Day 1

So I made to Banff but was brutal. I got heat exhaustion and spent a lot of time reconsidering this trip. As a kid seeing the bikes traveling seemed glamorous but in reality its just a lot of hard work.

Today is just as hot as yesterday and I have started really late. I will take it really easy today and see how my body is after wards. So far today I am not aching so that is good but I am very tired.

This packing list is designed for those biking tours, who will be cooking their own food and camping.  Its easy enough to trim down the portions if you plan no eating out or hosteling.

The goal of packing for a bike ride it to carry as little weight as possible, as weight really sucks when climbing mountains (or hills).  I have chosen to carry at most a days worth of food on me, and to wash my clothes more frequently instead of packing an additional set. Since my bike doesn't have capability to carry paniers I've gone with a trailer.  I purchased a BOB YAK trailer with a single tire that looks like it will do the trick of carrying my cargo easily, although it does look small.

This post is longer then most but for anyone else who is planning a tour a lsit like this will help a lot.And crazily even though the list looks long the weight of the bag isn't so bad.  Its important to choose light weight items where ever possible.

Bike Related

• Bike
• Emergency Bag (patch kit, multi-wrench & spare tire), make sure the glue has not dried up.
• Trailer (or saddle bags)
• Trailer Bag (waterproof)
• Tire pump
• Head lamp (with fresh batteries)
• Lock (key type - not combination)
• Rear Lamp Light (with fresh batteries)
• Helmet
• Camel bag or water bottles

Spare Parts

• 1 - Fold-able bike tire
• 1 - spare trailer tire (16 x 1.75")
• Tubes for bike (2) and trailer (1)
• Spare batteries (if required)
• Chain lube

Biking Clothing

• 2 - jersey (3 pairs if you want less times washing)
• 2 - padded bike shorts (3 pairs if you want less times washing)
• 3 - pairs socks
• 1 - pair leggings or pants (I prefer leggings as they hardly take any space)
• 1 - water tight shell (for rain and windy cold days)
• 1 - biking shoes with cleats
• 3 - pairs no seam underwear
• 1 - long sleeve jersey (optional, but handy if its colder)
• cycling gloves
• sunglasses

Non Biking clothes

• 1 - Shoes / sandals
• 2 - t-shirts

Hygiene / Medical

• shampoo & container
• soap bar & soap container
• wash cloth
• toothbrush & tooth paste
• sunscreen lotion
• bug repellent
• razor
• small roll - toilet paper
• small towel
• advil
• medications
• bandaids

Camp Related

• tent - small lightweight personal sleeping bag (water repellent with inside over zippers) as light as possible
• sleeping bag stuff sack (stuffed with clothes to be a pillow)
• sleeping pad
• 5 - 1.5 m locking straps.
• small cook stove
• utensils
• water filtration tables
• matches and match container
• dish soap and cloth
• Hunting knife / Leather man
• Plastic bowl (handy for so many things from ceaning to cooking)

Food - Riding

• Beef Jerky
• Dried Fruit
• Nuts
• Tuna meals
• Energy Gels
• Protien bars

Food - Camp

• Rolled oats w/ in a plastic bag
• Brown Sugar .in a plastic bag

Other

• Cash  / Visa
• Maps
• Pen and small pad of paper
• Bible and or another book to read.
• Proof of heath insurance
• Camera (small) & charger
• Cell phone & charger
• mp3 player  & charger (hopefully same charger for all 3)

Some people will take along the following as well.  Depending on your trip you may want to consider these items:

Optional Bike Related

• 15 mm cone wrench
• Chain tool
• Spoke wrench
• Cassette tool to unscrew cogs
• Spare spokes, two of each length
• Spare brake and shift cables
• Cable Ties

Other Optional

• Padlock for campground lockers (or hostel lockers.

Test

• Trailer Loaded with Bike
• Weight of load, and packing of load, needs to be balanced.

Advil is for mornings and evenings.  In the morning to help with any left over aches n pains as well as cramping.  And the same in the evening so its easier to get the needed sleep.


