Two Manitoba men spent a month on trikes traversing western Canada. Although their trip ended with an accident, Recumbent Ray of Oak Lake looks back on a journey that was mostly a success. This is the final installment in his series of reports from the road.
In the beginning, two old guys with dreams of earlier days and younger bodies left Mile Zero in Victoria BC. headed for a grand finish in Beausejour, MB. traveling on recumbent trikes.
The foolhardy trikers Leon Dionne [Laidback Leon] and myself, Ray Harris [Recumbent Ray] bravely faced bouts of nasty weather, nastier traffic and the odd HILL.
As we traveled through the beautiful coastal mountains we found that the speed we were able to maintain on the uphill grades was approximately 4.5 kph.
We came upon a paving job in Manning Park going uphill at a speed of 4 kph with no sore knee breaks. It was heck of a race. We worked desperately to keep from becoming a speed bump in the middle of Highway 3!
Inching along
The great satisfactions were the summits that we conquered. But then came the piece de resistance.
The 28-km climb from Osoyoos to Rock Creek, BC. took 12 hours of pedaling.
After getting a lift over the Rockies, the prairies faced us and we met the challenge with mechanical break downs on both trikes. A quick shout out to the gang at Ascent Cycle of Lethbridge who got us back on the road. You are fantastic!!
The remaining kilometres whizzed by, meeting amazing people - other cyclists and just people who wanted to know what the heck we were riding. A number of people wondered how old those two guys were. We lied! Said 38 and 40 but they didn't believe us.
The total distance we planned to travel was 2,500 km. As some of you may have read or heard in the news, our ride was cut short by a hit and run driver on PTH 44 approximately 14 kilometres short of our goal.
Leon and myself are okay. My trailer took the brunt of the collision. Actually, its sacrifice saved both our butts.
Doing some good
The original reason for this tour was two old guys trying to relive a little of their youth. But people kept asking what we were raising money for.
Being a member of the Oak Lake and Area Lions Club, I decided to contact Lions Clubs in the towns we would travel through and ask if they wished to help us in raising funds for a very worthy cause - the MS Society of Canada.
The total so far is $3675 with some more to come in. It will be handed over at the MS Ride in Gimli on Aug. 25 - 26.
Many thanks to all who followed our adventure via Leon's Facebook page and my blog.
And a big shout out to the commercial truckers for their courtesy and encouragement by moving to the far lane when they could and by honking horns, flashing lights and waving.
Thank you to all we encountered.
Postscript: In spite of the accident, Harris says he’s glad he made the trip and intends to keep tricycling. The police are still investigating the hit and run and have made no arrests.
