I lied

I thought that I could get hubby to blog a little yesterday but I lied. He spent most of it "recovering" (i.e. sleeping, eating a little, and imitating a starchy tuber on the couch). So the gory ride details will have to wait until I can get him parked in front of a computer. I did snag his camera and uploaded all the pictures.

Here is his sleeping pad the night before the ride - tucked behind the church's piano:


Hubby only managed about 2.5 hrs of sleep.

And his legs full of names:


Photographs from the day of the ride are slowly being added to Flickr. Please take a look. Hubby is rider #39. Here's one of him:


He's on the left in the neon yellow vest giving Graham a push towards the Pennask summit. It is a tough climb - 60kms (12.5mi) long with an elevation increase of about 1328m (4357 ft). And they're doing this climb from 4-7am. They're crazy but I love every one of them.

he's home!

There he is rolling in (hubby's the big guy right in the middle):


It's 12:45am and we're home. Hubby is taking a much deserved (and necessary) shower and then I'm going to toss him into bed. Hopefully, the Advil will be kicking in soon.


More stories about the ride tomorrow whenever he wakes up.

almost home

They're getting close. I can almost see them :)

I'm all packed and heading off. I've got a change of clothes for hubby, fresh towels, a thermos of hot chocolate, a thermos of mushroom soup, a bottle of Advil, and a few chinese buns from his favourite bakery. For myself, I'm bringing Gortex, my big rubber boots, and my cow bell! Yahoo!

updates

Gladys is liveblogging over at the R2S homepage.

Here's a picture of hubby (leftmost with Al & Rebecca) looking semi-awake at pre-dawn o'clock:


Gladys is also updating a Twitter feed. The GPS tracker is up and running.

It's pouring rain at home which is supposed to clear up by this afternoon. I hope that I don't get soaked setting up the welcome in party. Looks like today's WWKIP gathering might be a tad soggy.

and they're off

I got woken up early (for me) this morning so that I could drop off hubby and all his gear. The things I do for his hobby ;)

If you are in the mood to steal valuable cargo, this would be the semi-trailer to target today:


It has approx. 80 bicycles with an average cost of around $2500 per bike for a total of $200,000! That's a lot of bike!


The Cops for Cancer van was shuttling riders/volunteers & gear from the overnight parking lot to the bus pickup area in front of Cap's Bicycles.

There was a lot of nervous energy as everyone checked and double checked their gear, bought last minute stuff from Cap's, picked up their rider/crew packages, and got their box lunches from Cactus Club (who kindly opened their kitchens at 9am and will stay open extra late tomorrow night and not mind when very dirty, sweaty riders troop through their nice restaurant in clompy cycling shoes to use their washrooms).

There is some very precious cargo in this trailer:


Thousands of crepes, rice cakes (the wet kind), fruit, desserts, salami, soup, chocolate milk (!!!), and other valuables are in there. Each rider will be burning about a week's worth of calories tomorrow so a lot of food is required to keep them going.

One last picture before Graham (rider & cancer survivor) and his daughter, Rebecca (her second time as crew) board the bus:


Good luck to everyone! I will pray for dry weather, calm winds, and a speedy ride. See you at the welcome in party tomorrow night.

Hey Gladys! Are the potties blue this year?

PS. Love you, honey. Can't wait to kiss your salty face :*

Liveblogging the Ride2Survive

We'll be on the road to Kelowna in about 45 minutes. I've packed two pairs of socks and a sweater to work on for the drive there. Plus an extra two balls of sock yarn in case I run out of yarn. (Hmmm ... should I be packing more?)

If all goes well with my technology, I'll be liveblogging the ride starting tonight, over on the Ride2Survive blog.

Here's a quick video about the ride and what we'll be doing as of 2:30–3 am (yes, AM!!!) tomorrow morning.

you rock!

Big thanks goes to the bidders and the winners of the scarf auction! Hubby is blown away by everyone's generosity.

We're in the final countdown for the ride. I have to make hubby a portable changing room (aka a towel with ties to go around his waist) since I won't be there to hold his towel. Hubby's washed all his cycling gear and started a packing list. I am very jealous of Gladys who will be part of the crew. I was planning on joining her but I managed to double book myself. I can be so studip sometimes.

Gladys will be live blogging on Sat and we'll post a link to the satellite tracker (updated every 10 mins) so that you can see where the riders are. If anyone is in town and free Sat night, we would love to have you join us at the welcome home party. We will be lining up along Scott Road in Delta between 72nd and 80th. Riders are expected to arrive around 10pm. Bring noise makers (I'll be the one with the obnoxious cow bell) and lots of energy.

Two weeks ago, I teased you with a picture of some singles that I was spinning on my new-to-me wheel, Marilyn.


Lookit what followed me home one day. A solid oak spinning wheel stamped "1978 W.J. Robidoux, Cornwall, Ont, Can". Isn't she pretty?


She has some amazing details. To keep the footman from falling off the crank, there is a small piece of leather held in place with a metal pin. Aside from some doggie teeth marks at the bottom of the footman and a speck of paint on the drive wheel that I can't scrape off, she's in pristine condition. She spins beautifully and I'll make nice yarn once I figure out the tension. Marilyn is my first double drive wheel so there's a bit of a learning curve for me. We're not very good friends at the moment but I'm sure things will work out once we understand each other.

Did I mention that I have an addiction? BTW, the wheel came with a box of stuff that included of all things, a pair of real sheep shears!


Might have to try it out the next time a kitty needs a trim. Come here, Ricky!!!! He's in my bad books today. I was ummm occupied in the bathroom and he came in and put his paws on the plant stand (ignoring my yelling) and knocked the whole thing over. He ran out of there so fast that he smacked into the bathroom door which bounced off the door stop and smacked him in the butt once he rounded the corner. While I was cursing and cleaning up the mess (the plant survived), I heard the door move and Ricky stuck his face in, eyes as big as saucers, to see the aftermath. I have replaced the plant stand with a different one that has a bigger base so that he can't knock it over.


I've been doing lots of spinning. We had a glorious Sunday and after we put up the sun shelter, I sat outside all afternoon (with my lemonade and jelly beans) and spun up half a pound of merino. Don't I look comfy?