Sky's Cross Canada Blog

We stayed at a lovely Bed and Breakfast called The Douglas Inn in Brooks on Thursday night.  Yesterday morning, I met Karl, my Cadbury manager as he was joining me for the ride from Brooks to Medicine Hat.   Karl was slightly apprehensive for the ride as it was his first long ride and his first time on a road bike.  After a few minutes, Karl couldn’t figure out how to shift gears.  Once we sorted that mystery, we were flying.   We had a massive tail wind, it was unreal! If we had two broomsticks and a sail we would have been going faster than the cars on the highway.

About half way to Medicine Hat, Karl was taking a drink from his water bottle and somehow dropped it and it must have bounced off the shoulder and landed somewhere in the ditch.  Karl whipped around and immediately went looking for it.  Watching him fish through the grass was quite a sight.  I have attached a picture of it!

Karl couldn’t find his water bottle but luckily I had and extra one for him.  We continued on and quickly made our way to Medicine Hat where we met Tory for a tasty lunch.   Tory and I then left Karl to his e-mails and we went over to Marg’s house, my friend who is hosting us for the week end.  Karl’s family arrived to Medicine Hat and we all had a BBQ at Marg’s house. 

Today Marg’s Pharmasave store hosted a fundraiser BBQ for the ride.  It got off to a rocky start since the BBQ that was donated was dropped off with no propane; however, we sorted that out and then ended up raising $1,100 which was great.  Thank you Marg, Duranie, Pharmasave, Karl, and everyone else who helped out!

We are now heading out the door to The Garage Pub and Eatery for another fundraiser event!

 

As planned, on Sunday, a group of cyclists joined me in Canmore to ride together into Calgary.  There were about 15 of us and it was a great ride.   We had a massive tail wind that blew us all the way into Calgary.   Unfortunately, most of us got rained on and arrived covered in mud.  But I’d say that that is better than a head wind! 

After the great ride, we met up at the Talisman Centre where there was an event for the ride that included food, music, games for the kids as well as a silent auction.   It was a successful event as we raised money which of course, put us closer to our goal.   

We then spent the past three days in Calgary getting organized and ready to take off again.  We spent this time in the city because there are two events this week end in Medicine Hat so we figured that we might as well spend the extra time at my apartment in Calgary.  

Today we left the city and headed to Brooks.  The ride started off with chilly temperatures and a crosswind.  The crosswind turned into a significant head wind after about 60km.  However,  for the last 100km there was a wicked tail wind that helped me get to Brooks.  This was so far the longest ride which was a total of 200km.  Epic. 

We are now staying at an Inn and I am just about to have dinner outside on the patio.  It’s absolutely fabulous.   Unfortunately, Tory seems to have come down with a nasty flu so I’m pumping her with all sorts of vitamins and food in hopes of a quick recovery.   Tomorrow, Karl, my manager at Cadbury, is joining me for the ride to Medicine Hat. 

Our time in Revelstoke was phenomenal.  We arrived on Wednesday night and the Inn on the River donated a night’s stay for us.  We checked in and dove right into the glorious hot tub for a bit of relaxation.  At 6:00, I met with some local riders for a ride out the “Dirt road to the Pavement.”  What a great road with almost no traffic.  Thank you to the cyclists who joined in for the ride. 

The following morning was just unbelievable.  Susan, the owner of Inn on the River, teamed up with Mountain View Elementary School to organize a bike-a-thon to raise money for the Children’s Wish Foudation.  At 9:00am we had an assembly in the gym where I had the opportunity to chat to the kids about my ride.  They were so bright and attentive, it was great.  

The kids asked numerous questions that I was thrilled to answer.  Following our chat, they presented me with a cheque for $1,400 which is the total amount of money the kids had collected.  I was thrilled! We then got on our bikes and did laps around the block for about 30 minutes.  These kids were absolutely precious.  They were so keen to go round and round and race each other.  

