From Port Coquitlam, BC, we rode just over 50km's to a harbor in Vancouver to dip our tires. But...not before I popped two more tubes and ripped two tires, forcing Adrian and Rainer (who generously offered) to ride forward to the nearest bike shop, which I had fortunately located and drawn on a map before we left. Mike and I sat on the side of a busy road, watching the rush hour traffic home for about 45 minutes before seeing Adrian and Rainer biking towards us bearing toothy grins with new tires in plain view. I was overjoyed to have new tires, new tubes, and new brake pads, which I desperately needed, forgot to mention to the boys before they left, but which they still remembered for me. I love my team!!
So, from there we biked beneath the skytrain towards the very edge of downtown Vancouver. On the way I popped another tube, ripped my front tire, and so was now riding on my two brand new tires and tubes, which reassured me a good deal. A little peace of mind went pretty far at this point, an assurance that was solidified once Rainer bought a dozen donuts we devoured while the tire change was in progress. We definitely eat like real cyclists.
So on we went, through Vancouver, and what a beautiful city it is. Granville, Stanley Park, all the shopping areas are filled with eclectic local stuff (plus the customary crap stores in every city) and restaurant and pub areas are lined with trees. I immediately got hooked by the city.
We eventually found the water and chose the rowing club as our tire-dipping point. We were welcomed with open arms there and some of the vets at the club bought us pitchers and shots, which as you can imagine, directly after biking hits the system very quickly.
From there we were picked up by Geoff Scoates, our good friend and roommate of the rest of the guys, who took us back to New Westminster, a beautiful suburb not too far from downtown.
In the following days we got to:
-See Transformers
-Take the ferry to Vancouver Island
-Ride to Tofino with Matty Bond, go surfing and camping
-Visit Victoria, hit the bars, and free tickets to see Rise Against, Silverstein, and Comeback Kid
-All you can eat Sushi in Vancouver for lunch
-Hilarious t-shirt shopping at the vintage shops downtown
-Enjoy the great company of the Scoates family
-Mail pictures and letters to all the families and people who housed, helped, or provided camping spots along the way
-Bike through a gigantic paper finish line made by Geoff (video coming soon)
So our flights arrived back in Toronto late last night, and Mike reached Moncton a bit earlier for his 10 day solo trek to Montreal. To make up for the portions I missed from Sudbury to Espanola and Bassano to Calgary, I'm biking solo to Montreal (gonna do it in one day, 200 or so kms, eeesh), then will ride with Mike back into Ottawa.
What a journey this was. The four of us did little training for this trip and mapped out our route along the way. We met some of the most generous people this country has to offer and experienced the massive beauty of its landscape. It's impossible to pick a favorite moment, so I won't. Each part of the trip, the easy rides and those straight into heavy wind and/or rain, combine to form our collective experience, one we won't forget for the rest of our lives. I highly recommend doing this trip yourself, it's not a matter of how much time you budget or money or weather or bike. Though having some things on your side and a bit of luck is always beneficial, toughness, patience, character, and determination allow both people like us and couples in their 60's to travel the exact same roads and conquer the same challenges. It's a personal test that is as mental as it is physical, and one that feels pretty damn rewarding upon completion. As we sat on the docks of the rowing club having a pint and telling locals of our journey, we couldn't help but smile while taking in the high-rises and olympic construction towering before us. "We biked across Canada!" Rainer said, and I replied, "we sure did."
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Calgary to Present, More Details
July 10th Calgary, AB to Banff, AB - 119km, 4:35
July 11th Invermere, BC Rest Day spent at Columbia Lake and Hot Springs
July 12th Banff, AB to outside Golden, BC - 134km, 6:33
July 13th Outside Golden, BC to near Revelstoke, BC - 121km, 5:11
July 14th Near Revelstoke, BC to Salmon Arm, BC - 131km, 5:14
July 15th Salmon Arm, BC to Kamloops, BC - 119km, 4:55
July 16th Kamloops, BC to Merritt, BC - 99km, 5:06
July 17th Merritt, BC to Hope, BC - 124km, 5:20
July 18th Hope, BC to Port Coquitlam, BC - 131km, 5:29
From Calgary we had a beautiful ride towards Banff, with our first sighting of the magnificent Rocky Mountains. After just a few minutes of riding I experienced some severe groin muscle pain/cramps, possibly from dehydration or some random other thing. Maybe it was the Bocce ball tournament at the Doble house, who knows...After that subsided it was a smooth ride downhill into Banff. You'd think it would be going up heading west into the Rockies, but Calgary is actually very high, so more often than not through the mountains we were going down. The views approaching Banff were incredible, with majestic hills all around and jagged peaks in the distance. One of our easiest and most enjoyable rides for sure.
In the ski village of Banff, amid mass construction unfortunately, we left our bikes with friends of Mike's aunt and uncle. Mike's uncle Jean-Luc picked us up in the evening and drove us to his family's home in Invermere, BC, a beautiful town nestled near a gaping valley. On the drive in we saw a mountain goat with a tiny baby licking the rocks about 20 feet up from the road, very cool. The balance of those animals is to be admired.
Jean-Luc is a gourmet chef, his wife Stephanie a massage therapist, and baby daughter Vanessa is a hilarious, incredibly bright little ball of energy. We had a great time meeting them all, enjoying their company, their hot-tub, beds, and delicious food. Our day off took us to some wonderful, albeit sulfur-smelling hot springs, perfect for relaxing the muscles. After that we cooled off in Columbia Lake, with perfectly warm water and more time to relax.
The next few days of riding were some of the most incredible ones of the entire trip. Descending from Kicking Horse Pass was a wild ride, with very little pedaling involved. To the bottom of the pass took us about 15 minutes, reaching wicked speeds. Heading into Golden was similarly fun, though we missed our campground and had to camp in a construction site right beside the highway. Not the most comfortable sleep, but by the end of the day it was surprisingly okay. Rogers Pass, the most difficult ascent of the trip according to people's tips and testimonials, turned out to be tough but nothing too challenging. Steady climbing for 45 minutes to an hour in high heat, and we didn't think it was that bad.
