The long-awaited Embarrassing Spandex Pics!

Well, it took me two weeks from the end of the bike rally to post these, but here they are!

Day 1 - Toronto to Port Hope

The cycling bridesmaid. This photo was taken when I got home from the wedding at 1 AM the day of the bike rally. 

And here I am at Allen Gardens a few hours later, about to take off 

Arriving in Port Hope! See the spandex? That's for you.

Day 2 - Port Hope to Adolphustown

This was the first time the sun had come out that day, so I was happy. We're on a cute little ferry and only 5 km from the campsite, so I was also happy about that.

Day 3 - Adolphustown to Kingston

My full team (Your Pace or Mine) in our most fabulous red outfits for Dress Red Day 

Sailor Mars! The pumps came off before we started cycling, though some people attached clips to their heels.

'Do a sexy duck face!' said our photographer. One of us looks sexy, the other (me) looks like a duck. Together we are Sailor Duckface, protecting the solar system from evil and ensuring that humans carry bird seed at all times.

Practicing our sweet dance moves

Then he dropped me.

Look how fabulous we are!

Arriving in Kingston

Day 4 - Kingston to Johnstown

If you think you're too old to do the Bike Rally, you're not. My friend here is 77 years old and started doing the Bike Rally as a way to stay in shape after a heart attack. He says he'll keep doing the rally until he's 80 and then reassess. 

You can't tell from this picture, but these are the Thousand Islands with the tiny cottages.

My friend in this picture is in her 60s. She was doing the Rally with her friend, an incredible woman who had just turned 70. So many cool people do this Rally!

Day 5 - Johnstown to Lancaster

Getting heat stroke wasn't so bad. As you can see, the Bike Rally made sure I got the proper course of treatment.

Here we are creating our art installation for Light Up the Night - a spider web complete with glowstick-balloon spiders

The spiders emerged at nightfall

Even though our spider installation was really cool we didn't hold a candle to some of the other installations. People made some really amazing things! 

Day 6 - Lancaster to Montreal

Me and my team leads at the Quebec border! So close to the end now!

We made it!

We really made it!!

Holy sh*t it's really sinking in that we made it!!!!!

This was such a wonderful experience and I will definitely do it again. I hope you'll do it with me!

xoxo

Erica

Day 6: Lancaster to Montreal (100.2 km)

We did it!!!!!!!!! We arrived in Montreal from Toronto and we cycled the whole darn way! I can't really walk normally or stand up straight, and I couldn't be happier. I feel so glad to be part of this loving, accepting community and I'm deeply proud of what we've accomplished together. We managed to raise over 1 million dollars for the People With AIDS Foundation, an organization that provides vital support to people living with HIV in the Toronto area.  If I could stand fully upright, I'd be standing proud.

We crossed the border into Quebec early in the day and rode along bike paths pretty much the whole way to Montreal. I was still feeling the effects of yesterday's heat stroke so I was moving slowly, but  I was determined to make it to Montreal under my own power. And so I did. I came into the rendezvous point with the sweeps, but I made it on my own wheels.

From the rendezvous point at Parc Lachine we rode single file along the bike path to the heart of Old Montreal. My team was first after the steering committee because we were the top fundraising team. It was incredible to look back and see the line of us riding single file, two hundred strong. I couldn't see the end of the line, that's how many of us there were who believe in supporting people with HIV. And for every cyclist in that line, there were dozens of supporters who made it possible by donating, by volunteering for the crew, or by taking the time to educate themselves and cheer us on. Thanks again to all of you who donated! For those who still want to, visit bikerally.org or my personal fundraising page.

After closing ceremonies we went to our rooms (real beds! Real showers!) and reconvened for a final team dinner. Then all 200 riders and 100 crew members went to Unity, a club in Montreal's gay village with an amazing rooftop patio, and hugged and laughed and started to process the enormity of what we had just achieved together.

This week was one of the most powerful experiences of my life. It was definitely the most physically challenging. I'm going to do it again in two years (I'm moving back to BC in September so next year is out). I want to invite you right now to do it with me - if not for the six days then for the one day ride into Port Hope, or volunteer for Crew. It's an inspiring journey with incredible people. You are capable of things you thought were impossible for you, and you can inspire others to achieve things they thought were impossible for them. I love you all; thank you for coming with me on this journey.



P.S. I promised you embarrassing spandex photos and they are coming!

