Because I promised I’d blog about this one…
This year, I’ve taken up cycle touring, trying to get enough exercise and experience in to consider a run to Vancouver next year. So far all I’ve managed to get in are weekend jaunts, which in general I quite enjoy. Last weekend, a small group and I did one such tour, designed to be an introduction to other new tourists, which turned out to be about a 90km ride followed by a 3km hike through the brush. It’s the third such jaunt I’ve done this year, but the first one I’ve done with a camera, and the first one I’ve had people ask me to blog, so…
Destination: An undisclosed location about 95km west of Edmonton. The site probably would have been easier reached via canoe; we had to hike in through the brush at the end. The site had no potable water, which was a serious drawback (although we had methods of purifying river water).
Route: Highway 627 most of the way, followed by range roads.
Group: Six, all from the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society. The others were Erich (the organizer), Angela, Chris, Hana, and Courtney. I’d previously toured to Elk Island with Erich, but Chris, Hana and Courtney had never been touring (or camping, in some cases) before. Chris had no compact camp gear and had to make judicious use of bungees (we wisely left his tent behind; he shared mine), and Hana rode in wearing a heavy hiker’s backpack on a four-speed cruiser. Adam and his dog Pippin rode in on a moped in advance to prepare the site, and met us when we arrived.
Vehicle: As usual, I chose the trike (a blue 2007 Catrike Expedition), which I’d used on the previous tours. During the trip, Erich noted that my pedal bearings were quite stiff, and I felt the need for a true bailout gear, which is oddly lacking from the stock Expedition given how it’s built for cargo. However, that only really factored in on one or two hills (such as the nearly 35% grade, 720-meter hill out of the site, done as a “warm up” on the return trip), and I had no problems maintaining tour pace for most of the trip. The rear derailleur was giving me some indexing problems, so I switched to friction mode during this trip and caught myself wondering why I hadn’t done that sooner.
Equipment: Mostly my standard tour equipment. This was also the first trip I’d made with a camera (well, a phone with a camera), my own cookware (previously I’d borrowed my father’s) and my new, high-compression clothes from the MEC clearance racks (good choice, though I’m short of socks). The only thing I think I was missing that I will definitely bring on other trips would be more antihistamine for the medical kit; I didn’t realize how effective that was at handling the agony from a small legion of bug bites.
Food: I didn’t bring enough - three apples, two bananas (should have brought at least three), a large block of cheap cheese, six instant oatmeal packs (note: the campsite had no potable water sources), and two pouches of trail mix. I opted for two spare bottles full of my homemade Gatorade replacement, which was a very, very wise choice given the destination, but the lack of water rendered some of my staples (soup mix) and a few extras I usually bring (cocoa and small instant coffees) basically worthless, so I left them behind.
Cost: As always, a huge advantage to cycle touring is the low cost. This entire trip was free except for consumables (food), and the roaming text fees I’d racked up. Total cost was about $10. Not bad for a weekend of camping.
Ride Notes:
Day 1: We got off to a late start, intending to leave at 10am but leaving closer to 11:30 due to poor weather. The rain dried up just before we left the city, though. We took frequent breaks and a very, very early lunch - both of which bothered me; once I’m warmed up I don’t like having to stop and warm up again every half hour or so. I think these also contributed to a general feeling of exhaustion around 80km in; during an uphill stretch along Range Road 43, I basically felt my legs fail.
Having to hike several kilometers through not-quite-cleared brush carrying panniers (designed for a bike rack, not shoulders - although I’d anticipated this and rigged up shoulder straps) didn’t do much to improve my mood, especially since I got swarmed by way too many mosquitoes and had so many bites on my feet that I must have scratched off about three layers of skin. Thankfully, Adam had spare antihistamines; I knew mosquito bite itch was an allergic reaction, but didn’t connect that antihistamines could control it until he suggested it.
End of Day Trip Computer: 93.0 km, 5:27 moving, 3:01 stopped, moving average 17.0kph, peak speed 60.0 kph, elevation 684m. (The speed and time values include the on-foot hike, hence the lower moving average. We averaged about 20kph on the highway.)
Day 2: The higher water level and fewer mosquitoes made this day much more enjoyable, though we didn’t stay long. Due to leisurely pack-up times and each of us spending a long time filtering water (the filter was slow and the pump jammed; fortunately Erich and I had brought water treatment drops), we ended up making it to the bikes at around noon. Since they’d forgotten their water bladder with the bikes, I donated about 2L of water to Erich and Angela (leaving me with about 1.8L in a bladder and 0.8L of homemade Gatorade), and we set out. The initial hill was… a bit of a workout without any warm-up, but not too unmanageable.
After about 6km, though, the group decided to stop for lunch and some people took a nap in the shade. I had just hit my stride and was getting a bit annoyed at this (low blood sugar from a small breakfast does a real number on my patience), so when 4k down the road there was another stop (I couldn’t figure out why), I basically decided to press on home solo. I managed this with very few stops, too - 77km with only 13 minutes of stop time, including the traffic lights once I got back to the city. I did run out of water with about 20k to go, my rear and knees were slightly sore by the end of it, and I did get a pretty severe sunburn (despite sunscreen) on my shoulder, but other than that the ride wasn’t a problem in the least. I actually managed a faster peak speed and wasn’t even tired by the end of it. On an extended tour I wouldn’t push myself quite so far (doing that for 60k is probably peachy, 77 was pushing it), but since I was getting home afterwards, I didn’t mind.
However, one block before the final stop, I go to switch from a main road to a service road and my left wheel skids on a patch of gravel, causing me to hit a lamp post. This bent my top chainring inward, essentially crippling my trike to ride only on the small chainring. Given how I’d gone for years on that crankset without any trouble whatsoever, and how I’d spent part of the weekend talking to Erich about replacing that very component, I’m not too concerned about the damage - though for some reason that’s the part of the trip that everyone I’ve spoken to seems the most concerned about.
I found out later that Courtney (who had the most problems with uphills) ended up getting exhausted and called for a lift on the way back; her dad picked up everyone else’s gear as well, lightening their loads substantially. They arrived safely, about two hours after me, and when I returned about an hour and a half after that to pick up a few things, everyone was passed out.
End of Day Trip Computer: 87.0km, 4:57 moving, 1:12 stopped, moving average 17.3kph, peak speed 53.5 kph, elevation 675m. (I lost GPS tracking for one fast-moving segment of this trip, hence the shorter odometer and lower peak speed. On the bike I averaged 21-22kph on the highway.)
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