Revelstoke BC was a beauty of a spot to stop for lunch, where Gramma G, a local baker/merchant and very nice lady, gave us some free baked goods for the road as well as neck coolers you're supposed to soak in water. Very friendly and helpful people in this quaint town. This is where we learned that Kamloops was a better route to take than Kelowna, as Kelowna holds "The Connector," apparently one of the highest of highs in BC. Not wanting to climb unnecessarily, we headed for Kamloops. In Salmon Arm we stayed with a newly married older couple with a great backyard, nice shower and cold beer on the house. Too much!!! Then it was off to Kamloops, where we got to hit the beach for a little while and found a nice couple on the hill to stay with in their yard. Their neighbors made us breakfast as well...people everywhere seem to open their doors, and it never ceases to amaze us.
Merritt, the home of Canada's biggest country music festival that we missed by a week, was pretty uneventful, though we had some hilarious jokes in our camping spot near the grocery store. From there we ventured to Hope, ascending the Coquihalla pass and descending it with furious speeds, reaching our highest of any point during the trip. It was nerve wracking at times, but the brake pads are now worn thin for good reason. In Hope we saw a sign for an all you can eat Fish and Chips dinner, which turned out to be tasty and very very filling. Our server kindly recommended a camping spot on a sandy enclosure at a nearby creek, which was one of the more beautiful camping spots thus far. This takes me to the previous post I wrote last night, which should more or less mean I'm fully updated. I know I missed tons of details from each day, but each day could be 10 paragraphs full of hilarious sightings, mishaps, jokes, biking challenges, and descriptions of the sheer beauty of British Columbia. Now we finish our long overdue laundry, I'm off to change my brake pads, re-tape my hand, and head for the coast!!!! Almost there, mixed feelings for all of us.
Also, our overgrown, terribly uneven facial hair has reached its bitter end, and in Vancouver we're all going to get a hot shave leaving only our sweet Burt Reynolds-esque mustaches. Should be a sight to see, I'll post pictures when I get a chance!!!!
July 11th Invermere, BC Rest Day spent at Columbia Lake and Hot Springs
July 12th Banff, AB to outside Golden, BC - 134km, 6:33
July 13th Outside Golden, BC to near Revelstoke, BC - 121km, 5:11
July 14th Near Revelstoke, BC to Salmon Arm, BC - 131km, 5:14
July 15th Salmon Arm, BC to Kamloops, BC - 119km, 4:55
July 16th Kamloops, BC to Merritt, BC - 99km, 5:06
July 17th Merritt, BC to Hope, BC - 124km, 5:20
July 18th Hope, BC to Port Coquitlam, BC - 131km, 5:29
From Calgary we had a beautiful ride towards Banff, with our first sighting of the magnificent Rocky Mountains. After just a few minutes of riding I experienced some severe groin muscle pain/cramps, possibly from dehydration or some random other thing. Maybe it was the Bocce ball tournament at the Doble house, who knows...After that subsided it was a smooth ride downhill into Banff. You'd think it would be going up heading west into the Rockies, but Calgary is actually very high, so more often than not through the mountains we were going down. The views approaching Banff were incredible, with majestic hills all around and jagged peaks in the distance. One of our easiest and most enjoyable rides for sure.
In the ski village of Banff, amid mass construction unfortunately, we left our bikes with friends of Mike's aunt and uncle. Mike's uncle Jean-Luc picked us up in the evening and drove us to his family's home in Invermere, BC, a beautiful town nestled near a gaping valley. On the drive in we saw a mountain goat with a tiny baby licking the rocks about 20 feet up from the road, very cool. The balance of those animals is to be admired.
Jean-Luc is a gourmet chef, his wife Stephanie a massage therapist, and baby daughter Vanessa is a hilarious, incredibly bright little ball of energy. We had a great time meeting them all, enjoying their company, their hot-tub, beds, and delicious food. Our day off took us to some wonderful, albeit sulfur-smelling hot springs, perfect for relaxing the muscles. After that we cooled off in Columbia Lake, with perfectly warm water and more time to relax.
The next few days of riding were some of the most incredible ones of the entire trip. Descending from Kicking Horse Pass was a wild ride, with very little pedaling involved. To the bottom of the pass took us about 15 minutes, reaching wicked speeds. Heading into Golden was similarly fun, though we missed our campground and had to camp in a construction site right beside the highway. Not the most comfortable sleep, but by the end of the day it was surprisingly okay. Rogers Pass, the most difficult ascent of the trip according to people's tips and testimonials, turned out to be tough but nothing too challenging. Steady climbing for 45 minutes to an hour in high heat, and we didn't think it was that bad.
Revelstoke BC was a beauty of a spot to stop for lunch, where Gramma G, a local baker/merchant and very nice lady, gave us some free baked goods for the road as well as neck coolers you're supposed to soak in water. Very friendly and helpful people in this quaint town. This is where we learned that Kamloops was a better route to take than Kelowna, as Kelowna holds "The Connector," apparently one of the highest of highs in BC. Not wanting to climb unnecessarily, we headed for Kamloops. In Salmon Arm we stayed with a newly married older couple with a great backyard, nice shower and cold beer on the house. Too much!!! Then it was off to Kamloops, where we got to hit the beach for a little while and found a nice couple on the hill to stay with in their yard. Their neighbors made us breakfast as well...people everywhere seem to open their doors, and it never ceases to amaze us.
Merritt, the home of Canada's biggest country music festival that we missed by a week, was pretty uneventful, though we had some hilarious jokes in our camping spot near the grocery store. From there we ventured to Hope, ascending the Coquihalla pass and descending it with furious speeds, reaching our highest of any point during the trip. It was nerve wracking at times, but the brake pads are now worn thin for good reason. In Hope we saw a sign for an all you can eat Fish and Chips dinner, which turned out to be tasty and very very filling. Our server kindly recommended a camping spot on a sandy enclosure at a nearby creek, which was one of the more beautiful camping spots thus far. This takes me to the previous post I wrote last night, which should more or less mean I'm fully updated. I know I missed tons of details from each day, but each day could be 10 paragraphs full of hilarious sightings, mishaps, jokes, biking challenges, and descriptions of the sheer beauty of British Columbia. Now we finish our long overdue laundry, I'm off to change my brake pads, re-tape my hand, and head for the coast!!!! Almost there, mixed feelings for all of us.
