I'm going to be honest here, because I want participants to enter this event with full awareness so that they can plan for success.

Why is this route called "Hope and Desperation"? "Hope" is obvious: it's the easternmost point of the route. "Desperation", though? Because this is not a quick and easy route. The first uninterrupted flat section starts at about 208 km. Throughout the ride, you'll encounter rolling hills. Gravel segments. Urban traffic. If you have a cycling computer, the extrapolated ETA will slip as you go. The Cultus Lake / Columbia Valley climbs will slow you down. White Rock is busy in the summer. You might encounter a parade in Ladner (Sunday at noon) and have to walk your bike past crowds for a block. And as you approach the end and the clock is ticking, every red light on Garden City Rd in Richmond will cost you a precious minute. You might hope to be able to regain your flow and make up for lost time on the UBC loop, but surely you'll be tired by then.

All of the off-road segments are fine crushed gravel, ridable with 28 mm tires. They are hard-packed and well drained, for all practical purposes like a rough road. Mud Bay is the exception: the gravel is more loosely sprinkled, and the soil is susceptable to forming a few mud puddles.

There are numerous motels on or just off the route in Hope or Chilliwack. The Vedder River Inn in Chilliwack (351 km, just north of the turn off Thomas Rd onto Vedder Road) is recommended. Book ASAP! A word of advice, though, if you make a booking in Chilliwack: verify the check-in policy to make sure that you arrive at an acceptable time: it might take you longer than you think to get there.

Colin Fingler lives at the south end of Cultus Lake, and has offered to host overnight guests and to assist with breakdowns and DNF situations in the Chilliwack / Abbotsford area. Other than the staffed controls at the beginning and end, expect no organizer support.

This route is a variant of the one used in 2022. Following my preride, I've made a few tweaks to avoid the most unreasonable bits, such as a few blocks in White Rock where there was bumper-to-bumper traffic with no room to squeeze through on a bike.