The last day in the national parks was up to the town of Jasper--just as cute and friendly as Banff, and just as touristly-priced! But I get ahead of myself. First came the downhill. A zoomy, twisty road like you can only find in the mountains, that I love to drive and really enjoy riding down. Couldn't quite get up to 50mph (It's ok, Mom, this one had guardrails!) to complete the feat of breaking a speed limit posted in kph...in mph. Usman was braver than the rest of us and made it up to 49mph. After that I rode for awhile with daniel and we pushed hard for the first rest stop, since we like riding bikes fast. He let me win the last leg, though. He can be a nice guy sometimes, even if a bit patronizing =)
The next leg, I started out with some folks, but quickly dropped them and had a lovely ride out front of the group all alone. I like contemplating the mountains alone, so it was pretty nice to be out there with just the road and the scenery. The mountains continued to impress. At the second rest stop, as I pulled in, so did the goats! Mountain goats came to graze right next to where Allison was parked, and she woke up to the arrival of me and the goats. The goats stayed there for at least an hour, playing and being photographed by us plus a zillion tourists. Since I got to the rest stop about a half hour before most other people (who'd stopped at a restaurant, to get their civilization on, I guess), I picked some hikes off my map, packed my shoes and jacket into my bike bag, and took off to climb a mountain by myself. More lonely, wonderful riding, capped by the most extreme climb so far--hopefully the most extreme of the trip! I mean on the bike, that is. The road to the base of the mountain was almost straight uphill and a real challenge...I had to stop almost every hundred feet for awhile to get my breathing and heartbeat back under control. I'd left with a mission: climb a mountain. I was equipped with a map and had a hike planned out if I could just make it into Jasper in time.
Fortunately time was no problem, especially since the hike was preceded by a tram that saved me 5 hours of hiking straight up a mountain, but left me with a nice hour of walking at the top. It's unfortunate that I didn't have time to hike the whole mountain, but even just biking up to the tram was the hardest part of the day...the steepest climb of the trip, after 70miles of hilly riding. Zoiks. Poor folks who were crammed into the tram with unshowered-me, stinky and still dripping sweat! But man, they left my mind completely at the top! After the walk up to the peak, I was so rewarded...360 degrees of mountains! I can't even explain the sensation I get sitting and looking out over a mountain range, and I haven't seen one so rich and omnidirectional since a hike in colorado that I had to drive for hours to even get to, and that we barely escaped from before dark, and had to hurry to do so. Today, there was no hurry, and so I just sat and soaked in what I really expect from mountains: awesome, breathtaking vista from a windy top. I was at peace and happy. And that peace had some staying power over the next few days...
The cruise into town from the tram was just a few easy miles (which did include breaking a 25kph speed limit in mph--that hill was so steep coming down that i rode my brakes!), and then it was time for all the good stuff you can do in town...laundry, showers, eating fancy foods (I had more poutine, gyros -- which they call Donair, and a few beers). And then, at midnight, we woke Natalie with the sound of 17 beers opening since it was her 21st birthday, and sung her the birthday song before shuffling off to bed.
It always provokes a bit of melancholy to leave a place we've been staying that has running water and a kitchen and rather fewer mosquitoes than the outside, so our departure from Jasper was a bit bitter. It was sweetened, however, by the fact that Michael's injury was on the mend, and he was ready to get back on the bike with us, so we had a kind of tearful dedication to welcome him back. Then we saddled up...
...and there was a border sometime in the morning. I personally had my faux-money riding on it being past the first rest stop, but I wasn't about to get left behind, So instead, I set the pace, and pretty soon it was just myself and Daniel up in front. He never attacked but he did lead me up some hills when I was flagging. I couldn't really read his intention--he hadn't even raced for the last state border, opting out saying something like "I've already gotten my share" so I thought maybe he was just pacing me, leading me out as I tend to do for him at every race. We got close to the border of something, so I attacked and he fell back, and I was...first! Out of the state park. The border was still some distance away, unknown how far. He caught up with me pretty quick since I'd used all my energy in that sprint, and then our paceline of me followed by him passed the back of a sign facing the other direction. I looked back to see "leaving alberta" and turned it on at the same time as Daniel. He beat me pretty thoroughly in the sprint to the "Welcome to British Columbia, the best place on earth!" sign...by at least 40 feet. There can be no doubt that he is a far better sprinter than me, and since he did turn out to be racing, the better racer won, but at least I continued in my string of close seconds. I actually kind of like being second...it fits my personality of acceptance =)
We waited for the rest of the crew, took some pictures (it's yet to be established whether the experiential evidence will match the pictorial evidence presented at the nicest "welcome to..!" sign we've seen yet), and then cruised on to rest stop #1...where we sang happy birthday to Natalie again. Amy had bought streamers, balloons, and noisemakers and we had a little roadside celebration and hoped that we would be loud enough to keep the bears away.