 

The event was a huge success.  These kids were so inspiring.  During the bike ride, one little boy said: “This is the bestest bike-a-thon I have ever had!”  That was definitely the best quote from the ride.  Following the laps around the block, two girls came up to me and together they said: “We really hope that you make it.”  It was perfect. 

 

 

I then tackled Roger’s Pass on the way to Golden from Revelstoke.  It wasn’t nearly as challenging as I thougth it was going to be.  It was a great ride and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay donated by Kicking Horse Kabins (www.kickinghorsekabins.ca). 

 

 

The next leg of the ride was yesterday’s jouney from Golden to Canmore.  I have to say that this was by far the toughest leg of the trip.  It was uphill pretty much all of the way to Alberta.  This was much more uphill than Roger’s Pass.  Luckily the ride from Lake Louise to Canmore was all downhill and I had a lovely tail wind. 

 

 

We are now in Canmore where we are staying with my relatives, Rick and Jo-Ann.  This morning Jo, Tory and I went to Main Street in Canmore to chat about the ride to various passer-bys.  We successfull raised $850.00 in two hours.  What a success!

 

 

Tonight we are heading to Hoodoo’s in Banff as Hoodoo’s is going to donate $500.  They are going to present me with the cheque and hopefully we will be able to generate some donations from the patrons there. 

 

 

Tomorrow morning about 15-20 cyclists are meeting me at the Sobey’s in Canmore between 8:00 and 8:30am to join me for the ride from Canmore to Calgary.  The ride will depart at 9:00am and head into Calgary where we will regroup at the Talisman Centre for an afternoon of food, music, games for the kids, a silent auction and much more.   If you are in the mood for a great ride tomorrow morning, feel free to join us.  Otherwise, everyone is welcome to stop by the Talisman Centre in Calgary anytime between 1:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon.   Hopefully we’ll see you there!

Today’s ride was from Sicamous to Revelstoke.  It was a good ride with a sweet tail wind. 

What’s more exciting than today’s ride, is a bake sale that was organized by Chloe Laurans, a friend of mine from Scrabble Club.  (Yes, for those of you who are unaware of this, I am a Scrabble junkie and I joined a club in Calgary. Go ahead, laugh it up!)  Chloe is also a fan of scrabble and she is one of the brightest ten year olds that I have ever met. 

Last week I received an e-mail from her mother that said: “Way to go Sky, I am Chloe Laurans’s mother.  She is the 10 year old who plays Scrabble with you on Thursdays.  She has put together a bake sale at her elementary school.  She arranged everything her self and the school came together to help her.  She raised $260 to donate to you for your cycling.  She is very proud of you and what you are doing. Keep up the great work.  We hope to hear from you soon.”

I have received numouers wonderful e-mails but I have to say that this one was particularly touching.  I had no idea that Chloe was organizing a bake sale to raise money so this was definitely a pleasant surprise.    I am so grateful for Chloe’s contribution.  Thank you Chloe.  

What a day!  Another glorious ride for sure!

This morning I checked on the cleats on my cycling shoes only to discover that one of them was in rough shape.  Rideable but not such a great idea.   I decided to replace it with a new one that I had that came in the box with my pedals.  I get out my handy allen key and replace the old, rotten cleat.  I am all proud of myself for having accomplished a little fix-up! Haha! 

I then get on the bicycle to ride away and head to Sicamous when I realize that I cannot get the cleat to clip into the pedal.  I try and try and then realize that it’s not me that cannot figure this is but that the cleat is not the right size for the pedal.  The pedals had been packaged with the wrong cleats! 

So I had to switch back to the old, rotten cleat in order to ride to a bike shop in Kelowna where I could pick up a new pair of proper cleats.  In addition, on the way to the bike shop, the gears of the bike wouldn’t shift properly and I could only ride in certain gears.  Thank you Fresh Air Experience for fixing that and for  the cleats! 

This whole stuff around took about and hour and a half to sort out but sooner or later I was on the road. 

I was about 10km from Vernon when I ran over a knife on the side of the road.  I guess someone decided to chuck their steak knife out the window of their vehicle.  Strange.   So I pulled off the road and over the barrier to fix the flat tire. 

