I had motels reserved, and food waiting, in Cache Creek (351km) and Tatla Lake (773km). My goal going into this was to minimize my night riding after Williams Lake, due to the remote nature of the highway, and the concern about Grizzly Bears that have been seen more frequently this year.

My wife, Barb, and the kids were driving up to Bella Coola to meet me. They were going to leave Sunday morning and stay overnight at Williams Lake before arriving in Bella Coola later on Monday. Gary Sparks was starting at 3:00pm – due to work commitments – and Doug and Susan were going to ride the route (starting at the original Vancouver start) as a tour, taking 6 days for their ride plus a few more to return home via ferry and Port Hardy.

The adventure actually started when I was preparing my bike to load onto the van shortly after 5:00am on Saturday. I was inflating the rear tire when it bulged out through a tear in the sidewall and popped. So, with Barb and the kids already in the van waiting for me, I replaced the rear inner tube and the tire. Better that I do this now, than shortly after starting the brevet.

With the delay in changing the tire, I arrived at the start location right at 6:00am and was under way by about 6:07am.

The weather was pleasant and the first part of the ride was fairly uneventful, heading over the Golden Ears Bridge from Pitt Meadows and then heading east from there. I took a photo of the Walnut Grove Food Market as this will be used as the first control for the Super Week 200km Brevet that I am organizing at the end of August.

I discovered that there has been some construction and repaving on North Parallel Rd just past the intersection with Old Yale Rd. There also seemed to be quite a bit more traffic than usual, mostly dump trucks, on North Parallel Rd.

I stopped for a snack at the Yellow Barn, and then again at Popkum Market, before heading out onto Highway One towards Hope. Approaching Hope, I took the exit for Flood-Hope Rd and, when getting close to Hope, discovered that the road was closed for paving. So I had to detour: back out onto the highway and to exit 173 and then back to Hope. I estimate this added 4km to the route.

The cashier who signed my control card at the 24Hr Chevron in Hope was interested in what I was doing and asking a number of questions. When she found out how far I was riding, she offered me an extra bottle of water at no charge.

And so I continued up the Fraser Canyon, through the tunnels, past the Elvis Rocks Cafe, over Jackass Mountain with food/water stops in Boston Bar and Lytton.

I arrived at the Cache Creek Sandman Inn shortly after 10:00pm and found, as requested, a generous amount of food waiting for me in the small fridge in my hotel room. One sandwich and the salad was dinner, the second sandwich was breakfast the next morning. I was back on the road by 5:00am Sunday morning, a little later than planned.

There were numerous construction zones on highway 97 between Cache Creek and Williams Lake, long stretches of unrideable shoulder, and a black bear.

In the middle of the day, I saw what appeared to be some wet weather in my future but as I continued, the threat of rain disappeared.

Heading into Williams Lake, I passed the Super 8 Motel where Barb and the kids were planning to stay later that evening.

I checked into the Tim Horton’s at Williams Lake at 3:30pm, had a quick bite to eat and continued on, across the bridge, past a Llama Farm, up and down the first hill, and across the Fraser River. It was beginning to look like I was going to be a little late arriving at Tatla Lake.

I then climbed up the other side of the Fraser, stopping for a quick breather and bite to eat at a pullout just past the top of the hill. As a continued on the plateau, I found that due to strong headwinds, my average speed was quite low.

By 7:30pm I had travelled only 60km since Williams Lake. At this point, I still had 150km to go before Tatla Lake. I checked my GPS to see if I could find any motels in Hanceville or Alexis Creek but nothing was showing up. This is the disadvantage of riding along such a remote highway as an unsupported brevet. I wasn’t prepared to ride through the night on this stretch and so made the decision to turn around and return to Williams Lake, where I knew food and lodging wouldn’t be a problem.

On the way back to Williams Lake, it started getting dusk as I neared the top of the climb after crossing back over the Fraser River. About 500m ahead of me I there were a couple cars stopped and then I saw a black bear and cub cross the highway. I slowed down a bit to give them some time to get further away from the highway before I passed that area. As I went by, I looked to the left to see if I could see the bears when, about 8 to 10 feet in front of me, a second cub jumped out of the ditch on my right and ran across the road. As soon as the cub went by me, I started sprinting – I wanted to be well clear of the cub in case the mother bear came back to check things out.

