Fernie - "Burn That Guy!!!"

Ok, so that is by far the best line of the trip so far. So Yesterday, we popped our 100 km-in-a-day mark, and it felt mighty good (the legs though, a little less so I must confess).

So the day was winding down as Grant was frantically searching for a Bob trailer, and the days final planned destination was receding faster than my hairline. But with a pretty quick climb on some nice gravel and paved roads (in stark contrast to the axle-bending, rack-snapping, ball-breaking, crank peeling potholes and boulders encountered earlier along the route) things were looking up.

While pouring over the map, Simon, with that look that only a seasoned tree planter can generate, looks at us and says "Fernie, we can do this". While Grant was cautiously encouraging this cavalier enthusiasm, the steady headwinds were howling by and cancelling out any downhill or nice-road advantage that we had. But we decided the luxury of camping in the same place for two nights was incentive enough...to say nothing, that is, of the cold beers and pub feed that we had steadily centred in the front of our minds.

So, we did make it to Fernie. And it would not have been possible with some serious 'drafting' and well co-ordinated teamwork. This is the technique whereby the guy at the front is giving-er pretty hard (and taking all the headwind), and the others sitting in a row right behind, are saving their energy for their turn.

So anyways, as we are descending into the outskirts of Fernie, I'm at the front of the group spinning away with my trailer and the rest of the clan in tow...and then this roadie (on a nice fast road bike) with a muscle shirt pulls out from tributary road, say, 400 m ahead and starts tearing into it. Then, Ben just explodes out from behind me and screams (in 16% enthusiastic and 84% full-on rage tone) "Burn that guy!!!". And so the race was on. We were already moving a a pretty good pace of 17 mph (on fully loaded mountain bikes I might add) and then we start accelerating 18, 19, 20, 21, 22...up to 23 mph... and we're gaining.

A couple minutes later Ben starts draughting off this guy, and then has the nerve to dig deeper and pass. Then Simon passes. Then Grant gets neck-and-neck, and I think this guy must have seen Grants trailer and that was enough for him...he flexes his arms, drops his head and says 'I'LL set the pace" and tears off into the distance. It was a moral victory indeed and we slow right down and half collapse. Riding into Fernie, all we had on our mind was food and beer. A job well done.