Hello to whomever may be reading this, I hope someone!? It’s been a while since my last post, but worry not, lots has been going on, even if it may not seem like it. We are getting so close to the departure date and it’s not getting any less scary!! More exciting, yes, but there’s still an underlying fear of the unknown that hangs around. Yes, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, as we’re venturing  through a civilized country with wifi, nonetheless, my point is, it’s a big country.

The past few months have been filled with organizing, logistics, and training, Lots and lots of training (ok, maybe not that much). We tend to ride once a week 100km outdoors and indoors on a trainer (not 100km) most other days of the week. I do have to say it’s getting easier but to be honest, a bit boring; so I can’t wait to get started and be able to bike in a new setting every day! A big accomplishment has been finalizing the route!! I’ve actually posted it on here, so you can go check it out if you’re interested. If we’re going through your city, be sure to let me know!

I’d like to insert a quick story into this otherwise informative and boring post, here goes:

Sunday my mom and I went for our usual 100km weekly long ride. Two funny things happened.

1.) I happened to pass two people in my grade, whilst biking, I’m still surprised they recognized me, helmet and all (!) The funny thing is that Monday at school they told me they were walking along the water on a section of the Trans-Canada Trail and talking about how I may be biking here this summer, and then like two minutes later, I passed them, pretty funny!

2.) Ok, I may be a little too proud of this one, I CHANGED MY FIRST FLAT TIRE (practically all on my own). So we were riding laps around Stanley Park, (side note: go there if you’re ever in Vancouver, it’s quite spectacular) and my wheel was acting super weirdly, so I pulled over. I could obviously see that it was a flat and immediately I jumped with joy. Yes, I know this isn’t the typical reaction to a flat tire, nor should I ever react like that again, but I mean, it was my first one. My dad has been telling me for weeks that I need to learn how to change a flat. I have also been telling him for weeks that I knew how! So, another aspect to this situation was me getting to prove to him that I was right and I did know how to do this. If you know me, I like being right. So I proceeded to change the tire, only having to start from scratch like five times, no big deal, it was my first time, right? So I don’t know how long changing a flat is supposed to take, but it took me an hour. Yes, that may seem long but I feel like I could easily lower that time and by the end of the summer I’m sure I could compete in the tire changing Olympic event. Wow, that was quite the wordy story, wasn’t it. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures if you don’t believe me:

So this whole ride is in support of Katcham school, a small 150 student primary school in rural Cambodia. I’ve been working closely with Tim who runs United World Schools, (thanks for everything, Tim and UWS, if you’re reading this!) and recently he sent me a picture and It made me feel like everything was a whole lot more real. As you may be able to imagine, sitting behind a computer doesn’t really give you the full picture of something.

That’s about it from here for now. As we get closer to departure date, June 22, I will definitely start posting more as much more will begin to happen! If you haven’t already, make sure to make a donation, everything makes a difference! If you’re interested in seeing how you can get involved and be a part of this, let me know!

-Margaux