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
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
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
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
Monday, May 24, 2010
Greetings from Cowtown!
So we have arrived in Calgary a day or two earlier than anticipated. Originally we were going to go from Banff to Cochrane, but when both Megan and Christian were having knee troubles on the ride to Banff, we thought we would have to split that up into two short days. But, I am happy to report that upon arriving in Cochrane everyone was feeling up to cycling the extra 35ish kilometres to Calgary, making it our longest ride yet at 133km.
We are now going to be taking four days off in Calgary at Megan's grandparent's house. It will be a nice break, and we are hoping that it will allow our muscles to fully heal.
I (Jeremy) will also be using this time to finish up the last of my homework. Speaking of which. I must get on that.
Bye for now!
We are now going to be taking four days off in Calgary at Megan's grandparent's house. It will be a nice break, and we are hoping that it will allow our muscles to fully heal.
I (Jeremy) will also be using this time to finish up the last of my homework. Speaking of which. I must get on that.
Bye for now!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Rogers Pass to Banff
Well, here we are in beautiful Banff, Alberta. That's right, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. We are now in Alberta! Take THAT British Columbia!
After our last update we cycled from Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park to Golden. There was a lot of downhilliness, and we had to pass through a bunch of snow sheds. But we all made it out alive.
Once we reached Golden, we stopped in at Dairy Queen for some ice cream, and then to the grocery store to pick-up some food. After that we made our way to the municipal campground where we realized that we had bought cream cheese for our bagels, but did not think about where we could store it to keep it from going bad. Thankfully our campsite was right beside the river, so we put the cream cheese in a zip-lock bag, tied it to a rock, and tossed it in the river. That did the trick.
That night we actually cooked a meal that was NOT made up of rice and beans. Stirfry = delicious. Plus, we had decided to take the next day off before carrying on to Field, BC
Godlen was a quaint little town with enough to do so as to keep us occupied on our day off. Bookstore, coffeeshop, local art gallery, and a 50's diner.
The morning that we left Golden started off a little...well, off.
In an attempt to relight the stove in order to make more oatmeal for breakfast, the girls managed to singe Megan's eyebrows and eyelashes. Don't worry though; she's okay. Following that, Christian, realized that he had put soap in his mug in order to beginning cleaning before he was voluntold to finish off the extra oatmeal.
When we began the actual riding for the day, it started off with rain, but that quickly dissipated. later that day we decided to cut a day out of our trip by not stopping in Field, and continuing on to Baker Creek (about 10km past Lake Louise). There a really bad hill coming out of Field that took a lot out of us, but I think we were all motivated by the fact that not only had cut out that extra day, but that we were also going to be spending out first night in Alberta. In the end, we cycled 101km with 70km of it being uphill.
This was a bittersweet evening, however, as it was the last night the Stephen and Carol would be with us. They were going to ride with us to Banff the next day, have dinner, and then we would part ways.
The morning of our ride to Banff, Stephen drove us all up to lake Louise to walk around. It was kind of a letdown. The lake was frozen over and covered with a layer of snow, making it impossible to see the beautiful jade colour of the water. After that we went back to the lodge, grabbed our bikes, and began the journey to Banff.
On our way there we saw three elk grazing at the side of the road. Despite the number of people staring at them, they seemed quite calm and content. It was at this point that Christian and I (Jeremy) were sent on a mission to bike as fast as we could to Banff in order to make it to the information centre before it closed. We still managed to stop and get a picture of some mountain sheep, however, before completing our task. 10km in 20minutes. I made it there first because Christian strained his knee and had to petal the last 4km with ONE LEG! It's okay though. No longterm damage. His knee is fine now.
Well, that's about all there is to say now. Sorry about the length. We'll try not to let it go so long between updates.
Banff sends its regards!
Jeremy
Oh! Thanks to Christine Dahlen we are staying at Bumper's Inn because it was too cold to camp!!!!!!!
After our last update we cycled from Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park to Golden. There was a lot of downhilliness, and we had to pass through a bunch of snow sheds. But we all made it out alive.
Once we reached Golden, we stopped in at Dairy Queen for some ice cream, and then to the grocery store to pick-up some food. After that we made our way to the municipal campground where we realized that we had bought cream cheese for our bagels, but did not think about where we could store it to keep it from going bad. Thankfully our campsite was right beside the river, so we put the cream cheese in a zip-lock bag, tied it to a rock, and tossed it in the river. That did the trick.
