Swing and a Miss

Well, as some of you twit-savvy folk may know, I got about 70 km out of my knee before it felt pretty much like it did six days ago. Which made me feel like so:



Luckily Steve Heidebrecht came out to ride the last half from Linden yesterday (on a single speed no less), and Leon was out for the whole distance today, so Adam wasn't riding alone, which it sure looks like he'll be doing tomorrow.


A great reception in Linden, raising 2500.00 by donation at a farmer sausage lunch. Afterwards a quick trip by Cal's cycle, which I'm sure is the worlds largest rural bike shop, and then on two Lousana AB (I don't know where that is either).

Today we (not me) rode from Lousana to Camrose, and Adam and Leon made pretty quick work of the 140km or so. A shorter day tomorrow, which is good, and then I'm hoping to be able to ride in the bike-a-thon at least, though I may do the shorter distance. Which means Grandpa will be doing more than twice my mileage at more than twice my age. Hopefully the Mattcupuncure and Mattssage course of treatment Matt has lined up for me when I get back to Vancouver works....

The Final Stretch

Another couple of "rest days" in a row for me again, but I did a little driving yesterday, and got pretty shutter-happy with Uncle Byron's camera, so while Adam's blog may be about their epic battle with the wind, mine's going to be a little photo heavy.

HOWEVER, this is the first day in two weeks where I haven't been walking with a limp from one injury or another, so hopefully this is a sign of things to come, and I'll be able to finish out the rest of our mileage.

Here come the photos.

Here's the matriarch, taking charge...




A little bit of scenery all up in your eyes...



A rare shot from in front of the cyclists...




A little more scenery for desert...





And a quick close-up of some determination faces for a nightcap.



I had about ten more scenery shots, but blogger only let's you upload five. Lucky you.

John Out.

Rest Day # 3

For me anyway. Right now it looks like I'll be doing this trip with 4 days on, 5 off, 4 more on, missing three days of riding due to a swollen knee. My internet diagnosis is patella tendonitis, and with ice and ibuprofen it seems to be getting better, so I think (hope) I'll be riding by Tuesday.

Today however, I was in the support van with Dad, and Adam and Byron took over the mileage, doing around 130km from Lethbridge to Mossleigh. We're in Lethbridge tonight and then back to Calgary for a few nights for our rest day Monday and a couple days of riding closer to the city, then finally into Sherwood Park on Friday for the bike-a-thon and the event formerly known as Relief Sale.

Took some pics out the window today, and got some video of Adam, Byron and Dad that you can see here.

Middle Distance

Shorter day today, but not for me. Turns out "ride it off" doesn't work for knee problems, so I'm taking the day off, and along with our rest day tomorrow hopefully that will cure it. Adam is doing about 95 km today, from our stop yesterday to the edge of Saint Albert, at which point we will drive back to Calgary and then on to Lethbridge Saturday to begin the south leg of our trip. I'm going to be more than mildly annoyed (ahem right knee) if this keeps me from riding for more than one day.





On the plus side, every season cyclists are granted a few perfect days: tailwind, cooperative weather, good legs, good lungs. Yesterday for me, despite the twinge in my knee, was one such day. Adam is on his own today, and it seems as though he was granted another. His average will be close to 40km/h, putting his just under 100km ride at about 2.5 hours. Not half bad. If it was pouring with a headwind, I'd be much happier about sitting in this van right now, but as it is I quite wish to be riding. Ah well.

Tonight my good friend Dan's extensive schooling will hopefully pay off (for me) as we try an over-the-phone physio style consult, and I'll be back on the road saturday (hopefully). Til then, Abe has told us we broke 224,000.00 dollars for peace and AIDS work today, and we hope to hit 230,000.00 by the end of next week.

Who Has Two Thumbs and Rode 30 km Today?

And then rode 8o more, and then 70 more after that? This guy. And Adam.



Today was the furthest I have ridden in one day by about 20 km. But before I get to that, several things have happened on the trip that I have been to tires to write about by the time I sit down in the evening.

