Hare & Tortoise 1000 Report
by Ken Bonner

This brevet should have been the easiest of Diablo’s Triple if one was looking at rain and elevation gain. However, the predicted warm, sunny weather rapidly deteriorated at Nanaimo with wet drizzle and increasingly strong buffeting head-winds. Phil reported that about 5:00 a.m., it was 3 C at Woss. Still, in spite of the relentless gusting winds and general dampness, all the riders looked fine around the Port Hardy area. Unfortunately, the pounding wind and more rainstorms took their toll. Phil and Jim decided enough was enough, particularly when illness struck. There is a story that Manfred Kuchenmuller and Gord Cook abandoned their ride one year in Port Hardy because of raw behinds. They rode back in style, renting a Cadillac to return to Nanaimo. Not many Cadillacs in Woss. Not sure if it was Phil and Jim, but there was an unloaded logging truck with two bikes on the back which tried to run me off the road just north of Chemainus. The occupants were screaming nasty words at me as they left me in their wake. Couldn’t have been Phil and Jim, they are too well-mannered. Probably just some local drunk loggers having fun! J

Arriving in Campbell River after descending into freezing rain driven by the same strong buffeting winds that attacked the riders when heading north (the wind turned around), Ken decided that a hot shower, a good meal and warm bed was the answer to nearly being hypothermic. Yutaka survived, but just barely, vowing to ride on ‘nice weather only’ brevets in the future J Congratulations to each of the riders. I am hoping individual riders’ stories will be forthcoming.

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June 17, 2010