Also, our overgrown, terribly uneven facial hair has reached its bitter end, and in Vancouver we're all going to get a hot shave leaving only our sweet Burt Reynolds-esque mustaches. Should be a sight to see, I'll post pictures when I get a chance!!!!
Coquitlam, BC!!! Bike Trip is Over Today!
I'll get around to updating again in the morning with details since Calgary, sleep soon.
We are only a handful of km's from Vancouver now, with probably an hour or two to put in tomorrow. Today was quite possibly the worst day of the trip in terms of things going wrong. If there ever was a test of patience, pain, and aggravation, today was it. We awoke in stunning Hope, BC on a sandy riverside spot, fully secluded from the nearby road. However, as the sand quickly dampened with the slow-starting drizzle of the day, it began to stick to everything we needed to pack, not to mention getting in the cracks of tire rims, brake pads, you name it. After a great breakfast at the local family diner, we set off for Coquitlam, roughly 120km away. The rain came down all day, making up for the dry spell we'd experienced for a long while.
At the day's end we'd experienced doses of heavy traffic, unpredictable roads, and steady streams of road grime being shot from the back tire of the rider immediately in front. The road sludge does well in laying down a first and second coat of muck to face, legs, and clothing. For me the day really started after one unfortunate event. A water bottle fell from Mike's rack, who was directly in front of me, and as it was fairly large I swerved suddenly to avoid it, losing control and sliding to the ground. At first my left thigh smacked the stem under the handlebars, then as I luckily unclipped my feet from the pedals, I skidded to the ground using my palms to bear all the impact. Since the day before I had slipped on a turn, going very slowly thankfully, my hands and arm had already sustained some scrapes and road rash. Today's fall though was harder and faster and my right hand lost a loonie size piece of flesh. I was in shock at first, a strange sensation, and the sting had me on my knees biting my lip and grimacing more than one should have to grimace. After 15 minutes of collecting my breath and wiping up the damage, we were off again.
Adding to the fun, I managed to pop four tubes, and the bracket holding my rack and panniers to the seat post happened to snap mid-ride, causing all the gear to suddenly fall to the road and drag behind me. Terrific. And these were just my troubles. There were other flats in the group, we missed a turn-off, so on and so forth. The final long riding day and it just had to be this eventful. Ah well, shit happens! Now we're at Mike's Aunt and Uncle's in Coquitlam, showered and well fed, so it could be plenty worse. Tomorrow we end our bike trip and begin our week of BC exploration until flying back home. I'll update the gap between Calgary and here when I get a chance in the morning. For now, sleep.
We are only a handful of km's from Vancouver now, with probably an hour or two to put in tomorrow. Today was quite possibly the worst day of the trip in terms of things going wrong. If there ever was a test of patience, pain, and aggravation, today was it. We awoke in stunning Hope, BC on a sandy riverside spot, fully secluded from the nearby road. However, as the sand quickly dampened with the slow-starting drizzle of the day, it began to stick to everything we needed to pack, not to mention getting in the cracks of tire rims, brake pads, you name it. After a great breakfast at the local family diner, we set off for Coquitlam, roughly 120km away. The rain came down all day, making up for the dry spell we'd experienced for a long while.
At the day's end we'd experienced doses of heavy traffic, unpredictable roads, and steady streams of road grime being shot from the back tire of the rider immediately in front. The road sludge does well in laying down a first and second coat of muck to face, legs, and clothing. For me the day really started after one unfortunate event. A water bottle fell from Mike's rack, who was directly in front of me, and as it was fairly large I swerved suddenly to avoid it, losing control and sliding to the ground. At first my left thigh smacked the stem under the handlebars, then as I luckily unclipped my feet from the pedals, I skidded to the ground using my palms to bear all the impact. Since the day before I had slipped on a turn, going very slowly thankfully, my hands and arm had already sustained some scrapes and road rash. Today's fall though was harder and faster and my right hand lost a loonie size piece of flesh. I was in shock at first, a strange sensation, and the sting had me on my knees biting my lip and grimacing more than one should have to grimace. After 15 minutes of collecting my breath and wiping up the damage, we were off again.
Adding to the fun, I managed to pop four tubes, and the bracket holding my rack and panniers to the seat post happened to snap mid-ride, causing all the gear to suddenly fall to the road and drag behind me. Terrific. And these were just my troubles. There were other flats in the group, we missed a turn-off, so on and so forth. The final long riding day and it just had to be this eventful. Ah well, shit happens! Now we're at Mike's Aunt and Uncle's in Coquitlam, showered and well fed, so it could be plenty worse. Tomorrow we end our bike trip and begin our week of BC exploration until flying back home. I'll update the gap between Calgary and here when I get a chance in the morning. For now, sleep.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Calgary, Alberta and 5 Days of Wind
Hello all, I write from the comfy confines of our friend Chris' basement, where we all slept last night. The Doble family has graciously hosted us for a couple days here in beautiful, brand new Calgary. Really though, everything here looks new and sparkling, lots of money in this city. Apparently they can't even give jobs away at restaurants and mall stores, or so we've been told so far.
But back to biking. Since Regina we've had 5 days through the scorching prairies, with consistent and stubborn wind head-on or partially head-on and slight, but as Mike said, constant uphills. The combination of heat and wind really dries you out, forcing us on some days, like going through Medicine Hat, to guzzle upwards of 12 litres in day. Also, people may lead you to believe the prairies are flat, but that isn't always the case. Rolling hills are abundant in Saskatchewan and Alberta, hills that would seem miniscule in a car ride but become a little more evident when the legs are doing all the work. Still, between Superior and the Rockies, climbing is far less prevalent in the driest part of the country.
