Having successfully completed PBP in 1999, I was looking forward to other challenges, and the thought of doing a PBP type ride through the Canadian Rockies seemed to me an interesting challenge. The fact that it was practically in my own backyard made it even better.

I had heard about the ride through Ken Dobb, a fellow Randonneurs Ontario member, who had encouraged me last year to consider doing this ride. When I checked the details of the ride on the BC Randonneurs web site and noted the fifty rider limit I decided to send the entry form with my cheque in January to ensure a spot on the ride. I noticed that my completion the Super Randonneur series for PBP in 1999 and again last year automatically qualilfied me for RM1200. Not one to sit on one's Laurels, I did complete a number of brevets in the months before RM1200, including a 1000 around Lake Ontario.

About a month before the ride I received a note from the organiser asking among other things which start time I was doing. Perhaps against better judgement, I decided on the 84-hour start. Based on how I was doing on earlier brevets, I figured I was fast enough to make the 84-hour limit, and in any case, a getting full night's sleep before the ride was too good to pass up. I also estimated that this start time would give me the best chance to ride most of the route in daylight.

I arrived in Kamloops around 12:30pm on Tuesday July 23rd, on a tiny Dash 8 turboprop. As the plane was descending I could see the area around Kamloops looked dry and desert like. As I was waiting to retrieve my checked in bag, I found another fellow who was doing the ride was on the same flight. Since this was his first 1200, he had decided to do the 90-hour start. We shared a cab ride to the city centre, stopping first at the HI hostel where he was staying and then on to the Sagebrush motel where I was staying.

I was somewhat troubled that the cab was climbing a rather large hill to get to the motel; the thought of climbing it after completing the 1200 was something I was not looking forward to. The cab driver has suggested I could take a city bus back up, since they all had bike racks. When I checked in at the motel office, the proprietor said that David McCaw, a fellow Randonneurs Ontario member, had left me a message with the room he and Marc Pritchard, another R.O. club member, were staying. After settling in my room, I went over to their room, and found that they were reassembling their bikes. A short while later, my bike, which I had shipped on ahead, had arrived. I checked it over and reassembled it, noting some minor damage; although I had padded the end of the handlebar stem with bubble wrap, the bubble wrap had moved and the stem's end had broken the cable stop on the left side and scratched the paint around the shifter boss. But it still seems to shift okay. David, Marc and I later went to Boston Pizza for some pasta dinner. I also discovered the Great Canadian Super Store, which proved a great source for extra stuff. That evening I watched a stage the Tour du France in my room.

The next morning when I woke, I started the day watching the Tour live. Later after breakfast, David, Marc and I did a short tour to test our legs and the bikes. We went down the hill to Riverside Park, where the ride was to start. With out the benefit of a route sheet, we tried to figure where the ride would go from the park. Marc asked someone for directions, and we were pointed back up the hill - oye! Marc wanted to get his camera, which he left at the motel, so we return the way we came, grinding up the very hill we sailed down. At the motel, we looked at a map and discovered we were given wrong directions. We improvised a route out, taking a different way this time, going further up the hill on Colombia and then over to the Trans-Canada. It looked like a freeway, but there were no signs prohibiting bikes and we sailed down the hill and to the off ramp for Hwy 5, then continued along north to about 10 km past the town of Rayleigh. We discovered a bit of road construction on the way, getting tar on our bikes. We headed back to the city to beat the heat of the day. I decided to stop in the downtown to get stamps and postcards, while David and Marc headed back to the motel. Later, we had lunch at a Wendy's not far from the motel, then returned to the task of setting up our drop bags.

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We somehow got all of our stuff on our bikes for the ride down to the Heritage Centre (Marc looked truly scary with his three bags hanging from his shoulders). We dropped our bags off, signed in, and had our bikes checked. During my bike check, my bell, with its distinctive clapper attracted attention. I was handed my number plate and zip ties to attach it. Real Prefontaine, the president of BRM, no less did the final check and clipping of the zip tie ends. Much as I wanted to see the 90 hour starter off, I returned to the motel and ate at the restaurant next door before it closed (should have eaten before going to the bike check). After dinner I got set for the morning start, then finally went to sleep around 10:45, a bit later than I had expected.

