was farther up the road. I won't get into the details but It shook me up a bit knowing that someone died. I saw the person's water bottle still intact lying next to as I rode by. I picked up a small paint chip of the bike as a reminder for the danger of the roads ahead. "be thankful for your position in life because it can change in an instant" I'm risking my life every day I step out the door to do my 160. When you're out here, doing what I'm doing, you have to find something to believe in. The rest of the day went by as the first. I hit a wall at 100km and got super thirsty because my dad was stuck in the back up. I started to crash and had to take some drastic measures to maintain my energy levels. Eventually I arrived in Princeton after a really long day in the saddle. I have to take this thing one day at a time or my mind will probably just fall apart haha Time for bed but I hope tomorrow goes well. My legs need sleep. Wish me Luck
A
Saturday 6 August 2011
How to donate.
Here is the link to my Home page on the BC cancer foundation.
http://donate.bccancerfoundation.com/site/TR?pg=fund&fr_id=1250&pxfid=9721
I will put the link to the global TV interview and the radio bit I did the other day soon.
http://donate.bccancerfoundation.com/site/TR?pg=fund&fr_id=1250&pxfid=9721
I will put the link to the global TV interview and the radio bit I did the other day soon.
Day 1 rollercoaster
Hello everyone,
I did it!, my first day is complete. I biked 164km today from Tswaassen to Hope. Of course there were some challenges but all in all it wasn't too bad. The first challenge was actually hilarious. I was biking on the 99 I think, lost of course and Global TV calls asking were I am. I was supposed to be on the 7. As I talk I realize there is a parallel highway next to the 99. A small forest separated the two so I decided to do a little bush whacking. I uncliped and walked into the unknown, pushing branches out of my face. I emerged on the other side laughing and smiling. Grass and twigs covered me all over and I crossed highway 7 to the appropriate shoulder. What a start 'eh haha I met a man named Peter on the other side because I was looking at my map and facing the wrong direction. Peter is a great man and I am so fortunate to have met him. The TV crew rolled up and we had an interesting interview. I said "Vancouver is a gong show" on air (not the city, the roads is what I meant), I was all smiles though because I just ran through a thicket to meet everyone. After the interview Peter and I headed off and what was supposed to be a 10 km ride for Pete turned into a 60 km ride. We talked the whole way and the time just flew by. If I could, I would have Peter come the whole way, life is so much easier on the road with a friend. After Peter left I still had 100 km to bike by my self. I have literally not stopped eating since 11 am. Half the battle is keeping your body running in optimum condition. Around Mission I had a leak in my rear tire, I pumped it up every 30 min to keep in between 50 and 70 psi ( I ride 110psi) In retrospect that was quite stupid of me because a cyclist exerts way more energy on a flat (I was tired okay) Cycling 160km takes way more time and energy than I thought. I cycled for 6 and a half hours. That's a really long time to be sitting on a seat not much wider than my fist. Eventually I arrived in Hope and was so stoked to have finished the first day. I jumped in the tub for an ice bath and then a bunch of choc milk (thanks Kathy). Tomorrow will be the real test however. If I can't recover in 12 hours then this ride will be a living hell haha. I enter the mountains tomorrow. Its going to be a war of attrition. I know I can do it though, if I stay injury free this ride will be a cruzeeeeee. I'm off to bed. Wish me luck tomorrow and I will update when I can.