I'll summarize our distances and times for the past 5 days:
July 3rd Regina to Bessant Park, SK - 104km, 4:08
July 4th Bessant Park to Webb, SK - 176km, 7:32
July 5th Webb to Walsh, AB - 141km, 6:35
July 6th Walsh to Brooks, AB - 163km, 7:30
July 7th Brooks to Bassano, AB - 45km, 2:15 or thereabouts
In Bessant we found a great little campground that a stranger near Sobey's described as "free." Apparently it wasn't, but since we rolled through late at night after the office had closed, we never had to deal with anybody working there. In the morning we rode on out past the office and returned to the Trans Canada without paying the tab. No harm done we figured, there were plenty of empty lots and we didn't use their showers. Our first day didn't amount to much since we only got out of Regina around 3pm after visiting the bike shop downtown and cheffing a huge pasta lunch. I'd like to think my sauce concoction fueled our decent speed pushing over 25km/hr into the dying sun. And I should mention that the prairie sunsets are something else. We've done a good portion of our riding after dinner, since the wind and heat tends to die down. The open skies and vast expanses on every side provide great red, orange, and purple hues as a backdrop for our trek, and it seems like the during those moments we like to push our bodies harder, all in unison, making for some very efficient drafting.
From Bessant we took off for Webb, a small town a few kilometers off the highway. We actually never made it into the town, instead camping in a field near an abandoned little farm house/shed that had the roof blown off. Another great sunset, it was fun to camp without the fly on the tent and let the wind through. Though the wind was persistent again that day, we chipped away at the highway and completed a solid 176km.
From Webb we rode toward the Alberta border. The west end of Saskatchewan was my favorite part of the province landscape-wise, with smooth, almost perfectly rounded molehills on each side of the highway. In the crevices that lay in between we found small herds of cows and horses, and there were enough turns at the end of the day to keep the ride interesting. There was a particular stretch near the end of the day where Mike had a great shift ahead of me, powering up and down hills harldy wavering in rpm's. My shift followed, and likewise I led up and down the hills without trouble. Our legs at this point allow a lot more freedom in terms of when and where you choose to turn it on, so when it seems like everybody is on the same page we can really let loose, charging down hills to eliminate half of the following climb. Sometimes those climbs don't even warrant shifting out of third gear, which is a comforting thought knowing that such tactics won't last when we hit the rockies! The final leg of Saskatchewan had a long downhill before a sweeping turn to the border, which we coasted into for a photo, available on Mike's blog. Just 2km from the border was the small, boring town of Walsh, where we stayed at a gas station campground, which was as picturesque as it sounds. The selling point were showers, not too clean but clean enough with flip flops on. The paste of sweat, dirt, dust, bike grease, bug spray, and sunscreen does not wash easily, but when it does come off it feels terrific.
The following day took us through Medicine Hat, our biggest city in a while, filled with SUVs and box stores. Granted, we didn't have much time to check out the cultured spots, but it didn't seem terribly interesting to me. It was over 40 celsius that day, just scorching. I wouldn't recommend biking in that kind of heat, but we have a schedule to keep. Oh well, we dealt with it and drank plenty, and kept roadside rests brief to maintain the breeze of the biking. Our day ended with a Tim Horton's dinner in Brooks, and a sweet spot to camp behind the Victory Church. Victory over what, I'm not sure...evil I suppose, maybe witches or supervillains.
Yesterday we left Brooks and early on I noticed a crack developing in my rear tire rim. About two inches long, the crack made the rim flare out near the tire and as a result the tire itself would balloon out in that spot. With Adrian's help I loosened the back brakes so they wouldn't rub the rim or tire and cause the crack to widen. Unfortunately the town of Brooks has no bike shop, so I was forced to hope for the best and ride towards Calgary. It was pretty smooth sailing for 45km until the small town of Bassano, our lunch stop with again, no bike shop. Right when we stopped, my tube deflated at the town's edge. It was then we noticed a second crack in the rim, about four inches from the first crack. The rim itself was now slicing the tube beneath the tire, making my bike unrideable. The local auto repair shop couldn't even weld it temporarily because they didn't have the tools necessary to weld aluminum. Luckily, a man approached us at the gas station and quickly after hearing my situation, offered a ride into Calgary. What luck, and what a generous guy! Really, that was my only option, and I didn't slow the group down.
Mike Garett, my driver, was full of great stories from his travels around the world. He talked about the golf course he manages in Calgary and the last minute emergency repairs he was forced to make for a recent CPGA tournament, as well as his wife's degree in photojournalism and current art direction career. I cannot stress enough how interesting the people are that we meet along the way, or how their travel experiences have led them to being extremely kind to fellow travellers in need. Mike drove me downtown, and then to several bike shops to locate the rim I needed. We tried four different shops with no luck, until we found The Bike Shop downtown with 15 minutes until close and only one rim in stock compatible with my bike. The price tag was a hefty 239.99, way beyond anything I could afford on my budget for the trip. However, after getting a chance to speak with the manager and the mechanic and explaining my situation and endless search shop to shop, I managed to bargain for a deal at 133 bucks. Over a hundred dollars off the rim, PLUS they gave my bike a tune up and cleaned out all the parts, which normally runs around 40 to 50 dollars. Considering the desperation of my situation, they could've left me optionless with no affordable rims in town, but again, people are kind more often than not.
So now we're in Calgary and will check out the stampede tomorrow. We've been well fed here and started watching the start of the Tour de France on tv. Those guys are fast.
Not sure of where or when the next update will come, but we're all very excited for the rockies and the challenges to come, we're almost there!
But back to biking. Since Regina we've had 5 days through the scorching prairies, with consistent and stubborn wind head-on or partially head-on and slight, but as Mike said, constant uphills. The combination of heat and wind really dries you out, forcing us on some days, like going through Medicine Hat, to guzzle upwards of 12 litres in day. Also, people may lead you to believe the prairies are flat, but that isn't always the case. Rolling hills are abundant in Saskatchewan and Alberta, hills that would seem miniscule in a car ride but become a little more evident when the legs are doing all the work. Still, between Superior and the Rockies, climbing is far less prevalent in the driest part of the country.