I awoke at 3 am the next day and got ready. Dave, Marc and I rode down the hill and arrived at the Heritage Centre around 3:45. While the 84 hour group was much smaller than the 90 hour group that left 6 hour earlier, we were still an impressive number. There was anticipation as the 4 am start time got closer. At exactly 4am, we sped down dark streets and across a rough bridge over the river and were quickly out of town. The group quickly split into smaller groups as we zipped north. The group that David, Marc and I were in was moving quite fast. A tandem was leading our group. While I couldn't see my cyclometre in the dark, the gentle vibrations of my Shimano hub generator told me we were moving around 35kph. I got to know a few of my fellow travellers. As we continued northward, the false dawn of the early morning brightened, and I could see the silhouettes of the mountains on either side of us. I chatted a bit with Foster, a fellow from Minneapolis. We begin hitting the first of many stretches of construction along the early part of the route. Shortly afterwards I lost sight of Marc and David as they raced on ahead. Foster, another fellow and I form a little pace line, taking turns pulling. This worked for a short time, but after a few climbs, I fell behind - the pace and hills began to take their toll. I regretted not doing enough hill work. We regrouped not far from the first control and rode together to the control. The control was not actually in the town of Clearwater, but a few kilometre past it at a B&B own by members of the BC Randonneurs. For the grand sum of $3 I stocked up on some food, including some bananas and a bag of home baked cookies. I ate a couple and put the bag with the rest in my jersey pocket.

Soon after the control, the found I could not keep the pace of the Foster and the others and was soon on my own. I decided at that point to take an easier pace. Since this was my first time riding through the mountains, I decided to play "cyclo-tourist" and ride a more relaxed pace to enjoy the sights. I noticed the highway got quite close to the river and stopped at a pullout to enjoy the view of the rushing North Thompson river. A young couple in a car offered to take a picture of me by the river. I carried on and caught up to another cyclist. At first I thought it might be another RM1200 rider, but after seeing the single-wheeled trailer and cycling cap, decided otherwise. I found out he was from Montreal and had started out from Vancouver on his way back home by bike. He said he had budgeted himself $10 a day for expenses, something that I found quite amazing, and unbelievable. He was equally stunned that I was going straight on to Jasper, biking over 400km in one day. He could not believe that anyone could do that. He went as far as Avola, while I continued on to Blue Water.

It is just after Avola that I hit the first really big hill on the ride; a little hump called Messiter Summit. As I slowly climbed this little mountain, I saw two other cyclists with loaded mountain bikes, walking them up the hill. At the top I stopped for a quick break, and noticed my altimeter was off by only one metre from the 765m elevation of the summit. There is road construction here which killed much of the speed of the descent. Just before Blue Water I hit some of the worst of the construction, with a lot of dust and tar. At the control I noticed swarms of hungry mosquitos. Yikes! I took refuge from the heat and mosquitos in the convenience store at the Husky and decided to stop for some lunch in the restaurant. After a lunch of chilly, I refilled my bottles with water and mixed a new batch of Cytomax in one of them.

Back on the road I soon hooked up with a rider from near Winnipeg named Peter McAdams, and we more or less kept together to Jasper. He was riding a recumbent and was slower than me on the climbs, but much faster on the descents. He mentioned that he seemed to have less energy that expected - perhaps it was the heat? We make a quick water/rest stop at a convenience store at Valemount. I catch sight of Kent Peterson rolling away as we roll in. We arrived late in the day at the control in Tete Jaune Cache, at a motel. David, one of the volunteers manning the sweep van, was looking for one of his hearing aids, which he lost track of after taking a nap. As we left, he was still looking for it. I found out later that he did find it, accidentally placed in one of the trash bags in the room.

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As we left Tete Jaune Cache, the road began to climb, and Peter fell back behind me. At the top of the long climb I stopped at the Mt. Terry Fox rest stop for a quick break and took photos of Mt. Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. We had a long gradual descent toward Mt. Robson and past the Provincial Park of the same name, and the view of the mighty mountain got even better as the road moved passed the base of this mighty peak. Soon after we hit the long climb up Yellow Head Pass. Just after ascending it, I decided to stop just after the top to put on my night gear and waited a bit for Peter to catch up. I could have sped along, but since it was soon quite dark I decided it is wisest to stay with Peter. Our progress was hindered somewhat - Peter's rear tube expired on two separate occasions, and he had to fix it in the dark. I found it hard to ignore the hungry mosquitos. As we continued along we were passed by the sweep van and at one point I flagged it down to get some more water. We finally arrived in Jaster just before 2am, much later than I had expected, but still well ahead of the control closing. Sadly the shower I was expecting was not to be - the place with the showers closed much earlier in the night. I had to suffice with a towel bath to remove the grime of the day. The food selection was not that great either, but I managed to eat a good diner. After my dinner and towel bath, I laid down around 2:30 for some sleep, asking to awaken at 5, but could only sleep until 4:30. Unable to sleep any more, I decided to get up and push on to the next control.

