It was just before 5am that the first of the thunderclaps woke me up from my deep sleep.I glanced at my watch and saw that my alarm had been beaten to the punch by about 6 minutes but instead of excitedly going about the morning ritual of packing all my stuff I gingerly unzipped my tent and peered out into a very soggy world waiting to greet me.Shit!!
The weather had turned unexpectedly for the worse and with the rain came a chilly cold front that had me cursing the fact that I could now see my own breath.What made matters worse was the "dry" road that I had so carefully chosen to camp on was rapidly turing into a muddy quagmire.I found this little fact out when I leant out of the tent and grabbed my trailer for support as I crawled out of my sactuary.It mearly sank into the mud underneath and my heart sank with it.What sort of day would this be and where did this shitty weather come from?I slipped my shoes on and stood up next to my tent to be greeted by a dark grey start to what promised to be a very miserable day.I decided to wait it out for a while and got back inside my tent observing the peculiar sitiation of my shoes having accumulated an inch or so of mud,now attached to the soles.I cursed and crawled back into the still warm sleeping bag hoping that the storm would pass and all would be good in a hour or so.There was nothing for it but to go back to sleep.
About two hours later I must have rolled over in my sleep causing my arm to hit the floor of the tent beside me.The only problem with that was,normally my hand would have quietly rested on a dry nylon tent floor,this time though it hit the cold dampness of my tent with a slap that snapped me into conciousness in an instant.The tent was wet,my blanket was wet and my sleeping bag was about to be next.I jumped over to the other side of the tent and crushed myself against the opposite wall and looked back to see a dirty brown puddle forming where I was just lying.I put my hand into the puddle and found a small stick poking through the floor.It seems that as the rain soaked the ground under my tent my bodyweight had sunk the floor into the mud and onto a sick which had pierced the once sturdy nylon.Oh no,I was now in panic mode!As quickly as I could I grabbled everything and flung it to the far end of the tent which was still dry and then set about stuffing all my clothes into my dry compression bag,stuffing the sleeping bag into it's bag and then into a plastic bag before setting about dealing with the sopping blanket and some of my now soaked clothes.It was all hands on deck and the only saving grace was that the rain had stopped long enough for me to get out of the tent,pack my trailer bag and collapse camp without soaking everything.Thankfully my wet weather gear was performing well and thus far had kept me warm and dry during the frantic evacuation process.
There was nothing left to do but get on the road and ride.Normally I wouldn't go out onto the road in conditions this bad but standing around in the pouring rain,being buffeted by a chilly wind was doing nothing for me so I decided that I might as well get going.The actual proocess of moving was a chore as the thick mud stuck fast to everything and the hundred meteres or so to the highway might as well have been a kilometer given the lenght of time it took to push all my gear through the sticky mess.Once on the road I had to wash down my wheels and brakes so that they would work and then it was off again towards Grande Cache,somewhere off in the blackness of a cold Alberta morning. Looking back I probrably should have stayed in my tent and just patched the leak with some tape but I guess I was in too much of a hurry and didn't listen to the little voice inside my head telling me never to ride during such bad conditions.That decision could very well have cost me more than just a miserable soaking ride in the rain.
I had ridden about 20 kilometers along the hilly highway to nowhere when it happened and it happened so suddenly that it was surreal.I had just ridden up and over a long climb and was starting the speedy coast down the other side trying to control by bike from being blown into the lane by the fierce side wind coming from my right.It was so strong that I had to lean into the wind to keep a straight line but that made me feel very unstable and quite frankly scared as hell.As my speed picked up the noise of the wind and rain was thundering in my ears and I never heard the semi-trailer coming but I surely felt it's presence.As soon as the huge truck past me the wind I had been leaning into was blocked and that,combined with the blast of air from the truck itself made me lose all control and I was blown off the road and sent crashing into the flooded ditch on that lined the highway.Once the full weight of my trailer started down the ditch there was no controlling it and I landed heavilly knocking the wind out of my lungs and and all enthusiasm for the road out of my head.
I don't know how long I lay in the ditch and I don't know if I was knocked out but it seemed and eternity,by my recollection,between crashing and finding myself standing once again on the side of the road,this time however I wasn't just wet,I was also covered in mud.I know that I did take stock to find out if the bike was okay and to check myself out for injury.Luckily we had both escaped major worries and came away with only some scratches and bruises,thank's in part I guess to the soft landing and the number of layers I was wearing to keep out the cold.That cold was starting to eat away at my defences though and I realised that it was time to get out of this bad situation and try to get some help from someone passing by.I did realise though that the chances of someone stopping to offer assistance on this lonely stretch of road during a storm were slim but to be covered in muck from the ditch would make it an impossibility so I had to clean up a bit first.I found an old Tim Hortons coffee cup and started using it to wash all the mud off my wet weather gear before takling the layers underneath.I must have looked a sight standing barefoot by the side of the road scooping water out of a puddle and then giving myself a bath while a frigid rainstorm raged around me.
Once my rain gear was somewhat clean I set about cleaning my bike and trailer.I figured I better make an attempt at making myself as presentable as possible in order to convince the passing motorists that I wasn't some sort of crazy wild man of the highway.It didn't seem to work though as I stood on the side of the road,thumbing my way suth to Grande Cache for the best part of the next five hours without anyone even slowing down.I must admit I was feeling very disconsulate and no amount of self chatter could lift my spirits as I sat there eating some oats mixed with trail-mix out of the cup I had cleaned myself with.Mixing it all together with puddle water made the whole experience even less joyous.I needed a change of plan.
I had noticed that the traffic heading in the opposite direction,back to Grande Prairie seemed to be increasing and with that town so much closer than Gande Cache I figured I might be a little luckier if I changed tack and headed back from where I came.It worked!After standing on the miserable highway for five hours trying to go one way and then crossing the road for another hour and a bit trying to go the other I finally heard the sound of a truck gearing down as it approached me.I was never happier to see the sight of a line of brakelights in my life and I ran down the road to the truck which had stopped some thirty meters past me and asked for help.The two guys inside asked me if I was okay and when they realised that I was in trouble they got out,picked up all my gear and strapped it down onto the deck of their flatbed truck.Yaaay!
As soon as I hopped in the back of the cab they asked where I wanted to go and where I had come from.They assumed that I had come from the south and was heading north and the driver asked if I was heading to Alaska to ride the ALCAN.I explained that I had already done that and I just was going back to town to dry out and take stock.He then asked if I had been to any of the lodges on the ALCAN and when I said yes,lot's of them he told me that his father owned the Continental Divide Lodge in the Yukon.I laughed and said that I was at that lodge drinking coffee with his father around thirteen days earlier.He couldn't belive it and with that I was given a thermos full of hot coffee and a meatball sub to eat while introductions were made.Brandon,the driver, asked if I was planning to stay in a motel in town and when I said yes he just dismissed that thought and said "you are coming home to stay at my place." Chris,the young passenger laughed and said "Lisa is going to shit when she hears this". With that Brandon picked up his cell phone,called his girlfriend and simply said "I found a hitchhiker on the highway and I'm brining him home to stay."He then hung up and without waiting for a reply and they both spent the next 80 kilometers or so asking me all about my trip as we cruised back to civilization..
What a surreal day!!