First, on the second day of riding, we were swarmed by horseflies, and it sucked. They apparently really like drafting, because when you looked behind us it looked like a bees nest full of bee sized flies were following us. Riding second meant riding in the cloud, and I'm surprised one of us at least didn't crash trying to swat at them.

Second, I am excited to say that we have had three flats. Adam has flatted front and rear (separate occasions) and really made that extra wheelset brought pay off. I also got a flat on my tubular, but the sealant I had put in before we left sealed it off pretty quick, which was kind of surprising but awesome to see.

Third, my knee hurts. I don't really know why, but I intend to find out. But not until Friday.

Anyway, today we rode from 30 km short of Fox Creek to just past Sangudo, which puts us a little under 100 km from Saint Albert, our last destination before we drive south to Lethbridge. It was a hard day, but we picked up a nice tailwind toward the end and decided to take advantage while we had it, resulting in, if I may say, our impressive mileage. It got a little rainy and gritty toward the end, and I just came in from a cleaning/lubing/tire repairing session. Here's a pic of the drive train (which looked way dirtier in person) and Adam doing what he does all day these days.

Long Day

Long day today, matching our mileage record from last year. Same distance again tomorrow too. I am tired already. At least we didn't have a headwind today like we will tomorrow. On the plus side Adam's bag is returned to us, though I still haven't seen anything of our sandwich supplies, so I suspect a certain hotel is a jar of mayo richer. More tomorrow.

Arriving in Manning

A late start to the day made even later by high water levels and the closing of the La Crete ferry meant we didn't start riding 'til about 4:15. It also seems Adam is not as good as estimating distance on a map as he thinks, and we've got a couple of long days coming up. If I had the energy I would find a frowny face icon to place here.

Aside from the riding we have implemented experiments to test the righteousness of La Cretians by leaving both Adam's duffel bag and our lunch supplies in the church parking lot and the hotel fridge respectively. We have yet to hear about the lunch supplies, so I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

And now I'm going to sleep, as I have a sneaking suspicion that tomorrow may require some serious energy. Adieu.

Back in La Crete (French for "The Crete")

Here's us attempting the stance of the Masai without proper equipment. Feel free to give us some pointers Joseph....

Alright, welcome back hoards of followers to my annual cycle south blog. I can guarantee that there will be at least 10 -possibly 12- more posts before it's relegated for another 12ish months. Here's what has happened so far.

First of, thanks to generous donations from everywhere, we have already broken our 200,000 dollar fundraising goal, and I'm told more is coming in all the time,(some of which directly due to the efforts of one Kennedy Krahn) which is fantastic.

Yesterday we rode with Menno Simons junior high students for 33 kilometers along the river path. At least some of us did. 8 blocks in Abe decided he didn't like the cut of Adam's rear wheel's jib, and decided to make an ad hoc adjustment. This resulted in a slightly panicked but ultimately successful wheelbuild while the rest of the ride proceeded (thanks to the fine chaps at Campione Cycles for use of the shop space), and then a quick hot dog in the rain before piling in the car for the 9ish hour drive to Peace River.

This morning, after an early victual run to the local Tim Hortons, we proceeded to La Crete, where we were sent off in style by no less than a dozen cyclists young and old. Two of them (that's you Phil and Simon) joined us for the 70 km to the ferry, Phil more than doubling his previous mileage record and I expect his previous soreness record as well. After our second ferry trip of the day we rode another 40 km or so to the junction and beyond (see map below).




I should point out that my phone died about 10 km before we stopped, so for all you nitpickers out there, that's why tomorrow we will start a little ahead of where the map shows us stopping. Just saying. John out.

Amsterdam!

Airport that is. After a brief fitness walk to remind the legs of their business (see map below) we all returned to the lounge area to huddle over our respective smart devices and await boarding. I finished Thoreau's "Walden" on the flight. When he's not rambling about shrubs and beans, the man has moments of genius. He predicts iPhones, the internet, and celebrity media all on one paragraph! More exciting news to follow.