Sometime during the ride, Collin and I got to chatting about analogies people have made to our ride...climbing Everest? Nobody's really in danger of dying, and while it costs an arm and a leg and takes a few months, it's just not quite as extreme. Biking the antarctic, where there are few locals and none speak your language, or something, maybe.
The one that really got to us though, is a comparison to the trials of Job made by a preacher in Helena, Montana. We have it so good! Our muscles are sore, and occasionally we get miniscule open sores, but our families, our friends, and mostly, everyone we meet are so good to us that it's like we're in heaven. It's hard to explain how much the support of friends and family meant to us over the summer...it definitely got us through some very hard times.
The next two stops, for me, were pretty easy cruising...I left rest stops quickly since sitting around in the oppressive heat was really not pleasant for me, and cruised slowly so I could enjoy the self-made breeze as much as possible. It's nice to cruise, but I actually kind of lulled myself to sleep (thank goodness for rumble strips!) and so stopped at the first gas station in 55 miles to get some caffeine. The rest of the team came in as well for a break from the heat, and we sat and talked with motorists...and a fellow cyclist from France--Frederic Gele! He was towing all of his gear in a cute little one-wheeled trailer. He was riding Vancouver to Montreal, a journey probably as long as ours, and was doing it for the second time. He was very friendly and fun to chat with, so much so that dragging ourselves away to keep riding was difficult. Yeah, it was totally his magnetic personality and not the 95 degree heat...
Anyway, Collin, Ellen and I were the first to pull away and out into the sun and now-hot wind. This was probably a low altitude point for us, and the humidity and wind started to pick up with the unfortunate effect of really making us miserable--it felt exactly like Texas air. Fortunately, that is where we trained so we didn't melt...we just felt like melting. The next rest stop, fortunately, was at a creek where we took a quick dip and then ran and hid from the mosquitoes before realizing how late we were running and putting the hammer down to get into town quickly. The rewards of early arrival were early showers, an extremely wonderful dinner, and amazing hospitality from the sweetest ladies at the cutest little Anglican church in Canada.
The church ladies had set us up with a fabulous free dinner at the local diner, and then an absolute ton of desserts back at the church which we ate by candlelight--the power had gone out for the whole town, and didn't come back before we went to bed. Speaking of bed, I felt like going there before the majority of the folks and it was still hot in the church, but Alex C pulls me aside and mentions a very cool downstairs sleeping spot...which turned out to be in the basement thrift shop! Shopping time! (Everyone knows I hate shopping, but I was sleeping by the bargain rack and couldn't resist some dress-up..and so I've bought a corduroy suit jacket and a silverish dress shirt which is amusing mostly because it's such a frivolous thing to have along on such a space-limited trip!)
Usually I'm a fan of the journey as well as the destination or perhaps even the journey more than the destination, but Mcbride has left me, for the first time (and only temporarily, I'm sure--we camp tonight) disagreeing with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which says:
"Sometimes it's a little better to travel than to arrive."
There were only four really notable things about these two ~30 mile rides...well aside from the fact that we're *riding our bikes to Alaska* =)
1) The folks in Mcbride were super kind. We spent all morning at a coffee shop while the fire-danger was assessed. We kind of took over the place and had some fun doing so, and they were very accommodating of our dirty bikerselves draped all over, hoarding the internet connection, and using every available seat.
2) The fabulous old-growth trees. Due to smoke from a forest fire, we had to do our only major sagging of the trip--the whole team had to go 50 miles or so in the van to avoid danger to our lungs. Due to this, we missed our chance to hike into the seriously huge old-growth redwoods we'd read about, but we still saw some of the tallest spruces and aspens we've seen all trip long. I've always felt very warm and happy in the presence of big trees that are thriving and dominating the landscape...kings that nobody made.
3) The kindness of the folks at the campground. When Ellen went to reserve our sites, a stranger in the rental lounge and the proprietess both donated $20 to make our stay cheaper, and so that's $40 more we have to give to cancer research at the end of the trip.
