Loopy Interior 1000 - Anna's Story
"Loopy Interior, Tried and True", September 1-4, 2018
by Anna Bonga

A story! Yes! I love stories. But short? Why does it have to be short? It was a long ride.

So, I was quite nervous about it, after all, it has been a while since the last 1000. I rode this one with Deirdre, Colin, and Michael, and occasionally someone else. On Day 1
I watched in awe as Colin pulled out zapstraps to fix Deirdre's shifting situation. After all, a fantastic meal with fantastic service awaited us at the Boston Pizza in Williams Lake.

On day 2, new shifter in hand for Deirdre (thanks to Bob Lepage) we had to hustle to Prince George to get there before it closed. Hooray for tailwinds! We made it.
Going to McBride started well, and Bob Lepage and Bob Koen were cheering us on along the way. Then it hit. . . The RAIN! And oh boy! Did it rain, there was even a bit of snow mixed in for good measure. We were on the last significant downhill before McBride, I'm not sure how far away from McBride, but there was a McBride 24 sign somewhere around there. The descent was rough: cold, wet, dark (1am) and poor visibility. Not a pretty combination. I was shivering to the point that I was having trouble controlling the bike. We reached the bottom, and I promptly said to Deirdre "I'm cold, let's sprint, generate some heat." She said okay, and we started to sprint, an activity that doesn't usually last more than about 15 seconds, which it did for Deirdre. I kept sprinting, then looked back to wait for her to pull up beside me, when a voice in my head said "No - don't do that. You have to keep going or you're not going to make it to McBride. Go hard, as hard as you can, generate heat."

So I let instinct take over. My mind went blank, I followed the yellow line, and I pedaled. Hard. (As recalled after the fact, when I woke up with the previous days events rolling around in my head) After a while I started to warm up, but didn't dare stop. My vision became very clear, I didn't see the rain. Just the road and the yellow line. I noticed after a while that I was going very hard, time trial style, my breathing was heavy, but the odd thing was, I was feeling no pain. All sensation of past muscular discomfort was gone. It was with great relief when I saw the McBride 2 sign, and a minute or 2 later the Sandman. When I came through the door I put my arms across the desktop and held on for support. The very kind fellow behind the counter asked me if I was okay, and I said "I'm good now". It was with great relief that I saw Deirdre, Colin and Michael come in, as I felt I had abandoned them.

Day 3 brought us to Clearwater, where we spent a couple of hours getting in enough sleep to finish the ride on day 4, with a couple of hours to spare before closing of the control.

Gotta say though, it was a great ride.

September 7, 2018