I arrived at the Super 8 motel shortly after 10:00pm and found Barb and the kids in their room. I had a nice warm shower, ate all the kids dinner leftovers and climbed into bed for a much-needed sleep. My ride was over but the story doesn’t end here. We were still all headed to Bella Coola to visit family for the week.

Casey, Danika, and I were having our complimentary breakfast at the Super 8 motel the next morning when Gary appeared, also for breakfast. I turned out he had arrived Sunday night, an hour or so after me, and got a room two doors away from ours, planning to head out around 4:00am. He had slept through his alarm and was now outside the time limit for the Williams Lake control – but with the next control at Tatla Lake, it should still be possible to make it there before the cutoff time. We shared a few stories over breakfast before he headed out again. We promised him we would stop to check on him when we passed him in the van later.

We took our time before heading out and caught up with Gary shortly after Riske Creek. We chatted with him briefly to see how he was doing. It was not as windy as the night before so he was making reasonable progress. Barb wanted to offer him some water and I had to remind her that she couldn’t do that as we were not at a control. We took a couple photos of him and continued on.

We stopped for lunch at The Graham Inn at Tatla Lake. I wanted to apologize for not making it there as promised and see what the place was like. We had a pleasant lunch and got a tour of the cabins. It turns out that Darryl, one of the owners, has an interest in cycling and was admiring our bikes and brought out his bike to show us.

We discovered that there is a longer stretch of unpaved highway than expected. And the hill down from Heckman Pass was not what I pictured – in places, it is basically a narrow trail carved into the side of a cliff. I will post more information on this later after I take some photos on our return trip.

Gary finished shortly before 6:00pm on Tuesday for a total elapsed time of 74:40 (beating the time limit by 20 minutes). We met him for dinner at the Valley Restaurant across the street from the Valley Inn and were entertained by the stories of cold overnight temperatures, his encounter with a Grizzly Bear, and surviving “the hill”. I won’t give too much away – you will need to wait for Gary’s writeup.

Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexpope/sets/72157624382163284/
Garmin Connect: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38559965

Update: Read Gary’s Ride Story

Rick was kind enough to do a long pull at the front along United Blvd. He explained that on this stretch of the 400km, he had a hard time avoiding the pot-holes when he was drafting in the group so he wanted to be on the front “just until the first hill”. I asked him if, by the first hill, he meant the Coquihalla but it turns out he meant the first little bump on the Mary Hill Bypass.

After leaving Rick behind, Keith Fraser and I rode together to the first control in Mission. He needed to spend an extra few minutes at that stop, so I left ahead of him at an easier pace. It wasn’t long before he caught up with me and we rode together as far as Deroche. Once we got onto the small rolling hills after Deroche, I was working harder to stay with Keith so I slowed my pace and let him get ahead.

After passing Agassiz, I stopped for a quick break at the rest stop on the left side of the highway. While I was there getting ready to ride again, the next group of riders on the road went by. I sprinted out of the rest stop and joined their group. I continued to ride with this group until shortly after Hope when we got split up a little bit as the hills started on Othello Rd, and then even more on the Coquihalla Hwy.

At this point I need to thank the organizers for clearing a trail through the sand at the snowshed (see left), saving us from having to dismount to use the path.

Gary was manning the control at the Britton Creek Rest Area and I relaxed there for a little while having a snack before heading out on the descent to Merritt. The highway leading up to the Coquihalla Summit had been clear and pleasant to ride. The descent down the other side was quite the opposite: there was significant amounts of sand on the shoulder and the rumble strips were breaking down. The shoulder in many places was not rideable, resulting in having to use the right side of the lane for significant stretches. It was a relief to reach Coldwater Rd and get off the highway.