4) I learned a lesson today...pay attention to what you're doing. It's one I was taught a long time ago, maybe age 17 or so in the form of "never whistle while you're pissing" (from The Illuminatus Trilogy). This time, I think I got it down. As I was cruising along, trying to get gravel off of my tire (which you do by placing your glove on the rolling tire; you can do it without getting off your bike), watching the tire and not the road, I hit a pothole the size of my head and flew right off the bike. No major damage ensued since I was going about 11mph at the time, but my ego was definitely bruised. Also learned: don't ride over fresh tar. :(
The next morning, we knew Prince George wasn't very far away. The mosquitoes were eating us alive--standing still or no, flesh exposed was a feast for them. We tried to sit in the van while the people with things to do did their things, but the mosquitoes were already in there with us, and it was just like torture in a box, opening the door and then committing tiny genocide again and again as the waves followed the people in. So when the time for dedication came, and we were rushing through it, I called on everyone to leave the mosquitoes out of their heads and put the cause back in, and ride for why we were riding--not away from annoyances, but towards hope, knowledge and charity. Everyone was well on board by the end of it, and we rode out loud and proud and unbothered. Mostly =) I swept for the second day in a row because I was feeling the mood of keeping the team together, and it was good. Even great.
The other bonus of sweeping is that you get to go as slow as you like, and so the day before, I'd taken the time to set a new record for handless-riding at 4.3miles. I eagerly await a challenge from Collin or Vinoj =)
We pulled up to the bicycle store at around 1pm on Sunday to find our gracious hosting coordinator Dorrie. She's been helping or running the T4K hosting situation in Prince George for 4 years now, and she does it with wild abandon and total understanding.
It's a little weird for most hosts who are new to the game to receive 18 ravenous & smelly cyclists (we shower as regularly as possible, but our clothes do not get the same luxury!), our dearest possessions (for the summer, at least, our bikes are the most important things we have, though baby wipes run a close second), and a trailer full of gear. We've done the arrival-unload-seek-showers-and-sustenance dance enough by now that we're fairly efficient, but the effect on the unprepared is a bit offputting--we typically remember to throw some thank-yous in there, but we are like ants scurrying to do our work and make a bit of an enigmatic ruckus doing it.
So finding Dorrie with a list of riders and families, maps and answers, and goodie bags overflowing with love...to find her ushering our bikes for safe storage and available TLC into an otherwise-closed bike shop as her husband rides up to assist in the traffic direction...well, it was quite a treat.
She sorted us out and Eric, Daniel, Nelson and myself ended up going home with the original hosts for Prince George, a really wonderful couple named Richard and Maggee--for a small taste of the wonder they've shared with us, check out Richard's website: Draw and Tell. If you can imagine the playful conscious clever silliness on the web site translated into a real life jovial character with rainbow suspenders and a quick and easy smile, you've pictured a sliver of Richard.
Personality and work aside, they have been wonderful hosts for us, feeding us until stuffed with delicacies which we usually only see in our dreams...fresh fruit, bacon, homemade yogurt, bread, and jelly, and heaping helpings of everything. We had a quiet spell during which we watched Grizzly Man, which left us with more confusion about bears than we'd started with! But it was a special request from a german visitor of Richard and Maggee's who was near the end of a 50,000 kilometer ride from Patagonia to the Arctic circle, and he was good company for the watching, even if it failed to terrify or enlighten us as to how normal people should deal with bears =)
As soon as that was over we hopped over to Dorrie's place for a huge dinner party. We ate until we were full of delicacies including moose stew, infinite dessert, much rejoicing, and even beer donated by a local brewery! After dinner we had a serious moment as we watched a video featuring Dorrie's nephew, Dylan, about the Ronald Mcdonald House in Vancouver. The video was extremely moving and really brought us back to why we're riding--to help causes like that that really help people get past sickness and give them support while they're suffering. And to have it be so personal--Dylan met the previous teams and really wanted to be there this time...but he's recently developed some untreatable cancer and was still at the hospital receiving that diagnosis that evening. We are all pretty torn up to hear about that, but as Dorrie and Amy have put it--he's a fighter and a survivor so far so who knows where he'll go from here. I have full faith he'll surpass estimates and make the most of all his remaining time.
After that we had a little talk from a former forestry worker about bears and bear mace which drove Collin to run out the next morning and buy himself some immediately. The rest of us are mostly unfazed...but except for Vinoj none of us have really seen a bear in a potentially dangerous situation (ie from inside a car, far away, when it was running away, rather than when it was watching you from 5 feet away). We'll still take care to expose ourselves as little as possible, so don't worry, Mom =)
After that came the real meat of the evening...it was mohawk time! Dorrie's been famous in years past for giving whomever wanted one a custom hairdo, usually involving clippers and something funky. The record was set last year: 12 hawks in one night! Well, we do things the Texas4000 way, not the easy way, and so we had to break that record. We had about 8 easy sells--a few guys already had mohawks or, like me, were looking forward to getting one. A few guys were greatly discouraged by their girlfriends and/or uncertain/uninterested...but by the end of the night, peer pressure had won out, Allison had joined the ranks, and we had 13 hawks!
The night ended on that note and Dorrie shooed us off so we could get some sleep.
