- Tuesday, June 2nd -

 

Today’s total:  140km
Trip total:  140km

Today was my initiation into biking through the mountains!  Although the majority of the 'mountains' to Hope, BC were small hills, I struggled ascending them.  Downhill was clocked at a top speed of 72km/hr!  Holy cow!

 

After the first 40 km, my calves were aching.  It then moved into my thighs and ended up in my knees in the last 20 km.  At one point I needed an adjustment in my leg from Dan to get a knot out of my thigh.  Temperature today averaged about 30 degrees C in the Fraser valley, but it felt like 40!  My nose got the brunt of it.  I am leading the way tomorrow with my red nose.

We kicked off in White Rock, BC at 9AM from Dogwood Park.  We said our goodbyes to our hosts, Jan and Tim.  Fantastic hosts!  You will see a picture of their foster dog "Fender Bender"; he christened the trip by piddling on my tire which I saw as good luck.

We had countless people passing us, of course, but numerous people gave support by honking, waving, and giving thumbs up.  A friendly motorcyclist even travelled aside me for just over a kilometre chatting about the ride and wishing me success.

I have to tell you, this whole eating ordeal for energy has been quite a shock to my system.  My nutritionalist Renee B. suggests I should be consuming 4000 to 5000 calories daily.  This is a challenge to me, as my normal daily intake is around 2000 calories while working at the shelter.

 

 

Dan and Jenn signal me to stop every hour via walkie talkie for my water, fruits, juices, snacks, and my new friend: an ice cold face towel!  Thank you, team!

 

The roads at times are tricky to navigate with silly intersections every now and then; I found myself on the #1 Hwy (accidentally!) for about 3km.  That was startling to say the least.  I should note: riding the #1 Hwy from Vancouver to Hope is not legal.  For the most part, the roads are good to bike on and there is, thankfully, minimal road kill.  

We came across another charitable tour on the #7 Hwy.  There was a runner making a trip from Canada's East coast, all the way to Victoria, BC!  The runner, Wayne, was raising awareness for The Anxiety and Depression Society.  We exchanged words and went our separate ways.

Thanks to Dan, once again, for helping with the blogging and website updates!  He brought to my attention that my last post had 52 hits within 20 hours!  FANTASTIC!  It really made my day!

It is now 10:30PM here, and I am absolutely exhausted!
Enjoy the photos.  Good night.

-D'Arcy.