On The Road Again

June 4th, 2010, I (Christian) was riding just past Moose Jaw when I was cut off by a truck and collided into the side of the vehicle. I remained conscious and waited for the ambulance. Five hours later I was discharged from the hospital with some fractured fingers, a deep muscle contusion to my left thigh, some general muscle pain due to the trauma of the impact, and a lot of morphine.

Our recent acquaintances in Caronport, SK, Don and Ellie Wall, graciously took us back into their home. I was a wreck physically and emotionally, traumatized by the flashbacks, the plethora of body pain, and the feeling of helplessness as I could hardly stand up out of the bed. I cried more tears this week than any other week of my life. My wonderful girlfriend, Jenna Webb, took care of me for the seven days while we stayed with the Wall's, and I would not have healed so fast if it wasn't for her constant care.

I would also like to thank some medical help I received: Dr. Susan Bell, who bandaged my hand over and over again, and my physiotherapist, Mr. Van Hennegam, who speeded the healing in my leg and motivated me to be positive and prayerful about the situation.

6 days after the accident, I received a phone call from my dad saying he was driving out to help me and bring a new bike. I burst into tears of joy while I sat in the Medical Clinic's waiting room. This was a shining moment in the midst of the ongoing drudge of unknowns.

The new bike was coming from Bastion Cycle in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island. The owner and friend, Jeff Goerz, discounted the bike and all the gear! And even gave free labour to help us out. It was unbelievable.

We had decided to move to Moose Jaw for one week, and then try to continue our ride from there. We again received amazing kindness from multiple people. The Raine's hosted Megan and Jenna, and Evelyn Falk, a woman whom we also had never met, hosted us for the week. Evelyn also took my dad in while he was here.

During our time in Moose Jaw things started looking up. Insurance was helping us out a lot, even covering my dad's travel expenses to get out here and back! My new bike was getting set up, my body was getting more mobile, and I was spending time with my dad. There was lots to smile about!

While in Moose Jaw, I got to catch up with Peter and Sandy Falk. These are dear friends and beautiful people, and I can honestly say that it was worth the accident to see them again and
share some laughs and tears.

We are now gearing up to go again! And we will be shortening out distances for a while until my body is completely back to normal. But it will be great to get back on the road again.

I thank all the people who have helped us in the last two weeks, and I thank all the thoughts and prayers that have been made on our behalf. I had phone calls and e-mails from people I had never met, and I am encouraged by them all. This was a difficult experience, but God has brought good out of it and enriched me with it.

May all get to experience the kindness and generosity that has been shown to us,

-Christian Pye

Home, home on the range...

Howdy folks!

So for those of you who don't know, we ended up staying in Calgary two days longer than we had expected due to snowy weather.
Now, however, we find ourselves in Caronport, Saskatchewan. The Rockies have long since disappeared over the western horizon and in infront of us lies about 1000km of wide open terrain before we arrive in Northern Ontario.
It's been interesting to see the landscape change, and with it, the wildlife. Each place has its staple rodent. In the Fraser Canyon we saw marmots, followed by columbian ground squirrels in the mountains; now, it's gophers. These are by far the dumbest of the small rodents that we have encountered. Biking through the prairies we have been able to keep ourselves amused by counting the dead gophers on the side of the road. Today, within the first hour of biking, Megan counted over 140. Aside from them we have also seen herds of antelope (including babies) and a few coyotes. Some signs along the road warned us of wild buffalo, but alas, the prairies have not yet delivered on this promise.
The prairie folk have lived up to their name in that they have all been very kind and welcoming. As we make our way along the highway we are greeting with a long of honking and waving (we even had a train honk at us!)
The winds have also been good to us helping us to pedal along at 40km/h and coast up the rolling hills.
Well, that's about it for now. The week has been relatively uneventful. We'll update again from Winnipeg!

Jeremy

Distances travelled since Calgary: Sun.150km, Mon.150km, Tue.90km, Wed.130km, Thur.160km