Today was a much needed rest day which included re-organizing and catching up on the blogging. I actually spent a good three or four hours catching up on e-mail, re-organizing the website and writing blog posts. After lunch I made a quick to do list and rode the bike into town with empty bags. First on the agenda was fixing the stove. I hit a few hardware places that had never seen such a thing. I settled on buying a cheap but simple back up that uses the gel canisters you see being used in buffets. Then it was an inside blanket/liner for my sleeping bag which I found a reasonable facsimile. I didn’t have time to sew up the ends like a pouch but it should do fine and it is light. While in the store I ran into my soccer coach Herb Weiner and his wife who I hadn’t seen in 22 years! We chatted about what I was doing and they wished me well. Next was a razor, bar soap and soap case which I found no problem. While in the store I ran into the guy who helped me in the hardware store who explained where the radio station and news paper company were located. The radio station was not open as predicted but before going to the Osoyoos times I hit the post office and mailed out about half my cards and stickers to a friend in Scarborough. This is to reduce weight of course! Finally I stopped in at the Osoyoos times and it seemed I was expected as one of the writers was already following my progress – cool. We did an interview so hopefully there will be something there soon (I will keep you posted). Everyone I met was genuinely very supportive and interested in my journey which made for a great day.
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OVER $7,000 in donations!!!
YAAA!!!
I am so happy my friends and supporters. It really validates what I am doing and now I guess it is time to raise the bar. I am will come up with a new goal soon (dollar amount). Thank you everyone for your support. Cassie the cards are a huge hit (she refused credit but too bad http://illknowitwheniseeit.com)! Looks like I might make the Osoyoos times as well 🙂 All the rain has been washed away.
Love
Jeff
Day 5 – Osoyoos
Map my ride 97km – note this shows days 3,4 and 5 due to blackouts in coverage.
I was awoken by the sound of incessant chirping and the rush of the river. I am not sure how much sleep I got since it was a pretty chilly night and this morning was no different. Lucky for me no rain!
I was smart about two things yesterday: one was to pack everything for a quick clean up and launch, the second was to wear my bike clothes underneath the layers of clothing. I hummed and hawed about getting up from 5 am to 6am but by 6:15 I was ready and went to the outhouse. Basically it took me hour to decide I was ready for a cold toilet seat. I had a protein bar left but I decided it was better to get going and warm up first rather than eat. In all of about 15 minutes I was packed and leaving.
Day 4 – Bromely Rock Provincial Park
91km – note this shows days 3,4 and 5 due to blackouts in coverage.
After finishing off the remainder of last nights snacks I packed up and headed onto the highway then quickly turned around realizing I was out of water, is that ironic? Just up the highway after the park exit is a gas station/restaurant. The restaurant was closed so I popped into the gas station store to get some quality nourishment.
The sounds from a world war one documentary was blaring out of the TV which the store barley took his eye off to acknowledge me. He had the exact number of tatoo’s showing to tell me he was kind of friendly but not too friendly. I looked for something digestable that was not from1985 and found some homemade somoza like meet pie somethings in the fridge. I grabbed a couple of the pies, a bag of chips and a bottle of gatorade for $15.30. Outside I ate one of the pies which was pretty meager and at least a day old. I also cracked the chips mmmm lays!!!!
It was cold so I headed off for what was a pretty decent downhill. The forest was quickly turning to pine and I was now following the similkamen river. Eventually the fun ran out and I had to make a climb up to Sunday Summit which sits at 1282 meters but I was probably most of the way there anyway since there wasn’t extensive downhill from Allison Pass. After that climb there is a lot of downhill and I got going pretty fast in a couple of stretches but decided to slow it down as the odd gust of wind would push me off center. It was also a little cold so I welcomed the small and few up hill sections.
Closing in on Princeton I made an astonishing discovery: 67 year old Pierre Paul.
Day 3- Manning Park
Today was definitly a SHUT UP AND RIDE DAY!
110km – note this shows days 3,4 and 5 due to blackouts in coverage.
Woke up pretty tired and slept in until 8:30. Most the morning was spent catching up on internet stuff including blogging and I started re-organizing all of my gear and repacking it on my bike. This is totally expected and you can not plan too much for where to put what. I also realized after some searching that I must have a left a pair of bike shorts at my Uncle Dave’s – DOH! Of well less weight right? I also brought too many t-shirts so I rounded them and an extra towel to send back home when I find a post office.
