No we're not in Rwanda anymore! I am using my existing travel blog to write about my MS Bike tour "experience".
I was a little nervous about the whole concept. I have ridden 100 km on 4 occasions on the Tour D'Alberta, 120 once and several times around 80 km. It was the 185 km over 2 days which scared me a little, as I had no idea what type of shape I would be in on the second day. Our late spring meant I didn't get out on my road bike that much. The weekend before I rode 74 km (actually more because we got lost) with the EBTC and while I felt fine after, I had very little energy the next day. Being on call Tuesday and Wednesday the following week meant I didn't ride after Monday which in retrospect was probably a good idea. On top of everything, rain was forecase for both Saturday and Sunday. We spent Friday evening finding the rain-gear we had put away last fall, packing and carb loading with pasta and the brown liquid carbs I like so much. After watching a little TV and reading, I was in bed just after 9 pm.
We had set the alarm for 0545 but I was up shortly after 0500. After applying diclofenac gel onto every place I figured might hurt, I got dressed into my cycling gear, rechecked my luggage and day pack and put the bikes on the car rack. After eating cranberry-cinamon bread that Mary made the night before, we were off stopping at Macs for a coffee. About 2 km short of the exit we were supposed to take, we came upon a huge line of cars in the right lane. Hmmm wonder what's happening? Oh yes those are all the cars exiting to go to the MS Bike Tour. These were being slowed down by a stop light at the top of the exit which only let a few cars through at a time.
When we finally got there, quite a few people had got there before us and we had to park well away from the start. The weather was overcast but not raining although there were some dark clouds to the west of us. We opened our ride envelope and found a variety of tags, numbers and wrist-bands that had to be applied to various places. It was a little confusing but the people in the car next to us were quite helpful and we were soon walking carrying our day packs and luggage and pushing our bikes towards the start. We first stopped at the truck that would take our luggage to Camrose and then towards the start area which was now really crowded. We should have left by now but as the man on the microphone told us, they were still waiting for people to park. The microphone man was apparently some type of local celebrity weatherman who told us that the rain should hold off until noon. Great, I thought if we leave now we should actually by in Camrose by noon. That was of course not in the cards. We first had to listen to speeches from the mayor of Leduc and the MLA for Leduc.
Note to politicians: if you are going to show up and make a speech, try to make sure the gravel has been swept off the shoulder along the route.
There was more banter from the celebrity-weatherman and then the tour took off in groups of 50. The top fund raising teams got to go first and it was about thirty minutes before we got to the front but eventually we were on our way south towards Leduc.
On rides like this, you see a variety of bikes and costumes. A lot of people ride road bikes and you see a mixture of the latest carbon fibre and some that come out of the garage once year. Quite a few people ride mountain bikes or upright commuter bikes and I have the utmost respect for them and always felt sheepish when I passed one of them (and embarassed when they passed me as quite a few did!). There were a few tandem bikes including the two women who rode with red leotards and red leg warmers. There was a family who had attached a bike attachment to a tandem making it a triple bike. And there was the guy who rode the heavy downhill bike with motorcycle size tires. Most impressive though were the two unicyclists who rode the whole way. Some people also were dressed in various costumes such as the guy who rode in knickers, a tweed jacket and bow-tie and the two guys who rode in cow-suits. Many people form teams of various sizes some with interesting names like Menstrual Cylces and MegaSoreAss.
For the most part I followed Mary who rides way faster than me, sometimes letting her get way ahead, sometimes catching or keeping up. It was overcast and not too hot. I was able to take off my sweater at the first rest stop. Each rest stop allowed up to fill up on water, gatorade and have some snacks as well as visit the porta-potty. At the third stop we had an early lunch. People spend varying amounts of time at each rest stop; some bypass them completely which means that during the day you pass or are passed by the same people several times.
Mary wore the red jersey worn by riders with MS. At one stop, a volunteer approached her and talked for a while. She would have liked to ride but was having problems with her balance due to her MS. She seemed a little sad and defeated and we talked for a while. This emphasized that the ride is more than about having fun and exercise. During the weekend we got to meet a few other people with MS both riders and non-riders.
Alberta east of the Rockies does not have many hills; it does have valleys. These are the opposite of hills where you get the exhilirating downhill followed by the climb rather than the reverse. The downhills were a little hairy due to the number of riders, the car traffic, the gravel on the shoulder (see above) and the rumble strips separating the road from the shoulder. If you wanted to pass somebody going downhill, you had to go across the rumble strips and hitting these at full speed on a road bike is a little unnerving.
The last 40 km were into a headwind (actually compared to Sunday, it was a head breeze). Mary always rides better in the wind than I do so she sailed on ahead while I plodded along visualizing the beer garden I knew would be at the end. The finish was way at the east side of Camrose, so we rode past the big box stores, and through the old picturesque parts before arriving at the finish where each rider passed through to applause. Mary was of course already waiting. We dropped our bikes off and headed to the beer gardens for some serious rehydration therapy. After rehydrating, we picked up our luggage and were shuttled in a school bus to our hotel were we had a shower followed by a nap.
