For Geneviève Arcand, tackling a 6,800 kilometre, ultra-endurance bike race across America hasn't exactly been a pleasure cruise.
Her knees are swollen, she's developed saddle sores and has been subsisting on a diet of convenience store snacks.
Arcand is competing in the fifth-annual Trans Am Bike Race, a self-supported race infamous for its ability to make even the toughest competitors call it quits long before reaching the finish line.
"On a self-supported bike race, you're not allowed to ask for help," Arcand said in an interview with CBC Edmonton's Radio Active.
"I can say, it's brutal. It's something. It's an experience."
The Trans Am route stretches from the Pacific Coast in Astoria, Ore., to the Atlantic Coast in Yorktown, Va., passing through 10 states.
Arcand, who lives in Jasper, joined the race on June 2, departing from Oregon and winding her way east through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado.
'Middle of the pack'
The race is not staged. From the moment riders leave the starting line, the clock on their race time never stops.
There are no food drops, no muster points. Accepting help from fellow riders, family, friends or strangers is strictly prohibited.
As of Wednesday, Arcand had reached Kansas, but many of her fellow competitors had not.
Only about half the riders finish each year and most of the competitors are sponsored athletes.
Arcand is a different kind of competitor. It's her first official race of any kind.
When she travelled 230 kilometres on day one of the race, it was a personal record.
"I'm really humbled to be here and compete, even if I'm in the middle of the pack," Arcand said.
'I wasn't even able to see the roads'
Trans Am riders have to be strategic, Arcand said, but she's struggled with some of the logistics.
She's become lost on the winding country roads. Her tire has gone flat more times than she can count. Good food and a comfortable place to sleep have been hard to come by.
In Wyoming, when it was too cold to hunker down in her bivy sack, Arcand slept in a Yellowstone National Park bathroom.
When an emergency alert pinged her cellphone as she hit Kansas, she made the mistake of ignoring it.
She ended up stranded in a summer monsoon.
"I received an alert on my cell phone yesterday about a flash flood and you know, like in Jasper, we got a lot of bad storms or really bad weather, so I thought, 'I can go through this,' but it was awful.
"I wasn't even able to see the roads and the fields — it was just water."
You never know what's going to happen.- Geneviève Arcand
Despite the rough patches, Arcand has no regrets about signing on for the gruelling race.
"I wanted to push my physical and mental limits, and take on a really big challenge," Arcand said.
For her, Trans Am is equal parts personal challenge and adventure. There is no preparing for the unexpected.
"You never know what's going to happen," she said.
"If you register for a 10-K run or a 10-K ride, you know that at the end, 10-K is 10-K, but when you register for 6,000 kilometres or so, you're like, 'Well, I guess I'll see what happens.'
"I love it. It's a blast."