Tour de North 2009: August 2009

Saturday, August 29, 2009

schedule

Ride Itinerary
2009

Date Location Distance

Friday 11th September: Prince George - Vanderhoof 100km
Saturday 12th September: Vanderhoof - Fort St. James-Fraser Lake 165km
Sunday 13th September: Fraser Lake - Burns Lake 69km
Monday 14th September: Burns Lake - Houston - Smithers 144km
Tuesday 15th September: Smithers - New Hazelton 67km
Wednesday 16th September: New Hazelton - Terrace 137km
Thursday 17th September: Terrace - Prince Rupert 144km
Friday 18th September: Depart Prince Rupert to home detachments
DAY DEPART TIME ARRIVE TIME

1 Sandman – PG 830 RE/MAX – PG 845
1 RE/MAX - PG 930 Tim Horton's- Col Heights 1000
1 Prince George 1020 Bednesti 1230
1 Bednesti 1330 Vanderhoof 1600
2 Vanderhoof 800 Fort St.James 1100
2 Fort St. James 1200 Fraser Lake 1730
3 Fraser Lake 900 Burns Lake 1330
4 Burns Lake 830 Houston 1200
4 Houston 1300 Smithers 1645
5 Smithers 900 Moricetown 1100
5 Moricetown 1300 Hazelton 1440
6 Hazelton 800 Kitwanga 1100
6 Kitwanga 1200 Terrace 1600
7 Terrace 800 Prince Rupert 1430

The Tour de North by the numbers

Let me start by saying that we will ride at least 864 km not 826 like someone keeps telling the media. The past 2 years we have ridden 864 km so I am not sure where the other number came from but I guess its safe to say that if you say something enough times with authority then people will believe it.
Another thing that amazed me is that we actually end up getting quite a few flats - 21 last year and more the year before. In 2007, I rode over a huge staple but luckily my tire went flat just as we were pulling into a rest stop on the edge of Vanderhoof so I ended up not having to chase back to group..
We have been pretty lucky as far as crashes go. Last year was uneventful but in 2007 we had 3 people go down, 1 tipped over, 1 got caught in the gravel shoulder and the last one ran into the back of another rider.

Lots of people ask how fast we ride: the average speed is between 25 and 29 km/h, but there are times when we battle the wind and slow to less than 20km/h and when the wind is at our backs we can cruise at over 35 km/h. Last year Steve Smith recorded the fastest speed at almost 85 km/h going down 6 Mile Hill outside of Burns Lake.

This year I am going to keep track of a few more things and will report them here after the Tour.