Day 5: What's that big yellow thing in the sky???

Well...the last 24 hours has been pretty good for us. We started this round near Holyoke Nebraska and the rain has finally moved on. Our ride was from 6am to noon. We had to begin coordinating our transition point around 430am. So yes...very early start to the day!

Regardless of the start time - it was a fantastic day. We enjoyed watching the sun rise as we began riding....and once the sun was up - the skies were blue and it warmed up significantly. So much that we had to change into our summer gear!

Bill and Rod, our experienced cycling teammates showed Tom and I how to 'echelon'. It's a technique and riding formation which allows several cyclists to 'share' the work and support each other by constantly rotating positions. We completed 105k today - slightly less than planned due to a minor delay when our support ambulance stalled for a short period of time.

Getting closer to our destination now - we are staying in Boise, Oklahoma tonight and then will likely start biking tomorrow near the Texas border.

Today's photos:

Still lots of gear on for the cold morning start...


At the end of our ride...the gear is off and sunglasses were on!


We had our first flat tires today as well - Rod and Tom - one of them caused by part of a road side plant that has some very tire unfriendly thorns:


Team 4 in Burlington Colorado:


Once in a while...we are able to meet up with a few of the other teams and volunteers between transition times - here with Team 4 and 5:



- billy

Day 4: Most people probably won't understand...

...how it could possibly be enjoyable to bike 110k from midnight to 6am through the Black Hills of South Dakota at near zero degree temps along with having to contend with rain off and on...but it was...

The opportunity to ride through the Black Hills with the entire road to ourselves is rare. We enjoyed the peacefulness of the ride uninterrupted by vehicles. We enjoyed riding through small towns in their complete darkness. And we enjoyed seeing the wildlife active in Wind Cave National Park when people are normally sleeping. The herd of 25-30 elk streaming across our path was an awesome sight.

So far...this ride is tops among all the ones we have done so far.

Some photos from the day:

Our breakfast restaurant in South Dakota...the animals were staring at us from all the walls:



Team 5 at lunch - Shae, Vanessa, Erik, Joy, and Peggy:



Team 1 at the start of their day's ride (yes, I was hanging out the side of the van to take this shot...) - Alison, Tom Z, Tom E, Darrell, and Richard:



Team 1 has had a number of very tough rides - we left a bottle of wine for them on the side of the road...hopefully they found it!



Quick stop at Mount Rushmore with our RV volunteer drivers Greg and Rick:


Team 2 at the end of their ride - our transition point (notice the rain) - Laurel, Lavina, Kathryn, Steve, and Gavin:


At the start of our midnight to 6am ride - in full rain gear and smiling at this point:


- billy

Day Three: We met a few new friends today....

Mr. Wind, Mr. Hill and Mr. Rain...

Our ride was from 6pm to midnight...it didn't take long to get dark, so really, it was essentially a night ride with our new friends. I use the term 'friends' very loosely...we were fine with Mr. Rain...however Mr. Wind was coming from the side for a good portion...and Mr. Hill challenged us on a regular basis. Our team worked together to complete 111kms despite what was being thrown at us.

It's now been 3 days of riding...with 6 more to go. Despite all my training - my body is giving me some signs that it's not that happy with the daily pounding. Food intake has been important. We are burning about 6000+ calories each day and also fully messing with our body clock. If we don't eat enough - we will run into problems by day 5 or 6 or even sooner.

Getting ready for our next ride...we are going to make a stop at Mount Rushmore on our way to the midnight to 6am transition point.

Photos from the day:



On our way to the transition point...we came upon this scene where the road was completely under construction. Team 2 would have had to cross this path. Luckily they were able to get their bikes into the support vehicle and bypass the mess. You know its bad when they even need a pace vehicle for cars to avoid getting stuck in the mud.










The scene at our transition point...lots of movement of bags, gear, and bikes between teams and vehicles:



At the completion of our ride a bit after midnight...and still smiling!



And here is the Toronto Team 4 at the beginning of their midnight ride:



- billy

Day Two: Yep...Montana is pretty flat...

Well, the day started out much the same as it ended, the rain was coming down furiously overnight and continued into the morning. I admire the perseverance and relentless drive of Team 1 who rode from midnight to 6am in the rain and darkness and also completed 159k (don't know why they didn't do the last 1k though to make it a century ride!). It was a very tough night to be riding and amazing that they pushed through to complete it.

It looked like our day may be similar, however as we drove towards our transition point to start riding...the rain gods decided to give us a break. The rain stopped and we had a fantastic day of riding - the mostly flat roads allowed us to maintain average moving speeds of 35-40 km/hr. A number of the small towns we passed through were aware that we were going to be passing through and the local media took advantage getting photos and some interviews. Great to have so much support along the way.

