Ron Mitchell

C2C Day 2 Report

The second 24-hour segment of the 2003 Coast to Coast Against Cancer ride started high in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, about midway between Rogers Pass and Kicking Horse Pass on the Trans Canada Highway, an appropriate start to Day 2… we’re between the two most challenging climbs that we will encounter on the entire ride. The day starts just a few kilometers short of Golden, BC. How appropriately named is Golden… another poignant reminder perhaps of the potential in our ride across North America.

It’s also Father’s Day, a fact that every member of the team is aware of. Each have quiet moments thinking of their children and their fathers… and for some, the main reason they are doing this amazing ride in the first place.

Hamish and Jamie get set up and head away toward Golden.

Julie’s Peep Show

As the team completes a successful transition, Freddy and Kevin have just completed a grueling ride up Rogers Pass. The pay-off, the long fast ride down, is no less straining as they compensate by pushing their pedals just as hard, while reaching ridiculous speeds that would terrorize the average casual cyclist. So, when Freddy finally climbs off the bike, he’s exhilarated, but also tired, sweaty and desperately in need of a shower. So with the RV pulled just off the road, the external shower is readied. Trouble is, the showerhead is on the left side of the RV, the road-side. Freddy looks back up the road, then in the other direction for traffic. It’s 7:00 AM Sunday morning… no problem, a quick shower au naturelle and no one’s the wiser. Off come the shorts, on goes the water. Wait for it to heat up. OK, now the water pressure falls. Where’s the soap? Finally, all is working properly and the shower is refreshing and invigorating. Fred is lost in the moment… this is such a sight that it gathers three team-members-turned-paparazzi to capture it on film. While no one is particularly paying attention, our support team replacements — Lon, Mitch, Julie and Hal — quietly arrive on the scene, chauffeured by Julie, the 18-wheel rig driver, who is treated to a "full moon" by an unsuspecting Freddy.

Hollywood Dan

Dan Dimopoulos, our videographer, has personally dragged along about 800 pounds of photography equipment. He decides that this would be a good time for all of it to be used at the same time for some really cool video shots of the riders. He conscripts Mitch and Erik to forego their driver duties, don their jerseys and "pose" for the camera. He mounts a set of bars, rods and clamps to these beautiful bikes and then attaches the strangest-looking camera just under Erik’s seat, looking back. It’s a long tube with a wide lens at the end. Looks more like a flashlight. For the next hour, he pushes Mitch and Erik around and along the road to Golden. He captures some amazing footage from numerous bike-mounted positions. He later shows it to each and every member of the team with the pride and excitement of an Academy Award winner.

High Noon at Lake Louise

Once over the grueling Kicking Horse Pass, Hamish and Jamie once again dig deep, inspired by the energy of Kevin and Freddy’s ride up Rogers a few hours earlier. They conquer it. Then they enjoy the rewards of the long ride into Lake Louise. At noon, just south of Lake Louise, the RV pulls over and it’s time for another transition. A crowd gathers. Cool. The riders are encouraged by the support. Wait a minute… turns out all these onlookers are here to look at a couple of elk lounging in the ditch. Oh well. Are they saddened that elk are getting more attention than our Coast to Coast Ride? No, not really. It seems that riding across Canada to support the fight against cancer just isn’t that glamorous after all.

The Support Team Surge

We’re finally settled and organized enough to actually recalculate our estimated time of arrival at various checkpoints down the line. Being accurate with these calculations is important in that it would result in the riders being able to hook up with the support team at their hotel. The significance of this is that the riders might finally enjoy a real shower. Julie and Ron team up in the 18-wheeler while Dan and Erik hop into Hal’s pickup truck. Everyone heads toward Calgary.

Tailwind + Many Riders = Speed!

At the noon transition, Scott, Mitch and Kevin head out for their shift. A beautiful ride down the Bow River valley past Banff, Canmore and onto the foothills leading down to Calgary. At Banff, two riders join the team, Ryan Corrie and his friend. In joing our riders, they create the biggest peleton we’ve had since the ride began. They race toward Calgary, churning past saw-toothed mountains on the left and right. Past thick stands of virgin forest, some of the last accessible protected natural forest in Canada. With every turn of the crank, they get a just a bit further ahead of the original schedule. A schedule that at one time, every cycling aficionado at least once derided as ridiculously impossible. So much for impossible. The riders hope that this is the inspiration all cancer sufferers will need to beat their impossible odds.

Is this the Tour de France?

The "noon shift" continues toward Calgary, but now there are even more riders. Scott Mitch and Kevin are joined by Jeff and Fred, plus our two local friends. They are working as a team and just blasting down the road.

