Day 10 Golden to Lake Louise (80km)

Trip Stats:

https://www.polarpersonaltrainer.com/shared/exercise.ftl?shareTag=a73950fe8d4cda80494fad7da558d2ac

Today is our last day in British Columbia and the climbs give us a break (at least that is what the locals are saying). I woke up today very sleepy, because we lost an hour due to changing into mountain-time yesterday. I maybe had five hours of sleep and it took me a little time to wake up, but I knew all I had to do was get to Lake Louise, and I would have a rest day.

 It is amazing to see The Great Divide as it seems to exist as a wallpaper of mountains in the sky. Pretty neat to think that this is the boundary that separates the Pacific and Atlantic watersheds. I saw the sign welcoming people into British Columbia but didn’t see the sign welcoming us into Alberta, so that is why we haven’t included that!

 Anyways, today’s ride was all good until I got past Yoho National Park and The Village of Field. I noticed a female cyclist was walking her bike down the steep hill ahead, so I crossed the road to see if I could lend a hand. I figured she may need a tube or a quick fix, but I was alarmed to see she had fallen and injured her leg badly. Iah was from Japan and visiting Lake Louise/surrounding area, but she rented a terrible bike from some awful company (wish I knew which one). She hit a bump and took a mean spill that left her clothes torn and a hole the size of a silver dollar just right of her kneecap. This was disgusting! I could see her ligaments and bone but it wasn’t bleeding. I knew Iah needed medical attention but Yoho’s visitor center was over 5 clicks away and Elyse was at least 9 clicks the other way, up the mountain. I told her to keep walking towards Yoho and try to flag down a car, while I cycled to get Elyse. You don’t get cellphone service in areas like this and a satellite radio should maybe be something one carries as a necessity item; however, I knew Elyse was up the mountain and I had to try to get to her quickly. I made it up the mountain and we raced back to Iah, so we could throw her in our van and drive her to the medical center in Lake Louise. Lake Louise was about 20km’s from where I stopped riding and we got Iah to the medical center for attention.

We checked into The Lake Louise Inn, where we will be staying tonight and tomorrow night. We can’t thank the folks at The Lake Louise Inn enough for putting us up in a beautiful room!!! Here is a link to their website and I totally recommend staying here if you visit Lake Louise!

http://www.lakelouiseinn.com/ 

Don’t blink…We are only in Alberta for six days. I hope they are a great six days.

Day 9 Revelstoke to Golden (150 km)

Trip Stats:

https://www.polarpersonaltrainer.com/shared/exercise.ftl?shareTag=8089248b3d2b272e71047736488bebfe

Today was all but easy! -I couldn’t keep fluids or food down and threw up 3 times

Rogers pass was killer…ran out of water and had to cycle for 40 km without water or food…should have planned that a bit better…at one point the intimidation of the unknown when I was staring at mountains that are unbelievably gigantic became overwhelming and I really had to try to think positively about the climb.

A few things went through my head….Firstly, where the hell was Elyse-Every time I turned around a corner, I was hoping to see her with water and food, BUT when I didn’t, staying positive got very hard to deal with as dehydration and lack of energy set in.

Secondly, how much further was this climb and constantly questioning why anyone would bike across Canada for fun…this was not fun and I would have loved to throw my bike over the mountainside and catch a ride home.

Finally, I had two options…complain and whine about the climb and everything I can’t control or start thinking positively. So, I thought back to the talks I had leading up to the ride with Larry Abbott, who is completing his masters as a mental performance consultant, and one thing Larry always includes at the end of his emails is, “keep smiling”. This is the key to thinking positively! You can’t be mad when you are smiling, or at least the smile helps combat the negative feelings…it’s wild…try it…throw a smile on your face, and I promise you will feel better!!! So, I started smiling and thinking about all the people who are supporting me, and how successful our ride has been. This wasn’t just a mountain…this was the point where I realized the importance of my mental preparation. Think positively and all will be well. It may be an uphill battle but being negative wasn’t going to get me anywhere, so through a smile on and get doing what I set out to do.

Revelstoke has something like an elevation of 480m and the summit of Rogers Pass is at an elevation of 1330m…then it is all a downhill reward and I got going over 65 km’s….I realize it isn’t all that safe to go that fast down the mountain, but there is no way I could touch the brakes after punishing my body during that climb, so I decided I was going to fly down the steep slope.

Everyone says Rogers Pass is super sketchy and one must take great caution through the tunnels. We stopped at the first tunnel to remove my sunglasses, put on a handlebar light, and get my taillight blinking. I put on a brighter vest and headed for the first tunnel, only to find out it was about 10 seconds long and the visibility was amazing because of the natural light that is allowed to enter the tunnels. There are a series of tunnels like this because they cover the road from snow/avalanches etc.

