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Arriving in Kingston on day 2
Way before all my nonsense started |
The 2023 Air Canada Vacations 401 Challenge is in the books. $220 k raised for the hospitals and kids. 21 riders completed the 3 day journey this year, down from 2022. The big milestone however was that over the 18 years of this event, the challenge has now raised a total of $3 M dollars for pediatric oncology. A big thank you to all my donors who contributed towards the milestone and also allowed me to surpass my personal fundraising goal for the 3rd time
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401 Bike Challenge founder Gene Piccoli displays
the cheque representing $3 M the ride has raised
over 18 years |
I approached this ride with more trepidation than the previous two that I rode in 2019 and 2022. In both the previous cases I followed a training plan of my own design that would prepare me in terms of total distance, ride length and vertical climbing. In 2019 I rode over 3000 kms prior to the event and in 2022 I was around 5800 kms. In both cases the training plan involved long rides (over 200 kms) and back to back rides around 160 kms each. This time around, even though I rode 3000 kms prior to the event, I did not follow a training plan and as such did not incorporate the same preparation in terms of ride lengths, frequency and climbing. This is largely because of a sudden fitness issue I encountered in March while training for the St Lawrence (Cornwall) half marathon. Until I was able to get medically checked out, I had to take it easy in case there might have been an underlying heart condition issue. There wasn't. I still have the fitness issue (something known as cardiac drift - which despite the name is more related to body cooling and blood circulation than heart). So although I put in the distance, I did not train with much intensity. I felt good but still wondered whether a gradual increase heart rate during long rides on potentially hot days might just cause me to have to stop cycling
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Daughter Julie saw me off again this year
from Sick Kids! So grateful for family support |
Day 1 (Toronto - Belleville) began as usual with a sendoff from staff, friends and family from Sick Kids hospital in Toronto. The Wednesday weather looked promising with 0% chance of precipitation in the forecast - the only day of the 3 that looked rain free. I was delighted that my daughter Julie, who lives in Toronto, was able to see me off at the start. Joey, who is the son of one of our previous riders and a leukemia survivor gave a great speech on how Sick Kids was able to successfully treat his cancer into remission and he emphasized how much the ride and riders meant to him and his family. If a child was diagnosed with leukemia in the 1960's it was basically a death sentence. With all the advances in treatment, the survival rate now is in the range of 85-90%
Shortly after 8 am, we headed off down University towards Lakeshore Blvd following our police escort that would take until Guildwood. A cyclist's dream - having all the traffic have to wait, ignoring some of the traffic lights and having the cops actually protecting cyclists for once. It might be my own bias, but my observation was that we seemed to get more cheers and encouraging honks on the whole ride than we did in 2022. At one point as we were waiting to cross Front St, a woman on the sidewalk asked: "Where are you riding to?" at which point one of the riders responded with "Montreal". Then the woman pumped her fist in the air and yelled out "F*ck Yeah!". I wish someone got it on video - it became the topic of conversation of the day
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| Waiting for traffic light on University |
Before Pickering we split up into our groups based on speed. Each group of about 8 riders has a lead motorcycle escort and a trailing support van that contains snacks and drinks and our day bags. At the very end of the last group is the large truck and trailer that contains the mobile bike shop and storage space for all our other bags. It also has ample room to transport riders that need a break or can't continue. There were 3 groups this year - I was in group 2. Group 1 was extremely fast and group 3 was a just bit slower than my typical club ride pace
Getting out of the GTA is a pain. With our police escort now gone, we rode highway 2 (Kingston Road) which is basically rolling hills and traffic lights all the way to Bowmanville, at which point the roads become more rural in nature. Many of the riders say that day 1 is harder than day 2 because of the hills and stops, even though day 2 is 65 km longer