He’s Rounding the Turn, He Slides… He’s Safe!

Schedules are a bit messed up, but with all the energy and excitement of such good conditions, the team is really enjoying this ride regardless. However, when it comes time to refresh and refuel riders on-the-run, it makes for quick work. The riders slow, Dr. Pat jumps out of the RV with an armload of water and Endura bottles. In an instant, the Good Doctor’s toe catches a rut and then as if in a well-choreographed Broadway number, he stumbles forward desperately trying to regain his balance. As his chest moves forward faster than his feet can manage, he gradually tilts and accelerates for almost 25 feet. Then the inevitable, and the laws of gravity take over. In a final burst of pure beauty, Dr. Pat leaves the ground, but for an instant, then crashes down hard. Elbow, arm, hand, chest and chin all impact at the same instant. The honour of the first road-rash goes not to Jeff or Kevin, but to a guy whose butt has not seen a bike seat for some time. His explanation is that he’s had about one hour of sleep in the past 36. No one is arguing with him.

You’re on TV!

It’s nearly 5 PM. The team is just south of Calgary and doing a high-speed bypass, when a call comes in from Susie Adelson back in Toronto that CFCN-TV in Calgary wants to do an interview. It works out well. They will come down from Calgary, locate us on the road, and shoot a few minutes of video and interviews for the 6 O’clock News. Sure enough, a few moments later, there they are. Coast to Coast is now famous in Calgary too.

Mitch’s Friend.

At 8 PM, another transition, this one quiet and efficient. Mitch has finally come off the road. He started in Lake Louise, pedaled all the way past Calgary. He was on the bike for 5 hours. He had a lot to think about. He found out his grandfather died just about exactly the time the ride started in Vancouver the day before. A few days earlier, he found that one of his best friends died suddenly in Calgary. He rode on, his strength and determination an inspiration to the rest of the team.

Sunset, Moonrise.

Jamie and Hamish churn along in the early evening of a rapidly flattening prairie east of Calgary. The wind and the sun are at their backs, in comfortable harmony. As light fades, another completely different sky emerges, slowly. This one is different than the night before in the Rockies. Not as threatening or ominous of future aloneness. This sky is gentle, the evening breezes friendly and the prospect of a night of light seems promising. As the darkness grows slowly, on the east horizon, a bright red speck appears. In minutes it’s grown to a full round moon, the most amazing pink, low on the horizon. As it slowly rises in the sky, turning brighter and whiter, so do the hopes of all the cancer sufferers that Jamie and Hamish are riding for, including 17 year-old Trevor Johnson of Barrie, Ontario.

The Midnight Run to Saskatchewan

Just before the Midnight transition, Kevin and Scott came out to help Jamie and Hamish for their last hour. At midnight, they head on alone into the night. They picked up their pace and over the course of 4 hours made up even more time. Over the night, the hum of wheels and the almost-indiscernible rhythm of their pedaling strokes has carried them into Saskatchewan and close to Swift Current.

In a Cocoon of Light.

As Kevin and Scott continue on, the lights of the RV’s headlights overpower the handlebar-mounted bike lights and provide a safe view ahead. Only mystery exists beyond the farthest reaches of the RV’s high beams. But within, Kevin and Scott are safely enveloped in a cocoon of light. They can only hope that Lynda Martel, the person they are riding for, felt as safe and secure and protected during the last months of her life in early 2003.

A Brand New Day

At 4 AM, Freddy and Jeff take over. It’s quiet and they are left to their own thoughts for long periods. They quietly and capably cover the miles in western Saskatchewan. The RV is quiet too. It’s finally caught up to everyone as Lon watches over his team 40 feet in front of the RV while the others sleep. The riders are confident, the driver is vigilant. All is right with the world. Birds start to chirp and soon a directionless light begins to infiltrate the night sky. A band new day is coming for Freddy and Jeff. As a result of this heroic Coast to Coast effort, perhaps this is a brand new day for many others too.

A Sense of Accomplishment and Relief Like No Other

As 8 AM approaches, the second day of the 2003 Coast to Coast Ride is completed. Another collection of inspirational stories is heard and the team is another 800 Km closer to their goal. As the RV pulls into Swift Current, never has a highway-side Best Western looked so inviting. Real showers await, and for four riders and three support team members, it’s the first time out of the RV in 48 hours. They are about to enjoy some relief from the confines of the RV and the discomfort of sweaty clothes. They know they are the lucky ones… that so many others suffering in the advanced stages of their disease have little hope of even the most modest expectation of relief.

And so ends Day 2 of the 2003 Coast to Coast Against Cancer ride.