A Flèche Story
2025 Flèche Pacifique
Ride dates: May 2-3, 2025
by Murray Tough

The big story for this year’s event was probably the wind. Each team chooses their own route but most commented on dealing with the wind on parts of their ride.

Our team lived up to its name at the start. At 4:00 PM, I was still doing up my shoes and stuffing food into my bags while my teammates, Nick and Jeff waited patiently. We were 3 minutes late starting. In the grand scheme of things it wasn’t going to matter but, if you read to the end, it made a difference.

Our first leg was from Chilliwack to Hope. We meandered along the side of the Camp Slough past field and farms on quiet roads. All too soon, we came to the Agassiz Rosedale Bridge. It’s a shoulderless bridge with no bike path so bikes are forced into the traffic lane. I am always fearful that an impatient driver will attempt to pass me when there isn’t room. But we made it across without incident.

We enjoyed a pleasant ride with warm weather and a strong tailwind. There was a steady procession of freight trains on the tracks beside the highway. That is a novelty for those of us that live on the Island. As we proceeded west, the mountains got closer and the valley got narrower. In one spot the wind funnels around a rock face. We feared this could be hard riding on the return and hoped that the wind would lose its strength as the sun set. It didn’t, but I’m getting ahead of myself. As we approached Hope, I stopped on the bridge that crosses the Fraser River to take a photo. I assumed I could catch up to Nick and Jeff if I was quick. I wasn’t quick enough!

When I entered Hope, I couldn’t see them. I was getting concerned but I didn’t know something was wrong until I arrived at our planned stop. Nick and Jeff weren’t there. I assumed they must have missed the turn and would be along shortly. They did miss the turn but, when they didn’t see me behind them, they went back to find me. We passed each other in opposite directions but on different roads.

We stopped at Rolly’s Restaurant in Hope for our first meal break. Despite constant snacking on the bike, I was hungry ate a large cheese omelette, with hash browns and toast. The longest leg of the trip was next. We hoped to arrive in Mission around 11:30 PM but we had a headwind to deal with. For the most part the wind wasn’t bad. As expected, it was windy at the rock face I mentioned earlier. It was a pleasant ride through the Fraser Valley as the sun set. The only real headwind struggle was the last 20 km into Mission. It was dark and raining when we arrived in Mission. But we arrived on time and stopped for a pizza.

It was a nice night ride from Mission to Chilliwack. Traffic was lighter and it was relatively mild. It was damp but not pouring. Most of the time it was just drizzle. We arrived in Chilliwack around 3:00 AM for a short nap. The Flèche rules allow stops up to 2 hours in length. Returning to Chilliwack meant we could sleep at the hotel, in a bed! I emphasize that because Randonneurs tend to sleep in uncomfortable places. In past events, I have attempted to sleep in a porch outside a church and on a post office floor. Neither resulted in any sleep. For once, I was quick. I brushed my teeth and jumped into bed fully clothed. I slept solidly for more than an hour. What a difference that made! I was refreshed and ready to ride.

My spirits were dashed by the weather. It was raining but it was the headwinds that drained the fun from the morning. We slogged into the wind for hours as we crossed the open prairie to get to a breakfast stop in Abbotsford. Some of the roads had trees, which helped to break the wind but many were open to the expansive farmland. The wind had really taken a toll on our team. We were tired and we were slow.

We had some hill climbing to get to our next stop in Fort Langley. The hills were a welcome break from the monotony of cycling across the prairie into the relentless headwind. The rain let up, which made for pleasant riding and some fun descents. We stopped at the Blacksmith Bakery for treats in Fort Langley.

From Fort Langley, is was back up and over the hills towards the Canada-USA border. We were still climbing when the sun came out and suddenly, we were cooking. Time to stop and take off the rain gear and warm layers. We turned east along the border and finally we had a tailwind!

Our last stop was the Birchwood Dairy. We were well behind schedule but I figured we had time for an ice cream. There were a couple more controls after that but we only stopped long enough to fill in our control cards. All that was left to do was focus on the finish.

We were 1 km short of the hotel at the end of our 24-hours but it didn’t matter because we had exceeded the minimum requirement of 360km when our time ran out.

There were some challenges along to the way but, unlike previous Flèches, I was never cold, I was never soaked and I was never sleepy. That made it a memorable Flèche for all the right reasons.