Training Week!

Hello from Bragg Creek, Alberta!

I'm currently sitting in a real estate... store? shop? establishment? typing away while my fellow Oteshites do the same! The people here have been very hospitable - I think we've taken over the place.

So, training week is almost over! We are currently on our "day off" - 24 hours from today at noon to tomorrow at noon - so I biked out to this town, just down the road from our training camp, and I'm getting my fill here on the internet and will be picking up a few necessities, like warm socks and sunglasses!

We have spent the majority of our week out at Kamp Kiwanis, where we have been learning how to facilitate groups, how to conduct workshops, and how to work together as a team. My team, called the Kootenay Mountain Tour, or KMT for short, already feels like a family to me: we all get along really well even though we are all so different! Everyone has a lot of love to give and is really supportive, so I'm more excited than ever to spend two months with them on the road.

Since I've been out here I have taken on a completely vegan diet - it's been interesting for my digestive system (to say the least) but for the most part it hasn't been much different from what I normally eat! Just a lot more tofu, grains, lentils and beans, and whole foods. Oh, and a ton of bananas! The chef for the week went to a number of grocery stores and markets looking for food donations, and a grocery store must have donated crates and crates of slightly bruised bananas for us - it's amazing how much food you can get just by asking a store what they are planning to throw away! Seriously; if you're looking for ways to feed a large group of people cheaply, just try this tactic, it's amazing.

We have spent a few nights sleeping in cabins and a few out in our tents, to test our gear. I've discovered that my sleeping bag is wonderfully warm, but my feet still manage to get cold. I'm planning on picking up a pair of woolly socks while I'm here in Bragg Creek. My tent is great too - so easy to set up and take down, and really roomy! Two people would easily be comfortable in it. Funny anecdote: there are currently 4 Hubba Hubba tents out here at the moment: two on my tour and two on the other! Looks like MEC made a lot of money off of us!

I'm really looking forward to hitting the road on Friday, but first we have our first real performance on Thursday evening out at Kamp Kiwanis. I'm nervous about it, but it's amazing how quickly my team has learned the play and our parts! I think it's going to be really good already, and it's only the beginning.

I'm concerned about some of the bigger rides (I'm currently not anywhere close to the fastest rider on the team) but I think with the support of my teammates and if I really stick to it, I'll get my speed up! I also think I may have overestimated the number of toiletries I needed, which is just adding to the excess weight. Some people have camp soap and a toothbrush, and that's it! I gotta learn to be more of a minimalist. :)

Oh, and an interesting fact for my family: there is a Danish girl heading out on the Prairie Sky Tour! Her name is Mille, and she flew here from a town just south of Copenhagen. It's been really cool talking to her about the places I've seen and sharing some words in Danish!

Alright, that is all for now! There are other people waiting to get on the internet and I don't want to keep them waiting. I'd just like to say hello to my family, my friends (thanks again for the hilarious card - I've read it so many times!), and to my old team at YCI - if you're reading this, I hope the hunt for the new Admin Assistant was successful! Miss you all!

Much love,

Sarah

Oh, and PS - I didn't pack my camera cord, so I currently don't have a way to post the pictures that I've taken! (Mountains!!!) I'll try and figure out a way to get them uploaded as soon as possible, so you can see what I'm seeing as I hit the road on my crazy adventure. Take care!

New Gear!

Hey all!

It's been a couple of weeks since I last blogged, and a lot has happened in that time! I've reached the $1000 mark online thanks to so many generous donors (thanks Rebs for helping me reach that mark, by the way!), and I've made a couple of major purchases in preparation for my trip!

Since deciding to embark on this adventure, I knew I'd have to make a couple of major buys in order to make the trip out west a positive one (for example, my old bike weighs about a thousand pounds and is in no shape to make a 2,000 km journey!). So, in the past couple of weeks, I've bit the bullet and spent some money on a new tent and a new bike!

The tent is an MSR Hubba Hubba; a small 2-person tent that should be quite comfortable for just me! The goal with purchasing this one was to be able to use it once I get back from Vancouver. It's durable and quick to assemble, and shrinks down to a very movable size and weighs about 4 lbs when it's all packed up and ready to travel - the perfect hiking and biking tent! It came highly recommended by my coworker Gabe, and I must say, it should prove to be a really great investment while I'm out there.



The bike is a Gary Fisher Katai, a small, lightweight hybrid bike (meaning it works great for both road riding and mountain biking) that has a few key features that I think will come in really handy on my long trek. First, it has disc brakes - kind of like what you would find on your car - instead of the typical brakes that squeeze the sides of your tires to slow you down. I'm really excited about this feature, as this should mean that I won't have to tune them up nearly as often! The next great thing about this bike is that it has lockable shocks on the front wheel - so when I'm riding on roads, I can lock it up so that it doesn't absorb any of my energy as I'm pedaling, but when I'm riding on light trails, I can engage the shock to absorb any jarring movements my bike may make as I ride over rocks, dive into sharp turns, or decide to tackle a steeper slope.

Overall, I think I've made a great start on my gear purchasing! The buying of the bike just made it that much more real as well - only a few more weeks and I'm off on my adventure! But of course, this obviously means I've spent a good paycheque in the process of getting these items, so if you have any bike or camping-related gear that you aren't using, but you think may come in handy, send them my way! I'm definitely in the market for a small sleeping bag, small sleeping mat, or any bike accessories like reflectors, lights, or mirrors. Oh, and small bungee cords are always welcome!

I promise to keep the posting up now that the date is coming ever closer - every day I get more and more excited!

Cheers,

Tucks