Malahatma Gone-di

The Malahat is not all that. It’s more like Mala-hain’t-all-that, but enough with the word plays. Squirrel and I conquered that devil highway, plus the extra jaunt to the ferry, in about seven hours. That seems like a long time, but without some kind of rocket booster Squirrel has to walk up every hill, while I ride alongside at a snail’s squirrel’s pace. We covered roughly 75 km without incident. I had to stop a few times to tighten things up (Karkharoth was ill-prepared for the journey), but other than that it went smooth as can be. I didn’t even find it all that difficult. I know I could keep that pace up all the way over the Rockies, and I can’t wait to see Squirrel bomb those hills. The only pressing problem I noticed is brake pads. I went through about 2/3 of my pads in one day, slowing down constantly to stay with the board. I don’t have much back brake left for my day to day riding, and we already know what happens when I use the front. I might look into remedying that.

It was dark and miserable when we finally got back to the Rock, so we stopped in at a little party to warm up, and warm up we did. I find I get tipsy fast after riding 70 km. When everybody went to the bar, Squirrel and I ripped home to get ready for another night of partying, and that was when we had our first incident. Squirrel, in a long looping corner onto my road, through a bunch of wet leaves and pine needles, took a bit of a spill. He jumped up quick, cursing, and hopped back on his board. I was equal parts laughing and wincing. It looked like it hurt. When we got to my place he took off his jacket to find blood dripping out, and a piece of skin that was no longer a part of him. I almost ralfed when he exclaimed, “This is skin!” and held it up for me to see.

It was an epic day, from starting out still drunk from the night before, to getting home a little drunk (and Squirrel a little bloody), with a little 70 km trek in between. We proved we can get a lot of traveling done in a day (considering we didn’t start until noon), so Canada shouldn’t be a problem. We proved that my field dressing skills need a little improvement (Squirrel told me today that his bed was all bloody when he woke up). And we proved that eating at every Subway you see is a good way to keep fueled up for an adventure (do I hear sponsorship?). This was just the first of many training runs, and was a great confidence booster to do it sans problemes. I don’t imagine they’ll all go as smoothly (especially at the rate I burn up brake pads), but I’m ready to face anything now, except maybe that charging bear.