This was not written as a newsletter submission - it was an e mail message from Keith to Ken Bonner. Keith agreed to let me put it in the newsletter. [EF]

Keith's Salmon Arm 1000
by Keith Fraser

I was happy to see the unusually high completion rate for the Salmon Arm 1000. Was sorry that Barry, Tracy and Dave were unable to join the finisher's list but 17 out of 20 finishers is something to commend. My own ride started out well enough but had a somewhat inexplicable end. Inexplicable because I found myself a guest of the emergency department of the small hospital in Maple Ridge on Monday morning, with my worried parents at my bedside. How I got there is an interesting tale. Up to the point of Kamloops on the way back I was doing fairly well. The stretch between Kamloops and Cache Creek, featuring strong headwinds, put a dent in the overall average speed. From Cache Creek to Boston Bar it was a howling wind. At one point at Lytton I was nearly blown off my bike by a gust of wind. After Boston Bar, at nightfall, the wind died down a bit and I made reasonable progress as far as Mission. The clear skies gave way to cloud and drizzle from Hope onward. Stopping for a sandwich and hot chocolate at Mission I was still in good command of my faculties but not long after I departed Mission I started to become disoriented. Parts of the Mission to Maple Ridge section I can't recall. I do recall finding myself in a quandary as I stood with my bike on the side of the Lougheed near the old Albion ferry turnoff. I kept thinking I was on the wrong route and there was another way to get to the Barnet Highway but for the life of me couldn't figure out which way to go. Eventually I got back on the bike and rolled along until the Haney bypass turn, stopping at the 7-Eleven store. I asked the store clerk if I could sit down inside where it was warmer and he agreed but what he probably didn't anticipate was that I would fall asleep. At some point I expect I mumbled something about being off course and disoriented, possibly dehydrated, because he asked if should call the paramedics. I agreed and before long two paramedics appeared and checked me over. Attempting to stand, both legs seized up in cramp. They suggested that I should go to the hospital and I agreed, climbing into the blue jump seat of the ambulance. At one point I attempted to call my brother, Gary, but was unable to reach him. His wife, Kathy, however, forwarded a message to my parents, who hopped in their car and arrived at the hospital. By this time I was resting comfortably in a bed, with an IV bag flowing into my left arm and beginning to feel better. The thought that I should return to the 7-11 and finish the ride crept into my mind as I realized that I wasn't off course, but merely 40 kms from the finish (my bike had been left in a storage room at the back of the store). The doctor said he'd agree to it only if he could put a second bag of IV fluid in me and if I could drink down a large container of ice water. He squeezed the IV fluid bag to speed it up, until my left arm began to feel distinctly cool. I drank down the water and they disengaged me from the IV tube. Discharged from the hospital, I got a lift back to the store with my parents and I hopped back on my bike, riding in to the finish at 1:25 p.m. Monday. I got in to the Mission control some time around 3:30 a.m. so it took me nearly 10 hours to do the last 60 kms!

Ride Date: June 19, 2010

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June 23, 2010