Day 5: Johnstown to Lancaster (108.5 km)

It was a beautiful ride along the river today. I rode with friends and there were gorgeous vistas along the various causeways. Unfortunately it was also really hot and humid and I didn't drink enough Gatorade. I got some mild heat stroke about 15 km away from the lunch stop and slowly wobbled my way in. They took one look at me and put me in the air conditioned Wellness RV that drives along the route with us. Everyone was really nice and supportive - some kind stranger even dropped off electrolyte powder at my tent. So I rode into camp in style, but not on Le Tigre.

Tonight's camp is called Spider Camp. The name is apt. I was sitting at dinner and a baby spider built a web between my arm and my back. There are people who hate spiders and people who hate mosquitos and I'm firmly in the latter camp, so I accept and welcome spiders as my natural ally in the ongoing war (which, frankly, the mosquitos are winning).

Anyways, tonight's theme is Light Up The Night, in which all the teams create light displays over their tents and compete for first prize, which I'm pretty sure is just bragging rights. In honour of Spider Camp, our team created a web in the trees over our tents and we've made makeshift spiders out of balloons and glow sticks. It actually looks really good and I think we have a shot at winning. I'll let you know the results tomorrow!

Tomorrow we cross the provincial border and spend most of the day riding through Quebec. I can't believe we're almost at Montreal and the rally is almost over. It's one hell of a ride.

Day 4: Kingston to Johnstown (109.9 km)

I was fully back in the saddle today, dear readers. I have blisters in places I never thought I would blister and I've used an amount of diaper cream that would be alarming for a grown woman in any other context. Luckily it was a beautiful sunny day, we had a strong tailwind, and the route has started to slope downhill as we begin our descent to sea level. We rode past the Thousand Islands, which are beautiful and also the site of some of the world's most precise engineering. I saw a tiny island - say ten feet by ten feet - and someone had built a cottage on it that was nine feet by nine feet. The people of the Thousand Islands are a whimsical and eccentric lot. I like them.

Tonight at camp we held a candle lit sharing ceremony where people talked about their experiences with HIV/AIDS, their reasons for riding, and the ways in which they fight stigma in their communities. I shared my story, which actually started five years ago when an acquaintance of mine, a lovely woman called Jen (not her real name), shared with me that she was HIV positive. She told me a lot about what it was like to live with HIV. It was incredibly generous of her to do that, and it was an important learning experience for me because all my previous knowledge about HIV came from Rent. Fast forward several years and someone who I know and love tested positive for HIV. It was hard and uncertain and scary for everyone, but because Jen had taken the time to educate me I knew that HIV was a condition to be managed rather than a death sentence, and that the new meds are so good that they can get one's viral load to an undetectable level. I was able to be a much better support to my loved one in that situation because of her. I'm on this ride now because I want to keep learning about the positive community so that I can be the most supportive and loving ally I can be, and the fiercest advocate. Many of the people doing this ride have HIV themselves, and many of them spoke about it tonight. I can't share their stories but I can tell you this: it's easy to be a fierce advocate for such a fierce community.

I'm so happy to be doing this ride and I'm so grateful for the way I've been welcomed into the bike rally family. And I'm deeply grateful and happy that you, dear readers, are supporting me and this wonderful cause.

Day 3: Adolphustown to Kingston (51 km)

Hello beautiful readers! Today was sunny! It was also our easy day - we only had to ride fifty kilometres. If that sounds like a lot, just know that yesterday we rode 80 km before lunch.

Today was Dress Red day, in which everyone is invited to dress in their most fabulous (bicycle-friendly) red dress. I happened to have a tight and stretchy red dress that I keep because it's so fabulous but never wear because it's so tight and stretchy, so I wore that plus some stripy leggings. Mine was one of the more tame outfits; people wore boas, fishnets, gloves, costumes (Sailor Mars was my fave), and flouncy hats. We looked amazing.

We rode through more beautiful country along the Waterfront Trail, waving at cows as we passed (can you tell we're mostly city folk?). My team and I rode together today, which was nice. We rolled into Kingston around 11:30 AM. I knew we had arrived when I started seeing the Union Jack flying from people's flagpoles alongside the Canadian flag. A lot of Loyalists fled to Kingston when they lost the US War of Independence, and they are still weirdly obsessed with England here. If Scotland and Northern Ireland both left the U.K. and England had to change its flag, Kingston would just ignore it and keep proudly flying the Union Jack. 

 We had a team dinner tonight at Chez Piggy, an excellent Kingston restaurant, and went to a drag show/fundraiser for our cause. Kingston apparently doesn't have very many drag queens so the rally bussed Miss Conception in from Toronto. If you've never had the pleasure of watching her perform, she's well worth it.