A few photos from today...

...this is pretty much what our GPS looked like the whole time as we travelled to our transition point:


...and this is much of the scenery during our ride:


Apparently we had the opportunity to turn back to Canada while passing through Havre, Montana:


The aftermath of an incredible train derailment along our route:





We were doing such great time and having so much fun...we started to celebrate part way through the ride!


At the end of our leg of the ride - Carolyn and Sandra, our RV drivers and volunteers found us a great transition spot with photo ops as well as giant hay bales which acted as makeshift change rooms for the team:


This is now officially the most I have ever ridden in 1 day:


- billy

Live Tracking of the Peloton Riders

It's up and running - go to the Cancervive website to see where the riders are! http://www.cancervive.ca/

Day One: Cancervive 101

It was a day of lessons on this first day of Cancervive...

- I learned that transition points between teams can take a lot of time if we aren't organized;
- I learned that we can get rained on mid-ride with the wrong clothing on;
- I confirmed if my rain gear will actually keep me dry while riding;

But most importantly, I learned what a great group of people are involved with this ride - everyone from the riders to all the volunteers are fantastic. Some photos from today...

This is our group from Toronto - John M, Mike, myself, John P, Tom, Cynthia, and Keith:






Our team - currently Team 3 - official name still TBD - Tom, myself, Bill, and Rod:



Team 2 coming into our transition point:



Notice the rain gear...not too long after we started riding:



Team 4 (our Toronto friends) heading out on their evening ride:



We are off to Shelby, Montana tonight to rest up for a noon to 6 pm ride tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will be better...the rain definitely adds an extra layer of complexity!

- billy

Day zero - Arrival in Calgary

Cynthia and Keith with our bikes at the Calgary airport; they seemed to have survived the trip thanks to the 3 Thule bike boxes seen in this photo:




John P along with Peggy (General Manager for Cancervive as well as one of our riders this year):




After assembling our bikes back to normal, a few of us went on a test ride to ensure all was working fine...John P, Tom, and Mike in the photo below:




The test ride was just over 20 kms and took us on some very scenic views and paths in the late afternoon sun:




Also had the opportunity to spend some time with my friends Allan, Delphine, and Zack who live in Calgary:




That's all for the day...time to get some rest in preparation for Day One tomorrow.

- billy

OUR CANCERVIVE WARRIOR

This is Kim. She is our Warrior and special guest as part of the Cancervive program. A Cancervive Warrior is someone who has fought or is fighting the battle against cancer. Kim will be flying to Austin to participate in the weekend's events and celebrate Survivorship. Our team will arrive in time to unite with Kim and other Warriors, along with thousands of other participants from around the world participating in the LIVESTRONG event.

THIS IS WHAT THIS RIDE IS ALL ABOUT...take a look at an article that Kim wrote for the Toronto Star regarding how Wellspring support programs have helped her in the battle:
"I took charge, but the support got me through"

WOW...I'm so inspired!

The IronDames invited our team to a send off ride and BBQ yesterday. Not only did we have an awesome ride in fantastic weather...we also had the opportunity to meet some of the most inspiring and amazing people. If you don't know who they are...check out them out here: www.irondames.ca




And check out the cake!




- billy

Flat tire

Updating the blog as we wait for the tire replacement...



-billy

Night Training Ride

Our team had a chance to test out our night riding skills as well as cold weather gear this past weekend. We set out at 4am for an 85km adventure at zero degree temps.




As you can see from these photos...it was pretty dark. As crazy as it may sound, I found the ride very enjoyable. We had the entire road to ourselves and the only sound was that of our bikes.




It was great to ride along with the sunrise...




And here is our team supporting the Wellspring Centres in the GTA - we leave for Calgary in less than 2 weeks!



From left to right - myself, Tom, John P, Mike, Cynthia, and Keith (not in photo - John M).


- billy

100km training ride without my road bike

Tried something different today for my long ride - left my road bike at home and dusted off my 17 year old mountain bike. Based on how slow it was on hills, I'm pretty sure it weighs 2x my regular ride. Regardless - I'm thinking my 100k ride on this thing counts as a double workout! Here's the GPS tracking and a couple of photos at the 50k point:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/111925020




Oh yes, the stain on my jersey and that bandaid is from a wipeout at 20k on a wet bridge; what you don't see is the road rash and bruise on my left hip that I'm sure I will feel for the next week!)




-billy

From home to Lake Ontario...

I'm feeling pretty good about my endurance for Cancervive with all the training I have been doing. I decided to change up my Sunday ride this morning and head south until I hit the water. A bit less than 1.5 hours and ~42km later and here's the view:








Total round trip ride was 83.25km. Nice morning ride, although the city of Toronto really needs to fix up their biking and walking paths. Here's the route:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106418477

- billy