HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIEREN!

(This is a post coming from Kieren's family and friends who love her lots!)

We just want to say Happy Birthday Kieren!  

Oh, the Places You'll Go!
by Dr. Seuss (somewhat modified by MOM) 

Congratulations! (Kieren) Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away! You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes You can pedal yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the gal who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down highways. Look 'em over with care. About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there." With your head full of brains, your cycling shoes full of feet, you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you'll want to go down. In that case, of course, you'll head straight out of town. It's opener there in the wide open air. Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you. And when things start to happen, don't worry. Don't stew. Just continue to Pedal and wear your sunscreen too!

OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up! You'll be seeing great sights! You'll join other cyclers who cycle high heights. But I'm sorry to say so sadly, it's true that cycling Hang-ups can happen to you. You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You'll be left in a Lurch. You'll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you'll be in a Slump. And when you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where highways are not marked. Shoulders are narrow. And sometimes are darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right... or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up her mind.

You can get so confused that you'll start in to race down long winding highways at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across the Canadain wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place. The Waiting Place...

Somehow you'll escape all that waiting and staying. You'll find the bright places where new friends are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you'll ride high! Ready for anything under the Canadian sky. Ready because you're that kind of a gal!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done! So keep on pedaling under the Canadian Sun!
Sometimes you’ll be Alone! Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you'll be quite a lot.
And when you're alone, there's a very good chance you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. Hills, winds, badgers and horseflies, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won't want to go on. But on you will go though the terrain be foul. On you will go though the wind it may howl. On you will go though the Horse Flies they prowl.

Onward up many a frightening hill, though your legs and knees may get sore or you may get a chill. On and on you will cycle and I know you'll pedal far and face up to your problems whatever they are. You'll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You'll get mixed up with many strange doods as you go. So be sure when you pedal pedal with care and great tact and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.) Kieren, YOU'LL pedal MOUNTAINS! Vancouver to St. John.

 So... be your name Buxbaum, or KIN BIN, or Bray, or Mordecai, Ali, Van, Allen, O'Shea, you're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Canadian roads are awaiting. So...get on your way!
 
We are so proud of you and wish you all the best as you continue on this journey. We look forward to seeing you again soon. Lots of love from us all.

Day 31: 91.05 km

June 6, 2012

Richer- Falcon Lake

Today was pretty terrible, I must admit. I woke up and had a pleasant surprise. A man I had met the night before, Walter, had left me a note at my camp site saying that I was welcome to come over for coffee in the morning, so I packed up and went and found his campsite. 

People live in the campground, and he was staying at the place while he fixed it up. We had a lovely chat, then I was on my way.

Today it was 32 degrees, I had a pretty decent head wind, there was no shoulder, and the flies were terrible. I should not write the words that I would use to describe these flies, for Nuni, and really everyone's sake. They made the day terrible. They were constantly swarming me, for the whole 6 hour ride they were all flying circles around my face and head. And these are not the simple "black flies" I had read about. Heck no. They were gigantic 1 inch by .5 inch horse flies that I could not get away from. Everyone said that if your on your bike they can't keep up to you, but no matter how fast I went they continued to circle my head. They would swoop in and sometimes hit my face, and would fly right beside me. I lost my mind. I first thought the mountains were bad, then the winds were worse, now giant flies that will eat me and winds!? No to mention the hills coming in Ontario?! Really!? I have had a few breakdowns on this trip, but this was the worst. I honestly felt like quitting. Unless you have experienced these flies, I don't think you have any idea. People in BC are absolutely spoiled with no bugs, and in cities they are nothing. But when your biking on the highway, next to sloughs, surrounded by lakes, and your the only thing for kilometers that is moving slow enough to annoy the crap out of you, your going to get bombarded with these flies. It was disgusting, I was so pissed off.

On top of that I was extremely lonely today. Maybe it was because I was spoiled in Winnipeg and Saskatoon by being with people I knew (even if I didn't know them very well) and now being alone is really sinking in. But doing this ride solo is really tough. I am a social person and enjoy talking to people. When my phone rings I get so excited to just talk to someone! I don't care if its a telemarketer, hearing something other than my music and my thoughts is relieving. So today I really struggled with that.

I really wanted to get to Ontario today, but it looks like I'll be crossing that boarder tomorrow morning. This afternoon I stopped in Prawda, had a giant cup of icecream and read my book. Then I got soup because the icecream and air conditioning made me cold. I spent an hour there, and started falling asleep, so I snoozed in the cafe. Then I bought a fly swatter and kept on going. Yes, I was the crazy person on highway 1 trying to swat the flies with a pink fly swatter as I biked. It was pretty stupid, and dangerous, but it was a great way to take out my anger on flies. I definitely have to work on my hand-eye coordination.

