Right now my friend Eric Farr (of Honeyman and the Brothers Farr and the Hidden Words) is working with the International Development and Relief Foundation and his main job is running the Mother’s Day Bike Challenge that will take a group of volunteers from different faiths from Toronto to Ottawa to raise money the organization’s maternal health work in Asia and Africa.  Just a few weeks ago I joined Eric on on a bike ride to run through the route and marry Eric’s foolish optimism with my actual experience planning bike tours with the Otesha Project.

The tour turned out to be a total disaster that cost us our friendship and very nearly our very lives.  Unlike many Facebook users who use their profiles that project a version of their lives that is filled only with weddings, concerts and puppy dogs, Eric and I had the courage to say petty things about each other to all our friends.

For all you people who prefer to wait for your show’s season to end so that you can download the whole thing and blast through it in just a few sittings, here now is every episode of this story in order with some of our favorite comments.

Day one: Toronto to Pickering

From my wall:

Eric writes:

Day two: Pickering to Cobourg

We both posted that morning before hitting the road:

That night Eric gathered his strength to write:

My account of the experience:

Day three: Cobourg to Belleville

Lots of activity on day three.  It all started with some yoga, I wrote:

Saavasana expert Eric shared:

Our kind Cobourg host Mr. Darrell Flewell posted this photo:

Eric changed his profile picture:

As did I:

That night we both shared a video:

Here it is:

At some point that day one of our mutual friends found a comparison to make:

Day four: Belleville to Kingston

Day four had its ups and downs.  That morning I shared this photo:

Later on Eric also shared a photo:

Late that night Eric whined:

While I celebrated:

Day five: Kingston to Perth

A former colleague of mine claimed to spot us getting out of a car that morning in Kingston:

Here is the video, likely directed by special effects wizard James Cameron:

Late that night from Perth, Eric gave the following status update:

I updated my status to share a number of discoveries:

Day six: Perth to Ottawa

Another strange night for Longneck.  That morning he shared a photo with the following incoherent caption:

I updated my status to ask a question:

Later on that morning Farr reports:

My version:

At some point that day Carolyne Gardner, our host in Pickering, shared her thoughts:

But by then it was too late.

The aftermath

Safe at home, we both had a new video to share:

Here is that video:

The epilogue

The final chapter in our story came in the form of a YouTube video released to Facebook about a week after the tour ended.  Eric Farr pompously writes:

I had this to say:

Here’s the video:

The Mother’s Day Bike Challenge

The actual tour is hitting the road next Wednesday on the 9th of May.  In his typical foolish optimism, Eric has set himself the ambitious goal of raising $2000 to go towards the International Development and Relief Foundation’s important maternal health projects.  Click here to pitch in what you can to help him reach his goal.