I ate and drank quite a bit in Merritt… possibly a little too much as my stomach felt quite full (and a bit uneasy) when I headed back out on the road again. I was a little sensitive to feeling this way as I had DNFed the 400km brevet two weeks ago due to an upset stomach so I backed off my pace quite a bit on the way to Spences Bridge.

Roger and Ali were in Spences Bridge, at a secret control, handing out hot soup and encouragement. I stayed there for a little while to chat but didn’t feel like anything more to eat yet. It was starting to get dark as I left Spences Bridge.

When I arrived in Lytton, a little while later, there were a number of riders hanging out and relaxing. Peter commented on how the motel had improved quite a bit since he was last here – and a bathroom door had fallen off in his hands. It was just after that that someone saw a mouse run across the floor in the bathroom.

Eric and Ross left Lytton shortly before me and I caught up with them on the road and joined them for a little while. I was riding behind Eric and was finding that with the pace they were riding, and the bouncing of his taillights in front of my eyes, I was starting to feel drowsy. I lifted my pace a bit and that helped with the drowsy feeling but also resulted in my leaving Eric and Ross behind.

Realizing that I was fairly tired, and not feeling fully mentally committed to riding straight through, I stopped in at the Green Canyon Motor Inn in Boston Bar. After waking the desk clerk up at 1:30am, she was still in a good enough mood to 1) give me a discount for a late check-in and 2) then give me a free room upgrade so I wouldn’t need to carry my bike up the stairs. The room I ended up in had a full kitchenette and two separate bedrooms – too bad I only stayed there for four hours of sleep. This hotel may make a good control stop for the Super Week 600km Brevet.

When I headed out on the road again, the sun was out and I was feeling quite refreshed. Michel and Karen were waiting at Dogwood, after having camped out there in Gary’s van for the better part of the night. Shortly after I arrived, the Dogwood rest stop opened – a little late – and I headed inside for a pancake breakfast.

I passed Bob, Deirdre, and Susan in Deroche and they caught up to me again at the Tim Horton’s in Mission. It had been drizzling on me off and on from sometime prior to Dogwood until Mission – not heavy enough to remember exactly when it started. While a few of us were at the Tim Horton’s in Mission it got heaver. According to Susan, the technical term was “light rain”. There was enough “light rain” to create some lakes and rivers heading down Lougheed as we headed back out on the road. The closer we got to Vancouver, though, the drier it got.

I continued to ride with Bob, Deirdre, and Susan until the finish.

Side note: Susan had actually abandoned when Doug wasn’t feeling well and got a ride from Merritt to Spences Bridge where Doug was able to get a lift home but Susan had to ride the rest of the way. She was carefully following the rules and stayed at the back of the group so that no one was drafting off her.

Barb and the kids were waiting for me at the Knight and Day Restaurant. They had a volunteer shift at the final control, signing riders in, and then stayed around for another three and a half hours to wait for me. When I got there, Jeff was trying to teach Danika how to do the calculation of elapsed time on the riders control card using a 24 hour clock. He was having some difficulty figuring out how to explain a calculation with a mixture of base 60 and base 24 math.

Results: http://www.randonneurs.bc.ca/results/10_times/10_lm_spring-brevets.html
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexpope/sets/72157624099965451/
Garmin Connect: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35997730

The brevet was scheduled to start at 9:00pm Saturday evening so Barb dropped me off early at the start, and then drove off with my water bottles still in the van – I had to phone her to get her to return my bottles. Luckily, she was just around the corner making a quick stop at McDonald’s before heading home so I was still able to start on time.

The sun was just setting as we started. As often happens with longer brevets, the majority of participants started at an easy pace, allowing for a little bit of socializing. I talked briefly with Eric about Super Week 2010 and the high number of hits the new section of the BC Randonneurs web site was receiving: it looks like Super Week may be receiving quite a bit of interest.

I started to feel like I wanted to being going a little bit faster along United Blvd so pulled ahead of the group as I turned onto the Mary Hill Bypass. I caught up with Nigel and Cheryl, on a tandem, and Peter on the way through Maple Ridge. I suspect I wasn’t actually setting a faster pace than they were but was simply luckier with the traffic lights. I continued to ride with them until the first control at the Husky station up on the hill in Mission.

