One day to go!

May 30, 2009

I'm ready to go! I feel much better because I just had my brakes fixed...they needed it pretty badly, despite having them looked at right before I had my bike shipped.

Today we went over stretching, road safety, and did some fun team-building activities. I ate quite well today...peanut butter and jelly on toast for breakfast, an Ali Baba crepe for lunch, gelato (for the first time ever) for a snack, and pizza for dinner. It's been a long time since I've had ANY of those things. I'm also glad Anna and I decided to bring our panniers along today so that my confidence will be higher tomorrow.

May 31, 2009

We all made it in one piece! I had my doubts, but everything turned out fine. I'm currently sitting in the gymnasium floor of a large church in White Rock, BC. We had a good turnout for the pledge ride this morning at the Art Gallery. It was really neat--I led off the second pod for the ride and immediately came up behind another random biker on the road at a red light. She turned around and asked where we were headed, and then asked what we were agents of (since the back of our shirts read, "I'm an Agent." I said, naturally, "Change!" She was super-excited about the whole thing, especially when I told her she had actually seen us commence our journey. I was in a pod of four people, two of whom are fellow riders: Anna, Bugsy, and Robert (from Bikes on the Drive). Robert was a bit obsessed with documenting the ride, both with still pictures and video. It may eventually appear on their website--who knows!

The barbecue was fie at the park. For entertainment, they had a karate show and a live musician. A pretty neat idea, they had a bicycle valet so that we didn't have to worry about locking our bikes up (or our panniers!). We started officially with only a few additional people along for the ride in the mid-afternoon and rode mainly bike paths. The biggest issue was following the path. Initially, I was going to ride ahead to chalk the route with some people who actually knew where they were going, but we decided to just have us all try to follow one another instead. In essence, we followed the path of the Sky Train most of the way to White Rock. All in all, the ride was not too bad--only 45 kilometers or so.

A few minor issues, but nothing too bad: one broken rack (which has since been fixed), one flat tire, and a few people falling over while standing still on their bikes. It may sound funny, but falling over is not terribly hard to do, especially while clipped in to the bike, going slow, with panniers on the back weighing in at 30-40 pounds.

Tomorrow we cross the border into the US! Shouldn't pose a problem, but we'll see how it goes.

June 1, 2009

A great second day all around! My sleep could have been better but considering the gym with the hard floor and no mat, it wasn't terrible. Breakfast was a short ride away on the pier at the beach. Luckily for us, there was a small patch of trimmed grass on which to pass the time (a.k.a. play frisbee). Eventually we headed down to the Peace Arch for some more frisbee and to wait for the van to go through customs. Crossing the border wasn't hard at all. Of note, today was the first day that passports are required to cross between the US and Canada.

My pod today was a powerhouse. We had some of the best riders and also many of the distinguished riders (ie ride leaders). Carly, Omid, Bugsy, Eva, and me. Unbeatable. These five people comprise all the ride leaders, all of the first aid people, plus me and Eva. :) YET we managed to get lost at least three times--go figure. We never had to turn around, but we did change the route once after acquiring a map from a local.

We were mainly on back country road (the kind I like!) today, some with a shoulder, some without. There were some magnificent views of Mount Baker, but the only pictures I took are recorded in my mind's eye. In general, it is very liberating to be on the open road after all this time--and we've got a great team too! Although today was a workout to get to Bellingham, I don't feel sore at all (except my hands, of all places). I did my fair share of sprinting, usually taking awhile to chalk each turn without my bike falling over. Near the end of a ride, I noticed the first US biker coming up strong behind us. She came at the perfect time--we were just starting to think that we were lost. So she biked with us all the way to the bike shop where we were staying--how nice of her! All I know about Kim is that she is a school teacher (who went way out of her way to make sure we found the place). She is extremely fascinated by our cause, and I am extremely grateful for her part in our journey.

For dinner, I was appointed grillmaster, in charge of the meat and corn. I didn't receive any complaints, other than things out of my control (like not enough vegetarian options...). Tomorrow we head off to Stanwood, perhaps 80 km or so...moving right along!