It was a beautiful ride into hope with views of the Fraser and lush green forest. I am now down to one pair of gloves, left them on the back of the bike when I took some pictures and now they are gone. I also found out after the fact that my phones touch screen works just fine with gloves on.
Day 3
The ride:
Woke up pretty tired and slept in until 8:30. I started by re-organizing all of my gear and repacking it on my bike. This as totally expected and you can not plan too much for. I also realized after some searching that I must have a left a pair of bike shorts at my Uncle Dave’s – DOH! Of well less weight right? I also brought too many t-shirts so I rounded them and an extra towel to send back home when I find a post office.
IN PROGRESS….
Day 2 – Port Coquitlam to Agassiz
The ride: Ride 2
The day started on the right note with uncle Dave making me breakfast. It was raining in the morning so I didn’t leave until 10:30. Traffic was quite busy but I felt reasonably safe as there was decent shoulder on the side of the road. The east side of Coquitlam is not too pretty along the highway but you do have a view of the mighty Fraser River. As you start to closer to Mission BC the highway has a lot more trees but still allows glimpses of the river to keep the mind distracted.
I stopped at the London Drugs in Mission to pick up a camera and some memory cards for my tablet. I tested the memory cards but didn’t test the camera for some reason. My cousin Karen lives in Mission and her daughter Marissa was making me veggie Jambalaya so off I went to there place up the hill. It was raining at this point and the hill was a killer. I actually stopped near the top to take a breather – who designed these roads anyway?
Bart, Karen’s husband was also there and we chatted over lunch as I played with my new camera. Unfortunately it did not want to talk with Android tablet so I spent the next few hours trying to get it to work before heading back to London Drugs in frustration. They agreed there was no direct integration but swapping out the memory card between the camera and tablet when I want to upload video will have to suffice for now. In Calgary I can still return it.
Day 1 – Richmond to Port Coquitlam
What a great day. Thank you everyone for your support. We have raised around $6,500 as of day one and I couldn’t be more happy. I was scrambling a bit this morning as to be expected for me but I was able to leave on time at 10:30. At my first stop no one was there at first but all of the sudden Mary from my work showed up. We chatted and then I headed off. My friend Simone met me at the Marine drive skytrain and rode with me to Jericho. More friends, Michelle and Lisa joined us at Queen Elizabeth park and we rode the rest of the way with us. The BBQ was well under way when we got to Jericho park and most people had already arrived. We had a competition for some Mt. Everest rocks which was one by Scotty and Anna (what an excellent bear crawler!) who donated one of the rocks to second place team Michelle and Lisa – that was nice!
After a speech and some Glen heckling I rode off with my brother in law Brett who got me well on my way and rode out to my Uncle Dave and Auntie Donna’s. It was beautiful day and a great start.
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| Jeff's Going-Away BBQ |
Cheers!
Jeff
Healing hands
My massage therapist has generously donated what will be an extraordinary hour of his time to help my charity. One will experience some relief your aches and pains and perhaps learn how to let go of some of your major stressors. (He’s good at this!) I have used him many times over the years to help me rehab my injuries and to keep me tuned up so I could achieve some of my personal bests: in my last Ironman (Switzerland 2009) I had a serious injury right in the middle of training which Randall was able to help me mentally and phsyically. It turned out that I made my goal of cutting a hour off my previous best. This followed a series of deep tissue massages he designed to enhance my performance. Your problems may be much easier to solve!
The hour is usually worth $110.00 and Randall is an independant business person. He is successful because he builds clients through referrals of great service!
Check out Randall Friedman, RMT at his website http://www.crossroadsmassage.com. He has an easy to use online calendar which you can simply email the times you want and go.
For all of the people who donated before June 4th we will have a draw for this prize. However I really encourage you to contact Randall, he really provides a high quality service.
Cheers
Jeff
Global Hydration
A Canadian business who found me and donated without any prior contact to me. The company is based in Thunder Bay Onatrio and I look forward to meeting them and and seeing first hand all of the great products they have delivered.
In their words:
Global Hydration specializes in water treatment and purification systems for remote industry, disaster response, remote communities, residential applications, emergency preparedness, outdoor sport, international travel and more.
By sharing our field experience, knowledge base and proven solutions, we can help you like no one else can. As a manufacturer, agent, distributor and innovator, we’re in the unique position of always being able to deliver the right tool for the job.
From NGO’s to families to private business, our community has tasked us to respond to a full spectrum of water purification challenges. It is this demand that has allowed us to expand as an organization and evolve to become a full spectrum service and solution provider. Where do you need safe drinking water?
