Day 9: Invermere-Banff

WE MADE IT!!!!   Yes indeed, at around 4:30pm all 22 GearUp4CF riders rolled past our "finish line" at the Banff sign.  It is amazing to be done.
Yesterday was a long day, it was the second longest day of the rider, 150km, and it was probably the hottest in the afternoon.  But it was a great ride.  There were so many times that I was just astounded by the beauty of the rockies and the landscape we were riding through.
Last night we went for a celebration dinner and it was a celebration indeed.
Again, I want to thank all of my family who were waiting for us at the finish line here in Banff, it was awesome to see you all!
More to come.

This first picture is a group photo at the top of our second to last climb, it was a beautiful view point about 10km out of Radium.  The second picture is our official "finish line" picture at the Banff sign with all 22 riders.

Day 8- Cranbrook-Invermere

Today was a great ride.  It was a nice flat ride with no real big hills and the temperature was perfect.  For pretty much the whole morning it was overcast and when the sun came out in the afternoon it wasn't too hot.  Today was a very fast ride.  My average speed was just over 30km/h and I got on some really good pace lines to make it easier.  Over-all it was a great day of riding.

It is crazy that tomorrow is already the last day.  As much as I don't want the ride to end it will feel so awesome to finally see that Banff sign!  

Pictures below: Me leading a pace line this morning; relaxing at lunch in the Venza; team 4Lungs and a Liver chillin at Tim Hortons. 

Day 7: Creston-Cranbrook

The sun finally made a sustained appearance today!  Today was a nice ride through the rolling hills of the Kooteney's.  It was considered to be a relative recovery ride but it was still a long day none-the-less.  There was not a lot of excitement on the ride, it was hot but we got through it.  Actually, there was one note on the day, I got my first flat tire of the ride.  It wasn't too big of a deal, I changed it and was back on the road in just over 10 minutes.
All in all it was a good day.  My bike computer didn't work for some reason so I don't have an accurate map of the ride, oh well, sometimes those things happen.
Hope everyone reading this is well.  I know a lot of my family are currently making their way to Calgary for my cousin's wedding tomorrow; I hope it is an awesome day for you Aletha!

Day 6: Rossland- Creston

Well our biggest summits are behind us!!  Today was a gruelling day but it almost didn't happen.
We started the day leaving Rossland around 8:00am.  Right off the bat we had a very steep descent into Trail, a 10km, 10% grade downhill, it was a pretty fun ride, but then everything came to a grinding halt.  Just before leaving Trail we came across a highway sign which said the HWY 3 was closed just past the Kooteney Summit due to a fuel spill.  After making some phone calls we decided to keep going to the next town in hope of more info by then.  We stopped in Selmo to regroup and made a decision on what to do.  I must admit that secretly I was hoping the highway would remain closed and we could leave the Kooteney Summit for another day.  But just when we were about to settle into the motel that the volunteers had already lined up we got word that the highway was opening single alternating traffic and we decided to go for it.  We then road for another 16km to our lunch break.
Everyone had a pretty difficult morning despite the fact is was a pretty flat ride.  It seemed like everyone's legs were having a hard time getting going and no one was looking forward to the Kooteney Pass.  The Kooteney Summit is the hardest climb of the trip- 20km of 6-9% grade with no breaks or flat sections to rest the legs on, it is just up, up and up some more!
After lunch I basically put my bike in first gear and just set a pace and didn't stop until I hit the summit almost 2 hours later.  It was an amazing climb!  There is nothing really to compare it to near Vancouver except maybe doing Mount Seymour back to back, it just keeps going and going.  The crazy thing also is that it follows the side of a mountain and so there are points when you can look up the valley and see the road climbing about 5km's ahead.
It was a pretty emotional climb for me.  I rode the whole thing by myself and had a lot of time to reflect.  I thought about people in my life who are going through a hard time right now but I spent the majority of the time thinking about my cousin, Erin, who lost her battle to CF in 2003 at the age of 19.  I have Erin's picture taped to my handle bars and every time I look down in frustration and exhaustion I see her beautiful smiling face looking up at me.  I know that it was Erin and her inspirational spirit that kept me going on that climb.  It was an amazing climb and when I hit the top I had the greatest feeling of accomplishment I have had in a long time.   As I said, it was an emotional climb and though it couldn't be seen on the outside, I was smiling the whole way up.
From the top of the climb we had about a 50km ride down the mountain, along some beautiful farm land, and into Creston.
It is an amazing feeling to have the Kooteney Summit behind us.  All our big summits have been climbed and everyone is feeling really good to have this one out out of the way.
For more info on the ride remember to check out the right hand column of the blog to see what the ride actually looked like according to my "onboard computer."  