We continued without issue until our lunch stop at beautiful Cobourg Beach (Victoria Park). My cardiac drifting heart rate started to creep up in the last 45 minutes or so prior to lunch but it wasn't out of line with what I had observed on my club rides prior to the event. The air was cool but the sun was very hot off the road
I was starving even though I ate various things at the prior refueling stops - rice Krispy squares, jujubes, potato chips. Lunch consisted of various delicious catered sandwiches. This was a step up from the previous years' McDonald's catered lunches, as they were no longer a lead event sponsor (but kudos to them for still having donated $25k to the event!). I chomped down one. Someone was handing out energy drinks and I grabbed one. I then ate a second sandwich and had a spruce beer that Gene brought. By the time we were ready to leave, I was feeling a bit tired, but ready to go. I was wondering if my cardiac drift would be a bigger factor in the afternoon after the stop - this seemed to be the pattern I experienced on prior rides
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| Good form! Downhill "ready" position |
Leaving Cobourg Beach is a bit of an uphill to get back on highway 2. Less than 1 km out and I saw my bpm was already in the 160s!! WTF? I haven't even warmed up yet? Okay, so I watched this closely hoping it could come down as we progressed. It came down into the 150s but then at each hill it would go up. I eventually fell back from the other 4 riders on the hills and saw it go up 170-180-190. Justin dropped back to see what was going on and I told him I had to stop. I felt fine otherwise, but this was highly abnormal
Rather than wait for the large bike van, I was able to squeeze both my bike and myself into the support van that was following group 2. From there we rode about 27 km to the next stop in Brighton. I watched my bpm the whole time while sitting in the van - it was all over the place initially but finally it settled back into my normal range. I felt somewhat jittery but otherwise fine
With my heart rate back to normal at Brighton, I felt good enough to get back on the bike with group 3 to ride the remaining 25 kilometers into Belleville. I warned everyone that I might have to quickly stop if the condition arose again. It didn't. It was like nothing ever happened. We got to the hotel, showered, had dinner all per usual. I felt fine - I wasn't even that tired
I tried to figure out what might have been the cause. It was a quite warm on the road. I was well hydrated - no issue there. I probably shouldn't have had that second sandwich and instead kept it for a later stop - too much blood dealing with digesting. An then - that stupid GURU energy drink!! I'd totally forgotten about it
I never drink these things - I swear I've had maybe 1 or 2 RedBulls in my life just to see what they taste like (gross). I have no idea why I drank it. I was more concerned about there being any artificial sweetener in it than caffeine or the myriad of other ingredients (guarana extract, echinacea). And caffeine in coffee and regular soft drinks (Coke) typically has zero effect on me
If you're concerned about heart rate increase, then uh, maybe don't drink stuff whose purpose is to increase your heart rate. And don't break the first rule of any endurance activity - never take something that you haven't already experienced during your training. I felt like a moron
On Thursday morning (Belleville - Cornwall), everyone's big concerns were weather and timing. In 2022 we finished riding day 2 in the pouring rain in dark at 8 pm. We did not want a repeat of that situation. It was scary and we were lucky that nobody crashed due to a pothole or touching another rider. The forecast showed a similar pattern to the previous year - chance of thundershowers late in the afternoon. And, it looked like our desired tail wind had turned into a more challenging cross wind coming from the due South
I decided to start the day in group 2 again. We were back up to 7 riders at the start of the day. The ride went very well through Napanee and on to Kingston. Stops were very short as we aimed to keep to schedule that would bring us in before dark in Cornwall. At Kingston, some of the riders decided to switch groups, so we're now down to 4. The section east of Gananoque is on the amazing 1000 Islands Bike Path which extends 35 kms to near Brockville. During this portion of the ride, the groups are a bit more fluid as the escort vehicles remain on the road. I was the oldest and slowest of the 4 riders in group 2 and we motored it towards lunch at Mallorytown Landing at 140 kms. I was pushing to keep up, especially on hills and definitely in need of a break, but I didn't think that I felt any worse than I had at this point on my previous two ride experiences. Oh, and no cardiac drift so far at all!!!
