2002 Season Review - Appendix to footnote 1:

So here's Ken's e-mail to me from January 2003 where he answers a few questions I had about his 2003 season. [Eric F, January 2003]

1. Boise 1000 + LC1200
** This was a Stephen Hinde "wonderif" ... I initially did not think it was possible, but not wanting to disappoint Stephen, I thought "maybe", particularly if I could handle riding a VERY, VERY slow 1200!! So, we did it! Chased by an aggressive, drooling large-fanged monster through a section of Washington state; nearly crashing on the I-90 on Snoqualmie Pass in the middle of the night (caught the front tire in a crack in the road and abruptly swerved across 2 lanes of traffic --- fortunately there was a break in the traffic!!) stopped by the police north of Yakima -- wondered what I was doing there in the middle of the night; sleeping on the side of the freeway in the dark, just north of Boise, I was woken by someone checking to see if I was OK .... 4 large pick-ups and one large freight truck had stopped!!

2. How long between these rides? Finished the 1000 about 3 or 3:30 on the Monday PM; then Stephen drove us to a Motel 6 just short of Salt Lake City by 10:00 pm Monday night. Awoke early the next morning and drove all day Tuesday to arrive in Boulder about 8:30 pm. Grabbed a couple of hours sleep, then arrived at the 3:00 am Wednesday start in Boulder. By the last night on the road of the LC 1200 I could not keep my eyes focused .... but there was no place to lie down except on the secondary highway we were traveling on .... only trucks going by about 60 mph every 15 to 20 minutes; so I lay down on the road and tried to catch a few winks between trucks .... a little hard to relax when you are not entirely sure when the next truck is coming!!

Highly recommend the LC 1200 -- see my write up in the UMCA magazine (Nov/Dec issue) [Ed: I've reprinted it Here]

By the way, the next weekend I rode the SIR Cascade 1000 .... up in the interior of Washington, they warned me to watch out for the deer on the road at night (migration season!), not only watch out for the deer, but particularly watch out for the cars that swerve abruptly to avoid the deer. I saw so many deer carcasses that began to imagine it was only a matter of time before I joined them!!

3. Slipping on the ice. Just a dumb thing, riding to work on the only day Victoria had snow last year (1st day of spring); doing about 5 mph; look down for some reason, see ice ..... and bang, right onto my left hip. Back riding the following week, but no running for 3 months (cracked hip); Just get back to gently jogging around the block, when my fellow Californian randonneur unexpectedly and abruptly rides into me on the Rocky Mountain 1200 --- about 400 k into the ride, perfect road conditions, sunny --- end result, cracked helmet, bent front wheel and a cracked rib! No more running until just before the Victoria Marathon (about 50 miles); ran the Royal Victoria Marathon, (I've run all of them, which I think is 23) and then the following week ran the Humboldt Redwood Marathon .... pulled a hamstring which has limited my running until after Xmas! Not a good year for running, but did provide me with the time to put in the rando miles!!!

4. Yes, the marathon count is at 137 .... and yes, I turned 60 on October 10th .... and will be retiring from the Ministry of Children & Family Development on June 30th/03

A few days later I asked Ken for one more accuacy sweep through the season review... footnotes... appendix... and he mentioned one more interesting little tid bit:

"You could add that I am starting to think seriously about an attempt on the cross-Canada record in '04. So, would appreciate hearing from folks who would like to help in the planning and execution. (Funding Business Plan; best route; logistics; support crew & equipment, etc.)"