That night we actually cooked a meal that was NOT made up of rice and beans. Stirfry = delicious. Plus, we had decided to take the next day off before carrying on to Field, BC
Godlen was a quaint little town with enough to do so as to keep us occupied on our day off. Bookstore, coffeeshop, local art gallery, and a 50's diner.
The morning that we left Golden started off a little...well, off.
In an attempt to relight the stove in order to make more oatmeal for breakfast, the girls managed to singe Megan's eyebrows and eyelashes. Don't worry though; she's okay. Following that, Christian, realized that he had put soap in his mug in order to beginning cleaning before he was voluntold to finish off the extra oatmeal.
When we began the actual riding for the day, it started off with rain, but that quickly dissipated. later that day we decided to cut a day out of our trip by not stopping in Field, and continuing on to Baker Creek (about 10km past Lake Louise). There a really bad hill coming out of Field that took a lot out of us, but I think we were all motivated by the fact that not only had cut out that extra day, but that we were also going to be spending out first night in Alberta. In the end, we cycled 101km with 70km of it being uphill.
This was a bittersweet evening, however, as it was the last night the Stephen and Carol would be with us. They were going to ride with us to Banff the next day, have dinner, and then we would part ways.
The morning of our ride to Banff, Stephen drove us all up to lake Louise to walk around. It was kind of a letdown. The lake was frozen over and covered with a layer of snow, making it impossible to see the beautiful jade colour of the water. After that we went back to the lodge, grabbed our bikes, and began the journey to Banff.
On our way there we saw three elk grazing at the side of the road. Despite the number of people staring at them, they seemed quite calm and content. It was at this point that Christian and I (Jeremy) were sent on a mission to bike as fast as we could to Banff in order to make it to the information centre before it closed. We still managed to stop and get a picture of some mountain sheep, however, before completing our task. 10km in 20minutes. I made it there first because Christian strained his knee and had to petal the last 4km with ONE LEG! It's okay though. No longterm damage. His knee is fine now.
Well, that's about all there is to say now. Sorry about the length. We'll try not to let it go so long between updates.
Banff sends its regards!
Jeremy
Oh! Thanks to Christine Dahlen we are staying at Bumper's Inn because it was too cold to camp!!!!!!!
Monday, May 17, 2010
From the Top of Rogers Pass
Greetings to everyone!
Well, we have now gone over 800km and are now at the summit of Rogers Pass. Before I get into today's ride, however, I will quickly regale you with tale of days gone by. Specifically, the last few days since we left Kamloops. I'll make it quick.
Kamloops to Salmon Arm. It was our first day of riding over 100km (but not our last). The family we stayed with in Salmon Arm was amazing. When we got there, they were celebrating a birthday party for this awesome guy named Greg, who Megan knows - or is it 'whom'? He had us all sign a little autograph booklet that he has. The dad, Sean (or Shawn...) also hooked us up with free tickets to go see Robin Hood at one of the non-profit movie theatres that he oversees.
Last night we stayed just outside of Revelstoke. We were close enough to town that we went and hung out at this little cafe called 'La Baguette". It was such a great little shop.
And that brings us to today. 70km + 60lbs bags + the occasional head wind + uphill = today. This will probably be one of the most difficult rides of the trip, simply because the level of physical and mental exhaustion of ascending to over 1300m.
Highlight of the day (other than reaching the top): Running into my roommate and his girlfriend on the side of the road. Weird...
OH! Also! Christian and I each got to pet a wild (I use that term loosely) Columbian ground squirrel! Fun times!
Well, that's all for now! Hopefully tomorrow will bring a lot more downhill.
Bye for now!
Jeremy
Well, we have now gone over 800km and are now at the summit of Rogers Pass. Before I get into today's ride, however, I will quickly regale you with tale of days gone by. Specifically, the last few days since we left Kamloops. I'll make it quick.
Kamloops to Salmon Arm. It was our first day of riding over 100km (but not our last). The family we stayed with in Salmon Arm was amazing. When we got there, they were celebrating a birthday party for this awesome guy named Greg, who Megan knows - or is it 'whom'? He had us all sign a little autograph booklet that he has. The dad, Sean (or Shawn...) also hooked us up with free tickets to go see Robin Hood at one of the non-profit movie theatres that he oversees.
Last night we stayed just outside of Revelstoke. We were close enough to town that we went and hung out at this little cafe called 'La Baguette". It was such a great little shop.