I was able to almost keep up with traffic through the entire downhill slope which was nice because that is probably the safest way to bike in my opinion…If no cars are passing me, my safety is in my hands and I don’t have to worry about others. So, I am flying through another routine tunnel, until I realize this tunnel is unique from the others- It is BLACKOUT!! I went from 60km to complete darkness with zero visibility because my headlight failed me.…THIS WAS TERRIFYING…I can’t describe the feeling that comes over your body when you can’t see what is in front of you, you don’t know if cars can see you, and you have no idea what to do. I couldn’t stop fast enough in my opinion, but eventually a car came into the tunnel and the headlights helped guide me to the end. I am so lucky nothing bad happened, and I used a lot more caution when entering the following tunnels.

The ride felt like it took forever, but I made pretty decent time to Golden. Once I get under 40km to my destination, I am laughing because I know it is right around the corner…We arrived in Golden and met up with my grandma’s friend’s daughter Jan. Jan showed us to her home and her and her husband Grant prepared dinner!

Golden is a cool little town. There is only something like a population of 3500 people and the small town feel is very welcoming. They had live bluegrass music down at what they call the spirit square, and I was fortunate enough to be able to say a quick word about Parkinson’s disease to all the folks there (thanks to Jan).

After the performance we went back to the Arlt’s home and kicked it with their family as they got ready for their son’s swim meet in the morning (hopefully he dusted the competition). The Arlts are a super friendly family, and I can see why my grandma was a fan of Jan’s mom! 

 Roger's Pass summit

 Glacier Park

 This is "7" mountain in Golden B.C. ... if you look at the top of the mountain in the snow, the snow forms a perfect number 7 

Day 8 Salmon Arm to Revelstoke (Just over 100km)

We woke up this morning and had breakfast with Faye and Andrew. Faye donated $100 on behalf of the Parkinson Support group in Salmon Arm!

Elyse and I drove back to the spot we stopped yesterday, and I began my ride to Revelstoke. This was one of the most scenic rides yet! The sunshine was beaming down on me but the mountains kept the air cool and refreshing.

 

Pics of the trip

Scott from 91.5 Fm-EzRock Salmon Arm caught up with Elyse and I to help us spread awareness about Parkinson’s disease which affects over 100 000 individuals in Canada alone! We want to help fund a cure!!!!

I also bumped into a great guy named Kevin while taking a picture of the Sicamous, BC sign. Sicamous has been battling a great deal of flooding recently, and they are getting ready for the possibility of another flood. I wish them all the best and HOPE the flood gods will ease up on them so they can get on with normal living.

Sicamous sign

Revelstoke seems to have some of the biggest peaks around and when we arrived in Revelstoke we checked into the Revelstoke Gateway Inn, who kindly gave us a complimentary two bedroom room (Thank you!!!!!).  Here is their website: http://www.revelstokegatewayinn.com/

We grabbed a few groceries from the local store, came back to the hotel to cook up some pasta, and then had a quick hot tub! A guy we met in Kelowna said the Revelstoke Hydro Dam was a must see attraction so we checked it out.

Pics of the dam

Finding reliable internet service to upload these blogs has been challenging at times, but I hope to be able to share the experience from Revelstoke to Golden tomorrow. 150km is the estimated trip and we will be getting up extra early because we lose an hour due to switching into Mountain Time. Rogers Pass is part of this trip…I don’t pay too much attention to what is ahead because I know I will complete the day no matter what, but Hell’s gate (already conquered and Rogers Pass (tomorrow) are two of the main areas cyclist warned me of.

Looking forward to the ride to Golden tomorrow and we are staying with a family who is very close to my grandma, so that should be an added bonus!

Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Parkinsons-Cycle-of-Hope/162105320559401 because Elyse is a photo uploading machine!

For those of you who are tweetin’ tweets, please don’t be scared to send a tweet my way! @CoryWelsh9

Take care for now!

Day 7-Vernon to Salmon Arm (60km)

Vernon to Salmon Arm (60km)

I have been using an app on my phone for GPS and I love the app; however, I have a phone plan that includes free nationwide calling, and Elyse needs my phone to be able to call newspapers, radio stations, etc. I got fed up with not having any media coverage in many of the towns we go through, because I am cycling across Canada to spread awareness about the importance of Parkinson’s research in Canada. I want people to know the donations raised will stay in the region it was received (therefore it supports the local people in their towns), and I knew we were going to have to figure out a GPS situation so Elyse can have a phone with her to be in contact with media. 

So, I stopped in a bike shop in Vernon, called Olympia Cycle & Ski, to look for a gps, and I talked to a very knowledgeable guy working there named Blair. Blair competes in Ironmans and triathlons and he has lots of experience fitting bikes. Apparently my bike is too big for me, so Blair made some adjustments to it. I’m very thankful I stopped into Olympia because I have probably prevented some pain along the trip! I also sucked it up and bought a GPS so Elyse can have my cellphone to call media. Olympia hooked us up with a discount, didn’t charge any labour, and got my bike working well!

