Donate to CF

Found this on YouTube from the US CF foundation.

Donations can be sent here! :  http://gearup4cf.org/index.php?/The-Riders/2009-Riders/James-Zlosnik.html

We still need your money…!

For any one reading this who has not sponsored me (perhaps you were waiting proof  that I would actually do the ride?)…there is a simple and really effective way to do this, go here, go on!:

http://gearup4cf.org/index.php?/The-Riders/2009-Riders/James-Zlosnik.html

We’re here

Made it!

In Banff, safe and sound.  Everyone made it.  Will write more later, but here is proof:

Why I do this…

There are lots of people to thank when doing this ride. I particularly would like to thank Alex, Clare, Ted and Nathan. Every year so far I have been very lucky to ride for Alex. I met them the first year I did this ride, and they continue to inspire me as people…I feel very lucky indeed to be able to share this journey with them.  At moments like this it seems a shame this is at quite such a distance. When I am on these rides I always think of Alex and his family. I and others do this ride so that when he is old enough Alex, and other people with CF, will be able to do it too, it would be truly great to be able to do this ride with Alex and his family one day too.

When I think of the challenges people with CF face, it is also vital to look also to the examples where people have been lucky enough to be able pull through to achieve the things they want in life. We have already had one person do this ride who has CF. Chris, who rode in 2008…and who I’m thrilled has checked out this blog and commented on it…was amazing. He beat me and most of the others up mountains, it was a very humbling experience and I feel very fortunate to have been on that ride with Chris.

Another highlight for me, and indeed the most amazing part of this ride this year, was Margaret. Margaret describes herself as a CF survivor, having had a lung transplant. She and her husband Brian, rode a tandem bike that weighed more than a tank, from Vancouver to Maning Park. I rode behind them into Harrison on the first day (and struggled to keep pace) and then I was there to see them finish the gigantic climb into Maning Park. To see how much it meant to her and to Brian and to share their stories was just one of the best experiences yet. This was truly inspiring too and a privilege to be able to share. Way to go guys!!

So if you’re got this far in this post and you haven’t donated, then here is how you can help make a difference for people with CF (and you’ll get a tax receipt…and you won’t have to cross multiple mountain ranges on a bike): Go here and sponsor me!!

http://gearup4cf.org/index.php?/The-Riders/2009-Riders/James-Zlosnik.html

Day 8: Cranbrook to Inveremere

Safe and sounnd in Inveremere. Today was a battle. The road out of Cranbrook was awful…so beaten up that it shook my bike so hard that a water bottle shot out and had to be retrieved from down the road. After that I had to listen to an awful creaking for half the day as the bottom bracket had clearly absorbed too much of the drinks from my bottles. Perhaps it had been the same way yesterday…today my ipod was out of charge so I could hear it loud and clear.

The scenery, though, was amazing as ever around here. Once the road switched to a different highway the shoulder became much better and a lot of the unnecessary shaking stopped.

Of course then it turned to a head wind. The last 30 km or so were a real battle, sapping large amounts of energy. Still, we have only one day to go. Today we also passed a massive marker…we have covered greatly in excess of 1,000km since leaving last Saturday, hard to believe already!

Day 7: Creston to Cranbrook

I write this now on Mountain time…yesterday we crossed the time zone boundary and lost an hour of recovery time to a time change.  Not to worry so much though as yesterday was almost like a recovery day after the previous days efforts.

The other blogs have recounted the Polish breakfast we had in the morning in Creston.  I set off relatively late…after a last minute jersey change decision (Dave and Simon were both wearing their 2008 jerseys so I thought why not a verterans day).  Having left late I ended up passing most of the other cyclists, which was fun for me!  I caught up with Simon, who must have been taking it easy and then pretty much was towed by him for the rest of the day.  The day was done in 3 hrs and 20 minutes of cycling – for 108km.

The day was rounded off with a great meal at a Golf Course provided  by the Kin…who showed tremendous hospitality yet again…we all thank you!  Now we can finally see the Rockies.  Today we have a truly tremendous day of cycling ahead to Invermere.

Day 6: Trail to Creston

Another huge day of climbing! Today was another great day…the Kootenay Pass is a climb so large that it would be beyond grade in international bike tours. There is very little like it in even the Tour de France and it is almost certainly the longest and most difficult climb in BC. So I am just thrilled to have done it 3 times!!! It was not easy by any means. This time it was very hot making fluid in take extra important, I must have gone through nearly three bottles of drink to get up there. This time was also perhaps my best time, I did the whole climb in an hour and 42 minutes, way faster than last time.

Everyone did a great job today!  I struggle to convey just how tough this ride is to people, and I would particularly love to find a way to convey in a minute or so exactly how hard that climb is.  Today we all earned our sponsorships!  Another great thing about today is that many of us did things we thought we never could manage.  For me it was a hat-trick of climbs over this mountain, I think only Simon and I have done that.  That is the great thing about this ride and it is a good message for the future of CF too…great things can and will be achieved with the right frame of mind and will…we just have to keep pushing.

At lunch:

On the way up the Salmo Creston:

Day 5: Grand Forks to Trail.