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| Group 2 on day 2. I still felt great at this point |
However, I wasn't very hungry. I managed only one half of a small chicken wrap and a brownie. Looking at the coleslaw made my stomach churn so I tossed it. Because of my day 1 experience where I likely ate too much, I wasn't very concerned that I didn't eat much at lunch on day 2
We kept our stop to under 1 hour (yay!) and the 4 of us in group 2 headed out continuing our brisk pace on the remainder of the 1000 Islands Bikeway and then past Brockville. Everything was great for a while. Then I started slowing on the hills. Heart rate still awesome, but I was fading. The other 3 riders were waiting for me after the hills. I was getting slower and slower. I was bonking - my glycogen stores had been depleted and now my stomach had shut down and I couldn't intake any food to replenish. Eventually just before the 200 km mark, the support van told me to stop at the next gas station where we would regroup. I got off my bike and sat on the curb. Then I got dizzy. I'll spare the other details. Took me several minutes to set myself straight again. The other riders and support staff asked me what I wanted to do. I said I needed to get in the van. They highly agreed that that was the best answer
So, now I got to ride in the large van with the driver/mechanic and one other rider who was already there. It was raining for a good portion of the 25 km trip to Morrisburg, so I was both disappointed but also a bit relieved. Once in Morrisburg, I felt somewhat fine again and managed to rehydrate and make sure my electrolytes were good. But I still couldn't eat. Less than 40 km to go - could I make it?
I stayed with group 3 so that I'd have a better chance of handling the pace. Things went pretty good for about 32 kms and I was even able to lead for a bit. Then - yeah, I started to fade again and was now dropping off the back. We ended up regrouping towards the end because of some traffic lights leading into Cornwall so I got to finish together. I was completely spent and queasy again with leg cramps/spasms I sat mostly by myself to steady everything. Eventually I was able to gather my stuff and get in the shower. I went down for dinner with the riders and volunteers but I felt too queasy to stay, so back to the room and early bed. At about 1:30 am I felt good enough to hunt down a vending machine and drink ginger ale and eat some chips
Despite my personal fitness struggles, there were some good positives. First, no cardiac drift on day 2 for almost 240 kms! After the shenanigans in the afternoon of day 1 I was very pleased. Second, the thunderstorms held off and last, all the riders were done way before it got dark. For most of the riders, the 2023 day 2 was a much better experience than 2022, and much safer
How could I have avoided bonking on day 2? I think it's definitely a fitness issue - lack of longer rides, lack of back/back long rides, lack of practicing eating on longer rides and more hills than I was able to schedule in with my other fitness issues. Also, even though group 2 was probably going only about 2 km/hr faster than group 3 during the first part of the day on day 2, that difference is huge in terms of expended energy. Of course, I felt great in group 2 until I didn't
The day 3 leg from Cornwall to Montreal is typically considered easy (130 km) after Belleville - Cornwall. Once again the forecast looked daunting - it was originally promising rain for the whole day. That seemed to change overnight to showers only in the morning and the afternoon.
I slept okay (still better than the first night in Toronto) but was concerned about how I'd do on the "easy" day. I was able to eat a reasonably sized breakfast but my head was still a bit fuzzy and I would still get the occasional leg cramp depending on movement. Once we were outside preparing to leave, I felt better. And after we were riding for about 10 minutes, I felt great again
The ride into Montreal is always pleasant and almost like a bit of a 'party on wheels' after the long day 2. Time to catch up with everyone. I stayed with group 3 and enjoyed a very relaxed pace into John Abbott College in Ste Anne de Bellevue. There we once again picked up the police escort to ride us in. We stuck to our practice of a more rigid schedule and arrived at Children's Hospital just after 3 pm
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| Dan, Rob and Desa at the finish. The Brossard gang |
As usual, we were greeted by friends and family, hospital officials and families whose kids are undergoing treatment. The ceremonies were held indoors this year because of the forecast, but there was very little precipitation riding in from Cornwall
We got through this year's ride with no crashes and no injuries - a testament to the volunteers who keep us safe and the riders for riding safely and keeping their bikes in good working condition. Bravo
And finally, a huge thanks to all you contributors who sponsored me. Without your contributions, this event wouldn't exist and the result would be a huge loss in the lives of those undergoing treatment and their families. You make the difference
Take care,
Dan
Help kids with cancer at Toronto SickKids, Montreal Children's and CHEO hospitals and support my fundraising goal. You can donate to my ride via Dan's donation page at the Air Canada Vacations 401 Bike Challenge website. 100% of your tax deductible donation goes to the hospitals