Here are a couple pictures from the top of Kooteney Pass.

Day 5: Grand Forks-Rossland

Today was a pretty amazing ride.  The day started out with some nice up and downs to loosen up those stiff legs.  Then mid morning we hit the huge climb of the day - a 25km climb up Paulson Pass.  The climb started off quite nice with 4-6% grades but quickly went up to 8-9% grades and proved to be the hardest push thus far, during the steeper sections I was lucky to hold my speed at 8.5km/h - quite slow.  But slowly we made it.  We then had some lunch and began the second climb of the day; it was a lot like yesterday, not a huge climb but it hurt due to the intense climbing of the morning.
Unfortunately our most difficult climb is still ahead of us: Kooteney Pass.  We will be hitting this one tomorrow.  I am pretty nervous for it so we shall see how it goes.

GearUp Day 4- Osoyoos-Grand Forks

Today was a big day.  The day started with the climb up Anarchist Summit which began less than 1km from out hotel.  I think I was preparing myself for a horrible climb because in the end was not that bad. I settled into a good pace with two other women and slowly on we reached the top.
The rest of the day was a number of long and fast descents with another average climb in the afternoon.
Our hotel here in Grand Forks is awesome.  It is right along the river and the owners did our laundry for us!  It is called "Johnny's" and I highly recommend it if you are passing through.
Tomorrow is another very big climb up Paulson Summit... I better get some rest.

Here is a picture of myself and three other riders I spend most of the morning with.  This is a statue of the Sasquatch near the top of Anarchist Summit.

Day 3- Princeton- Osoyoos

Another day is done and boy did I feel a lot better than yesterday.  I am almost feeling back to my regular self and I was able to keep a pace that I had wanted.  Overall it was a great ride through a beautiful landscape.  We did hit some pretty good rain and there was also a pretty strong headwind for most of the day but I was able to stay in the pace-line for some of it so that was a big help.  Tomorrow there is going to be a very looooonnnnnnggggggggg climb less than 1km from where we start so we shall see how that goes.
Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement.  Kim and I are having a good time.  Also on that note, Kim has been a huge help for me, especially yesterday and I am so glad she is here.
Here are two pics from the day, one from when I was riding on my own and another while climbing up one of the last hills of the day, working together with another rider (I know I look serious in the pictures but I was having a good time.)

Day 2- Chilliwack-Princeton

Hello, so we are resting nicely in a little motel in Princeton.  Today was the longest ride by far but I am sad to say I was not able to ride the whole thing.  Last night I had a bad flare up of my ulcer which led me to only getting about 3 hours of sleep. Then, due to my stomach pain I was not able to get the proper fluids or food in this morning and by the time we hit the Hope Slide my body had nothing left to give.  After a couple tense minutes of sitting on the side of the road feeling like I was going to pass out (I had lots of people around me at this point) I began to feel a little better.  Kim gave me a lift up the Hope Slide and from there I was able to ride to Manning Park.  About 10km from Manning Park the skies opened up and it just down poured. That I figured was the final nail in the coffin for the day.  I made it to Manning Park lodge and decided to pack it in.  I know it was the right decision but I am frustrated it had to happen, especially so early in the ride.  But I figured it was better to cut my loses today and try get myself ready for tomorrow.  It a bit of a let down that I wasn't able to finish a ride so early in the trip, but hopefully everything will work out better from here on out.

Here is a picture at Allison Pass Summit about 7km before the lodge at Manning Park.  It was quite wet- the rain drops were bouncing off the road at this point :)

Day 1- Crescent Beach to Chilliwack

Well we made it.  It was a great day for riding, not to hot, not to cold.  I want to thank all my family who showed up to Hilda and Harold's to cheer me on.  I am sorry I could not stop, I was in a VERY fast group and I really didn't want to lose that momentum.  But thanks so much for coming out, it meant a lot.  Plus, the other riders loved it!

I felt good today.  Tomorrow is going to be another story.  We leave at 7:00am from our hotel here in Chiliwack and the day will end 190km's later in Princeton.  This will be by far the longest day I have ever ridden.
Please continue to hold us up in prayer as we will need it; both for safety and strength!
Thanks.

