Distance: approx 65km / 40.3 Miles
Elevation Gain: 2100m / 6900 feet
Aid Station 1 Distance: approx 25km
Aid Station 2 Distance: approx 45km

Started in the rain up a road through Sechelt, then through a quarry area and up a sandy wide road.  Into some singletrack with wet babyheads and roots.  Just getting into the singletrack, we pulled over and I watched Kathy down 4 CLIF shots in a row while she tried to stabilize her blood sugar.  We then crossed a creek and everyone was so stacked up through the singletrack that we had to walk things that were completely rideable.  There was a really long boardwalk through a swamp.  We rode as slowly as possible but even so, eventually had to stop when we caught up to the people that were walking in front of us.  Totally frustrating, rainy, and crappy.

We road some trails in the Rat Race Trail System, which is purported to be some of the best trails anywhere - according to riders who have raced in many places around the world.   Stopped at one point to put Jodi up on a little wooden plane before one of the bridges.  There were lots and lots of bridges and we went through a lot of old growth forest with beautiful cedars.  I imagine that some of these trees were the source of the large quantity of bridges. 

This was the day I remember just climbing and climbing and climbing through singletrack (which is more fun than road but takes sooo much longer)… I checked Kathy’s ride report – it says “don’t remember much of this day other than climbing a lot”. I also don’t really remember Aid 1 at all.  I do remember that before Aid 2 there was a long, long climb up rooty, muddy single track, but once we got out of that and turned left we finally got to Aid 2. Mmm….I also remember Kathy and other people making fun of me and calling me a goat but I had decided it was way more tiring to push the bike up stuff than it was to just ride slowly.  Insert goat sound – whatever it is – baaaaah??  Huh – better brush up on my farm animal noises apparently.  Anyway….at Aid 2 there was a lovely fire and we took coats and gloves off to try to dry them out.  Anyhow, there were people that were covered in blankets attempting to get their cores warm sitting in front of the fire.  Shimano was our on-course support and we were particularly amused by their creative "knight" attire, complete with a garbage can shield.  Yes - that's the kind of quirkiness you find at these events...wait until tomorrow-that too gets better.

When we finally got down to the ferry terminal, it had dried out and we had some dry clothing in our “little red bags” that had traveled with us on the bus each day.  I was happy to pass on my bike to the crew, grab my bag of clean clothes and shed the wet stuff. Yahoo!!!  We headed down to the ferry terminal to wait with everyone else to take the next ferry back to the buses that would deliver us to Squamish.

My favorite part of this day?  They had veggie dogs at the terminal – I ran, YES, sprinted over to the vending and got hot dogs, veggie dogs and whatever else I thought we might want.  BEST veggie dog ever…so we ate and then jumped on the ferry.  Worst part of the day was trying to get warm at Aid Station 2 and then riding a cold, cold bus with open windows all the way to Squamish from the ferry terminal.  Mental note – pack a nice down jacket that will squish down and don’t forget a nice warm beanie for post-ride bus rides.

Alright!  Arrival to Squamish…dumped my stuff in the tent Angela has so kindly commandeered, grabbed her and my dirty clothes and laundry stuff, and caught the shuttle to Kathy’s hotel to do some laundry.  Luck was with me and the laundry room was totally empty so I got to wash my and Angela’s stuff and get some of Kathy’s into the rotation too.  Kathy took off for her massage, I grabbed a hot shower (first of the entire week), and then ordered dinner.  Ran downstairs to pick up a huge baked potato, salmon filet, and some sort of veggies or other.  With the stuff all dry, I caught a cab back to base-camp with 2 bags full of clean dry clothes.  Really, it’s the little things! : )

Here’s the video with tidbits of what we rode throughout Day 5:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MROoCQALU4w