Day 45-52

Day 45

Rest day in Prince George! We woke up the troops to get everyone fed around mid-morning. Dorrie came over to meet us at the college and had gotten us pink breast cancer survivor t-shirts and pashminas from the Canadian Cancer Association. We went around and shared who the breast cancer survivors were in our lives and she gave us buttons and a shirt or pashmina to pass along to them. Afterwards, the team piled into the vans and headed out to Ness Lake for a day of tubing, wakeboarding, eating and relaxing. Meanwhile, Mike and I headed to the library to take care of email and blog updates and then went to run errands for the team. Today was the first full day of getting used to my hair…I went out and got earrings. We headed out to the lake when we had taken care of everything and were immediately bummed we hadn’t spent all day out there! The lake house was really cute, very well stocked with food and filled with great company. Aleta, one of our hosts, even had a couple of the guys out picking huckleberries! When everyone had been thoroughly worn out, we headed back to the college.

Dorrie and Alex met us at the college and showed us a video on the Ronald McDonald house in Vancouver and then began to share Dylan’s story with us (despite some minor difficulties with computers and Powerpoint). Dylan passed away earlier this year at age 16. He had been battling cancer on and off since he was 18 months old. I never had the opportunity to meet Dylan, but his family and all the Texas 4000 riders who have met him the past few years have told me that he was an amazing young man. He had a rule that you had to smile when you walked into his hospital room. I feel fortunate to have been able to meet Dorrie and Alex and to hear Dylan’s story. It is for people like them that we ride. I realize that one of the goals of Texas 4000 is to spread hope, and as such, that is what I should be doing. I think, however, that the people I am meeting are giving me more hope than I can possibly expect to spread. Thank you to all our Prince George hosts for sharing your stories.

Day 46

Today we rode from Prince George to Vanderhoof, BC. I dedicated my day to Dylan. We got off to a slow start this morning. So much was going on and I had to keep reminding myself to take a deep breath. I switched drive days with Scott at the last minute so he could drive with someone else, and I ended up starting the day by sleeping through my alarm clock. We had to check out of the college and then drive everyone over to the bike shop to pick up our bikes—the mechanics at Summerside had been tuning the bikes yesterday. A photographer for the local paper came by to take pictures and followed the riders as they headed through town and back to Hwy 16W. The ride today was relatively uneventful (yeah!) and we arrived in Vanderhoof in the late afternoon. We had pizza donated for dinner and afterwards most of the team went out to see the latest Batman movie. A few of us decided to hang back at the church, had pizza there and sat around and talked. We were sleeping in the (finished) basement of the church, which meant cold (and dark) sleeping conditions. I had one of the best nights of sleep I’d had in a long time.

Day 47

I dedicated my ride today to Dorrie, one of our hosts in Prince George. The ride today was from Vanderhoof to Burns Lake. I’ve mentioned this in previous blog posts, but my legs have really been feeling bad the last few weeks. I can’t figure out what’s causing it, but it is frustrating. I kept up with the group today for about 15 miles and then got dropped. I was fighting tears at the first rest stop because I was so frustrated. I think it might be a nutrition issue (I’m a vegetarian and possibly not getting enough protein), but I’m not sure. I stuck with the back of the group today. The ride seemed to take forever but was relatively uneventful. We arrived at our hosts’ house a little before 5p, and our hosts had dinner ready soon after that. The food was amazing. By 6:30p we were on our way to host family houses for the evening. I stayed with Wanda and Ed. We stayed up talking until 10:30p or so, at which point Wanda and Ed headed to bed and Alberto and Evan turned on an Indiana Jones film. I grabbed a cup of chamomile and settled in with a book for a few minutes before heading to bed (in a real bed!).