 

I pulled into Falcon Lake at around 4:30pm and slowly found my way to the hotel. I was so frustrated by this point I can't even explain it. I was so done. My mom had spoiled me and called the hotel in Falcon lake and told them what I was doing. Boes, the manager at the hotel, gave me their "couples room" with the jacuzzi  tub for $50! (regular $150!!) because he thought I would benefit from the jacuzzi tub. 

He also bought me my dinner, and some wine! We chatted and then I went off to my room to have a good soak with my Pepsi, strawberries, kit kat, and book. 

Today ended well, but I'm not looking forward to getting on that bike with those bugs tomorrow. Today was really rough mentally. I'm surprised at myself that I have not quit yet. But, in the words of Garrett, "you would never experience a good day if you didn't have the bad ones to make them feel like good days". Even though I feel like every province just keeps getting worse, I just have to keep my short term goals. Even if eastern Ontario is going to suck, in the west I have so many loved ones I get to see, and then comes the fun part in the Maritimes!!! So I'll keep trekking on, even though I don't want to, and maybe have an easier day tomorrow just to get my spirits back up.

Day 30: 96.71 km

June 5, 2012

Winnipeg

Today I ended up sleeping in and I took my time getting ready. It was only 9am and it was so hot!! By the time I had packed up, pumped up my tires, attached my new pump, and cleaned up, it was about 11:30am. I biked towards Winnipeg and stopped for breakfast at Denny's. Then, I biked the perimeter of Winnipeg and was on my way.

I wish it was that simple. Winnipeg was beautiful, but the perimeter was gigantic! It was a 41 km ride from the turn off for the perimeter until the turn off for highway 1! Incredible! The shoulder was very good though which made it better. There is nothing worse than a long, rough shoulder.

After the turn off for highway 1 east I stopped to get a root beer float at A&W. It was perfect. It was such a hot day! My back is so dark compared to my stomach. And just from today I have a sports bra tan line that I can see! I have some of the funniest tan lines already! No to mention a polka dotted back from a terrible job with the spray sunscreen.

Other than that my day was pretty boring! Just biked and biked. I made it to Richer, Manitoba at 6pm and found a nice little campground called Wild Oaks campground. The office was pretty confusing. A family owns it so when you walk into the "office" it is their home with a little side office, but they kind of seemed shocked to see me, like "who is this random walking into our home?" I was a little confused. But after paying, I went to explore the campground and it has a hot tub and pool that are very nicely set up, and a park and a pond. I stayed away from the pond because of the bugs but it's so nice to listen to the birds and frogs outside.

A turtle pond outside of Richer, called Walkers. The store and food place were closed but the turtles were there!

That's about all for today! The trip is beginning to feel a little like getting up for work in the morning. I am no longer sore, and it's the exact same routine for packing and getting ready, much like setting in place a routine for getting ready for work. It's interesting how fast a body can adapt to what it's doing regularly.

Tomorrow I hit Ontario. That is when all of this training from BC until here comes in. Ontario is hilly, kind of like BC, windy, like Saskatchewan and Alberta, and buggy like Manitoba. I have never been to this area of Ontario before so I am pretty excited, but it is daunting to think that I am only 1/3 of the way there, and almost the amount of time that I have already been biking will now be the same as Ontario. It's crazy how large this country is!!

Day 29: 47.47 km

June 4, 2012

Portage la Prairie - Winnipeg

Today could not have been more perfect! Except for the flat tire. Yes, another flat, when I have no way of filling them up.

I was on the road at 7:45am, so that I could make it to Winnipeg nice and early and enjoy a nice warm afternoon off. I was really excited for today so I packed up fast! I left the campground and followed the gravel road onto the highway. 1 km down the road my tire (which was getting a little low because of my lack of pump) got pinched from the gravel and I had another flat! Because of this flat, every single one of my three tires have now had flats! I walked back to the campground and didn't really know what to do. There goes my day off. Now I have to hitchhike into Portage, pump this tire up at a gas station, and get back. Or hitch into Winnipeg and then come back in the morning. I wasn't quite sure what to do, and then the campground owner (Willy) came over and said I could lock my bike up there. So I decided to pack for a day in Winnipeg and come back either tonight or tomorrow with all my supplies from MEC. As we were parking my bike, I found out he had an air compressor! Well perfect! So I got my tires pumped up, and was off again by 8:45am.

The sky was completely blue. Not a cloud in the sky for that morning ride. It was beautiful. 

