Week 2 Day 1 - April 28 2008

Rain rain rain......and than when we thought it couldn't get any worse, we arrived in Minden and it snowed, and not just a couple of flurries, the snow was staying on the ground. We managed to ride thru the rain and thru the snow and up the hills, finally arriving at Ridgewood P.S. We were so cold and so wet that the staff let us come in and dry our clothes in the Kindergarten classes dryer. Once the show started it had an emotional moment when the team presented a framed jersey to the school to always hang in memory of Trevor Bartley. Trevors family was on hand to view the presentation. Their support means the world to the team. From there we were on to Minden to visit Archie Stouffer P.S and when we arrived they were quite, but when we left they were as loud as any school we have visited on the tour. After our stop in Minden you would think we were done for the day, but that was not the case. We still had another 50km's to ride in the rain to get to Wilberforce. It was slow and steady but the team managed to endure the elements...........that is until about 20km's from Wilberforce when the team members started dropping like flies. You see we learned a valuable lesson, when your cold and wet you tend not to want to drink fluids because let's face it, your cold and wet. The last thing you think about is cold drinks. That definately causes a problem, because when you don't take in fluids and ride for 80km's on a bicycle your muscles cramp up really bad. One by one riders had to drop out as muscle aches and fatigue took the best of them. The final 1km of the ride was up Vineger Hill in Wilberforce. This is a hill that is one kilometer long and goes straight up at a 9% grade. What does that mean........well it means your off your seat pumping your legs and it seems your not going anywhere real fast. As we reaches the bottom of the hill I witnesses 3 of our team members jump off their bikes and fall to the ground like they had been tasered. I didn't know whether to laugh or be concerned as they rolled around on the ground cramped up and exhausted. This left 2 members of our team riding to the top, cheering on the other members not knowing then that they would appear a short time later walking up the hill. Trying to stretch out their legs......vowing that next year Vineger Hill will not get the best of them. "We will return" John