Day 2 - Harrison to Manning Park 116.7 km

Submitted by Stan Shaw

This was the day I dreaded.  Last year, the ride up Manning was rainy, and bitterly cold, hovering around four degrees Celsius as we climbed towards Allision Pass.  The weather forecast today was not much better.  Grimly, I put on my cold weather gear and prepared for the worst.

Stan -->

Our route today, as plotted by my Garmin GPS.  It's not quite right, though.  I forgot to turn it on!! So, the first 19 kilometers is missing.  I have witnesses, though... yes, I did every kilometer!  Total distance: 116.7 km. For more details, click here

Our elevation profile today, just out of Harrison and up Allision Pass-->  

<--Starting out from Harrision: Left to right: CF researcher James Zlosnik, Martina Meckova (who is riding with us, and is also the director of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Vancouver Office), and Chris Blohmke, a CF researcher and graduate student who rode with us last year and is riding with us to Manning Park today.

We started out with low cloud hovering over us, but, thankfully no rain (yet).  As we did yesterday, we began riding in a tightly riding Peloton formation.  This worked very nicely as we had a bit of a headwind going out of Harrison, so it was possible to draft behind each other and save energy for the big climb.







By Hope, the rain had still not started. What a relief.  Last hear we were already being treated to a torrential downpour.  We counted our blessings and pushed on through town and headed up the highway toward Princeton and Manning Park.










The air was fresh, a welcome respite from the smog-laden highway leading up the Fraser Valley yesterday.







The road beside was lush green, and filled with wild flowers. Numerous mountain streams babbled quietly beside us, a sound that no automobile or motorcyclist can possibly enjoy.









As we left town, the traffic melted to a manageable level, making it possible to chat comfortably as we rode together.  David Strange and his wife Heather joined us today from Victoria, having managed to overcome car trouble that had prevented them starting out on Day 1.  They are riding for their five year old son, Carter, who was diagnosed with CF two years ago.  David is a middle school principal in Victoria.  Heather is also an educator, however, after Carter was born, raising him has become a full time occupation. They were joined in this ride by David's sister Jill Payne and her husband Bob who I had met yesterday, and had come all the way from Newfoundland to do the ride.  Jill and Bob have a young family as well, however, the kids are being looked after by their parents while they do the entire ride. For them, GearUp4CF is truly a family affair.

<--Heather and her sister-in-law, Jill


As we rode along, Heather told me how they had become heavily involved with the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation chapter in Victoria, and had participated in a major presentation to their local MLAs, pressing for newborn screening for Cystic Fibrosis.  Like Roman (the eleven year old boy who I am riding for, together with his twin sisters), Carter had been diagnosed late, at three years old.  Carter is now five, and struggles with CF every day. Of all people, they understood how much Carter might have benefitted from an early diagnosis, the earlier the better.  This does not necessarily help all children, but for those who do not display immediate clinical symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis, it can be of life saving importance.  I was able to tell them of my wife Hilary's work in establishing the CF newborn screening program in BC through Children's Hospital. It was a remarkable conversation, one that I will long remember.

As I was riding, I kept a sharp eye for wildlife.  Not sharp enough though!  Someone just ahead said they saw a moose going into the woods!   Drat, I missed it.

Lunch beside the road was terrific. The help we have received so far from our team of volunteer drivers and support staff has been tremendous.  I am looking forward to introducing them to you to them later in the week. In the meantime, after lunch, we settled into smaller groups heading up the mountain.  Lead riders tore off up the mountain.  I held back, enjoying my ride, realizing that at 54 years old I'm not out to prove anything.  It's a long way to Banff, and I'd like to make sure I'm able to ride very kilometer. During the ride, I shifted to different groups as I encountered them on the mountain.  Eventually, I completed the ride to the summit with Bernard Pinsky (Leona's brother-in-law), and Kitty Chavarie. Riding together as a threesome, we rotated positions, helping each other as the kilometers up the mountain rolled slowly by.

Along the way, we crept past Craig and Joel, two cyclists with legs like iron, and laden down with camping gear.  I road ahead and chatted with then briefly.  It turns out they had just started from Vancouver about the same time we did.  But they are on their way to Newfoundland! They expect to get there within nine weeks.  Looking at them, I'm sure they'll get there. And my wife thought I was crazy doing this ride!

Craig and Joel, hell-bent for Newfoundland-->

Further on, we were treated to an unusual sight - flowers blooming within the heart of the forest.  There is a rather unique grove in Manning Park where rhododendrons grow. We stopped at the small park area where the nature trail begins and chatted with a family who were holidaying in the area. They asked about our ride, and why we were doing it, and then offered to do a donation as soon as they get home!


<--Rhododendrons in the forest

I reached the top of Allison Pass, then doubled back to find the others coming up the hill. I'm so glad I did, for I was privileged to be there for one of the most momentous events of the entire ride.  Margaret and Brian Benson had slowly but relentlessly cycled up the entire mountain on their Tandem bike.  Margaret had been diagnosed with a stress fracture in her tibia while running a few weeks ago, but refused to let this stop her.  Together, the manhandled that heavy Tandem bike up a nearly continuous 8% grade for thirty kilometers.

Margaret and Brian-->

We rode together to a victorious conclusion at the top of Allison Pass.  An amazing feat.  And even more so, as eleven years ago, Margaret was barely hanging on, her lungs nearly gone as a result of her lifelong battle with Cystic Fibrosis.  Thanks to her double lung transplant eleven years ago, she was here, with us, on the top of one of the biggest climbs of the tour.  Brian and Margaret will be writing more of this, but for now, I can only say what a remarkable couple they are, and how inspiring their example has been for all of us.






Joyously, we freewheeled down Allison Pass to the Manning Park Resort at breakneck speed.  At the bottom,  several riders and support team drivers were there at the entrance, whooping and clapping as each rider rolled in.  What a team!

Leona Pinsky's victorious ride into Manning Park-->

<--Margaret 

And the rain?  It started literally ten minutes after we arrived.  Someone "up there" was looking after us today.  After a hot shower and a huge plate of spaghetti and meatballs, (cooked by Malcom one of our volunteer support drivers, and his grown son who came out specially to make dinner for us), and I felt like a new man. My goodness, did that hot tub feel good that night.


Tomorrow is a new day, and a new challenge.  I remember it well from last year. 186 kilometers to Osoyoos, with a major climb to the top of Sunday Pass in-between.  I just hope the rain doesn't continue through the morning.

- Stan

P.S.  This entry was actually posted in the early hours of June 22nd as we didn't have Internet access in Manning Park.  As far as I know, we have Internet in most other locations on the tour, so we'll try to keep you informed of our progress every night going forward.


Would you like to sponsor a favorite rider? Click on their name anywhere on this journal to open their "bio" on the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation GearUp4CF web site, click on the button "Sponsor this Rider", and you will join our team!