Day 1, 12 hours in...

It’s finally arrived – a cold dry morning, a ceiling of grey but a lot of smiles in the Cyclepath parking lot in Calgary south.

30 cyclists, and about a dozen volunteers and over a hundred friends and well wishers stood around clapping their hands together to keep warm as the departure time of 9am crept forward.

Lots to do – last minute check on bags, on bikes, hurried kisses to partners and kids, then at precisely 9:00, the Peloton along with about 50 cycling friends left for the journey to Austin. By the time we hit highway 22x to take us out of the city, we were down to the six members of team 1 – 3 men and 3 women.

But there was something missing….

Then we realized, we had done over 40k and had not yet seen the ambulance or the Motorhome. The ambulance, with Don Fix and Mike Eby on first shift, was nowhere in sight. Turns out we took a strange little detour which took us down the road past the vehicles which were waiting for us just outside of Calgary.

Once we got hooked up with the ambulance and motor home, we were on our way again. Team 1 finished a very strong ride in Mossleigh. The 6 riders completed nearly 75 kilometres and were quickly on the road to Lethbridge where they’ll find some sleep before starting their first six hour shift, at midnight. This year for the first time, each team would commence with 3 hours on the bike, to get everyone quickly into the groove. They would have been Lethbridge bound sooner, but team 2 switched all the tags on their baggage. Team 1 promises revenge will be swift and direct.

Team 2 is on the road right now, and they have gone past the suggested transition point in Vulcan because things are still ahead of schedule. We plan to transition to team 3 in the wonderful town of Champion, Alberta.

8:15pm

Quick update because I have a chance to upload this to my blog…

Team 2 and 3 transitioned, all was well. Good ride by team 3, then we changed over to team 4 at Picture Butte. So far so good, as we’re running a few hours ahead of the past few years. It could be interesting though for team 1, as they rode from 9 to noon, and do their first full 6 hour shift starting at midnight. So that’s only 12 hours to get prepped for their first 6 hour ride.

A great thing happened in Coaldale – Marilyn and I stopped in to a bar called McLennans for supper. I was wearing my CKUA shell, and a gentleman came over to tell me he loves the station. As we talked, I told him about the CTAPP trip. It turns out that Vanessa from team 4 is sister in law with his wife, Elaine Harris. We ran out to the street just as Vanessa was coming by. A great reunion!

But…while we were there, Mike Eby’s wife called to say the weather office says there’s a change coming, and are predicting wind and snow in Montana, starting this evening. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed…..

More later.