We'd already had all the celebration and good time we normally associate with a day off, but here we were with an entire other day off! Dorrie had warned us the night before that we were in for a treat in the afternoon. Nelson and I slept in a bit and then headed over to Richard and Maggee's for breakfast, which was, once again, amazing high style that we ate ourselves silly on. We took a little time thereafter to chat with our quasi-hosts (we were staying at another woman's house, a friend of R & M, who was unfortunately in the hospital), and then went out to run morning errands. We went down to the outdoor store where Collin got his bear mace, and Shawn and I prepared for the Dease Lake challenge by purchasing a few supplies and checking out the route online. We then got an opportunity to head over to the hospital to visit the woman whose house we were staying out and that was actually really neat--she was surprised and thrilled to see us and promised us that she was almost well enough to come home. We headed back to rally the troops, and then we went to the lake...
Yeah. We went wakeboarding, swimming, and sunning in northern british columbia! strange thing is, the water was far warmer than barton springs and the company and hosts were entirely awesome. I don't even have a beginning to describe the craziness that went on there, but bobbing for beers, capsized kayaks, and blasting beach boys as we zoomed around the lake were just part of the fun. After that, we shopped since Collin and I were driving the next day, then I spent the evening sorting food, doing laundry (my jersey was nearly white again, for a minute there!) and packed up all the wonderful food you guys sent me before turning in again. This looks like a small paragraph in a long travellogue, but this day cradled us in the lap of relaxed comfort and hearty laughs for so many hours that we were really recharged.
The next morning we headed back down to R&M's for a fabulous, ultrascrumptious feast before we hit the road. We are officially huge fans of Prince George now--I know I've said this a lot but really, best rest day *ever*! I'd also like to move to Prince George, now!
I drove out of Prince George, and suffice it to say that the day was productive, if not exciting. The high point was buying a week's worth of food for 18 for $157. I went with Dorrie's daughter Alex to the Canadian version of Costco (they actually have Costco, but I didn't have the means to enter or purchase anything there with the team VISA card) and we had a little fun getting to know eachother and pushing a too-heavy cart around and figuring out which beans were the cheapest. I got a boatload of "sustaining" type food--nothing frivolous, sadly. Well, happily since I also didn't spend frivolous money that will instead go to cancer research at the end of the summer. So, yay! I had to buy a lot of food since we were going to be basically far from civilization for the next long while...it's hard to buy food when you go over a week without seeing a grocery store!
After the shopping, I met up with the team out at a place called Bednesti which did us the honor of serving us a free lunch. Dorrie had set that up for us, and so we had a roll, and soup. And we were still hungry, even the drivers. Dorrie had said something about dessert but she hadn't said it'd be a cinnamon roll as big as your head, so we all left satisfied =)
The rest of the day was a quick 60 to Vanderhoof, and we stayed at a school and I, being driver, got to cook for everyone...so I threw all the quinoa my sister Kim had sent me into a pot and spent the next hour and a half cooking it with some spices and beans and tomatoes, and now the whole team are quinoa lovers. In case you're wondering, the amount of quinoa I started with was just over 4 litres, and the amount I ended up with will make about half of another meal. Good thing I was cooking in a school cafeteria--I needed a big pot, I thought...but I actually needed a HUGE pot, and had to transfer in the middle to something institutional-sized. Yowza! But it came out fabulously! Kim, the team loves you even more now =)
After that, we walked around town, and then I spent an hour cleaning my chain. I can't say it's gleaming, but I can say I took off at least a cup of yuck and it rides pretty smooth now =). Also, wheelchair races!
Breakfast for me was banana bread, banana bread, and some banana bread for dessert. Mmmmm. Thanks, Mom!
A simple 80 mile ride...we left by 10 (we're getting lazier and lazier...I doubt I'll leave before 9am again on this trip, except for a very special day next week) after some very touching dedications to Dorrie and her nephew Dylan. Smooth sailing as I was with the lead pack or at least out near the front most of the day until mile 60. I think the overconsumption of quinoa fueled everyone else's need for sweets but it left me feeling really satisfied so I skipped all the gas stations and blew on through to the end of each leg. And, on the last leg, Allison needed to hurry into town to visit the library so Alex C, her, and myself took off after barely any rest and made it into town as a 3-person windfighting machine at least an hour before everyone else.
Fortunately the library has linux machines so despite a huge trouble with their browser and the T4K site, I got geeky with it and managed to use the tools at hand (mostly VNCviewer but some ImageMagick and shell too) to make this tiny posting. Yeehaw!
The rest of the evening, once we found the church, was composed of hanging out at this church, setting off the smoke detector, and then cruising through town for some dessert and attempted donation solicitation (failed) at the grocery store before putting on the ol sleep mask & earplugs, and getting to bed early.