Band-aids are for blisters most likely or small cuts.  Anything bigger will have to be dealt with with aid from others.  When biking you are really restricted on what you can bring and you can not carry everything you will need for EVERY possible event that could happen.  Its better to plan for the likely events and adapt as required. 


I was going to build a solar charging unit for my phone / music player, but it didn't work so I was going to buy one, with only a couple days before I leave and lack of time to really try thhem out I've decided to hold off on the solar charger.  Its a neat idea but it seems that many of them aren't as great as they sound.  So plan B will be to scrounge up a MP3 player as they will go for 30+ hours.  And I should easily be in power range at least every couple days.  My phone I will leave off except for phone calls or blog updates, this will allow me to keep it charged for a few days as well between charges.  The nice thing about this plan is that I will actually carry less weight as a mp3 player is much lighter/smaller then a solar panel.


I am not taking a lot of foood with me, which can really add up in weight, but it also means I need to find a grocery store quite frequently.  Pert of the problem is I am not sure what I want to take with me for food.

Nanton - Chain Lakes (re-living the memories)

Yesterday I had an opportunity to bike the daunting section of the R2CC 2010 ride I did a few weeks back.  I felt it would give me a good feel to how some of the mountain sections would be and also and to tell if I've gotten any stronger since last time I did this section.  

Here is the map of the Nanton - Chain Lakes - Nanton trip we did.  http://beta.mapmyride.com/route/detail/20248692/ 

So the ride was good, although we started a little later then expected we had planned for a 10am start, but didn't get going till nearly 11.  We took it easy, and I let Peter lead so I didn't push myself  and we got to Chain Lakes by 2, so it took 3 hours to get there with breaks.  I have to say I took more time to enjoy the scenery this time, it was very beautiful.  It was blue skies most of the way there, but became cloudy with threatening clouds for the return trip. 

Return trip was faster as we left Chain Lakes about 2:30 and got back to the vehicles in Nanton by 4:30. That massive hill we climbed and climbed and climbed at R2CC is a really really long enjoyable ride down, which is great!  Really makes you realize how long of a climb it really was.  We did have a head wind for the last stretch to Nanton which was a little sad as I was expecting a nice easy finish.  

I did notice that overall I took less breaks and had a faster pace yesterday then during the R2CC which means I have.

Total trip is 77km, so not a great average time  but when you consider that there is total 650m climb involved it makes it seem a little more reasonable.  I think I am ready physically for my trip next week... only 8 days remaining but so much to still do to get ready. 

And we are already talking about doing the Nanton - Chain Lakes ride again in August, probably late August or early September (I do need to take a little time off after I return).   I think I will email the Cenovus R2CC team when its closer as there may be another crazy person out there interested in joining us.    

My next blog entry will focus on my  preparations, what I'll be taking with me and why I made the selections I have.And hoeflly I've selected wisely as its a little hard to come home and pick up that really important item when I am 4 days into my ride. 

Please support Prostate Cancer Research as 1 in 6 men will get it in their life. Click the image or the link below.




http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR?px=2361639&pg=personal&fr_id=1372

Cold Feet

You know its not only bride and grooms that get cold feet, mine have been getting cold too.  Last couple days the temperature has plummeted but that hasn't been what has made my feet cold.  It's only days away from my ride, 15 and counting, and I'm starting to question my sanity.  I am sure many of you have already been questioning my sanity all along. 

Yesterday I watched as it poured buckets of water and pummeled cars and the building with golf ball sized hail. All the while I was thinking holey crap where would I take cover in such a deluge while biking!!!! And then on my drive home from Sorrento while passing through Rogers Pass - Revelstoke I kept looking at all that long unrelenting mountain I would have to be climbing.  

