Tip to Tip

I decided to do the Biking for Breakfast Challenge over the 8 Hours of Gore because I haven't done the tip to tip thing before, and it was going to be much cheaper than the 8 hour jaunt through the woods. I figured I could pull out about 8-10 hours on the roadie, but that on a MTB might be a bit rough.

I also realized Im partially retarded when I decided to do the tip to tip(285km) on an antique Peugeot I had recently restored. I tried to go as close to the real deal days of racing complete with spare tubular strapped around my shoulders, steel bottles and of course the old rig. I topped everything off with some wool and an ashtray to smoke for good measure. I retained some of my sanity by keep my clipless pedals and chamois creme....

There were a few of us who headed to North Cape the evening before to stay on the gym floor as to forgo the 3am departure from Charlottetown the next morning. The bus ride was fine and the dinner provided at the school was just dandy. It was early to bed as the crew of us awoke at 4:30 to make our way to North Cape.

To my surprise the Jay boys showed up which proved to be good company. They also pushed the pace a little bit faster than I was planning and within 15km I realized the decision to ride the old bike was a big mistake.

We pushed on and the first 150km flew by. I popped my Ipod in one ear and the soothing voice of Lady Ga Ga helped to numb the pain in the legs, it also brought back memories of french sport directors singing in perfect English who could normally not say a word in my mother tongue.

It was when the hills hit in Bonshaw that Trivett and the Jay boys put down the pepper. Maybe it was the 150km before that, or it being the longest ride since May, or even the fact my smallest gear was a 42x19 but I was off the back like it was 1992. I huffed and puffed as Im sure I looked like I was attacking my own bicycle but couldn't hold strong with those boys.

I coasted into Charlottetown with Matt and a few other guys and I was pleased the see we weren't stupid late, and in fact the Jay boys hadn't left the mid-ride feed station yet as we arrived so quickly it simply hadn't been set up!

Along with this my feed bag with my fresh supply of cigars also hadn't arrived so I was forced to keep the lungs clean for the further kms.

We sat around for enough time to grab a bowl of soup, some bread and a coke and off we went again. The final kilos weren't much fun as it was a steady push all the way to east point. Many of us(myself included) bonked hard but managed to pull it back together enough to finish.

One things for sure, no one was talking the last 100km......

The final 20km were the toughest for me. We maintained a steady pace and the pain of a consistently slipping seat post was setting in. I relegated myself to sitting on the back avoiding all pulls as I knew that would be the straw that broke the camels back. Once again Cory did the brute of the work and we rolled into East Point in 8h 3m. I was cooked....that's for sure.

Trivett proved he is the real deal and stayed strong the whole ride.....scary strong.

I was fully done by the end of this and the only stop I made after was Macdonalds to get a chicken burger and fries....Jesus it was good.... then promptly went to bed at 8:30.

(the fini)

I was up early the next morning at 7 and headed for work...anther day of Kayaking.