30 Hours of Biking in 7 Days

Well Amber and I didn't exactly live like bike pros but this was probably the hardest Tour BC both of us have ever been on. This is the 4th tour for both of us and every time we do it we both agree that it takes our biking to a whole new level. Unfortunately (or fortunately after this year) it is the last tour they are offering and we're going to have to look into other options in the future. Our week long bike vacation started off great, we spent Friday night in Jasper and woke up to sunny skies so I let Amber sleep a bit and hit the Pyramid Lake loop. It's about a 20km beautiful trail run up a mountain to the lake and back. I felt a little stiff and couldn't quite get going but I did just jump out of bed and put the runners on so I was probably still a little groggy. After the run and some breakfast we made our way to Kamloops and got there in enough time for the bike check and to get our 'dorm room' for the night. The start point was at Thompson Rivers University and we were assigned dorm rooms for the Saturday night before the tour, if you ever wanted to feel what it was like being a prisoner go to one of those dorms- 4 rooms connected with a common bathroom and prison white cinder block walls.


The first day everyone was excited to get going, the weather was beautiful, everyone was fresh and ready to go! A brief pep talk and we were on our way... Amber and I wanted to make this our bike focus training week of course and we planned on riding hard every day. I wanted to alternate 180k and 120k days every day for the entire week. That meant I should be able to get in 4-180k days and 3-120k days for a total of 1080kms for the week, that was the plan anyway. The first day everything went great and although some of the roads were a little rough and I was stung in the finger by something I managed to get in my 180k for the day and was completely spent by the time I got to the campsite. The rest of the afternoon and evening went well, we were eating like ravenous animals again, hung out with some friends from GP and that night everything changed. That's when the rains came, it start raining that night and was not letting up by morning.


One of the things I love about this tour is that you HAVE to bike every day, no matter what the weather, how sore or tired you feel you HAVE to get on your bike and get to the next destination. However there are some days you wish that you could just take a pass. Everything was muddy, cold, and miserable for most of the day until the afternoon when we got closer to Lumby and the skies started to clear. Finally the day turned around but the damage was done, my bike was running like an old mule and there was dirt and mud in everything. I managed to get in my 120k and even pulled out a 10k T-run, but the rest of the night I was very, very tired and sleeping on an air mattress was not proving to be the best recovery solution.


The third day was probably one of the hardest days of the tour, up the Monashee mountain range. The day started off alright even though it was extremely cold for July there was enough climbing that I warmed up fairly quick. After the water stop I hit the climb and I couldn't believe how steep a lot of the sections were, some near the top reaching 15%! That's when my knee started bugging me and I wish I had a couple extra gears to get me up those mountains, I was literally using the entire road going back and forth to do anything I could to get up to the top by the time I did get there I was done, my legs were cooked. My plan to get in 180k today was scrapped and I just wanted to limp in to the finish. Amber had her shifter break off the aerobar and she had to call it a day at the top. I'm glad she did because the next 20kms of descending were some of the most dangerous I've every been through. The rain started hammering everyone and I couldn't see a thing through foggy and wet sunglasses. I took it easy all the way down to the ferry and when I reached the bottom I heard that someone had crashed, it was bad and he had to go to hospital but after a few stitches he came back and rejoined the tour with a lot of road rash on his face, wow. That day and night were tough, I set up the tent in the rain (there were no hotels) and everything was wet, the suitcases, the tent, the chairs, the food, your clothes, everything. After that day most people decided to hotel it the rest of the way, including us. I still managed to get in 120kms for the day and considering what we went through I'd call it a successful day.


The next day was a short 60km jaunt to Nakusp and Amber and I were looking forward to some nicer weather and a hotel at the end of today. It was still cloudy and cold until we arrived in Nakusp but any thoughts of adding kms, swimming or running were out the window. We both just wanted a shower and a latte. The town was nice and we finally saw some sun that afternoon but we spent most of the day doing laundry and fueling up for the next day. Nakusp to Revelstoke is a beautiful ride with 4 good climbs and descents but the rain started again and at the half way mark we were all soaked to the bone. On top of that the luggage took hours to arrive after we got to the hotel so I was sitting in wet bike shorts and I knew that was not a good idea if I wanted to avoid saddle sores. Another tough 120km day in the books.


Finally by Friday the weather was supposed to clear up a little and the sun was going to come out but it started off cold again. At the first water stop the sun did show and I was shedding layers, I was determined to get in at least one more 180km day so I started doing 5km out and backs at every break. The day was scheduled for a 135kms so I'd have to add another 45kms but by the time we got to Armstrong we were cruising around town so much that I ended the day with my 180. We stayed in a nice B&B that Amber had found and spent the evening and early morning watching the final stages of the tour, that was fun.

The final day back to Kamloops was the best weather of the week but I could feel the 6 days of hard riding starting to take it's toll. For some reason my groin decided to act up and it made turning the pedals very tough, also my right knee was really hurting from pushing hard for 6 days straight. A nice easy cruise into Kamloops would be a great idea but unfortunately a strong headwind was making life difficult for everyone. After the water break a group of strong riders caught up to me and we all started working together in team time trial format to get through the next 30k, it was a lot of fun and exactly what I needed to push me a little harder than I wanted to go. After lunch I took off a little early and pushed as hard as I could for the final 60kms. I got back to Kamloops tired, sore, beaten, but satisfied with what I'd done for the week. I may never know what it's truly like to ride a bike for a living but after this week I'm not sure that I care. It was a challenging physically and mentally and I'm glad this part of the training is done. I have a couple more long rides planned before IMC but now I need to focus on my open water swimming and distance running. This weekend is a tough 180kms from Grande Cache to Grande Prairie something we've been planning and talking about all year and now it's go time!!