Team 4Lungs and a Liver (Paul, George, and Clarke)

Triple Crown

Yesterday I undertook my most difficult ride yet: the Triple Crown.  It is a ride up all three North Shore Mountains.

I parked my car near the PNE and road over the Iron Workers Memorial bridge and started my way up Seymour.  Seymour is the hardest of the climbs.  After summiting and then a long ride down I headed over to Grouse and rode up to the Gondola. It is not a long climb up it is very steep and very demoralizing.  After Grouse (and forgetting to refill my water bottles), I headed over to Cypress for the final challenge of the day.  As I said, I forgot to refill my water bottles so by the time I got to the top of Cypress I was desperate for some water. I was lucky enough to find a vending machine whereupon I gulped down a Poweraid, and it was only then that the accomplishment of the day finally hit me. It was pretty awesome!

It was a long gruelling day but this ride has been a goal of mine for some time now.  My friend Clarke (who is also doing GearUp and is a liver recipient) met me at the top of Cypress and I was able to draft him all the way back to the car which was a big help as by this point my legs where done.

All in all it was an amazing ride.  All I could think of during the ride was that three years ago I would not of been able to even stand at the top of Cypress or Seymour, due to lack of O2, and now I was riding up them in one day!  I am so very thankful for everything God has given me through my transplant.

Here are two pictures, the first from the top of Seymour and another from the gondola at Grouse.  I forgot to take a picture at the top of Cypress as I was a little preoccupied with finding something to drink :)  But I did do it!

4Lungs and a Liver

One of the reasons I am especially excited about GearUp is because I will be riding it with two other guys who have quickly become good friends.
Paul Underhill, like me, has CF and has received a double-lung transplant.  Paul is from Victoria and his company, "Rumble," is the title sponsor of this years GearUp4CF ride.
Clarke Bayles is a liver transplant recipient and lives in Vancouver.  I've been able to get out on some good training rides with Clarke which are always a lot of fun since Clarke is a very strong rider and it is always a good workout to at least try keep up to him :)
Together Paul, Clarke and myself make up the core of the team: 4Lungs and a Liver

The three of us all met last summer at the Canadian Transplant Games in Calgary. We all rode the 20km road race and rode most of it as a team even though we had just met the day before.  It is going to be very meaningful to be riding with two other transplant recipients; guys who have walked the same road as I have and speak "transplanteze."

Clarke also has a GearUp blog going and there is a link to it in the right-hand column of my blog.
Below are a couple pics from a training ride we all did to the top of Mount Seymour when Paul was in the lower mainland for a clinic visit.

Getting Geared Up

Well, here we go again, George is starting another blog. It is hard to believe but it is almost three years ago that I received my life saving double lung transplant. When people ask how I am doing I find it difficult to find the words. I just kind of smile and says, "Amazing." It truly is amazing the way God has blessed me over the past three years with my transplant. But of course, with great blessing also come great responsibility.

As you probably know by now, on June 22nd, I, along with 21 other rides will be heading out on a CF fundraiser called GearUp4CF. It is a nine-day, 1200km ride from Surrey to Banff. I am very excited for this ride. For one, it is a way to give back to the system and people that helped save my life many times over. While waiting for transplant I benefitted so much from the CF research that has been done before that I feel it is now my turn to help give back to those who may just be starting down this road. The single most important reason for this ride is to help fundraise for future research into finding a cure for CF. And believe it or not, things are looking brighter for the future of CF research. With the advent of a new drug out there, researchers and doctors are sensing (hopefully) a light at the end of what has been a VERY dark tunnel.

Another big reason for me doing the ride is to show just how amazing life can be post transplant. While waiting for transplant I dreamed of one day taking up golfing and if everything went really good, maybe one day skiing! What I never dared dream was that things could be so awesome that instead of walking around a golf course and skiing down a mountain, I could instead be biking over them! I hope that my ride can serve as a kind of encouragement to those who may soon by facing their own transplant journey or those who are already in the thick of it right now.

 So I invite you to sit back and follow along on my GearUp journey. Many of you followed along on my transplant journey through my previous blog, "Transplantation Revelation." You can find a link to that blog in the right-hand column. Though I will try to give some updates on how things are going during the ride, the main idea of this blog is for you to be able to follow our progress through the ride updates in the right-hand column. My bike computer will track my ride and all the info related to it and each night I will upload that info onto this site for you to check out and see where we are at. I hope you enjoy it.