McBride to Prince George
This was one day I was looking forward to – making it to Prince George – meeting Sebastian and in a few days Sonja when she is back from the Arctic. I thought this would be a long but fairly easy day along the Fraser river. However it turned out to be a very cruel ride and more like following the “Fraser Mountains”.
The route from McBride to Prince George follows some of the contours of the Caribou Mountain Range with very steep ups and downs, over and over again, and crossing wild rivers coming down the mountains. Early in the morning a moose and I surprised each other. The moose was having breakfast beside the road while I was following my course.
Soon the heat settled in and the long climbs felt like riding through an oven. Trucks handle the climbs by going really fast down the slopes to make it up most of the next uphill. The road was good for the most part, but I noticed that in BC they have no guardrails preventing vehicles going down the slopes and banks if they catch the side of the road. Luckily the wind was from behind, however it turned against me around the halfway point.
For 160 km there was no place to get any food or drinks so I was fairly dehydrated even with the close to 3 liters of water I brought with me. I had a break 55 km before Prince George at Purden Lake (no idea if the name is related to the Purdons)
At the Prince George city boundary I was met by Sonja’s partner Dave and 3 friends who escorted me into town. Too bad that I arrived so late that Sebastian could not be part of the welcome bike group. He was playing Les Miserable which is his job for the summer. However when he came home we had that long awaited hug.
Today was exactly 4 weeks since I started in Owen Sound with that wonderful farewell gathering at the Men’s Program. It felt so supportive and reflected our dedication to end violence against women.
The tour has been very intense over these weeks with many layers of experience: riding the bike, meeting people and hearing women’s and men’s stories about changing the cycle. There have been stimulating conversations with people who engage in critical thinking, lots of planning (destinations, finding places to sleep), meeting family members and wonderful hosts, making new friends, leaving places and people who I just got to know, making contact with media, and doing interviews, seeing and smelling the country as I cycle through it, trying to stay at a distance from trucks, observing the vegetation beside the road and in the fields, listening to the birds, wondering about and dealing with all kinds of weather and winds,contemplating change, and looking for the changes I find along the way.
In many respects Owen Sound is far away and I can’t believe I’m already where I am. And in a few days I will ride on a highway that has been the source of so much pain and injustice for First Nations Women.
So here are some pictures from the day:
The Fraser River
Crossing the Fraser River
Tip of a snowy mountain in the distance
On the road to Prince George with the Caribou Mountains
One of the many bridges along the way
Crossing Willow Creek, near Prince George
Some of the wonderful people who greeted me in Prince George
Wow , congratulations- you have made it to Prince George! The rest will be well deserved. I am in awe, what a guy! Say Hi to Sonja and Sebastian for me
Thanks Ann
Congratulations on completing this portion of the ride and on gaining so much support along the way !
Jeff and Juanita
Thanks Jeff and Juanita
Yes it’s amazing how things are moving west and finding new friends and connections
Lieber Joachim,
erst heute habe ich von Martin mit Schrecken erfahren, dass es ihn so schlimm erwischt hatte und bin sehr froh, dass er auf dem Weg der Besserung ist und bald eine ambulante Reha antritt. Haette ich die letzten Wochen nicht versaeumt in Deinen Blog zu schauen, waere das nicht passiert.
Heute habe ich das aber nachgeholt und alle Deine interessanten Berichte gelesen und die schoenen Bilder angeschaut. 1997 haben wir eine Reise in den Westen Kanadas gemacht und ich habe, angeregt durch Dich und meine Nichte, endlich aus den Fotos und dem Reisetagebuch ein Fotobuch gemacht; die Erinnerungen an dieses schoene Land sind jetzt wieder sehr lebendig.
Auch das “Ziel” Deiner Reise beschaeftigt mich.
Vor Kurzem habe ich in eine Radiosendung mit einem palaestinensischen Psychologen gehoert, der muslimischen Jugendlichen aus traditionellen Rollenzwaengen herauszukommen hilft, die haeufig Ursache fuer Gewalt gegen Frauen sind: die Ehre der Frauen und der Familie ist zu kontrollieren, notfalls mit Gewalt. Ahmad Mansour ist Mitglied in einem Verein namens HEROES, der in Schulklassen Workshops macht, um mit Rollenspielen und Diskussionen Denkanstoesse zum Hinterfragen dieser Verhaltensweisen zu geben. Da die Mitglieder dieses Vereins auch Muslime sind, werden sie leichter akzeptiert.
Dieser Ansatz scheint mir sehr Erfolg versprechend und koennte auch in anderen Bereichen wirken.
Ich weiss nicht, ob Du die Moeglichkeit hast, Dir diese Sendung von etwa 30 Minuten im Internet anzuhoeren. Ich schicke Dir einfach mal den Link.
http://www.swr.de/swr2/programm/sendungen/tandem/-/id=8986864/nid=8986864/did=11486212/1n3smtc/index.html
Nun wuensche ich Dir eine weiterhin sehr erfolgreiche Fahrt – ich kann es kaum glauben, was Du schon alles geschafft hast!
Ute
Thanks Ute
For thinking of this project. Yes, violence is deeply embedded in our culture which is still based on patriarchy a 6000 year old system of oppression. I will check out your website