We get to sleep in real beds tonight in the Queen's dormitory and use real showers, so I'm just about to  take full advantage of that fact. Goodnight, friends!

Day 2: Port Hope to Adolphustown (127 km)

So it rained today. You may have noticed it. It poured down buckets for about three hours, giving me ample time to reconsider every decision that had led me to that point and weep for all that I had ever loved and lost, starting with my childhood gerbil, Kilroy (may he rest in peace).

Cycling blues are real, folks. That's why it's important to ride with a buddy. My riding buddy today was a hilarious and irreverent woman named Nat. While I was using the rain to mask my tears, she was ranking the people who passed us according to the attractiveness of their behinds to make me laugh.

We covered a lot of ground today, mostly through really pretty farm country that I couldn't see for the rain. And then, finally, the sun came out as we rolled through Prince Edward County. We cycled through Picton and took the little ferry across to Adolphustown. We stopped at the Picton LCBO first, which is super apparent to me right now when a significant number of people are having trouble with the concept of quiet hour. Whatever, I have earplugs and we've all earned it.

PS. Talent night was tonight and it did not disappoint!

Day 1: Toronto - Port Hope (108km)

Day 1 update: I'm alive!!! This is being written on my phone in my tent so I'll be brief.

The other people on the rally are really cool. I am making friends and getting excited for the bike rally traditions coming up, like talent night. The back road route to Port Hope takes you along gorgeous cliffs overlooking Lake Ontario. We're camping on the edge of a cliff right now and I can hear the waves crashing. I rode past two nuclear power plants today and a marsh that I have done work on. There were lots of hills but none of them were as bad as the hill that led up to my elementary school in Vancouver. Anti-chafing cream is a gift from the gods. I had a fantastic time at the wedding yesterday and I slept four hours last night. I have to wake up at 5:30 tomorrow to help serve breakfast. I took embarrassing spandex pics today but can't get them to upload to the blog from my phone. I promise they are coming! 

This has been my stream of consciousness; Erica out. 

Ready, set, wedding, GO!

Ah wedding season... There's nothing quite like it, is there? The dress, the rings, the vows, the travel, the champagne hangovers - each one subtly different from the last...

This season is a joy unto itself, but when you add in your training regime for a 6 day bike ride it becomes extra magical. Last weekend I rode Le Tigre 55 km to the scenic lakeside town of Ajax, Ontario where my friend Mihae from grad school was getting married. I packed my back pack with my dress, shoes, and make up, plus a big tub of sunscreen, two water bottles and some anti-chafing cream. I donned my spandex shorts and hit the road. It was 28 degrees and humid, which was just charming.

The ride to Ajax from Toronto took me a little under 4 hours (I'd been aiming for 3) because I wanted to take the Lakeshore route and I kept getting lost. Along the way I discovered some really beautiful parts of Eastern Toronto and even Scarborough,* so I don't think it was wasted time.

The wedding itself was gorgeous and a lot of fun. Mihae and Brad know how to throw an incredible party and they also really know their wine, so a good time was had by all, including yours truly. I drank with the determination of one who is conducting a scientific experiment. How much could I imbibe and still cycle home the next day? This was science at its most relevant: I needed the answer because I'm going to another wedding on Saturday July 23rd (tomorrow) and leaving for the bike rally at 7:30 am on Sunday July 24th (the day after tomorrow).

It turns out I can drink two glasses of wine and a glass of champagne and still cycle 55 km the next day, but I can't cycle fast. Or well. And definitely not without stopping for ice cream and fries. It may not sound like a lot of alcohol to you, but there you have it. I am a disgrace to both my Scottish and Polish heritage.

I took a much more direct route home on Sunday than I took out on Saturday, and it took me 5 hours to complete it. I didn't get lost, but I did take lots of breaks. I took an extra long break before climbing the hill up to the Scarborough Bluffs. From the bottom of the Bluffs I took in stunning vistas of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station and the humidity building up over Lake Ontario. From the top of the Bluffs the nuclear power plant looked smaller and somehow cute, like a toy that's only pretending to be an aging radioactive plant at the end of its operating life in the middle of the most densely populated part of the country. And the lake was beautiful. Maybe I was happy about having gotten to the top of the hill or maybe it was the heat exhaustion, but I had never felt more at peace while looking at the 905.

And so that brings us to the present moment. You guys, I leave on Sunday for the bike rally! I'm so excited! Check out my route on the Friends for Life site, and pass along my fundraising page to anyone who might want to support me/this cause! My team has raised the most funds of any bike rally team this year, and we want to keep that up during the rally itself.