Day 48

Today we rode from Burns Lake to Smithers, BC. I dedicated my ride to Taryn Sweeney. We woke up this morning before I was ready to be awake. Wanda had fixings out for us to make our own sack lunches. Really. We made brown paper bag lunches and decorated with stickers and markers. I made a couple of tuna sandwiches in an effort to see if it is protein that’s making the difference in how my legs are feeling. I hung with the back of the group again today. Half of the team was doing a shake-down ride for Dease Lake, so we didn’t meet up at the first rest stop as usual. The girls and I had lunch at 40 miles. Ten miles later, we stopped again though to see a grizzly bear. Don’t worry, it wasn’t a live grizzly. It was stuffed (but once was alive). I hope we never see one of them in the wild. We got into Smithers around dinner time. A bunch of us showered in the hose outside…Brrr! Because my birthday is tomorrow and Smithers is bigger than Kitwanga (where we’ll be tomorrow), Mike decided to take me out to dinner. We went to a sushi place, and then found a coffee shop and had a cup of tea. It made my day.

Day 49

The ride today was from Smithers to Kitwanga, BC. Today is my 27^th birthday and because of this, I decided to dedicate my ride today to two people: my godmother Eleanor Mackin and my father. Mike dedicated his day to my dad and Katherine dedicated hers to my aunt Rose. My morning started off in a brief panic—I couldn’t find my bike. While some would be scared it was stolen, I was more concerned that the team had done something silly to it. I found it leaning up against the van with a vase of pink roses in one of the water bottle holders and a 2-L bottle of root beer (my favorite) sitting on the ground next to it. I am spoiled, and I know it. We got on our bikes and headed over to A&W, which donated breakfast to us. There we met a bunch of people from the community and several of them joined us in our dedication circle. My legs were feeling a lot better today. I think I may be onto something with my protein theory. The first rest stop today was at a river. This was not just any river though. This river happened to be one up which the salmon run, and indeed they were running today. We wandered down and talked to some of the fishermen. One of them let Geeta, Katherine and I hold the salmon! At our second rest stop, Mike appeared with a birthday carrot cake (refer to my earlier comment about being spoiled). Shortly after this rest stop, Scott, Peter, Amy, Ivan and I were riding along in a paceline when car drove by and a filled cup came soaring over our heads. Fortunately no one was hit, but Amy turned to look at the flying object, touched wheels with Peter and fell. I was right on her wheel and though I slammed on my brakes, I ran into her and fell as well. We were fortunate to get away with a few minor scrapes and a little dirt on our bike shorts. Another car passed us at this point and pulled over to make sure we were ok. Ivan assured them we were fine, but told them about the first car. The car pulled off and we got back on our way. Less than 10 miles later, we see Mike in the van coming towards us. Apparently, the second car had stopped Mike and told him there were riders down. Mike was just checking to make sure we were ok. We assured him we were, and then realized that the tire on the trailer was going flat. Great. We got back on our way riding and headed to the nearest gas station to tell them we were in need of a trailer tire. While we were in the gas station, an ambulance pulled up followed by a cop. They started asking if we were ok. Apparently the car we had told we were ok had told the police there were six cyclists hit by a car. The police received the message as there were six motorcyclists hit by a car. This was true game of telephone if there ever was one. Ambulances and cops from three different cities had been dispatched to find us. We assured the ambulance and cops that we were fine, but told them about the first vehicle that had thrown something at us. Meanwhile, one of the many cops that had been dispatched helped Mike get a temporary wheel on the trailer and contacted a tire store so we could get new tires. Eventually, we all met up at the RV park in Kitwanga. The riders were all pretty hungry so we cooked chili and rice and I finally got to make curried chickpeas. After dinner, people sang happy birthday and we enjoyed the carrot cake. Just before dinner, a couple people from Kitwanga stopped by to say hi wondering why we were early. Turns out the Sierra route had contacted them but our team hadn’t. I am not sure where the miscommunication happened, but they were still excited to see us and offered to make us breakfast in the morning. Aside from the flying soda cups and flat tires, it was a great birthday. The bonus was that my legs were feeling great by the end of the day. I’m not questioning at this point, just accepting.