I must be crazy! I also know that I did bike from Nanton to Chain Lakes and that was also a brutal stretch of road, so I have that comfort to fall back on. Having done something similar once does easy the panic, and one of my motto's of "baby steps" also comes to mind every time I start to get overwhelmed.  I can always stop, I can always walk, and I can take more time if I need to, tackling a major mission like a 2 week bike ride is one that needs to be broken down into days, and then each day may be tackled peddle by peddle.  

This is the same approach cancer patients have to approach life, they need to accept their reality, determine a game plan and then methodically work through it, doing their therapies and working trough the recovery of each treatment.  All the while accepting that they can beat cancer because so many people have provided the funds for research to make it possible to win.  It's not a guarantee that their cancer can be overcome but with each year and each fund raiser the odds of winning have increased.  

Please share my journey with friends and family, with 1 in 6 mend being diagnosed with Prostate Cancer I know that at least one man you know will be struck by this.

Please support Prostate Cancer Research as 1 in 6 men will get it in their life. Click the image or the link below.



http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR?px=2361639&pg=personal&fr_id=1372

Week of R & R

So after the grueling weekend of biking I went on holidays to the Shuswap with my kids.  We stayed at Sorrento Centre where the kids hung out and spent a lot of time with the the other kids in the youth programs. Most other adults there were involved in the adult oriented programs, but I had other plans. My week of R & R was a week of riding and running.

After making breakfast I would head off on a bike ride up the back roads around Sorrento, some days I would stop and take pictures of interesting places or animals.  It was a very hot week with some days reaching 38 C which is very hot for me.  All my rides started with a 4 km hill that got me working hard and then the ride became a set of gentle rolling hills with a great view of the farms and orchards.  By Friday, which was the hottest day, I was biking to Tappen and back which is a 50km trip, with steep hills at both ends of the ride.  

I tested out my new water pack which worked really well. The water stayed cold/cool which surprised me.  And I carried along my camera a few camera lens just to add weight to the trek, and you never know when a great photo moment will occur.  

Each night I also ran with my dog which he greatly enjoyed.  I started with a 30 min run the first night and then bumped it up to 60 min runs the remaining evenings.  By Friday I had made significant improvement in the distance I was running in 30 minutes, as after 30 min I'd turn around and head back to the dog kennel to drop of my Lab.  

I do have to say that I have had many moments where I think i might be crazy to be doing this ride to Vancouver.  That its impossible and thus ridiculous for me to even bother with trying to do.  I know coming home I looked at the grade (6%) and trhe length of hills from Rogers Pass to Revelstoke (50k) and that made me really wonder what am I getting myself into.  Once the moments of fear pass I know I can do it, I just have to break it down into little steps.   It is going to be a very difficult ride both physically and mentally. The mental part is already starting with all te self-doubt I have been feeling the past couple weeks but I know that if I loose that part then I won't make it.  

Please support my ride either through donations to Prostate Cancer or by sharing my journey with others.  Its important that more money is raised for prostate cancer as it affects 1 in 6 men.

Please support Prostate Cancer Research as 1 in 6 men will get it in their life. Click the image or the link below.



http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR?px=2361639&pg=personal&fr_id=1372

Ride to Conquer Cancer

Friday night I was a little apprehensive having never done anything like this before.  In fact before this year the longest ride I ever done was a 60km ride 25 years ago that nearly killed me. So Saturday morning I was up bright n early at 5am and headed off to Spruce Meadows for the ride. 

Some cool stats - 1,888 riders who raised over 8.3 million dollars for cancer research here in Alberta. 

Here is a picture of the start of the event during the opening ceremonies.

Just before the ride started I did bump into 2 other team mates aka "Crazy Cranks" who I peddled with for a few minutes at the beginning of the ride, but soon I took off and peddled at my own pace.  The ride went through Okatoks where the first rest point was, since I wasn't trying to kill myself I stopped and grabbed a piece of fruit and more water then carried on.  The second stop was in High River, and I did the same short break as it was about an hour since the last stop.  The 3rd stop was in Nanton and I thought I was doing incredibly well, I had been averaging about 28km/h which is a great pace for me, I hadn't been pushing myself and at the Nanton 75km point I thought that it was going great. Nanton was the lunch break point where I grabbed a great box lunch then I hid in the shade and ate. 

