There and Back Again - Part 05: My BC Epic1000 Yoyo Experience
As I begin this post, it’s currently September 9th, a little over 2 months post event. I still find typing weird as my pinkie and ring fingers on both hands are still numb. I can barely feel the keys with them. Regardless, I’ve been typing on a keyboard for over half my life and the fingers still seem to be able to find their way around.
Over that 2 month period, I also fit in another race, The AR700. To say that I abused my body this past summer would be accurate, but despite my body being completely wrecked from the waist down, I’m looking forward to anther event or two next summer.
Again, today was going to be hot as fuck. While I sat outside, on the curb of my morning oasis sipping coffee and enjoying my birthday breakfast, I slipped into my sun sleeves and applied some zinc to my nose and cheeks. I didn’t bring any sunscreen with me on this trip. Just a small contact lens case filled with zinc. I also had a tube of lip stuff, but that’s it. My hat covers my face, my clown hair covers my neck and ears and the sleeves take care of the arms and tattoos very effectively. Wetting the sleeves down also adds a lovely cooling effect. I’d highly recommend adding sun sleeves to your pack list!
The reason why I don’t use sunscreen is because our skin is an endocrine organ and it is known that spreading lotions and sunscreens on our skin affects hormonal balance and stresses our liver by it having remove all those toxins from your body. Okay, I’ll get down off of my soap box…
Ready for the day, I rolled out. By now I could tell that I was becoming very swollen. My legs were showing the signs of water retention, which meant I missed the mark on my electrolyte balance. Despite being religious with my electrolyte supplementation, the heat and stress of the ride was increasing my need for sodium. And though I figured my bad diet was adding enough to my system, it still wasn’t cutting it. Another lesson learned by pushing ones limits in endurance events. Hyponatremia is no joke if left unattended.
This would be the second time I climbed up to Chute Lake eastbound on the Epic. The last time was in 2018, when I left Penticton in the dark, and trudged through the night till about 2:30am and slept at the lake. This time however, I'd be able to enjoy the climb during the day and it was wonderful! The climb out of the vineyards of Naramata to Chute Lake is beautiful. It’s about 40km taking you up to 900m at an average grade of 2%. It was cool this morning and my body was running well. As a single speeder riding a bike with gears, I would still often stand to climb these rail grades. I call the pace “the stair master” With the right ratio and the right grade, you could basically stair climb your bike up anything.
I stopped for a moment to video chat with my family. They sang happy birthday to me and I showed them the beautiful, yet slightly smoky vista that was the Okanagan. A result of our province slowly catching fire. The kids excitedly told me stories of the last few days. They sounded happy. After our conversation, I felt energized and ready to tackle the day. I smoked my pipe to get into the zone of the next few hours and saddled up.
I have to admit that I really enjoyed the climb out of Penticton and was very happy to be tackling it in the cooler temperatures. A handful of hours later, I arrived at Chute lake and had breakfast, two breakfasts in fact, with a couple other riders, Jack and Bill. It was a long night without much sleep so I decided to linger and rest awhile to enjoy some good, albeit very expensive food and some conversation. Side note; By now the Pandemic Mask regulations for indoor spaces were pulled. It was so nice to be able to see people’s faces again!
I left Chute Lake and began to roll the next section towards Beaverdell. To say it was hot would be a gross understatement. I hit this section at mid-day which may have been a mistake, but with a full belly and fresh cold water in my bottles, my body had what was required to face it. The sun was high in the sky and there was little to no shade on this section of east/west road. At Myra Canyon, I spoke with some folks that were manning a bike rental outfit, allowing people to ride to the trestles rather than walk. I asked if they had any water, as by now mine had turned to piss. They offered me four ice cold bottles of water which I gratefully accepted. It’s interesting how, over the course of the trip, I became more open to asking for things that I needed and how courteous and helpful people were in providing.
At Hydraulic Lake I stopped to filter more water, cool off and have a bath. I stripped down to my merino underwear, soaked my jersey, hat and sleeves. I rinsed and wrung out my socks then slid back into the cool refreshing garments. Wetting down like that was a life saver by keeping the body temperature regulated. So much energy is required to cool our bodies, but you could feel the surge of metabolic energy after a good swim or wet down. Suddenly, Dion Clark rolls up for a visit! It was so great to see him and we had a great conversation. Dion rode with me for a few kilometres before turning around. He’s fast!! Dion was hoping to go for an BC Epic 1000 FKT, but decided that the power of mother nature crushing us with her hot dusty fists wasn’t conducive to fast times and decided to not race.
