Kamloops 200 Ride Report
by Richard Blair

The Kamloops 200km ride held Saturday April 26 reflected the differences between a Coast brevet and an Interior ride. The day dawned clear over Kamloops at the start and remained so with bright sun throughout the ride. The temperatures were brisk during the early hours, but warmed up by the half-way point at Little Fort on the Yellowhead Highway. It did not rain. Not a drop. And, but for the last 20 kilometres, the wind remained largely neutral, indeed even providing a bit of a tailwind as we headed south down the Yellowhead, although to be fair there was a headwind encountered on the last 20 kilometres. Being an Interior ride, the route was outlined on a single page and the control card required just three signatures, including the start and the finish. Traffic lights, there were a few. Of stop signs, we saw none.

And for those sceptical of my description, you can check with those from the Lower Mainland, Roger and Ali Holt, Ron and Laura Penner and Larry Voth, who were among the 18 riders to enjoy the ride. The brevet attracted six new members, including Ryan Kurz and Ian Fillinger who were the first to complete at 6 hours and 39 minutes and six hours and 40 minutes respectively. Doug Fox, Toomas Ruberg Sandy Caswell, and Kashtin Mair were the other new riders. Kashtin is the 14-year-old son of Peter Mair, a well-known Interior rider who clearly has passed on some of his speed genes to his son, the pair of them completing the ride in eight hours and 38 minutes, slowed only when Kashtin bonked for a time at the 150km mark. Peter said it is amazing how fast a bottle of coke and some food will revive a teenager's energy level.

During the ride, the author of this piece recalled - if it is safe at his age to recall anything correctly -- that this was his 20th year of randonneuring having ridden his first brevet in April 1988, a 200km Interior ride organized by Bob Boonstra. There have for me been thousands of kilometres over many brevets since that first ride and although I remember the rides - or parts of them at least - it is my fellow riders whom I have met through this sport, if it can be called that, who have made the most significant impression on me and I suspect are largely responsible for my continuing participation in the brevets. I thank you all.

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April 27, 2008