I pulled into the KOA west of Winnipeg at 11:45am and set up camp. I had an awesome shower and did my laundry. Then I was going to hitch the 10 km into Winnipeg to meet up with Garrett so he could finish his errands. I had met Garrett once before this, he played volleyball for the college I go to this year. Me, being me, I wanted to see someone that had a sort of familiar face, and he offered to take me around today.

As I was hitching in I realized it is a lot easier to hitch somewhere when your wearing bike gear and needing help on the side of the road. Annie got picked up right away, but I walked about a km. I wasn't thumbing semis I was more so aimed at the cars and trucks that looked like they had families, which are not likely to stop anyway! It was so hot out, but the city was close-ish so I didn't mind if I had to walk in, it would just take a while. Then this semi passed and honked, and as I looked at him he gave me that a-ok sign connecting his pointer finger and thumb. Creepy. But behind him was a mini van. He had just passed and I stuck out my thumb. It was obvious that it wasn't for him, but the semi pulled over right away. He was a distance up, and I stopped in my tracks, and decided a popsicle seemed like s much better idea. I turned around and walked back to the campsite for a popsicle. Today would not be ruined by a creepy man. I got back to the gas station (the main area for the campground) got a popsicle, and the manager got me a ride with one of his friends. He was a really nice guy. He dropped me off at subway and I got lunch, and then Garrett picked me up.

Garrett and I went to MEC, and then he gave me a tour of Winnipeg. He really loves this city. He wants me to have his back when we go back to school and people make fun of Winnipeg, which I'm pretty sure the one night we met it was me beaking him about it. Oops! But Winnipeg is actually a pretty neat city! I liked it! It reminded me of Saskatoon because of the river, and Europe because of some of the buildings. Its really nice. Then we went back to Garrett's place and played some basketball, and then he left for volleyball practice. I really got into reading my new book, and I got to read it sitting in the sun in a house! It was great!

The guys got back at 9:30pm and we went out for dinner at 10pm. I had the BIGGEST bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, and then we just sat and talked for a while and then he drove me back to my campground. On the way he showed me where Jonathon Toews (a hockey player) grew up. It was pretty funny when we got lost getting out.

It was amazing today to be with someone that I recognized (even from meeting him once before) and just enjoying the day in the sun without being on the bike much. Such a refreshing day! It's sad to leave because I may not recognize another face until North Bay! Which could be around 2 weeks away! So today, as random as it was, was perfect!

Day 28: 197.07 km

June 3, 2012

Oak Lake - Portage La Prairie

I'll keep today's blog entry nice and short because I am exhausted!!! HELL YES!!! really could explain it all, but I'll put a little more into it then that.

This morning I took off at 7:30 am, and biked 50km for a well deserved, delicious breakfast at Cathy (my dads cousin) and David's house in Brandon. After possibly the most perfect pancakes ever (I ate 9) I took off again.

At Cathy, David, and Callum's for breakfast

and their leashed cat

I was really nervous all day that I would get a flat. I fill my tires with CO2 cartridges and I only had half of one left! That's not enough for one full tire!! My pump is out of commission at the moment so that was all the air I had.

 This was the beginning of one rough ride. It went from brand new pavement (amazing) to gravel.

And, of course 60 km out of portage I have a flat. This time, it was BOB himself that was flat. (BOB is my trailer.) And that's his actual name, I didn't make it up. If I would have made it up, it would have been much more creative, like Steve 2... Anyway, I had no idea what to do, so I called dad. Together chatting on the phone we patched the tire (there's no spare tubes for BOB) and we hoped to pump him up enough to get us there. How lucky was it that BOB had a super slow leak and that he was only half deflated!? Because it perfectly used up the air canister and filler him up nicely. Now I just hope I don't get a flat tomorrow. Then I'll have to thumb a ride in!

Today was super hot, and windy. They wind was definitely in my favor (Hence the 197 km!!!). I have the worst burn on my back from today. And I applied so much spray sunscreen! Just it seems that I did it in the same spots because I have a very bright red and brown polka dotted back at the moment.

Today's lunch was in Sidney, Manitoba. There were 3 stores in that town, all of which were closed. But there was a pop machine out front and that was good enough for me! And I got two cokes for the price of one!!!!! I was so happy!!!! But I went lunch-less and only had sharpies as a snack.

Finally, at 7:45pm I pulled into Portage. I was so happy to be able to eat at Boston pizza!!!! I ate potato skins as well as jambalaya pasta! I was so hungry! Now I am at Miller's campground, a beautiful campground 10km east of Portage.

 

During my shower I locked my tent, and then lost the tiny keys. Who gets locked out of a tent!? I felt like an idiot breaking into my own tent. There goes my security system!!! That's ok maybe I'll find new and better mini locks in Winnipeg tomorrow!!