It had started to rain on us a little bit when we went up Keystone towards the Husky station so I decided I didn’t want the stop for long. The others were staying a little longer to have a snack so I continued on without them – setting a slightly easier pace for a while as I had a quick snack while riding. The other three caught up with me just past the corner at Deroche, after Nickomen Island.

It was about 12:30 when we passed the Sasquatch Inn, which was used as the turnaround control on the Sasquatch Stomper Brevet which I organized in March this year. I noticed that it was still open and I was wondering why it didn’t make Doug and Susan’s list of places where you could stop during the night for food and water – then I realized that we had been setting a fairly fast pace and that it probably wouldn’t be open when the slower riders went past here.

I first started feeling a little unwell climbing Woodside, with just over 100km completed. After a while, I came to the conclusion that I may have simply been pushing myself a little too fast and so I slowed down a little bit and let the other three go ahead. I wasn’t feeling better by 125km so stopped and took some Ginger-based Gravol which I have found can be quite effective – and is non-drowsy.

When I pulled into Hope, I wasn’t feeling much better so I decided to take my time and relax for a while to give myself some recovery time. A larger group of riders who had been riding in a pace line arrived half an hour after me, and another group shortly after them. The 24Hr Tim Horton’s in Hope got quite busy – including one unidentified participant (see photo on right) who changed out of his wet clothing, right down to the base layers.

I spent a little more than an hour and a half in Hope before I felt I was ready to head out on the road again. It wasn’t long before the climbing started heading up Hwy 3 towards Manning Park. It also wasn’t long before my stomach started feeling really unwell and I stopped and threw up at the side of the road.

At this point I paused and thought about my options before I turned around and coasted back into Hope. I found a motel so I could get some sleep and phoned Barb to ask her to pick me up in the morning – which she did around 10:00am. I then spent the next 24 hours or so recovering on the couch and in bed so I have come to the conclusion that either I ate something that didn’t agree or caught some sort of infection from my kids (who always seem willing to share that sort of thing).

Nigel, Cheryl and Peter all finished in a little over 17 hours. I heard that a number of people found the route to be a hard ride – as 400s usually are – but I was the only DNF. The results have now been posted on the BC Randonneurs web site.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexpope/sets/72157623997541799/
Garmin Connect: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34320381

Ian’s wife Michelle is the reason he is facing this challenge: Michelle Fillinger was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis eight years ago. His goal is to raise $250,000 towards MS research and beat MS.

In the video, Ian’s coach John Tilley says “He could be the first rookie to win RAAM”. The finish line that Ian and Michelle are looking for, though, isn’t in Annapolis at the end of RAAM – it is in the results of the MS research that Ian is raising money for.

You can visit Ian’s web site at http://www.raceacrossamerica.ca/ to get more information and make a donation to the MS Society.

There will be a special pin awarded for participation in Super Week. The criteria for receiving a Super Week pin is to successfully complete a minimum of 3 of the Super Week brevets with a distance totaling at least 1500km – so if, for example, you finish the 200km, 300km and 1000km brevets (both weekends) you will be awarded a Super Week pin.

There will also be special recognition for participants who successfully complete all 5 Super Week brevets… more information on this later.

In order to run this event smoothly, we are going to need a few volunteers. If you are riding any of the brevets, please encourage family members to show their support for you by volunteering. If you are not riding and wish to be involved, please check the list of Volunteer Assignments and then contact Alex Pope to reserve your spot on the volunteer list.

Link: Super Week Web Site

We have been making a tradition of staying an extra day at Harrison Hot Springs after the Flèche Pacifique… and going for ice cream at Baskin Robbins. This year, we all cycled over to Baskin Robbins (with Edward in the bike trailer behind Barb).

In addition to our bike trip to Baskin Robbins, we also spent some time hanging out in the outdoor hot springs pool and ordered in some pizza for dinner.