Unfortunately, the knife had cut right through the tire and it could not be repaired; the tire was finished.  I then had to call Tory and we were able to perform rescue #1 of the trip.  She arrived and pulled over and handed me the other bike and I carried on.  It was a rather flawless rescue!

We met in Vernon for lunch and I pulled the Trek bike out to replace the tire and realized that in the whole mayhem of the flat, the cycling computer had somehow fallen off.  No more speedometer.  At this point I just decided to get to Sicamous on the Look bike and deal with the tire later. 

Though the mechanical aspect of the day was somewhat challenging, the ride was epic nonetheless.  I had a mean tail wind all day and that made everything so much better.  I hope for lovely tail winds like this across the country.  

Tory and I met up in Sicamous and enjoyed a picnic dinner on the dock by the water.  Tonight we are staying at a bed and breakfast in town that generously donated a night’s stay for us.  Tomorrow we are off to Revelstoke!

Today was by far the most epic leg to date.  We ended up taking a back road from Princeton to Kelowna and it was gorgeous.  No words can describe the beauty of the travels. We were really in the middle of nowhere.  In fact, for about 40km of the 80km road, we travelled over gravel.  I was worried that the road was going to get really bad but it was hard packed for most of the way so it was fine. 

Unfortunately, I seem to have come down with a nasty sore throat/cold.  This is definitely making the riding that much harder.   I ended up seeing a doc today and got some antibiotics that should take care of the problem. 

On the upside, the weather today was amazing.  It was 30 Celsius and sunny all day.  We are staying at a place in Kelowna that overlooks the lake which is glorious.   I am definitely enjoying this hot summer evening.   

There was an article in one of the Kelowna newspapers about the ride today and the radio station also called for an interview.   Exciting!

Tomorrow morning we’ll be heading to Sicamous. 

 

 

The past two days have been absolutely epic.   Yesterday morning we left my new favourite city, Vancouver, and headed East along the #7 towards Hope.   We made a pit stop in Mission to have lunch with a couple of my co-workers from Cadbury.   We were chatting for a few minutes outside by the van after lunch and a little two year old girl came up to us to hand us a donation.  It was so precious. 

We made it to Hope in time for dinner.  A local campsite donate a night’s stay for us.  We ended up just sleeping in the van which was alright.  

Today we left Hope and headed towards Princeton.  What a ride!  There were three main mountain passes which provided serious challenges on the bike.   Tory and I met up along the side of the road a few times throughout the day to fill up on water and food.  We are now statying at a bed and breakfast just outside of Princeton.  They donated a night’s stay for us and even cooked us a delicious dinner.  This is paradise compared to the van.  We even have our own hot tub and little kitchen!

This morning’s ride started off with a light drizzle that luckily stopped after about 25 km.  I started off the day’s journey just outside of Victoria, where we spent the last couple of days staying at a friend’s cabin.   I made the 100km ride to Nanaimo where I enjoyed a lovely Nanaimo Bar.  The first leg of the ride was a success.  We are now taking it easy in Vancouver until the next leg on Friday to Hope. 

Yesterday we kicked off the ride with Island Triathlon Group here in Victoria!  I got to meet a lovely boy who had had a wish granted by the Children’s Wish Foundation.  He is now quite an athlete and such a sweet person.  He made me a beautiful string bracelet to wear for the journey across Canada.   

A few riders from the Triathlon Group joined me for a 30km ride.  It was a great ride despite the howling winds and cold temperatures.  We are spending the day in Victoria today and tomorrow morning we’ll head off for Nanaimo.  The journey is off to a great start!

Last night was the first fundraiser event in support of the cross Canada ride for the Children’s Wish Foundation.  The night out at Ceili’s included a 50/50 draw as well as a silent auction.  Those two events combined with proceeds collected from tickets sold helped to raise $6,500 for the ride as well as the Children’s Wish Foundation.   Thank you very much to everyone who made it out to Ceili’s and hopefully we’ll see you again in Calgary at the Talisman for a BBQ on Sunday, June 22!