We returned to the site around 1630. Those people who don't stay in hotels or the dorms camp on site and there were a variety of RVs and tents. Fillmore Construcion which raises a lot of money and had a huge (83) team had set up the Fillmore Campers Village complete with hot-tubs. We got there in time for the 1000 club cocktail party and then went to the main arena for dinner. Serving dinner for almost 2000 really hungry people is a challenge but the dinner while not cordon bleu was plentiful and nourishing. We all sat at rows picnic tables. One thing I noticed about this event was that unlike a lot of events where you may be forced to sit with people you don't know, conversations were soon struck up just like you were old friends.
After supper we had the speeches from the local mayor and the MLA (see above) before we got into the meat of the evening, which were more speeches but speeches which were actually interesting and inspiring. The honorary chairman, who herself suffers from MS gave a great speech after which she invited all the riders with MS on stage and so Mary got to go up and be recognized along with about 20 other riders. Again, a reminder of why we ride. There was also a photo montage of photos taken during the the day including one of Mary (her back actually).
After dinner the ride coordinator warned everybody that there was a tornado warning that fortunately had been downgraded but that there were contingency plans for the campers to sleep in the main arena. We were relieved to have a hotel room. We passed up the dance and headed back to our hotel in time to see the last 8 seconds of the hockey game (they're still playing hockey, who knew?) and then fell asleep.
I awoke around 0500 and looked out our hotel window. It had rained heavily during the night but it wasn't raining now. That had changed by the time we got dressed and it was raining moderately hard. We checked out and took the shuttle back to the start area where we had breakfast and chatted with some people before getting into our rain-gear, picking up our bikes and heading out. It was now raining even harder. We rode for a block or so with the wind at our backs and I was thinking this isn't too bad. Then we turned north into a cross wind that almost blew my bike over. The rain was pelting into our faces and it felt like hail. Visibility wasn't great and as people stopped to adjust their raingear, there were some near-crashes. We had bought neoprene booties to keep our feet dry but the splash up from the road went through the bottom and my feet were soaked in about 5 minutes. Still we kept on through the streets of Camrose and then north on the highway. The wind was full into our faces although the rain slacked off after a while. Mary went on ahead while I slogged on and we met at each rest stop. After a while we turned west and headwind turned into a crosswind that forced us to ride a bizzare 30 degree angle. There were the odd respite where we rode next to woods or a farmer's windbreak but for the most part we fought the crosswind.
We finally arrived at the Hay Lakes lunch stop in the community centre where there was hot soup and other food. Mary was again waiting. We heard that large numbers of people were dropping out here (600 I later heard) and that buses had been dispatched to pick up everybody, but despite wavering we decided to push on. We were now just short of half way. After lunch the rain and the wind seemed a little lighter and we made the next rest stop in good time. Having coffee inside a barn, I looked at the map and we "only" had 38 km to go. A few km after the rest stop we turned west again, this time into a head wind. The road sloped gently downhill so riding was a little easier and the rain was lighter and occasionally stopped. There were two rest stops in the last 38 km but it seemed to take forever to get to them. We turned north towards Beaumont climbing a significant hill and made a brief stop at the last rest stop. We now had 14 km to go.
A few more km north and we turned west again towards Leduc. We were again into a headwind and the road was predominantly a gentle uphill with a few real hills. I was by this point riding exlusively in my small front ring while Mary went on ahead. The helpful people at Fillmore Construction had put up km countdown starting with 9 km. I do not find these signs motivating. I like to believe I am further ahead than I really am. These gradually counted down as I slogged on towards Leduc. At 3 km we all rode into a rain storm of Biblical proportions, huge drops of rain and wind. We headed north towards the finish. We were in an industrial park and large trucks drove by splashing water. The shoulder was littered with gravel, small stones and mud (see above). Soon however I could see the finish. I like to finish in style so I went into my modified finishing kick before giving up and coasting though the finish. Because of the rain there were very few people out to greet me. It was about 1400, we had left Camrose at 0730.
I found Mary and we went inside where food was being served. There was not a lot seating but we were invited to sit down at a table. Hamburgers had never tasted so good and we chatted with the people at our table for some time (including two women riders with MS). We then got our luggage and walked back to our car. It had stopped raining and we could see blue sky to the east. People were still coming in. Back to Edmonton, showers and dry clothes.
This was my first MS Bike Tour, Mary's 6th (her first as a "patient"). I was able to raise/coerce about $2900 in donations and Mary raised over $1000. I would like to thank all the people who donated to me. There are a lot of causes out there and we all get asked for money on a fairly regular basis so I thank everybody who donated. I have a healthy skepticism of most health-related charities but the MS Society is a first rate professional and patient focused organization with incredibly low overhead expenses. All the volunteers we met before during and after the ride were cheerful, helpful and polite without the "attitude" we so often see in volunteers. We were treated like royalty during the ride with lots of good food. I would highly recommend this event either as a donor or a participant.
About 100 or so times during the ride somebody told me "thanks for riding". It was in fact a major accomplishment for me to just be able to ride such a distance and despite the weather, I had a great time and so I didn't really feel right accepting their gratitude.
But you're welcome anyway.