Day 50

Today we rode from Kitwanga to Meziadin Junction and I dedicated my ride to Dennis, one of the gentlemen we met yesterday at breakfast. We started off this morning with a great breakfast generously made by the folks in Kitwanga. It was wet when we got up, so we actually drove everyone to breakfast then drove back to the RV park to get the ride started. My legs again felt great today, which I was again surprised about given how long they have been feeling tired. I rode with Geoff, Scott and Amy for the first 40 miles or so and then wanted to pick up the pace even more (again weird because of how I had been feeling for awhile). Mike caught up to me eventually and we rode together for the rest of the day. Tomorrow is the Dease Lake Challenge, and in preparation for it, we decided to have spaghetti for dinner. Kasaundra jumped in and made homemade pasta sauce—yum! Meanwhile, the guys who are doing Dease Lake got all their bike gear, food, etc, ready to go. I got kicked out of my usual tent this evening so all the Challenge riders could sleep in the same tents.

Day 51

I woke up at 3:45a this morning with Peter so we could make breakfast for the seven riders doing the Dease Lake Challenge. The Dease Lake Challenge combines three days of riding into one for a total of 210 miles in one day. Each year there are a couple people from the team that do it. I wanted to, but as Mike was doing it, I stayed back. I thought I’d be okay with this, but as Peter and I watched the riders do their ride dedication this morning and then had to say goodbye for a few days, I realized that I was very not ok with it. I hate feeling left out and I had a lot on my mind otherwise. It bothered me a lot to watch the guys ride off and to realize that I couldn’t go ride off all that was on mind. I should have gone back to bed, but instead I walked laps around the campground. I lost count after five or so. Finally the rest of the team started to move. Everyone packed up their stuff and the tents and had breakfast. We circled up for ride dedication and all went pretty much as usual…until we got half way around the dedication circle. I thought I’d calmed myself down by walking earlier in the day, but I was wrong. By the time it got to me, I shared who I was riding for and broke down in tears. The entire circle came over and gave me a hug. I have some great teammates. I couldn’t do this without them. I dedicated my ride today to LTC Rachel Evans, one of my supervisors work who is a breast cancer survivor. Peter, Amy and I rode together all day today, or most of the day anyways. One of my contacts was making my eyes hurt this morning, so I was riding with one contact in for the first 40 miles or so. At this point, my eyes really started to hurt, so I sped up to get to the rest station so I could put on my glasses. Enroute, I saw a black bear sitting happily on the side of the road. I turned around and rode back to Peter and Amy so we could all ride past it together. We were talking as we went by so the bear moved by the time we got to it. We arrived at our campsite around 4p and some of the tents were already set up. I set mine up and then headed the shower. Bell II, the campground at which we are staying, is really cute. The shower facilities looked like a spa (woohoo!) and the lodge had a restaurant. We all decided to buy our own dinners this evening and enjoyed some great food. After putting in some laundry, we all retired to the leather couches and TV room upstairs from the restaurant. We’re all hanging out, catching up on our blogging and working through movie #2 for the evening. We don’t get to relax like this very often, and it is really a nice treat. I’m not sure if saying morale is low lately accurately describes the team. We’re not all down or annoyed with each other or anything, but people are a little homesick and ready to be in Anchorage. I think we all knew we’d feel this way at some point, so we’re being good to each other and trying to stay positive (which sometimes gets hard as the road conditions get more and more bumpy).

Day 52

I had a great night of sleep last night. I had a tent all to myself as half the team is gone for the next couple days for the Dease Lake Challenge. We breakfasted on the usual oatmeal and pancakes and got onto the road around 10a. I dedicated my ride today to John, a young man we met in Walmart the morning we were leaving Calgary. One of the things I had been weary about on this trip was going through Canada but telling people we were donating to the American Cancer Society. John taught me (inadvertently) why I shouldn’t be bothered by that. He actually received some of his treatments at Johns Hopkins because the research and treatment on the type of cancer he had was so far ahead in the US. He was very grateful for the work we are doing. The ride today was just over 90 miles from Bell II Lodge to Tatoga Lake Resort. The ride was beautiful as it has been for the last couple days. The road was glassy for the first 40 or 60 miles after which it got a little rough. We kept riding fast, telling ourselves that if we rode faster it would feel smoother. Our drivers today got creative with rest stops and we were being served hot chocolate and spaghetti at some of the rest stops! Our cabins here are right on the lake, which means a beautiful view but lots of mosquitos. It has been pretty damp, and as I am sleeping in a tent tonight, I’m hoping it doesn’t start pouring!