Here is a link to the Olymia Cycle and Ski website: http://www.cycleandski.com/

The minute the Sarniasports, The Sarnia Observer, and Blackburn Radio Station helped spread the word about Parkinson’s Cycle of hope in Sarnia we were much more successful with our goal of spreading awareness. Media is obviously a key element of this cause and Elyse was able to contact lots of media outlets from Salmon Arm to Calgary who are willing to help support Parkinson’s Cycle of Hope!!! I will try the new GPS tomorrow and Elyse will continue contacting media!

The ride from Vernon to Salmon Arm was another beautiful but quick ride. The weather was incredible today, and I am looking forward to the heat that is in the weather forecast this week! I also have to appreciate these short and easy rides because I have some tough ones coming up. 150km from Revelstoke to Golden will be a challenge!

We arrived in Salmon Arm this afternoon and met with an editor from The Salmon Arm Observer. The Salmon Arm Observer is going to do a write up in their paper!

Next, we drove to meet our hosts for the night! Another fantastic pair of individuals (Faye & Andrew) who prepared a wonderful meal for Elyse and I. One of these individuals has Parkinson’s and they are moving soon to be closer to their family and Parkinson’s specialist.

We talked about many of the same things already mentioned in this blog, but one thing I heard today that reminded me of all the other folks we have stayed with was, “Ya, I have Parkinson’s but I am not going to crawl into a corner and withdrawal from society. I believe in keeping active and exercising regularly. I enjoy meeting twice a month with the Parkinson’s support group in Salmon Arm because I learn a great deal from attending these meetings. Exercising is difficult but makes it better”

Day 6-Kelowna to Vernon (50ish km)

Here is the trip stats 

(http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/68675941?country=ca&lang=en&measure=metric&fb_action_ids=10151100198860127&fb_action_types=endoapp:track&fb_source=timeline_og

The bike ride was extremely easy today! The rain decided to join me for most of the day, but I only had a few kilometers to cycle and a strong tail wind made for a great day.

When we arrived in Vernon, we were welcomed by smiles and cookies from members of the Parkinson’s support group in Vernon! The family we stayed with tonight, Elle and Pat Dean, are very involved in the Parkinson’s support group in Vernon, and I thank Elle very much for organizing a group of friendly faces to be there for my arrival!!!!

Vernon is a very beautiful place! Elle and Pat have a home that overlooks the city, mountains, and parts of Lake Okanogan and Lake Kalamalka. Lake Kalamalka is supposed to be one of the most vibrantly coloured lakes around, but I didn’t get to see that because the sky was overcast. Lake Okanogan is the home of Ogopogo, so I was saying to Pat that maybe if I swam in the Okanogan, Ogopogo could help Parkinson’s Cycle of Hope out with some publicity by eating my arm or something (kidding)!

I really enjoyed the beauty of Vernon, BC and our hosts were incredible! We enjoyed a magnificent salad followed by a nice cut of salmon on pasta. These folks were spoiling us, but more importantly they provided me with all kinds of valuable information to bring back to my dad.

By the time Parkinson’s symptoms appear, you have already lost 80% or more of the dopamine-producing cells in your brain. From what I understand there is no test to say you have Parkinson’s disease and we still don’t know the cause; however, we know that Parkinson’s affects each individual differently. I have met many individuals who have been diagnosed for X number of years, but after they are diagnosed and start recognizing common symptoms that lead them to believe they had Parkinson’s for X years before being diagnosed.

One thing I want to stress is there is much more to Parkinson’s disease than simply shaking and NOT every person with Parkinson’s has visible tremors. I still know very little about PD, but something I learned today was that people can have “inside tremors” where they feel like they are shaking internally, but nobody can tell from an external view.

This is an anonymous quote from someone living with Parkinson’s disease:

“You look at me and get annoyed that I move slowly, but you can move quickly if you want to. I know I am moving slowly and it is frustrating as hell because I want to move quickly but can’t. It may take me hours to get dressed in the morning, and there is no way I could continue doing my job.”

I’m thankful that I’m able to bike across Canada at this current time in my life. I know that I can push my body to limits and wake up the next day fairly recovered. The saying, “Mind over body” works to my advantage when cycling. Unfortunately, “mind over body” can become a daily challenge for someone who wakes up with Parkinson’s every day. I can’t imagine how frustrating this must be. 

 The statement above is a clear reminder of the need to be respectful of the needs of each individual, because you can’t judge a book by its cover and you don’t know what is going on. SLOW DOWN…you don’t always need to go 110%...you may think you are in a hurry, but you can accommodate the needs of those not as fast-moving as you, simply by planning ahead of time. Patience you busy beavers! Patients will not kill you.