400KM

Just thought I d report on how the Tour De Peace went. It was a 404km ride From Fort Saint John to Tumbler Ridge and back. The first thought that comes to mind is that was by far the craziest/hardest thing I ve ever done. The sencond thought that comes to mind is that I will never do that again,,NEVER haha. It all started out at 3am we left Fort Saint John headed toward Dawson Creek.For the first 50km or so I stayed with the group, then after that I broke away and rode alone for the rest of the ride. The ride was very scenic great country to see for the first time espeacially on a bike, but sometimes, sceanery has a price to it. By that I mean that number of hill/mountains that we had to climb, it was out of hand. once we
got to Dawson Creek or just past it we turned on a road called the Heritage Highway,, for 100km there was nothing just nature, wildness and never ending hills. We did a out and back on this road so 200km of the ride was on the Heritage Highway. There were so many climbs I lost count, some climbs were around 1 hour climbs. The secenary on the heritage highway was great though, I saw lots of wildlife Moose, Deer, Bears, wolferine,,Overall for me I have a new respect for people who do that kind long distance stuff.I used to think "O whatever its easy look how slow they go." But its not like that it doesnt hurt alot physically, more mentally, that ride was a mental training exercise more than anything. Which is very important to me now, cause I have come to the conclusion thats what seperates champions from the rest of us., the
brain is crazy, that is what controls everthing, what you say, your mood, your opinons, and most importantly your limits. Your brain has limitations for everthing. Phsically financially, socially it has limitations for it all. So how is it that we expand those limitaions. Well I think you have to prove to your brain that your capable by digging deep and doing things you ve never done before. The way I see it is that the brain is your boss. Just like at work, the boss wont let you do a job alone until you prove that you can, just like the brain wont let you achieve a certin physical goal until it knows your ready, almost like a safety thing.That might not make sense to anybody, but thats just what I believe, if your brain dosent
believe your goal is possible then your in trouble.Anyway that ride was like a blur, very few stops, Started at 3am and finished at 8pm, that was 17hours of riding a bike a little too much for me haha, At times throughout that ride I thought I was going to go insane, by the 12 hour mark I found myself talking to the Deer on the side of the road . The worse part of the ride for me was about a 45min streach about 20km away from Dawson creek at about the 300km mark. I finally made it off that stupid Heritage highway that never seemed to end, and just as I turned off it I went  into a serious head wind, I always heard that Dawson creek was windy, and man it is, I remember crying and looking at my speedometer seeing like 10km/hr then looking out into the field at all the windmills spinning like crazy, that part of the ride wasnt fun.But it
was times like those that made that ride that much better to finish. It was an experience I ll never forget.

So altogether everything is still going well, We got some new people at the lodge and were all having a good time. I think were having a Lobster party this weekend so that should be fun. I also just discoverd that there are some unreal sandy beaches here right on the lake, I would never of guessed it, its awesome, miles of it. Like hawaii beaches I couldnt believe it haha,, So I m definitly going to start doing some beaches runs and hanging out there. Other then that more riding this weekend, I meet a couple of strong riders to ride with so I m excited about that. So besides being in the middle of nowhere, I guess if I think about it, I can't really ask for much more haha.

Patrick,