Catherine Pickup

Day 5, June 17: Kenora, Ontario to Mine Centre, Ontario

Today we had breakfast in Kenora and were on our bikes by 8 am for another full day of cycling.  On our way to Fort Francis, the peloton almost got hit by a deer as it jumped out 6 feet in front us and ran across the road.   The wildlife we’ve seen on this adventure is incredible!  We’ve seen more wildlife than people I think!  The big difference between cycling and driving in the car is that we get to see everything up close and personal.  (Including the bugs:  sunscreen acts as fly paper and at the end of the day I’m covered in all kinds of insects). 

Again we had strong head winds, making it difficult to ride, but we kept encouraging each other, and many times you could hear Drew’s chant, “Go Team Two!  You look awesome.”  We work well together, and the peloton has become a tight, well-oiled machine.  We look out for each other, and will often remind each other to eat or drink, as sometimes in difficult riding conditions you forget to.   

My shoulder was still sore from the fall, so Jen, our massage therapist, took a look at it and taped it back to take some pressure off the ligaments and tendons and I took more painkillers to numb the pain.  We arrived for dinner at Fort Francis, ON where they had prepared a dinner of fresh fish , rice, veggies, fruit and cookies for us and then we continue to cycle to Mine Centre.  Unfortunately, due to massive construction on the road, we were unable to cycle the whole distance.  The total kilometres cycled today were 245km instead of our scheduled 280km because of the construction.  Our showers were at a campsite that hadn’t opened to the public yet and the water was freezing cold.  You could hear screams from miles around as we took the torturous plunge to get the road dirt off us.  It would have been warmer to swim in the lake I think.

So, as we do at the end of every day of cycling, we climbed into our respected RV’s to drive to our next starting point—Terrace Bay.  As I mentioned before there are two RV’s for team two—RV 2A and RV 2B—and while they don’t look any different from the outside, the occupants and the way they were kept couldn’t have been more different.   RV 2A was full of rules.  All their cupboards and drawers were labelled for various items and the occupants placed said items in the coreesponding places.  For example, helmets went in one cupboard while towels went in another.  They also had a special cabinet for shoes and when you took them off, you were required to spray freshener into them before placing them into the cupboard.  The RV was regularly swept out and cleaned on a regular basis.  RV 2A was also very strict about any ‘off-roading’ that may occur.  Pee-breaks were timed and often the driver could be seen standing outside the door looking at his watch to make sure no more than 5 minutes went by at any location.  (We weren’t allowed to use the RV washrooms and would stop at various locations to use the facilities). 

Then there was RV 2B:  Hell on wheels.  We had no rules, no labelled cupboards and the RV was never swept out.  Items were placed wherever one could find room for them and the counters were often overloaded with our stuff.  When the RV was travelling, you had to duck to avoid any projectile items.  One time someone left an unopened can of coke on the counter and when Des and Gord were driving during the day (we were on our bikes), the can flew to the front of the RV, hit one of the drivers, smashed open and sprayed coke everywhere.  Suffice it to say, the RV got cleaned that day, and from then on we made sure items were not kept on the counter. 

Pee breaks would often turn into epic adventures of ordering food or buying snacks.  After a full day of cycling and our last meal at 5 or 6 pm, we found ourselves starving by 2am.  Des and Gord were very relaxed and patient to put up with us and would stop wherever we requested.

Sleep was almost impossible while travelling in the RV.  While we were supposed to get the majority of our sleep in the Bunk Truck, some nights we were travelling 500 + km and wouldn’t arrive until 5 or 6am.  We would doze, only to be hastily awakened by the RV hitting a rumble strip.  We would jerk awake in panic, imagining our drivers falling asleep at the wheel and would only drift back to sleep once realizing everything was okay.  Sometimes one of us would stay awake and talk to the drivers.  On average, we only managed one or two hours of sleep in the RV. 

RV 2B was my form of rebellion.  Due to the demands of the ride, we were often told what to do, when we can do it and for how long.  It’s probably the closest to army life that I will ever get.  Mornings are very structured and begin with a wake-up call, usually by Jamie.  Before doing anything else, we are to dress in our riding gear, and after a quick trip to the washroom, we must return pronto for breakfast.  Lord help you if you go to breakfast in your pj’s!  Then after eating a quick meal we have to get our bikes ready (lube chain, fill tires, and clean if necessary), fill water bottles and load our pockets with food for the first 50km.  Then we have to pack our bags for the night on the RV and if it’s laundry day, pack the laundry bag for Des and Gord, and pack extra cycling gear for the follow  vehicle in case of rain or a change in temperature.   Jamie will then check in with us to make sure we are feeling okay and eating properly, and Bill will give me my painkillers.  Then, before we get on our bikes we form a circle to listen to the morning’s dedication, and then say our team cheer, “Together for change.” There is barely time to breathe, so when I get into the RV at night the last thing I want is someone telling me where to put my belongings and to nag me about deodorizing my shoes! 