As I was departing I saw a guy with a spare car tire painted and strapped to his bike.  He told me that he joined the ride 2 weeks ago and needed a creative way to raise the donations.  So he told everyone that he would add 1 kg for every $100 raised.  So he had a 24kg tire strapped to his bike for the ride.  I'm not sure if he completed the ride  as I never noticed the bike after that but I did enjoy meeting him and the other very amusing and creative people on the ride who had great costumes or interesting bikes.

Here is a pic of a guy cooling off literally as he sits on the ice packs keeping the water chilled.  Next is the spare tire and then a picture of a group of guys in hot pink shorts doing the ride.

I had overheard a couple interesting conversations at the Nanton beak, the first was that those riders who made it to camp at Chain Lakes before 12:30 were going to do an "after burn"  which I was told was a short 70km extra ride.  I just shook my head at that and thought if that was true they must be totally nuts!   I also heard someone mention there was some hills ahead, so I took it easy leaving Nanton just in case.  Unfortunately that was my last facebook entry on the trip as I didn't turn my phone off properly and the battery died.

So from Nanton the ride became interesting, you know when it looks like you are going downhill but you really going up?  Well that is how it was from Nanton on.  And I figured this isn't so bad, I can handle the last 20km of this...  well at about the 80 km mark there was a sharp turn and I noticed a sign saying 28km to Chain Lakes which I thought "couldn't be" I'm almost done!  I noticed that my legs were starting to get tired out and then the hill began...

The hill was a 6% grade that didn't end, it just kept on going and going and going.  Every time you thought it was over you would go around a bend and see that there was more.  I kept on thinking to myself, why am I doing this? I must be very crazy!  Do I really want to do a trip to Vancouver when this ride was nearly killing me? To understand the hill, imagine Glen Eagles hill but 5 times as long.

And finally after 12km of agonizing hill there was an unexpected pit stop, but not the camp I had so desired and expected.  I gladly stopped and took a much needed break where I found out that the ride to camp was actually 115km and that I had another 20km to go.   But they reassured me that after the short hill I could see before me and a couple rolling hills it became easy.  Well those "rolling hills" were quite mountainous and went on for another 10km.  The last 5 km was more downhill but with a nasty head wind that made it feel as if you were going down a gentle grade not the steep hill it was.  I felt robbed of enjoying the down's after all the sweat that went into the up's.

Finally after numerous short breaks on all those hills, I made it to camp at 3:30, only 6 hours after leaving Spruce Meadows.  Actual biking time was 4:45 min which I was is VERY impressed with as it was better than my hoped for goal of 5 hours for 100km.  After grabbing my bags I had a very very desired shower and a nap which made me feel almost human and refreshed. 

And 4 hours after arriving at camp I signed up for the ride next year.

During supper I actually met up with most of the Crazy Crank team, and heard about their rides.  Most of them took a little longer than me to get in, with the longest I heard being 9 hours.  I know that bikes were still coming in at 8pm, which I think is about when they went out and did a sweep to pick up anyone who was still on the road biking.  I'm not sure how many there might have been to collect.  One of my team had actually made it in by 1pm, which I was very impressed with.  I know I had passed a lot of bikes on the first 80k of the ride, and many passed me on the last 35k, but he must have been smoking along.  There was a lady who was 7 months pregnant that I heard made it the first 60k of the ride.  I was very impressed that she made it so far,  that would have been really a challenge for her. 

Supper was really yummy, with mostly vegetables but you had the option of chicken or veggie entre.  I had the chicken and it was very yummy along with a free beer.  Someone said that beers make a great recovery drink which I decided I liked the idea of so from now on I think it will be my choice of recovery drinks :-). 

I tried going to sleep at 9, but I think it was well after 11 before I truly fell asleep with all the chatter and then snoring around me.  I did sleep pretty good, and woke up at 5 am, not sore!  This really shocked me as I figured I’d be a hurting puppy this morning.  But I was pretty limber and no body parts were complaining. 