I'll summarize our distances and times for the past 5 days:
July 3rd Regina to Bessant Park, SK - 104km, 4:08
July 4th Bessant Park to Webb, SK - 176km, 7:32
July 5th Webb to Walsh, AB - 141km, 6:35
July 6th Walsh to Brooks, AB - 163km, 7:30
July 7th Brooks to Bassano, AB - 45km, 2:15 or thereabouts
In Bessant we found a great little campground that a stranger near Sobey's described as "free." Apparently it wasn't, but since we rolled through late at night after the office had closed, we never had to deal with anybody working there. In the morning we rode on out past the office and returned to the Trans Canada without paying the tab. No harm done we figured, there were plenty of empty lots and we didn't use their showers. Our first day didn't amount to much since we only got out of Regina around 3pm after visiting the bike shop downtown and cheffing a huge pasta lunch. I'd like to think my sauce concoction fueled our decent speed pushing over 25km/hr into the dying sun. And I should mention that the prairie sunsets are something else. We've done a good portion of our riding after dinner, since the wind and heat tends to die down. The open skies and vast expanses on every side provide great red, orange, and purple hues as a backdrop for our trek, and it seems like the during those moments we like to push our bodies harder, all in unison, making for some very efficient drafting.
From Bessant we took off for Webb, a small town a few kilometers off the highway. We actually never made it into the town, instead camping in a field near an abandoned little farm house/shed that had the roof blown off. Another great sunset, it was fun to camp without the fly on the tent and let the wind through. Though the wind was persistent again that day, we chipped away at the highway and completed a solid 176km.
From Webb we rode toward the Alberta border. The west end of Saskatchewan was my favorite part of the province landscape-wise, with smooth, almost perfectly rounded molehills on each side of the highway. In the crevices that lay in between we found small herds of cows and horses, and there were enough turns at the end of the day to keep the ride interesting. There was a particular stretch near the end of the day where Mike had a great shift ahead of me, powering up and down hills harldy wavering in rpm's. My shift followed, and likewise I led up and down the hills without trouble. Our legs at this point allow a lot more freedom in terms of when and where you choose to turn it on, so when it seems like everybody is on the same page we can really let loose, charging down hills to eliminate half of the following climb. Sometimes those climbs don't even warrant shifting out of third gear, which is a comforting thought knowing that such tactics won't last when we hit the rockies! The final leg of Saskatchewan had a long downhill before a sweeping turn to the border, which we coasted into for a photo, available on Mike's blog. Just 2km from the border was the small, boring town of Walsh, where we stayed at a gas station campground, which was as picturesque as it sounds. The selling point were showers, not too clean but clean enough with flip flops on. The paste of sweat, dirt, dust, bike grease, bug spray, and sunscreen does not wash easily, but when it does come off it feels terrific.
The following day took us through Medicine Hat, our biggest city in a while, filled with SUVs and box stores. Granted, we didn't have much time to check out the cultured spots, but it didn't seem terribly interesting to me. It was over 40 celsius that day, just scorching. I wouldn't recommend biking in that kind of heat, but we have a schedule to keep. Oh well, we dealt with it and drank plenty, and kept roadside rests brief to maintain the breeze of the biking. Our day ended with a Tim Horton's dinner in Brooks, and a sweet spot to camp behind the Victory Church. Victory over what, I'm not sure...evil I suppose, maybe witches or supervillains.
Yesterday we left Brooks and early on I noticed a crack developing in my rear tire rim. About two inches long, the crack made the rim flare out near the tire and as a result the tire itself would balloon out in that spot. With Adrian's help I loosened the back brakes so they wouldn't rub the rim or tire and cause the crack to widen. Unfortunately the town of Brooks has no bike shop, so I was forced to hope for the best and ride towards Calgary. It was pretty smooth sailing for 45km until the small town of Bassano, our lunch stop with again, no bike shop. Right when we stopped, my tube deflated at the town's edge. It was then we noticed a second crack in the rim, about four inches from the first crack. The rim itself was now slicing the tube beneath the tire, making my bike unrideable. The local auto repair shop couldn't even weld it temporarily because they didn't have the tools necessary to weld aluminum. Luckily, a man approached us at the gas station and quickly after hearing my situation, offered a ride into Calgary. What luck, and what a generous guy! Really, that was my only option, and I didn't slow the group down.
Mike Garett, my driver, was full of great stories from his travels around the world. He talked about the golf course he manages in Calgary and the last minute emergency repairs he was forced to make for a recent CPGA tournament, as well as his wife's degree in photojournalism and current art direction career. I cannot stress enough how interesting the people are that we meet along the way, or how their travel experiences have led them to being extremely kind to fellow travellers in need. Mike drove me downtown, and then to several bike shops to locate the rim I needed. We tried four different shops with no luck, until we found The Bike Shop downtown with 15 minutes until close and only one rim in stock compatible with my bike. The price tag was a hefty 239.99, way beyond anything I could afford on my budget for the trip. However, after getting a chance to speak with the manager and the mechanic and explaining my situation and endless search shop to shop, I managed to bargain for a deal at 133 bucks. Over a hundred dollars off the rim, PLUS they gave my bike a tune up and cleaned out all the parts, which normally runs around 40 to 50 dollars. Considering the desperation of my situation, they could've left me optionless with no affordable rims in town, but again, people are kind more often than not.
So now we're in Calgary and will check out the stampede tomorrow. We've been well fed here and started watching the start of the Tour de France on tv. Those guys are fast.
Not sure of where or when the next update will come, but we're all very excited for the rockies and the challenges to come, we're almost there!
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Regina
It's been a while, lots to update. We're set to leave shortly in the direction of Moose Jaw, but first to share what we've done since Kenora.
Kenora to Winnipeg took two days, stopping in McMunn, Manitoba and camping on a man's sprawling front lawn just off the highway.
In Winnipeg we stayed with the Sanders family, two fantastic parents proud at the fact their son Ben just finished a trip like ours going West to East. He gave talks about engineering at various schools and campuses along the way with his riding partner.