Tonight we stop at Wendy’s for burgers.  It’s around 1am and we’re all starving.  At first they were unsure whether the RV would fit through the drive-thru so we get out in our pj’s and run up to the drive-thru window.  They allow us to order the food there, but Des pulls the RV up to the window where we pick- up the food.  Shortly afterwards we get lost, and then have problems with the efficiency of the RV—it won’t go over 60 km.  Des and Gord figured they must have got bad gas at the last stop (okay, I realize how that sounds), so we pull into a truck stop in the middle of nowhere.  At first they couldn’t find a gas pump, only diesel, and they tell us we will have to stay here until morning.  Luckily, someone eventually locates a gas pump and Des fills up the vehicle and we continue on our way.  As we are driving down the road a moose and her two babies run in front of the RV. At 2:30am we stop at the Terry Fox Memorial where we all stand around in awe.   We arrive in Terrace Bay just in time to get dressed and get on our bikes.

Day 4, June 16th: Carlyle, Saskatchewan to Brandon, Manitoba

We were all in low spirits today.  We hadn’t seen anyone for days—no community events, no ride-a-longs, no children—and we were beginning to feel a little cheated and yes, a little sorry for ourselves.  We had had three days of difficult riding—albeit beautiful and stimulating— but with no real connection to the cause.  Our last event was in Vancouver and it was hard to hear how the other two groups were involved in many great community events. Our metaphoric emotional tanks were depleted leaving some disappointed and others questioning why they were here.  So when we began our ride at 6am this morning from Carlyle to Redvers, we were a quiet and somewhat sombre group.  We were told there was an event happening in Redvers, but we were not convinced that there would be a good turn-out.

Redvers is a small town, with a population of 917, in southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada.  A large statue of a Mountie on a horse can be seen on the road at the edge of town, just west of the intersection with north-south Highway 8.  The town was named in 1897–1898 after General Sir Redvers Buller, who was then fighting in the Second Boer War, and who had earlier in his career commanded a company to quell the Red River Rebellion. The town was incorporated in 1904 and its centennial was celebrated July 30 – August 1, 2004. 

When we were about 15 km out from Redvers we heard an ambulance siren.  The driver pulled in front of our peloton, and proceeded to escort us into town.  As we got closer, we could see a crowd along the side of the road and we turned to each other asking, “Are those people?”  We weren’t quite ready to believe it.  “Maybe it’s a cardboard cut out, “one person suggested.  We figured our eyes must be playing tricks on us; after all, we were in the middle of nowhere and hadn’t seen a soul in days, apart from the ghost town yesterday where we saw two people.  But as we got closer we could hear the cheers, and see the colourful signs that the children were holding and waving in their hands.  Tears filled my eyes as we passed by and the crowd cheered, chanted and clapped.

The whole town was there.  They shut down businesses and schools in order to come and meet us.  The children crowded around us, and we handed out dog tags to them while they shyly asked us questions.  One girl’s eyes bulged out and her mouth gaped open when I told her the longest ride I had been on was 300km.  She must have thought I was nuts and said: “My dad made me ride 5km two days ago to get in shape for hockey and I was sore and tired!  I didn’t like it.” They served us lunch of turkey sandwiches and Kathy (one of our teammates) purchased some Saskatoon pie for later that night when we were back in the RV. 

We were presented with donations they raised through various fundraising events.   Two young girls handed over a bag of pocket change they collected over the last year - $315. The second was a cheque from a local business - $250. The last was a cheque from the local French school that collected casual Friday morning and donations from a bike-a-thon - $2,600.   This was a significant amount considering the population is under 1000 people! 

We had a difficult time leaving as the kids swarmed us with requests for autographs and we found ourselves signing hats, shoes, foreheads, arms, lunch boxes, and playing cards.  We left late, with our bellies full, our spirits high and our tanks filled to the brim.

 Jen and Mike joined us from one of the ride along teams as we continued to cycle to Brandon, Manitoba, battling strong head and cross winds (where are those tail winds I ordered?).   It was nice to have a couple of powerhouses on the front to help pull us along, and about twenty kilometres outside of Brandon we finally got the wind at our backs.  We arrive in Brandon, a little windblown but in good spirits and enjoy warm showers and a delicious dinner at Montana’s where I had my preferred recovery drink—a pint of Kilkenny.

Once again we climbed into the RV to travel to our next starting place- Kenora, Ontario.  We cycled a total of 240 km today.