Here is a picture of camp and of me on day #2

Today’s ride was pretty good, we did NOT go back the way we had come the day prior which I thank my lucky stars! The ride back was up hwy 22 and then 22X to Spruce Meadows.  Just like the previous day the views were amazing.  The first stretch had a decent hill that really got the muscles loosened up and then for the most part it was rolling hills.  The nice thing about them is that for every up I got a chance to go down, and I made a personal best speed of 67 km/h on one hill.  Others had hit 80 km/h, but I thought that 67 km/h was pretty scary. I did get burnt today even though I had lathered up with sun block, but not too horribly.

The ride into Spruce Meadows was surreal.  They called off your name as you came in and a crowd cheered you on. In fact there was people all along the route that cheered and that really made me feel like I was making a difference.  Next year I will try and plan to have my friends’ n family there at the end as it was like a bit of a party.  They had a great burger feast, music and would be nice to share that with them.

So the return trip was 4 hours of biking time over a 5 hour period.  This is directly in line with what I had hoped to do for my Vancouver trip.  So I’m very pleased with my performance, and that today I still had a little energy left in my legs even at the end.

In 5 weeks I start my next crazy adventure which I hope to share daily... as long as I keep my phone charged.  


Its important to remember that 1 in 6 men will get prostate cancer in their life.  Count the men you know, and know that every 6th one is it, not the kind of game you want to be picked for.  Please Please share my story by bringing awareness of prostate cancer to those you know and help me raise money to fight this debilitating disease.  

Please support Prostate Cancer Research as 1 in 6 men will get it in their life. Click the image or the link below.


http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR?px=2361639&pg=personal&fr_id=1372

6 weeks to go

With 6 weeks till my ride to Vancouver, I will know next weekend how close I am to being in condition to biking 1,200 km.  Next weekend is the Ride to Conquer Cancer, and I have now met my donation requirement of $2,500.  I took a look at the top fund raisers and was astonished to see that there were quite a few that had earned up to $60,000.  I found raising $2,500 to be a challenge and would have no idea who to raise even $10,000 let alone 60!

I have been training most days, but have slipped from my goal for daily rides.  I had planned on biking from Calaway Park to downtown every week day about mid May.  It is now near end of June and I have ridden from Calaway to downtown, but it has been rather sporadic.  I do need to bump up my riding a little and with school ending it will mean that my Monday / Wednesday evenings will have a little more leeway to them.  Currently I need to be home to take my daughter to soccer M & W so that limits my rides somewhat. Most days I ride from COP, which makes for a nice ride.  Here are the distances of the rides I do.

Daily rides to Downtown

• Shouldice – 15km
• COP – 30km
• Calaway Park – 50km

I have decided that I have to take the main route to Vancouver from Calgary through Golden, Kamloops then to Vancouver.  I had been interested in taking a southern route, but it adds 3-4 days to the trip, would be much hillier and a lot hotter (40C).  So I’m opting for a more northerly route. The only part that is still to be decided is if I should go through Case or Whistler as both routes seem about the same distance.

The other part of my plan that has changed is that initially I was going to have a road crew to take care of the daily logistics.  Currently it looks like I will be packing my gear as well, so this will impact my rides making them longer if I want to maintain 100km a day. With 6 weeks left I now need to start planning what I need to bring along for this ride, as well as minimizing what I take as well. I’ll try and note what I’m packing or planning on packing in my next post.

I had expected that with the biking and running that over the winter I would have lost weight.  There are 2 ways to make your ride easier, you can by very expensive bikes and gear that are very light, or you can lose weight. I had opted for the weight loss as a 10 lb loss in body mass would be a big increase in my ride.  Alas I’ve gained a little over the winter which has me puzzled but also accepting that I won’t be as physically fit as I had hoped to be for my Vancouver trip.

Well it’s Saturday, and sunny out, and I hear the trails calling my name.