I'll keep you posted from the road, and I promise, the embarrassing spandex pictures are coming.



*Locals refer to Scarborough as Scarberia. It's seen a place where nothing good can happen.

Le Tigre and I are in love

So can I just take a minute to gush about my new bike?

Le Tigre (yes, that is my bike's name) is a thing of beauty. It's got a carbon fibre and aluminium frame that weighs less than most urban racoons. It can go super fast and it has a loud and obnoxious bell that I use on drivers who cut me off. It even has a place where you can screw in a rack so that you can take it touring! Le Tigre outperforms Blue Steel (my other bike) in every way except on hills, which is a little weird but whatever. Love conquers all, even hills.

I've continued to train since my last post and I'm developing a cyclist's physique, which is basically as close to a T-Rex as people can get (powerful legs, vestigial arms). What I haven't been able to train for are the exact circumstances of my departure on July 24th. You see, my friend Natalie is getting married on July 23rd, and I'm in the bridal party. Bridal party membership comes with sacred responsibilities, including toasting with champagne. So the morning of my departure could be a bit... sloppy. Luckily this coming weekend I'm going to another dear friend's wedding in Ajax, so I can do a dry run. I'm going to cycle to the wedding on Saturday with all my clothes and make up in my backpack, have a great time at the wedding, and then cycle 70 km with my bike team the next day. Wish me luck!

P.S. The saddle anesthesia is totally gone, which is good, but also bad because now I feel the pain.

Gearing up for Montreal

Dearest and most beloved readers,

I'm baaaaaaack! I've missed you, and I know you've missed me too. I'm so excited to bring you along as I train for, and eventually complete, the Friends for Life bike rally.

This blog will be a little different from the others. My previous blogs were about the destination; this one is about the trip itself. The Friends for Life (F4L)  bike rally is the awareness-raising and fundraising stunt of a lifetime. Along with 200-ish other cyclists and 85 crew, I'm going to ride a bike from Toronto to Montreal to raise money to support the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation. That's 600 kilometres over six days. Actually, that's six-hundred kilometres over six days in the heat of July. Am I nervous? Yup. Am I excited? YES! I've never done anything like this before.

I've been training since January by swimming and cycling (stationary bikes in the winter and on the road once the snow melted) several times each week, gradually increasing the distances and difficulty. I took a bicycle repair class, learned how to fix a flat tire, and made my peace with how I look in spandex. I've met all my training milestones, including the mandatory 50 km bike ride on May 15th (remember that day, the day when it snowed and we all wanted to die?), and the 100 km training ride. I did all my post-winter training on my trusty steel-frame hybrid, affectionately known as Blue Steel.

The 100 km ride was a big deal for me. First, I'd never ridden that far in one go before, so that was cool. Second, on that ride I learned first-hand what people mean when they talk about "saddle anesthesia." I could tell you to look it up on your own, but it's probably better to educate you so that you can avoid this yourselves. Saddle anesthesia occurs when an important nerve gets impinged because you're using a bike seat that doesn't fit you properly, and/or you spent too long sitting on your bike. When that nerve gets impinged your whole butt and surrounding area goes numb. It's not normal, and over time you can do permanent nerve damage. I got saddle anesthesia after the 100 km training ride and it freaked me right out, but it went away after about ten days. I've since bought a lighter bike (which I've named Le Tigre*) so that I can go faster and spend fewer hours in the saddle, and I went to a bike shop and got fitted for the right sized bike seat, which I then bought. Hopefully that'll do the trick.

By far the best part of training this hard is that I can eat whatever I want. I am constantly hungry and I eat so much cake now! It's awesome. Speaking of food, many of you know that I'm a pescatarian and that I only eat land animals when I travel to places that have never heard of tofu, like West Africa or the Ottawa Valley. So I haven't eaten red meat in years. And then I went on the 100 km training ride, got lost, and arrived at the lunch spot so late that all they had left were beef burgers. I ate two of those suckers. I am telling you that I put two patties into a bun, and devoured it like it was my last meal on earth. Then I got a protein high. It was glorious.

The F4L rally begins July 24th, 2016 at Allen Gardens in Toronto and ends July 30th in Montreal. Along the way there will be hills and valleys, laughter and tears, and lots and lots of spandex. I can't wait to share this with all of you!




*FYI, Blue Steel and Le Tigre are Zoolander references, in case you're not lucky enough to love that movie and quote it verbatim.