Ben's parents Keran and Jim were so hospitable to us, driving us downtown two nights in a row so we could check out what people our age should be doing in the summer, meaning social activities requiring only meager amounts of leg movement. The first night we chilled at The Toad in the Hole, a cool bar with a server who brought us Jager and the Trouble board game. The second night we were fortunate enough to be in town for the Jazz festival, where Girl Talk, the amazing Pittsburgh DJ, happened to be playing. The show was a full-on crazy dance party, with people flooding the stage just a few songs in. We all had a great time, I think having attractive women throughout the crowd might have had something to do with that. Too bad for our ghastly facial hair.
The same day as the concert Keran took us around CBC, showing us her office, the radio and tv studios. We met some familiar CBC personalities and even got to talk a little live on the radio to the afternoon host. Very fortunate experience for Mike and I in particular given our Communication education...
From Winnipeg we decided that rather than four days to Regina as previously planned, we would try to do it in three to make it to the city for Canada Day. Seeing as how there are only 30 days in June and not 31, our initial plan needed some tweaking. So there it was ahead of us, 600kms in 3 days, seemingly impossible based on the fact that we'd yet to do 200kms in one day.
But long story short, and perhaps when I have more time I'll provide the details of this 3 day exhaustive trek, we made it as planned. First day, 169kms. Second day, 226! Third day, 216! We had the right mix of luck, determination, wind, and most importantly, will to refuse celebrating our nation's birthday in a town of less than a 1000.
So in Regina we're staying with Ben and Katie, sister of my old roommy Jess, who hooked us up with the connection. Ben has been awesome to us, providing beer, accomodation, laundry, his bbq, kitchen, weights, great tv and soundsystem and a day spent at the cabin about an hour's drive from downtown. At the cabin we all tried wakeboarding, and all got up with little trouble. I got up on my second try, crossed the wake, crossed back, then decided that was as good a time as ever to try a jump. I'm sure it looked funny, and I did get some air (apparently), but the landing was disrupted by my cheek hitting the edge of my board. A butterfly bandage later and another beer and I'm ready to see another day, hopefully I get a sweet scar out of it, haha.
Off for now, we'll be in Calgary in 5 days for the Stampede!!!!
Kenora to Winnipeg took two days, stopping in McMunn, Manitoba and camping on a man's sprawling front lawn just off the highway.
In Winnipeg we stayed with the Sanders family, two fantastic parents proud at the fact their son Ben just finished a trip like ours going West to East. He gave talks about engineering at various schools and campuses along the way with his riding partner.
Ben's parents Keran and Jim were so hospitable to us, driving us downtown two nights in a row so we could check out what people our age should be doing in the summer, meaning social activities requiring only meager amounts of leg movement. The first night we chilled at The Toad in the Hole, a cool bar with a server who brought us Jager and the Trouble board game. The second night we were fortunate enough to be in town for the Jazz festival, where Girl Talk, the amazing Pittsburgh DJ, happened to be playing. The show was a full-on crazy dance party, with people flooding the stage just a few songs in. We all had a great time, I think having attractive women throughout the crowd might have had something to do with that. Too bad for our ghastly facial hair.
The same day as the concert Keran took us around CBC, showing us her office, the radio and tv studios. We met some familiar CBC personalities and even got to talk a little live on the radio to the afternoon host. Very fortunate experience for Mike and I in particular given our Communication education...
From Winnipeg we decided that rather than four days to Regina as previously planned, we would try to do it in three to make it to the city for Canada Day. Seeing as how there are only 30 days in June and not 31, our initial plan needed some tweaking. So there it was ahead of us, 600kms in 3 days, seemingly impossible based on the fact that we'd yet to do 200kms in one day.
But long story short, and perhaps when I have more time I'll provide the details of this 3 day exhaustive trek, we made it as planned. First day, 169kms. Second day, 226! Third day, 216! We had the right mix of luck, determination, wind, and most importantly, will to refuse celebrating our nation's birthday in a town of less than a 1000.
So in Regina we're staying with Ben and Katie, sister of my old roommy Jess, who hooked us up with the connection. Ben has been awesome to us, providing beer, accomodation, laundry, his bbq, kitchen, weights, great tv and soundsystem and a day spent at the cabin about an hour's drive from downtown. At the cabin we all tried wakeboarding, and all got up with little trouble. I got up on my second try, crossed the wake, crossed back, then decided that was as good a time as ever to try a jump. I'm sure it looked funny, and I did get some air (apparently), but the landing was disrupted by my cheek hitting the edge of my board. A butterfly bandage later and another beer and I'm ready to see another day, hopefully I get a sweet scar out of it, haha.
Off for now, we'll be in Calgary in 5 days for the Stampede!!!!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Kenora
We're leaving Ontario today, finally. Our home province is huge, and though this is obvious when glancing at a map, it doesn't resonate quite the same until you've travelled it on bike.
We left Dryden yesterday morning and the weather channel warned of thunderstorms and heavy rain. Our host Mr. Collins, however, guessed that the storm coming through Kenora would bypass us to the north.
The clouds were quite ominous on the highway at the start of our day, and light drizzle progressed into a heavy downpour right as I took my first half hour shift at the front of the line. However, with the humidity the temperature was resting up around 23 degrees at that point, and was only going up, so the rain didn't pose much of a problem. After 45 minutes of precipitation, it ceased for the rest of the day. Strangely enough, by the mid afternoon it had all cleared up and we were riding in the sun.
We were told coming into Kenora that it was beautiful, a cottage country comparable to Collingwood or Muskoka for this part of Ontario. The area for some time has been attracting people from Manitoba, the West, Minnesota, and Southern Ontario. Biking along highway 17, it was easy to see why. Around every single bend there were lakes on each side, clear and sparkling with little crap built up around them. The winding road lay flat for most of our day, with the hills being low in grade and rolling gently up and down. We stopped in Vermillion Bay for lunch next to the water, and though the mosquitoes were happy to greet us, it was a great stop nevertheless. Later on, at the peak of the sun's heat, we pulled off the highway at Dogtooth Lake and went for a swim. It was secluded enough with nobody else in or around the water, and a great spot to rest up and get recharged for the last leg. Rainer also popped another tube, putting him quite far ahead in that department, though with 7 or so popped by yours truly, I still remain in second place in terms of tire problems.