Monday morning, the kids got in just one more swim before we had to drive home.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexpope/sets/72157623911804853/

I was feeling quite chilled in Whistler as we tried to warm up at the Husky Station at Whistler Creekside and wishing I had packed one more layer of clothing. Ross found some old newspapers which he used for insulation. I bought a pair of work gloves labelled as “extra warm” to add to the two layers of gloves I was already wearing, and stuffed a pair of hand-warmers into my shorts.

We then descended to Pemberton in the sub-zero temperatures, where we stopped for breakfast at McDonald’s as the sun was coming up.

The climb up Duffy Lake Road after Pemberton was not as difficult as I expected… I got ahead of the others on the climb but every time I stopped to wait for a bit, I started getting cold again so rode a little bit more to get warmed up and then finally found a sunny spot to stop and wait. We got our “official team photo” in front of Duffy Lake, which still had large patches of ice floating on the surface.

We were finally feeling warmer sitting in the sun in front of the gas station in Lillooet, before heading back on the road again. In Lytton, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch. In part due to the cold and having to spend time warming up we were going at a slower pace than expected. We phoned Barb from a pay phone at Boston Bar to fill her in on our revised schedule and to try to arrange for someone to pick us up in Hope (after the 24 hour time-limit had elapsed).

Hell’s Gate became our 22 hour control and an anonymous spot on the road, our 24 hour control, with 387km completed.

Less than two hours after that, we pulled into the Tim Horton’s in Hope to see Karen’s smiling face. We were very grateful that she was able to drive out to pick us up. We were all too tired to bother getting anything to eat at Tim Horton’s: we just loaded the bikes onto the back of the van and all dozed (except for Karen) on the ride into Harrison Hot Springs.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexpope/sets/72157623911772915/
Results: http://www.randonneurs.bc.ca/fleche/10_results-details.html

After an hour or so, I started catching up to, and passing a few of the slower riders. I was able to give a spare inner tube to one person who was on his third flat, and a zip-tie to someone else with a fender that was rubbing. My legs were feeling a little bit sluggish on the climbs but I was able to keep a steady pace anyway so I wasn’t a lot slower than I normally would be on a 300km brevet.

When I arrived at the Squamish control, there was quite a large group of riders milling about eating and drinking. I used the washroom, topped up my water and got on my way. When I went by the Husky in Whistler (not a control) I could see another group of riders stopped there. I didn’t need a water refill yet so I just kept going.

Craig Premack and his wife Maureen were manning the Pemberton Control. I stopped a little bit longer here to chat for a bit, top up my water, and take some Ibuprofen for my left shoulder which was bothering me again.

There was a bit of headwind on the way back to Whistler, but not as strong as I have experienced on this stretch in the past. The route through Whistler took us off the main highway and onto a small road that had a nice view of the ski hills. We had another break from the highway through the Squamish area as well where I found Dierdre and Bob waiting at the Squamish control.

When I got back into North Vancouver it was just getting dark, arriving at the Boston Pizza finish control shortly before 9:00pm.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexpope/sets/72157623979845072/
Results: http://www.randonneurs.bc.ca/results/10_times/10_lm_spring-brevets.html

This year’s weather was much more pleasant: there was an absence of any wet weather on both the 200km and 300km brevets, Ken Bonner was the only rider that experienced rain on the 400km brevet, and there was some evening rain on the 600km brevet in the area of Gold River.

I went into “Eau de Hell” Week not knowing how my fitness level would hold up over the week. I had been hit by a car in October 2009 and spent quite a bit of time off my bike in the fall and winter, not returning to regular bike commuting until the Vancouver Olympics in February. I had felt reasonably strong on the Sasquatch Stomper Pre-Ride in March but had ridden it at a fairly easy pace with a long break for lunch. My approach, therefore, was to ride at a steady pace, spend the minimum time stopped at controls, and not push myself too hard.

