The first day, according to my travelling companions, was flat. Yes, a bit long, but flat. As 80 km was as far as I had ever gone in one day, I was hoping that the flat road would make up for the long distance I had to go. Nope.

We were up at 5:00 AM and broke camp. The first day, I thought that this early wake up was hugely unfair. As you shall see, however, the time was well thought out and I never did complain after the first day. The other group of three that we had met the night before, was still sleeping when we left. We had to run around and do a bunch of things such as drop off the van, load up the bikes, pump the tires and have breakfast so we didn't actually get on the road until 7:00 AM. Still, it was cool and clear when we left Golden.

My first realization was that the word 'flat' is surprisingly open to interpretation. A better word might have been 'rolling' or even 'roller coaster-ish'! Compared to the next day, however, the road was pretty forgiving.

The ride was at a relatively easy pace and we stopped every half hour or so for a break to adjust our bikes and give our rears a rest. After about an hour we came to Parson store. I immediately finished all of my water, drank a large Gatorade and filled up all of my water bottles. For energy, I had a Power Gel (tasted quite good!), tried a bit of Powerbar (horrendous tasting) and stocked up on the preferred energy snack of the lobsters, Eatmore candy bars.

We travelled on from Parson and had a relatively uneventful and enjoyable ride to Spillimacheen. We stopped there for another rest and several litres of Gatorade. As we continued to ride, the temperature increased and the hills seemed to get steeper. My biggest mistake was that I tried to keep up with the speedy guys at the front instead of just setting my own pace. After all, we all were going to the same place!

One scary incident that happened to our group involved one of the many logging trucks that zoomed down the highway at fairly regular intervals. It is easy to see that the drivers of these huge trucks do not, as a rule, like cyclists. Where a car would usually move over whenever going by a cyclist, the logging trucks seemed to try to come as close as possible, making hearts beat at a dramatically increased rate. Even worse, when the leaders of our group were riding, an even closer call occurred. We were heading south towards Radium. A pedestrian was walking north on the highway. A logging truck was also travelling north and because the pedestrian was not staying on the road, the logging truck had to slam on his brakes. Unfortunately, there was another logging truck behind him and he couldn't stop so he swerved to go around the first logging truck, into the southbound lane. He came very close to swerving right into some of our group - it was too close a call.

As the heat increased and I became more tired, I became more and more grateful for each break. During one break, Keith asked to borrow some Gold Bond medicated powder. It was on the list of things to bring and I had some handy. He borrowed a small amount and handed it back to me. I thought of my sore crotch and decided to give myself a squirt of the powder, too. I squirted the powder inside the front of my shorts and a huge amount came out. Not only was there powder coming out of my shorts for the next several hours but the menthol in the powder caused a very irritating sting which also lasted for quite a while! Since then, I have not used Gold Bond medicated powder!

Along the way, most of the group would take the time to ride with me and give me advice. It was very helpful as this was a new experience for me. It was turning out to be a very long ride but it was still enjoyable.

A few more stops, the best by a very refreshing sprinkler, and we rode into Radium Hot Springs - 107 km - for me, the longest ride!

We spent time at the campground, resting and reading. Mosquitoes enjoyed the campsite as much as we did, if their numbers were to be believed. A couple hours after we had arrived, Greta and her travelling companions rolled into camp and literally collapsed. Although younger, they were not quite as experienced and ended up sleeping in, pushing too hard and riding in the midday heat most of the way. After that, they wanted to ride with us seasoned veterans - bringing our group's number to eight.

We walked up to town from the campsite and ended up at a little Italian restaurant. After a delicious pasta meal and a frosty brew, I felt re-energized. After an ice cream cone, we headed back to camp and went to bed, again, around 8 o'clock. Despite the heat, the mosquitoes, the aches and pains and the noisy campers in the next tent, I slept like a log.