I write this safely in the motel in Trail.

We are in the seriously big climb section of the ride. The ride today was great for me.

Being the third time on this route, some of us ‘veterans’ are quite familiar with what is ahead. We probably scare the newcommers to the ride a little, especially with stories of the days ahead and how much climbing they will involve.

The day began with a breakfast in a restaurant…and so started an unfortunate trend of me getting served last! Anyway, following breakfast and a group shot outside Johnny’s motel (http://www.johnnysmotel.ca/wp-content/gallery/the-property/dscn1987.jpg).

We then left largely as a group, and I joined Simon for a swift blast down to the bottom of the first climb. We were beaten by Stan who seemed to be cranking away at an amazing speed…I decided to conserve my energy for the climb and instead get a tow off Simon.

Mechanical luck was quickly used up as a got a flat at the bottom of the first climb, which I changed by the side of the road and pumped up to an inadequate psi with my hand pump. Fortunately the support crew was shortly on hand and I pumped the tyre up with a proper pump. Unfortunately it quickly blew again before I finally wised up to the hole in the sidewall that was the problem. Happily Brenda had a spare tyre she lent me. Having fitted this I started the climb dead last in the group, but was quite happy cycling up to the first summit with my ipod in (Tina Turner is my current favorite climbing music).

The rest of the day went very smoothly, with little further trouble…except having to wait 30 minutes more than everyone else for my dinner! I hope this changes tomorrow!!

The steep descent into Trail hasn’t got any less steep. This time the motel is on the other side of town…however happily my bike is now holding up well with a new front tyre and a new rear wheel. Perhaps by the end of the ride I can have a whole new bike made up of donated parts from lots of different people??

Tomorrow the Salmo Creston, if you don’t know what that is check out this :

The Kootenay Pass is the highest pass that is open year round in Canada. It deserves a jersey just on it’s own for completion!!

Day 4

I have so much to write about…and not enough time!

Today was a great day in very many ways.  I feel stronger than ever on the bike…something of a surprise given the lack of good training.

The day started out with a massive climb out of Osoyoos.  This is difficult for many because there is absolutely no warm up, it is straight up the hill.  And it is a big hill!  Last year this was the point where I screwed my knees up and then I paid for it for the rest of the ride.  This year I have new pedals and I am carrying  less weight (this really helps on climbs).  To be able to ride with Simon – a very accomplished cyclist – for the majority of the first two days made the ride for me already.

Today was marred mostly by some rain in the Kettle Valley – normally a beautiful ride.  It came on suddenly and we all got soaked and cold – after a very hot climb most of us were not wearing rain clothes.  At times like these I always think I am earning my sponsorships!

The only other problem I  had was as a consequence of yesterdays excursion to the side of the road.  I put a small, but annoying, dent in my rear wheel, which today showed itself to make descents difficult as there was a wobble and the brakes didn’t make contact with the rim properly.  At these times I like to be able to rely on my brakes!  At lunch  one of our riders – Andrea – who works in West Point Cycles (one of our sponsors), took a look and declared a new wheel would be the only fix.    I wanted to get a new wheel in Grand Forks…it turned out the only bike store was closed (early!!), but a group of other riders amazingly offered to lend me a wheel for the rest of the ride.  I don’t know yet who you are but thank you!!!  This was particularly important because tomorrow there is a very steep descent for 10 km into Trail and I did not want to do that on my damaged wheel.

So for now everything is going great.  I am delighted, especially for all the new people who are doing the ride.  Particularly Jill and Bob, who have crossed a continent to do this ride and while they did not have good training grounds at home and didn’t have much experience cycling are finishing every day in great spirits.  To be able to achieve this ride and raise vital funds for CF is what this is all about for me!

I’m trying to upload photos…the connections for upload are usually pretty slow at the motels.  Some will appear shortly on flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesz_flickr/

Day 3 – update

Hello to everyone looking at the blog! I’m writing this in Osoyoos after 180 km of biking and already over 430km of cycling since Saturday. So far it has been a lot of fun and everyone here is safe and sound.

Today had everything. We started in the cold mild rain, which soon turned to heavy rain. I biked much of today with Simon and was very happy to swap getting soaked for a tow most of the way. After the fist summit (Sunday summit), we had a rapid ride down to Princeton and easily made lunch at 90km before 11am. The weather slowly shifted as we made it down the Okanagan valley in to a glorious tale wind. I sped toward Keremeos making good time. Perhaps I got a bit ahead of myself as when I was reaching for something from my back pocket I caught a cross wind which sent me off into the ditch. Fortunately I was just fine – a couple of scratches and a bit of bruised pride. The bike also held up well, with just (hopefully) some bent shifters, which Simon helped me fix. The ride from Keremos to Osoyoos started fun as there was still a great tale wind. But the hill climbing before Osoyoos got a little tedious. Nonetheless I arrived in Osoyoos in good time (3pm) and good spirits. We were all treated to a great meal of burgers, hot dogs and salad by the local Kin clubs.

I have more to write for the first couple of days, which were just awesome!

I’m off to bed now for a good rest before the Anarchist summit first thing tomorrow!