At the day's end we hit 160kms, one of our longer days though it didn't seem that way to me. We bought dinner and ate outside the grocery store, then hit up the residential area to find a backyard to camp. Somehow we managed to find probably the kindest family on the block, the Sweeney's. Mike, the father, kindly drove us back to the grocery store to buy our breakfast for the morning, and their son John told us all about his school in Lethbridge and his aspirations of piloting commercial planes. Very genuine and down to earth people. Mike had finished golfing with John that day and told us about their round, told us about their beautiful camp on Lake of the Woods (it's only a "cottage" in southern Ontario), as well as giving us a lesson in bush planes and railroads, the latter of which was Mike's line of work for many years.
After hearing the thunder and seeing flashes of lightning after heading to our tents for the night, we quickly changed our minds and took Mike up on his offer for us to sleep in his basement. I had a couch and probably my soundest sleep of the trip. This morning we cooked up our eggs and toast and are now packing for the day.
The Weather Channel is promising us (but what is their word worth?) a wind coming from the southeast, which should make our relatively short day past the Manitoba border an easy one. Tomorrow night we'll arrive in Winnipeg and then take a rest day to explore and visit a bike shop. We are very excited for that, as well as Canada Day in Regina!
Cheers, will update again soon.
We left Dryden yesterday morning and the weather channel warned of thunderstorms and heavy rain. Our host Mr. Collins, however, guessed that the storm coming through Kenora would bypass us to the north.
The clouds were quite ominous on the highway at the start of our day, and light drizzle progressed into a heavy downpour right as I took my first half hour shift at the front of the line. However, with the humidity the temperature was resting up around 23 degrees at that point, and was only going up, so the rain didn't pose much of a problem. After 45 minutes of precipitation, it ceased for the rest of the day. Strangely enough, by the mid afternoon it had all cleared up and we were riding in the sun.
We were told coming into Kenora that it was beautiful, a cottage country comparable to Collingwood or Muskoka for this part of Ontario. The area for some time has been attracting people from Manitoba, the West, Minnesota, and Southern Ontario. Biking along highway 17, it was easy to see why. Around every single bend there were lakes on each side, clear and sparkling with little crap built up around them. The winding road lay flat for most of our day, with the hills being low in grade and rolling gently up and down. We stopped in Vermillion Bay for lunch next to the water, and though the mosquitoes were happy to greet us, it was a great stop nevertheless. Later on, at the peak of the sun's heat, we pulled off the highway at Dogtooth Lake and went for a swim. It was secluded enough with nobody else in or around the water, and a great spot to rest up and get recharged for the last leg. Rainer also popped another tube, putting him quite far ahead in that department, though with 7 or so popped by yours truly, I still remain in second place in terms of tire problems.
At the day's end we hit 160kms, one of our longer days though it didn't seem that way to me. We bought dinner and ate outside the grocery store, then hit up the residential area to find a backyard to camp. Somehow we managed to find probably the kindest family on the block, the Sweeney's. Mike, the father, kindly drove us back to the grocery store to buy our breakfast for the morning, and their son John told us all about his school in Lethbridge and his aspirations of piloting commercial planes. Very genuine and down to earth people. Mike had finished golfing with John that day and told us about their round, told us about their beautiful camp on Lake of the Woods (it's only a "cottage" in southern Ontario), as well as giving us a lesson in bush planes and railroads, the latter of which was Mike's line of work for many years.
After hearing the thunder and seeing flashes of lightning after heading to our tents for the night, we quickly changed our minds and took Mike up on his offer for us to sleep in his basement. I had a couch and probably my soundest sleep of the trip. This morning we cooked up our eggs and toast and are now packing for the day.
The Weather Channel is promising us (but what is their word worth?) a wind coming from the southeast, which should make our relatively short day past the Manitoba border an easy one. Tomorrow night we'll arrive in Winnipeg and then take a rest day to explore and visit a bike shop. We are very excited for that, as well as Canada Day in Regina!
Cheers, will update again soon.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Dryden, Ontario
Hey everybody, just a quick post before leaving the Collins' home here on the outskirts of Dryden. From Thunder Bay we travelled to just outside Upsala, where we ended the day by camping in a secluded, albeit noisy spot between the highway and the train tracks. At least it was free, though the mosquitoes were everywhere.
The following day we biked into Ignace, another 124kms or so, and though we got poured on for the last half hour of the day, we escaped the oncoming mammoth storm. We knocked on a family's door, and they allowed us at first to camp in their yard. After realizing the severity, or at least the threat, of the oncoming storm, they set up cots in the garage for us to sleep on. Dinner and breakfast, as well as a phone for calls home were all provided. Bob and Pam were wonderful people, providing stories of life up north, fishing, working in the mines, tips for the road and routes ahead, and even giving us some beans and muffins for our lunch yesterday.
The Ericksons from Thunder Bay had also generously called ahead to friends in Dryden and that's how we ended our day from Ignace at this great home on the lake. A refreshing swim last night and bbq chicken and potato salad for dinner, a little overwhelming but greatly appreciated.
For now we leave for a longer day to Kenora, with major storm warnings in effect. Here's hoping for the best.
The following day we biked into Ignace, another 124kms or so, and though we got poured on for the last half hour of the day, we escaped the oncoming mammoth storm. We knocked on a family's door, and they allowed us at first to camp in their yard. After realizing the severity, or at least the threat, of the oncoming storm, they set up cots in the garage for us to sleep on. Dinner and breakfast, as well as a phone for calls home were all provided. Bob and Pam were wonderful people, providing stories of life up north, fishing, working in the mines, tips for the road and routes ahead, and even giving us some beans and muffins for our lunch yesterday.
The Ericksons from Thunder Bay had also generously called ahead to friends in Dryden and that's how we ended our day from Ignace at this great home on the lake. A refreshing swim last night and bbq chicken and potato salad for dinner, a little overwhelming but greatly appreciated.
For now we leave for a longer day to Kenora, with major storm warnings in effect. Here's hoping for the best.
Friday, June 22, 2007
8 Days, Continued...
Mike put up some great pictures from our latest 8 day stretch, including a couple landscape shots of Superior and our arrival point at the Terry Fox Memorial.