Most of those I had seen when I arrived at the control had already left. I had some breakfast before getting set to move on. Peter was still there and we set out around 5:30. I noticed that it was wet and cold and that a light rain was falling. I'm now quite glad I put my polypro tights and waterproof jacket in the drop bag for Jasper. As we rolled out of Jasper I saw what at first looked like a sculpture, but then it moved. I thought it might be a moose, but as we passed it, saw it was a female elk. It was my first sighting of large wildlife. And it was to be my only sighting - no bear, moose, big horn, or mountain goat. The elk watched us as we rolled past. In the growing light I could see the sky was quite cloudy, and to the southeast, quite threatening. I was worried that my entire ride along the Icefields Parkway would be obscured in clouds and rain, but miraculously as we continued south the weather improved. It was never the less quite cool, and there were brief sprinkles of rain.

On each of the hills, Peter got further back, and eventually I was well ahead of him. As I went south on the Ice Fields Parkway, I saw cyclists going the other way, and the occasional bus/truck with bike racks, which I assumed were the support vehicles that brought them there. I also noted HI hostels along the Parkway, making a mental note that I might pay them a visit on a future visit. I stopped at a couple of places to take pictures, the second which was a bit off the road. While at the second stop, Peter had passed me and was quite surprise to see me pass him from behind.

Somewhere after Sunwapta Falls, I notice other cyclists ahead, and this time they were RM1200 rider, including a tandem with organiser Danelle Laidlaw stoking away. I passed them when they stopped to put rain gear on, but soon enough caught me and sailed passed on a downhill. After Sunwapta Falls the road flattened out for several kilometres, while the mountains on either side grew larger. With about 10km to go to the next control, the flat terrain began to sharply rise. Sunwapta Pass proved to be the most difficult climb so far and I had to stop at a couple of pullouts to catch my breath and enjoy the view. At the first one, I chatted with a Scottish family about my ride. They were touring BC. They offered me coffee and a bun with jam as I sat in their rented RV. They took my picture in front of Mt Kitchener. I thanked them for the refreshments and continued up the last steep pitch, getting a friendly beep as the family in the RV passed me. Just before the top I stopped to quickly look back at the steep climb I just completed, and took a few shot with my digital camera. As I neared the Ice Fields Centre, I noted that I would have to climb just a bit more past the Centre to the bus entrance to get to the control entrance. By this point my legs were quite dead, but I was able to ride across the bridge to the entrance of the centre. After getting my control card stamped, I headed to the cafeteria to get some lunch. The meal was okay, but far from great and overpriced. I stopped on the balcony to take a picture of the famous ice field across the road, the headed down to get on my way. I rode for bit with another rider from California, but let him move on ahead on the descent after Sunwapta Pass. It was truly spectacular, and at a turnout near the bottom I stopped briefly to enjoy the view and take a picture of the valley. At the bottom of the valley it was much warmer, and I made another quick stop to shed my jacket and tights.

I took a short of a break by the gift shop at Saskatchewan River Crossing, and found David and Derek with the sweep van. They told me there were only a few other riders behind me, but said I was doing very well, time-wise They warned me, however, not to take too much time here. I topped my bottles with more water from the van, then enjoyed a Coke and ice cream. Soon after leaving town, the road began to climb. I found I had very little climb left in my legs and took it easy, enjoying views of glacial lakes. I had noticed many of lakes near the road had a distinct greenish blue colour, an effectI learned came from the rock particles deposited by the glaciers. While not that steep, the Bow Summit climb was quite long, and I was grinding up very slowly in my 30x26. As I neared the summit it became quite chilly , and I stopped at the crest to put on my tights and jacket. I had expected as dramatic a descent as Sunwapta, but was disappointed to find it a gradual one. After what seemed a rather long time, I finally reached the Trans Canada and the turn for Lake Louise. As I was heading east to the village, I saw a couple of other riders heading west. When I arrived at the control, I found it nearly empty. The volunteers there served a very delicious pasta dinner. Soon after I set off for the next control at Golden.