ps I was swarmed with mosquito's today and was jumping around like a crazy man. I need to get used to the bugs...all will come in time. Also, thanks so much Peter for everything you did. I wont forget about you and will email you soon. I think I'm staying with the Hwy 3....I heard you were on TV !! haha
have a good night
I did it!, my first day is complete. I biked 164km today from Tswaassen to Hope. Of course there were some challenges but all in all it wasn't too bad. The first challenge was actually hilarious. I was biking on the 99 I think, lost of course and Global TV calls asking were I am. I was supposed to be on the 7. As I talk I realize there is a parallel highway next to the 99. A small forest separated the two so I decided to do a little bush whacking. I uncliped and walked into the unknown, pushing branches out of my face. I emerged on the other side laughing and smiling. Grass and twigs covered me all over and I crossed highway 7 to the appropriate shoulder. What a start 'eh haha I met a man named Peter on the other side because I was looking at my map and facing the wrong direction. Peter is a great man and I am so fortunate to have met him. The TV crew rolled up and we had an interesting interview. I said "Vancouver is a gong show" on air (not the city, the roads is what I meant), I was all smiles though because I just ran through a thicket to meet everyone. After the interview Peter and I headed off and what was supposed to be a 10 km ride for Pete turned into a 60 km ride. We talked the whole way and the time just flew by. If I could, I would have Peter come the whole way, life is so much easier on the road with a friend. After Peter left I still had 100 km to bike by my self. I have literally not stopped eating since 11 am. Half the battle is keeping your body running in optimum condition. Around Mission I had a leak in my rear tire, I pumped it up every 30 min to keep in between 50 and 70 psi ( I ride 110psi) In retrospect that was quite stupid of me because a cyclist exerts way more energy on a flat (I was tired okay) Cycling 160km takes way more time and energy than I thought. I cycled for 6 and a half hours. That's a really long time to be sitting on a seat not much wider than my fist. Eventually I arrived in Hope and was so stoked to have finished the first day. I jumped in the tub for an ice bath and then a bunch of choc milk (thanks Kathy). Tomorrow will be the real test however. If I can't recover in 12 hours then this ride will be a living hell haha. I enter the mountains tomorrow. Its going to be a war of attrition. I know I can do it though, if I stay injury free this ride will be a cruzeeeeee. I'm off to bed. Wish me luck tomorrow and I will update when I can.
ps I was swarmed with mosquito's today and was jumping around like a crazy man. I need to get used to the bugs...all will come in time. Also, thanks so much Peter for everything you did. I wont forget about you and will email you soon. I think I'm staying with the Hwy 3....I heard you were on TV !! haha
have a good night
Thursday 4 August 2011
Hello and Goodbye
This will be one of the final posts before I head off on Saturday. So much has happened in the last 4 days I can't even begin to explain it all. The media has caught wind of my ride and I had interviews all today. They are exhausting because you must talk and go over the same actions over and over again, that's TV I guess. I am extremely fortunate however that they are happening. The ride will get some attention in our community and hopefully more people will donate. I just got off the phone with Janette from the BC cancer Foundation. Everyone seems to be really touched and inspired after I explain to them why and how I am doing this ride. To me, on the physical side of things, its just a lot of exercises but I think to others its so much more. I am basically mentally drained as I write you this. Everyday has new challenges to overcome and so many tasks to complete. Mom and Dad, I love you. With out either of you I would not have to opportunity to accomplish any of this. I would probably ride to UVIC next year instead haha (UVIC is a great school).
I have to say my goodbyes to many good friends tonight. These are people who I love and care about and have made my life what it is. I will be sad to leave but I know it is the right choice. Without change one cannot grow. At 17, its time to grow. Those are my thoughts at least. I know over the coming days I will have to do things way beyond my limits and that is really what is getting to me. Failure is an option if I feel like I am going to sustain an injury that will affect the rest of my life. That's the only time I will step off my bike I think. I care about this ride more than I care about many things in life. It is so much bigger than me now, I am merely the face of 100s of peoples effort that has gone in. All that's left to do is time trial 4700km to Queens. Enough talking and its time to show what a determined young man can do in 30 days. Its time to Change what was once thought of as impossible. Its time to leave.
A
I have to say my goodbyes to many good friends tonight. These are people who I love and care about and have made my life what it is. I will be sad to leave but I know it is the right choice. Without change one cannot grow. At 17, its time to grow. Those are my thoughts at least. I know over the coming days I will have to do things way beyond my limits and that is really what is getting to me. Failure is an option if I feel like I am going to sustain an injury that will affect the rest of my life. That's the only time I will step off my bike I think. I care about this ride more than I care about many things in life. It is so much bigger than me now, I am merely the face of 100s of peoples effort that has gone in. All that's left to do is time trial 4700km to Queens. Enough talking and its time to show what a determined young man can do in 30 days. Its time to Change what was once thought of as impossible. Its time to leave.
A
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