With the tough weather (rain and winds) Arvid has been facing, he’s been forced to ride longer days to keep up with the record pace. Like in 2011, this has resulted in fluid retention in his legs. If you’ve read the book, you’ll know that it feels like he is pedalling underwater when he’s retaining fluid. This results in sluggish RPMs, a loss of power, and decreased speed. If he’s forced to bike with fluid retention, his average speed drops by 5-10km/h. That loss of speed would guarantee falling behind the record, no matter how many hours in a day he cycled (unfortunately there’s a ceiling of 24 hours).

In order to combat the fluid retention, there are two possible methods: time off bike, and raising the feet. This allows gravity to bring the fluid back out of the legs. Arvid’s taking a 2-hour sleep with his legs almost straight up.

This is early in the ride to be dealing with this problem. Please keep him in your prayers, that he would experience renewed energy and that the fluid would drain quickly.

Tweaking the bike setup.

Arvid is cycling on Henderson Hwy from Hodinott to Lockport and back repeatedly. You can find him on the road pretty much any time of the day, unless he is eating or sleeping. If that is the case, he will be at 5839 Henderson Hwy, the home base for the ride. You’re also likely to meet some of the awesome crew if you stop in there. The crew are on 12-hour shifts, from 8am-8pm and 8pm-8am.

Yesterday’s weather made riding quite tough. It doesn’t look at this point like it will be getting all that much better. He’d prefer less wind, less rain, and more warmth. Keep those in your prayers!

Day 4 KM: 429
Total KM: 1876
Average KM: 469
Buffer: 108 KM Ahead

Today is good so far. There is now more of a tail and head wind. South winds. Arvid phoned in an order to the support crew. A cup of coffee with sugar and cream. Check, we will have that

ready for you. Coffee??? Turns out the support crew doesn’t drink or make coffee with these new fangled machines. Thankfully Joy was nearby and assisted with coffee production. Arvid all coffeed up and back on the road.

GWR 2014 Attempt is unique in many ways. There is no navigating. There is no desert. There are no mountains to climb. There are no 50 degree Celsius conditions.

But, 10,000 km is twice the distance of RAAM at virtually the same pace. There are huge ‘mountains’ to climb given the length and intensity of this event.

Sleep deprivation is already becoming an issue. Arvid had so hoped to build a significant buffer in the first week, when he would be at his strongest. With the difficult weather conditions that is not happening. He will obviously require more sleep as time goes on. Finding the balance of taking time to sleep when you feel like you are falling behind (and not knowing what lies ahead) is a constant challenge.

This past night and early morning were especially difficult.

We think of the challenges faced by Charles Mulli, his family and staff, and the children that are part of the MCF family. There is no doubt that they have many challenges. They have many a difficult night and early morning.

But the sun will always rise for a new day. And so we carry on. Thank you for standing with us.

At 7am.

When the night is as short as they have been (2-2.5 hours), it gets pretty

tough. Arvid is sleeping at the moment.

Those were Arvid’s words upon waking this morning. He got dressed but needed another 5 minutes before he could get on the bike.

The good news is that there is barely a wind out here, the temperature is comfortable, the sky is clear and it is not raining! Thanks to those of you that prayed for this.

It is great morning.

We are on the road with Arvid at the moment, following behind him because a dog was bothering him.

There is a fine mist falling. He has had a lot of rain today but remains in good spirits.

It was fun to visit with Matt & Adrienne a few hours ago. Thanks for coming by!

The rain part of the weather forecast mostly unfulfilled so far but the winds they are a blowing. Arvid’s request for the 4 piece chicken dinner from A & W went unfulfilled. Who knew they don’t serve chicken anymore. Chicken strips yes but no more chubby chicken. Arvid is doing well, riding strong.

Arvid has finished his third day at 10am. He is on record pace, but there will be many challenges yet to come. Since the terrain is always the same, the hope is to settle into some kind of routine and rhythm. As the days continue, it may seem like old news to visit him at the side of the road, but your cheerful and encouraging presence will become even more important.

Total KM: 1447
Day 3 KM: 453
Average: 482
Buffer: 121 KM Ahead

Back on the bike at 4:06am. It is very very windy this morning.

Bikes & Beyond has always serviced Arvid’s bikes. They do an outstanding job! A big thank you to Philip and his staff!

As bike mechanic, Jamie is going the extra mile for Arvid during this event. He is available 24/7 for any bike emergency. This is invaluable to us given the fact that Arvid has to ride all 10,000km on the same bike frame. This is a requirement of Guinness.

Jamie is coming out to home base every 2-3 nights to work on the bike while Arvid sleeps. Yes, that means that last night Jamie was here at 1am to give the bike a tune-up. WOW.

Thank you Jamie. As always, you did a superb job. The bike is running perfectly.