I was hoping to get to the Beaverdell store before it closed so I absolutely hammered the descent from Arlington Lakes to Saunier Creek. My desperate attempt failed though so, at the creek, I threw in the towel and took a break. I took off most of my clothes, grabbed my water filter and sat in the cool, gently running creek for about 20 minutes while I harvested water from around me to hydrate with. There were some folks camping on the other side of the road that watched with curiosity. I’m sure they got an eyeful when I stripped down to change into my spare pair of underwear. If my butt looked anything like it felt, I’m sure my red, chaffed ass was a site to see!!
There was a bit of signal here, so I checked some messages, one of which brought me to tears. There was a message from Dean and Kristen Anderson offering to get me a hotel room for my birthday to help me escape from the heat. Since I had to adjust my riding schedule to mostly night shifts, I sought out more hotel rooms to take shelter from the intense heat then I had expected . Raising money for the Masaka Cycling club had became very expensive indeed, and this gift filled me with gratitude. The support and encouragement from the community was incredible and filled my buckets with love and joy and made this accomplishment so personally meaningful.
I started to shiver in the creek so it was time to move on. All cleaned up with fresh undergarments and donning my button down, I was ready for another night shift. I felt absolutely re-energized and refreshed from my break at Saunier Creek and that made travelling feel effortless. It was about 9pm and the temperature was very pleasant. I popped in the buds and casually rolled to Beaverdell knowing I had missed the window and there would be nothing open by the time I got there. I thought it would be worth the trip into town anyway and was pleased to come across a coke machine, which would be the perfect beverage to get me through the next leg. I had a sun warmed, half eaten sandwich in my frame bag so I sat on the porch of the store and enjoyed a coke and a late dinner. A group of bikepackers rolled by and I called to them but they kept riding. Oh well…
The next destination would be Rock Creek. I had some intelligence that there would be a 24hr gas station there, my proverbial carrot, where I would refuel for the next leg. I didn’t have any plans to sleep and was still feeling pretty good so I pushed on.
There are dozens of gates to pass through along the BC Epic. some involved simply pushing a latch out of the way and opening the gate however, some involved a lengthy process of untangling a chain, that sometimes took a knot expert to figure out, stowing the bike on the other side, closing and latching the gate and reattaching the chain in a way that would make it easier for the next person. I sometimes wondered if folks were purposefully knotting these chains as a way to gain advantage in the race? I would always try to perform the deed while still holding on to the bike, hooking the heavy gate with my toe to try to close it. Results would vary. There’s nothing worse than losing grip of your rig and hearing it hit the ground.. Some stretches were frustrating, involving navigating many gates. You’d just start to settle your sore ass onto your throne and get your flow on, only to encounter another gate to pass through. The need for them makes sense as without them, there would be cattle roaming the countryside.
This night was particularly dark. The moonless, sky offered no guidance on this night which, despite the many lights I carried, made navigation a little more difficult. I passed through another gate and soon after, I discovered that I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. Looking at my navigation, I could see that I was close to where I was supposed to be but slightly off. As I pushed on, the terrain began to erode, and before I knew it, I was standing in the middle of a cow field. I turned my headlamp on high to have a look around. As I scanned my surroundings, I stopped cold when I noticed dozens of green orbs floating in space. At first my sleep deprived self got chills as I didn’t understand what I was seeing but then it occurred to me. It was a heard of cattle and given the colour of their hides, they were pretty much invisible under the moonless sky, my light only illuminating their eyes. I spoke sweetly to them as I checked my GPS to figure things out. I could see some of the curious eyes floating in my general direction so I hastily turned 90 degrees and made my way back to the line. I had passed through the wrong gate so I had to heft my fully loaded rig and meat vehicle over a fence to get back on the route.
I had some information that there would be a 24 gas station in Rock Creek so I was excited to get there for a break. As I rolled into town, I was dismayed to come across a closed, 24 Hour Pleasure Center. My heart sank as I peered through the window at all the snacks. My stomach grumbled with displeasure at not having access to the display racks filled with calories. I sat down on the sidewalk and sulked for a moment and then came to terms with the fact that I would be sleeping here until the place opened. I was depleted from the day anyway and rest was required. I rolled out my matt and climbed into my bivy right there on the sidewalk outside. I got very little sleep.
The next morning I would wake feeling pretty beat down. Unfortunately, before breakfast, I entered into a conversation that would show me the antithesis of everything this ride meant to me. Moments after, I would then meet another BC Epic, racer, Angela Chang, who completely fliped that vibe the other way. Like the universe knew I needed to be rescued with human connection and a warm hug. Thanks Angela…