The approach to Kicking Horse Pass was a slight rise, and the climb seemed anticlimactic. The descent, however, was quite spectacular, and I was also beginning to feel some strength returning to my legs. About halfway to Golden I caught up to the two cyclists I had seen earlier, one of them Barb, who I remember seeing in France at PBP. They were having some mechanical problems which had slowed them down. We rode the last stretch together. The last few kilometres to Golden were a bit hairy, since the road was under construction and quite narrow and windy. Most of the truckers passing us were surprising patient, but there were a least a few who weren't. We arrived at the control at around midnight. At the control, I ate quite heartily. I was also looking forward to a good shower, but unfortunately they had no hot water, so I had to suffice with a splash of cold water. Oh well, so much far showers. Then it was off to get some sleep. Many thanks go to the volunteers, especially Karen, who gave me a set of foam ear plugs and placed me in a dark, quiet area of the gym, where I got nearly 5 hours of deep sleep.

I was awoken at around 5, feeling a bit groggy but well rested.. I got ready, and had some of the liquid food I had packed in drop bag and ate some more food from the control before setting out. I rode out together with another rider, also named Phil (Philippe Andre) who was from Portland Or. We seemed to be well match speed and climbing-wise and worked well together. This was the going to be the longest stretch between controls at 152km, and was also to prove the section with the most climbing. We encountered a couple of large climbs before we hit Rogers Pass. On the top of the first climb, we stopped to a good stretch and make a quick pee stop. At one point as we were riding through Glacier Nation Park, Phil pointed out the strong odour of pine in the air. I filled my lung several times with the this wonderful mountain air. I suggested that we should bottle and sell it. Soon enough we began the long climb up Rogers Pass. We stopped briefly at a rest stop, and chatted with a fellow travelling with his is young son in a camper. He offered us some fresh strawberries, which were a nice treat. Phil tried to lessen the effects of a nasty saddle sore. We continued the long steady climb, and reached the first of several snow sheds. Each one had a name, and the first had what appeared to be an elevated sidewalk. We saw another rider named Kevin, who was walking on this "sidewalk". Phil was just ahead of me and asked him how he was doing. "Not well" is what he said. After we exited the tunnel, we stopped and waited for him. Kevin said he had no climb left in his legs and was looking for the sweep van. Phil and I managed to coax him to continue to on. We all stopped at the store near the summit and got more water and food. I bought a bag of "bits and bites" - I had a craving for "junk". Phil looked in the store for something to cushion a nasty saddle sore and bought a package of sanitary napkins. Before we left we took some photos. About a kilometre from the store we reached the summit, marked by an unusual monument, which was partially obscured by snow fence, marring what might have been an interesting picture. The descent was a bit of a disappointment. There were strong head winds and we made slower progress than expected. Phil had to stop periodically to try to adjust the improvised padding and to apply a bit of salve on his tenders spots. We finally reached the turn for Revelstoke, after what seemed a very long day and arrive to cheers at the control at 2:30pm. I had a great lunch which included corn soup, chilly and fruit. Phil found his solution to the saddle discomfort was not working and spent some time trying another. Another rider gave him some Bag Balm to try. Almost an hour after arriving we set off to Salmon Arm. I made a quick stop by the railway museum to take a picture. It took me several kilometres to catch Phil. It didn't help that I had to climb a long hill out of the valley after crossing the Columbia River.

As we rode past a lake in the Three Valleys Gap, I admired the landscape, but found the resort there overwhelmed the scene Just before the road turned sharply to the right, at a little turnout I noticed a someone was selling black cherries from a truck and stopped to investigate. The chap selling them said he had picked them from his farm near Salmon Arm earlier in the day, and offer me some to taste. Wow - they were absolutely scrumptious and a nice break from bananas. What a treat! I bought a small bag of them and offered some to Phil, who was resting nearby under the shade of a tree. We stopped again at the little park at the bend in the road, where Phil used one of the washrooms to apply more Bag Balm. I noticed another rider was sleeping on one of the tables down the hill, who looked a bit like Kevin.

We continued on our way, but the road was quite rough and Phil was in increasing discomfort. The day was hot but luckily it was late in the afternoon and the heat of the day had already past. We both pondered what those ahead of us would have felt earlier in the day when it was even hotter. Just before Sicamous, we stopped to get water. As we got nearer to Salmon Arm, we hit some good climbs. The sun was quite low in the sky when we finally reached the outskirts of Salmon Arm, but it still seemed quite a ways before arriving at the control. Among the volunteers was Phil's girl friend Carmon, and he reluctantly decided to abandon here, since his car was also here. The volunteers were quite helpful, especially Noboru, who was bringing me food and drink. I still had a few cherries left and offered them to the volunteers. Phil had suggested I stop for some sleep at the Vernon control, something I had already considered. Phil thanked me for riding with him and helping make it this far. He offered to meet me in Kamloops and drive me and my stuff to the motel. We agreed to meet at 12 noon the next day.

