A great article from the Huffington Post about Change the Cycle Tour came out today:
Smithers to Kitwanga, 120 km
Sonja and I started early from Smithers following the Buckley River. We had a break in Moricetown and admired the Buckley river gorge and Rapids where men were fishing for Salmon. I spoke with a man about fishing, the water levels of the river, the risk the Enbridge pipeline would pose on this watershed and the sad story of the Highway of Tears. His concern was that girls continue to hitchhike.
Colleen spoke to a young woman at the gas station where we had coffee about Change the Cycle. She was very interested in the project and intrigued about the tour. Her name was also Sonja, and she seemed to have a nice connection with us as well because of that.
Then we biked on to Hazelton and took a short break from cycling to drive by car to the Kispiox music festival up the Kispiox valley. The festival is in a beautiful setting with people swimming in the river while listening to music. This festival is a major event in the area and it had a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere.
I met the mayor of Smithers, Taylor Bachrach who had wanted to meet me earlier and we had a great conversation. He is very involved in initiatives concerning violence against women and he spoke of positive police collaboration and several men’s groups and initiatives. He also is very outspoken against the Enbridge pipeline and emphasized the solidarity in the are. We parted with the wish to stay in contact about the Highway of Tears issue.
Then I was invited to speak briefly about Change the Cycle to the audience. I felt it was a bit of a challenge to address violence against women to a crowd that attends this event to be entertained, but people were very kind and supportive notheless.
I biked solo to Kitwanga while Sonja drove with Colleen because both her knees hurt very badly. We had really pushed hard and probably too much riding given that she came directly from the Arctic and didn’t have any way to train while on Hendrickson Island.
Colleen and Sonja found an amazing campsite on a gravel road outside of Kitwanga. It was not easy to find (not sure why BC Recreation Sites don’t have signs!) but was up a mountain trail with an amazing view of the “Seven Sisters” and the Skeena River. We sat together looking out at snowy mountains in all directions and felt incredibly lucky to be on the tour together.