The 200km Brevet “Tour of the Cowichan Valley”, for the most part, went reasonably well. Late in the afternoon, it was windy, but I was having a hard time trying to figure out where the wind was coming from: sometimes it seemed like a headwind, but it also, at times, felt like a tailwind. I didn’t figure it out until 163km into the brevet: I had my bike balanced on the fork as I was changing a flat, standing on the right side of my bike, when a strong gust of wind came along and almost blew my bike over to the left. So I moved to the other side of my bike so I wouldn’t have to try to catch it again. A minute or so later another strong gust of wind came from the opposite direction and did blow my bike over to the right – so I just left it lying there until I finished changing the tire.

I continued to maintain a steady pace on the 300km Brevet “Alive are the Hills”. I was hoping to get back over the Malahat on this ride while it was still light enough to take the descent at a good speed. It was later in this ride that I began to realize that my fitness level was actually quite good. I caught, and passed, Nigel and Cheryl at the secret control in the Highlands, and was catching up to Keith and Mike at each of the next couple controls. I caught up to them again on the Highway leading up to the Malahat when they hit a couple red lights and I was lucky with the green lights. I rode with them until the Malahat and pulled ahead on the climb. It wasn’t really getting dark until close to Duncan so I exceeded my goal of getting over the Malahat while it was still light out.

My left shoulder had been giving me some pain while riding (enough to need to take some regular Ibuprofen) so I opted to have a massage on Monday (our rest day) at the hotel to try to alleviate this. The massage therapist spent quite a bit of time on my shoulder and it did seem to help.

On Tuesday’s 400km Brevet “Lost But Not Forgotten”, I started to ride a little bit faster than on the previous brevets, as I was starting to have more confidence in my fitness level.

This brevet went both up and down-island from Chemainus so we get to see a variety of scenery. The last time I rode this brevet, in 2008, the route was a little bit different (this new route was introduced in 2009). I managed to avoid making any wrong turns and was the second finisher, just beating eighteen hours, nine minutes slower than my personal fastest time for a 400km brevet.

Ken pointed out to me, by e-mail, that after the 400km brevet, I was the leading contender for the bottle of beer that went to the fastest cumulative time for all the “Eau de Hell” Week brevets (Ken excluded himself, as organizer, from this competition). He also suggested I not spend too long at the sleep stop in Gold River. My original plan at the beginning of the week was to have a long sleep on the 600km brevet rather than pushing myself for a fast time. Based on his comments, I thought maybe I should just have a short sleep – I wasn’t feeling motivated enough to ride straight through.

Like, the 400km brevet, I rode at a little faster pace on the 600km Brevet “Ride for Gold” and when just a few minutes from Gold River, the halfway point, saw Ken heading the other way. Ken was the only rider who was ahead of me at this point. I had reserved a room in advance at the Gold River Chalet and agreed in advance that I would share the room with Gary. I picked up enough food for both of us at the Deli in town as Gary might be arriving after the Deli was closed. After eating my food and having a shower, I settled down for a couple hours of sleep. Gary showed up about half way through my sleep. Half-asleep, I think I told him at least three times that there was food in the fridge for him: he patiently thanked me each time.

After I got up, I reset the alarm for Gary, got dressed and headed out on the road. I heard from others that there was a large group that headed out without sleeping, including Mike and Keith, not far ahead of me. Mike and Keith were my closest competitors for the “fastest cumulative time” competition.

In hindsight, I probably could have done without the sleep in Gold River. I arrived there early enough that I wasn’t really ready to sleep and so didn’t get a restful sleep. I ended up stopping in Courtney at Tim Horton’s for a while on the way back south for coffee and a snack due to feeling drowsy. The stop there helped and I felt better as I got back on the road.

At the Shell Station in Qualicum, I heard that the big group was “at least” an hour ahead of me. Knowing that I couldn’t let Keith and Mike get too far ahead, I pushed my pace and managed to catch the two of them at the Nanaimo control. It turns out that Mike was struggling a bit and they were taking it easy on the way back. I rode with them for a bit before picking the pace up a bit and finishing in thirty and a half hours.

I later heard that Ken Bonner had stopped for a sleep at a hotel in Courtney for a while. As a result, he was only a little over an hour ahead of me at the finish.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexpope/sets/72157623827729206/
Results: http://www.randonneurs.bc.ca/eau-de-hell-week/results_2010.html