And that brings us to today. 70km + 60lbs bags + the occasional head wind + uphill = today. This will probably be one of the most difficult rides of the trip, simply because the level of physical and mental exhaustion of ascending to over 1300m.
Highlight of the day (other than reaching the top): Running into my roommate and his girlfriend on the side of the road. Weird...
OH! Also! Christian and I each got to pet a wild (I use that term loosely) Columbian ground squirrel! Fun times!
Well, that's all for now! Hopefully tomorrow will bring a lot more downhill.
Bye for now!
Jeremy
Thursday, May 13, 2010
To Kamloops, and Beyond!
Hey everyone!
Well, we've officially broken the 500km mark from Horseshoe Bay to Kamloops. This has been our first day off since leaving Abbotsford and our butts are very thankful for it.
The hills are starting to get easier to pedal up, which is good because we have some long ones coming up in the next couple of days.
For the most part our accommodation thus far have been great. We camped the first two nights, but both places had running water and hot showers. Our third night, Stephen and Carol paid for us to stay at the Totem Hotel in Lytton (They had cable there, so I was able to catch some of game six of Montreal vs. Pittsburgh!). After Lytton we cycled up to Cache Creek where we stayed with Megan's friends at there ranch (for the purpose of keeping this blog relatively short, I won't go into a description of it, but trust me when I say, it was awesome!).
The views have been absolutely incredible. There's a feeling of being sent back to the Old West, especially when the trains can be seen across the river coming around the bend of a mountain.
From a distance, the hills look green because of the sage bushes that cover the ground.
We saw a coyote the other day. It popped out from the one of the bushes, looked at us for a second as we looked back at it, then it disappeared down the hillside.
We also saw two mountain goats grazing on a cliff above the highway, and a few hundred metres down the road from them, we saw the leg bone from a First Nations burial ground that had fallen into the ditch during a rock slide.
That brings us to Kamloops now, where we have been running errands, getting ready for the next stretch.
All is well. We hope it is with you too.
Jeremy, Megan, Christian, and Jenna
Well, we've officially broken the 500km mark from Horseshoe Bay to Kamloops. This has been our first day off since leaving Abbotsford and our butts are very thankful for it.
The hills are starting to get easier to pedal up, which is good because we have some long ones coming up in the next couple of days.
For the most part our accommodation thus far have been great. We camped the first two nights, but both places had running water and hot showers. Our third night, Stephen and Carol paid for us to stay at the Totem Hotel in Lytton (They had cable there, so I was able to catch some of game six of Montreal vs. Pittsburgh!). After Lytton we cycled up to Cache Creek where we stayed with Megan's friends at there ranch (for the purpose of keeping this blog relatively short, I won't go into a description of it, but trust me when I say, it was awesome!).
The views have been absolutely incredible. There's a feeling of being sent back to the Old West, especially when the trains can be seen across the river coming around the bend of a mountain.
From a distance, the hills look green because of the sage bushes that cover the ground.
We saw a coyote the other day. It popped out from the one of the bushes, looked at us for a second as we looked back at it, then it disappeared down the hillside.
We also saw two mountain goats grazing on a cliff above the highway, and a few hundred metres down the road from them, we saw the leg bone from a First Nations burial ground that had fallen into the ditch during a rock slide.
That brings us to Kamloops now, where we have been running errands, getting ready for the next stretch.
All is well. We hope it is with you too.
Jeremy, Megan, Christian, and Jenna
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Bon Voyage!
Today is the day! We are just heading out the door to meet up with the cycling team, hug and kiss our loved ones, and hit the road!
Thank you to all the people who have helped us this far with Cancer Inpatient care donations, living expenses, empty bottle donations, and vocal support!
A big shout out goes to Jeff from Bastion Cycle, he has helped us immensely in preparing for this trip, with sound bike knowledge and touring advice. If ever on Vancouver Island, please check out his shop:
4196 Departure Bay Road, Nanaimo,
250 - 758 - 2453
Anyways, we hope to blog once a week, so if you like to follow us that would be great!
much love,
biking4change
Thank you to all the people who have helped us this far with Cancer Inpatient care donations, living expenses, empty bottle donations, and vocal support!
A big shout out goes to Jeff from Bastion Cycle, he has helped us immensely in preparing for this trip, with sound bike knowledge and touring advice. If ever on Vancouver Island, please check out his shop:
4196 Departure Bay Road, Nanaimo,
250 - 758 - 2453
Anyways, we hope to blog once a week, so if you like to follow us that would be great!
much love,
biking4change
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