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The volunteers had given me verbal directions on how to follow the route, but I still found the way out of Salmon somewhat confusing and stopped a few times to consult my route sheet. Just a few blocks from the control, I had a nice warm up with a very steep climb, but the route soon went down hill. After a few more turns I caught sight of some red lights off in the distance, and soon was riding with four others, Chris and Rob from Britain, and Grant and Charlene (who I had met at my motel), a couple of fellow Canadians. (I found out after returning home that Rob was the riding a fixed gear bike!) We stopped a few more times to consult our route sheets, but after a while the road seemed to straighten out. All of it was smooth fresh pavement, and quite nice to ride on, especially at night. As we reached our next turn, we came upon the secret control. The volunteers there offered us food and drink, including some potato chips - yum! Charlene took a quick nap while the rest of us chatted and ate more chips. Soon after leaving the control, we climbed a large hill. By now my climbing strength was returning and I found the hill easy to climb, but the others lagged a bit and I eased off after the top to let the others catch up. The road was flatter after this but still somewhat rolling. While I wished I could have seen it during the day, I appreciated that it was much cooler riding at night. We passed through a few small towns before reaching Vernon. As we entered the outskirts of Vernon, I was feeling eager to get to the control and sped up, pulling out ahead. Grant stayed behind me for a bit, but soon I was alone. The road meandered quite a bite as I kept an eye out for the next turn for the control. Finally, I found the control, which was at an HI hostel. After getting my card signed, I ate a bit of food there, washed up and then slept for an hour on a bed in one of the rooms upstairs.

I awoke after an hour's sleep and jettisoned some stuff to my drop bag. I rode off with some others, deciding to wait a bit before eating. I stopped briefly to make some adjustments with the stuff on my bike while the others continued on. I soon paid for not eating more at the control and found I was crawling along. I began to wonder if I would make the 12 noon meeting time I promised Phil. I saw the sweep van and asked if there would be any services open in Falkland and was told there should be. I found a convenience store by a Petro Can and bought a Starbucks Frappicino, a small bag of potato chips and a package of butter tarts. I consumed them rapidly and after a short rest and stretch, continued through the town. I saw a few other riders leaving a restaurant, among them one on a recumbent, and a tandem team. The recumbent was soon off the front, and I rode with a couple of others who were going at about my pace. But the caffeine from the Frap was taking effect and I soon pulled ahead of them. I soon caught the tandem team and we rode together for a while. There was a pretty strong head wind, and it was overcast, which fortunately kept things on the cool side. As we began the final climb before Kamloops, I passed the tandem team. I didn't see them again until just past the town of Monte Lake. I saw a brown station wagon with a bike on top pass me and recognised it was Don the official photographer behind the wheel. He stopped to take a shot of me speeding down the road. Soon after the tandem team passed me. The final descent was quite fun. I saw another cyclists walking his bike up the hill, and was thankful our route was taking us the other way. At the bottom of the hill the highway merged with the Trans-Canada. Now I had a stiff head wind to fight and no more downhill. I noted that I still had a good chance of breaking 80 hours. Unfortunately, my progress was slowed somewhat by the head wind and after I entered Kamloops I hit a few red lights; so much for beating 80 hours. Amazingly though, I still managed to make it to the finish at 12:10pm, roughly the time I had estimated to meet Phil. Phil and Carmon were waiting at the control, happy to see I'd made it. Indeed, I received quite a few cheers. Almost like at France! Dave, one of the fellows in the sweep vans wanted a picture taken with me. I gathered my three drop bags and with generous assistance got everything packed up in Phil's car. I was rather thankful that I didn't have to ride up the hill. After a shower and some sleep, I met Phil and Carmon and we headed down to the Sport Centre to the BBQ gathering to celebrate with the others. Afterwards Phil and Carmon dropped me off at the motel and then they lefted for in Portland.

I managed to meet most of my goals on this brevet. For the most part, I rode only a few hours a night (Salmon Arm to Vernon being the longest stint of night riding at 5 hours). I saw the entire section of the Icefields Parkway in daylight. And most importantly, for the most part I rode at a relaxed pace, never pushing myself too hard or turning the ride in to a "death march ". I was able to enjoy the ride and stop occasionally to "smell the roses". And yet I beat the completion time of my first PBP in 1999 by over 10 hours! I felt tired at the end of the ride, but not exhausted, nor did I suffered from numb hands, toes or other body parts. My only real disappointments were not getting a decent shower at any of my sleep spots, and not seeing much wild life.(Perhaps next time, but not too close).

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