Day 2: Whiterock to Bellingham

We met the mayor of Whiterock! As we ate breakfast on the beach (the notorious bananna/peanut butter bagel mix), she came up to us. At first she wanted us to get rid of the bikes, as they're not allowed on the promenade, but once we had explained our tour (which was kind of hard, as peanut butter doesn't wash down easily...), we were forgiven. It was a quick ride to the Peace Arch, but we had to wait up for Angie, Taryn and the van (their bikes broke!). A game of Ultimate Frisbee began, which I quickly left from, as I needed some energy to get me down to Bellingham.

The border crossing was interesting. It was the first day of the new rule: from now on, you must have your passport with you. As a biker gang, we had to go through the pedistrian crossing. Inside, many non-white people were waiting get through. I spoke with one man, who told me he was just born in Israel and was told to sit and wait. It was quite upsetting, as it took all of 5 minutes to let all 16 of us through. The border guard asked me what my occupation was, and when I answered with a "I'm a student," he asked me what I taught.. HMM.

The trek south to Bellingham was hot and dusty, and Ben, Sahrs, Ang and I had an interesting day... yelling at llamas and cows is so much more fun than you would think. We stayed at the HUB in Bellingham, a similar set up to Recyclistas in Victoria. Kyle, the owner, was super cool, and we had a BBQ and some interesting music going on. There was an old man wailin on Bugsy's guitar for hours... pretty entertaining. Had some fun showertime in the YMCA, and yes, of course.. we sang the song.

Day 1: Commercial Drive to Whiterock

The day we've all been waiting for!! We started off with a morning pledge ride from the art gallery downtown to the park on Commercial Drive. There, a BBQ and karate presentation awaited us, as well as family and friends. It was pretty exciting, although you could tell we were all pretty anxious. At about 2:15pm, we were sent off - the traffic lights were stopped in our favour, and people were cheering. It was an interesting trek from the park to the church we stayed in. I don't know how many people got lost or sidetracked... our directions were to follow the skytrain, but it disappeared from time to time.

It was a day of learning, that's for sure. I wound up with heat exhaustion, and was pretty concerned that it was going to be an ongoing issue. Bugsy and Carly, our first aid attendents and ride leaders, told us that our bodies would tell us when we needed water and food. Also, I was the first on the tour to get a flat tire! My bike's different from everyone else's - a road racer Cannondale is not exactly the ideal vehicle for this kind of trek... - so no one really knew what to do. However, a girl from the European tour who had joined us for our first ride was able to help me out, and after 20 minutes, we were back on the road.

We were all pretty exhausted after the hot journey, and a bit confused. Since we were still in Vancouver, it just felt like we had done a day trip. But after some pizza and watermelon and intense stretching, we got revved up again, as tomorrow... we hit the States!

On the road..

Well I haven't been excellent at keeping this thing updated, but I will try harder! I have been writing in my journal (and yes, I know it's only day 5 or something), but I'll put together a few more entries that are in some sort of chronological order next time!

I am currently in Seattle in an internet cafe. I have to say that my weight is below average in this town. I don't understand how there can be so many hills in this city and so many heavy people wandering around..

Our numbers have dwindled slightly. There were supposed to be 25 of us riders, but we're down to 17. Taryn just left this morning as she caught mono, and yes, we're all a bit concerned that we'll catch it, but we're trying to stay positive and strong! She may come back in a couple of weeks to join us again (hopefully!).

We sat through a presentation at a microfinance insitution called Unitus. They're a group that helps to establish the microcredit institutions around the world. They work on developing the companies that lend out the money in the impoverished areas. I didn't really realize how much work went into finding the partners and clients and just.. everything! It was a great presentation, and definitely got my brain rolling. Lots of interesting questions were asked by our group - not everyone was impressed with the answers, though. There are tons of holes in the whole microfinance area. Not everyone's money goes into the right hands; make sure you check everything out before loaning anyone anything!!

Anyways, I will end this now, as it would make more sense to write everything in some sort of order. Peace out!