Here are our last 8 days in Northern Ontario with distances and time travelled:
june 13- espanola to blind river, on - 96km 4:15
june 14- blind river to sault ste marie- 148km 5:53
june 15- sault ste marie - montreal river- 108km 4:33
june 16- montreal river- wawa - 119.8km 5:28
june 17- wawa to white lake prov. park- 138km 5:50
june 18- white lake prov. park- outside terrace bay- 95km 4:55 (windy day!)
june 19- outside terrace bay- outside nipigon, on- 131.4km 6:40 (again with strong headwind)
june 20- outside nipigon- thunder bay on 137km 6:04
Highlights include:
Blind River, our friend Jolinne and her wonderful family had us for the night and great BBQ'd burgers, as well as a quick trip to the beach at the day's end to cool off.
Sault Ste Marie, Adrian's family friend Don Morrison and his wife Ruth had us for a fantastic dinner, then put us up in two separate rooms at the Watertower Inn downtown, what treatment! The hotel had a pool, hot tub, sauna, waterfall, holy....too much.
Wawa, I knocked on the right door and an elderly couple, Italian and Austrian folks, had us camp in their backyard and made us a terrific breakfast. The man learned how to make a violin from scratch and showed us his work, which our resident orchestra man Rainer inspected and gave his seal of approval.
White Lake Provincial Park, where mosquitoes come to feast. The fireflies at our site were amazing nearing midnight.
Terrace Bay, getting almost blown over at our picnic table for lunch. After biking in our normal gear, we had to fleece up and throw on toques once we stopped...Superior winds are something else.
Nowhere in particular, above Superior in the mountains there are times where you're surrounded by walls of jagged rocky faces and sprawling seas of evergreens, complete with spring water rolling down the hills and fresh rivers and lakes in the passes. It's enough to make you completely forget about the commercial-industrial parts of the country all together. There were times where it was reasonable to believe we were already in BC, or even parts of South America, based on the sheer size and scope of the rock and hills towering above us. I recommend everybody get a chance to travel above Lake Superior sometime in the summer months, you will be amazed.
Finally, Thunder Bay. Alexandra, her sister and parents were so nice to us, let us stay in their basement fully equipped with pool table, shuffle board, sauna, bathroom...Went bar hopping our first night to On Deck and then Roxy's, the latter of which got us a shout out from the DJ that sounded all too much like every other DJ at a dance club, "alright party people, who's getting waaaasted tonight?!?!" haha. Last night we went with Alexandra and two of her friends to see Knocked Up, which is incredibly hilarious and highly recommended. A good mixture of jokes ranging from lighthearted to full raunch, we were bursting with laughter. Should provide us with a hearty quotient of quotes to recite as we climb some big hills leaving town today. Finally, this morning we hit up Hoita for breakfast, the Finnish tradition in town where they serve amazing Fin pancakes, super thin with crispy edges...Now it's time to pack up and set off, three days to Dryden, Ontario with not a whole lot in between except nature. Everybody keeps tellings us about the bears, maybe we'll see one soon. Hopefully not as we open the tent zipper.
Cheers, hopefully I'll find time and a computer in Dryden, Kenora, or at the latest, Winnipeg.
Here are our last 8 days in Northern Ontario with distances and time travelled:
june 13- espanola to blind river, on - 96km 4:15
june 14- blind river to sault ste marie- 148km 5:53
june 15- sault ste marie - montreal river- 108km 4:33
june 16- montreal river- wawa - 119.8km 5:28
june 17- wawa to white lake prov. park- 138km 5:50
june 18- white lake prov. park- outside terrace bay- 95km 4:55 (windy day!)
june 19- outside terrace bay- outside nipigon, on- 131.4km 6:40 (again with strong headwind)
june 20- outside nipigon- thunder bay on 137km 6:04
Highlights include:
Blind River, our friend Jolinne and her wonderful family had us for the night and great BBQ'd burgers, as well as a quick trip to the beach at the day's end to cool off.
Sault Ste Marie, Adrian's family friend Don Morrison and his wife Ruth had us for a fantastic dinner, then put us up in two separate rooms at the Watertower Inn downtown, what treatment! The hotel had a pool, hot tub, sauna, waterfall, holy....too much.
Wawa, I knocked on the right door and an elderly couple, Italian and Austrian folks, had us camp in their backyard and made us a terrific breakfast. The man learned how to make a violin from scratch and showed us his work, which our resident orchestra man Rainer inspected and gave his seal of approval.
White Lake Provincial Park, where mosquitoes come to feast. The fireflies at our site were amazing nearing midnight.
Terrace Bay, getting almost blown over at our picnic table for lunch. After biking in our normal gear, we had to fleece up and throw on toques once we stopped...Superior winds are something else.
Nowhere in particular, above Superior in the mountains there are times where you're surrounded by walls of jagged rocky faces and sprawling seas of evergreens, complete with spring water rolling down the hills and fresh rivers and lakes in the passes. It's enough to make you completely forget about the commercial-industrial parts of the country all together. There were times where it was reasonable to believe we were already in BC, or even parts of South America, based on the sheer size and scope of the rock and hills towering above us. I recommend everybody get a chance to travel above Lake Superior sometime in the summer months, you will be amazed.
Finally, Thunder Bay. Alexandra, her sister and parents were so nice to us, let us stay in their basement fully equipped with pool table, shuffle board, sauna, bathroom...Went bar hopping our first night to On Deck and then Roxy's, the latter of which got us a shout out from the DJ that sounded all too much like every other DJ at a dance club, "alright party people, who's getting waaaasted tonight?!?!" haha. Last night we went with Alexandra and two of her friends to see Knocked Up, which is incredibly hilarious and highly recommended. A good mixture of jokes ranging from lighthearted to full raunch, we were bursting with laughter. Should provide us with a hearty quotient of quotes to recite as we climb some big hills leaving town today. Finally, this morning we hit up Hoita for breakfast, the Finnish tradition in town where they serve amazing Fin pancakes, super thin with crispy edges...Now it's time to pack up and set off, three days to Dryden, Ontario with not a whole lot in between except nature. Everybody keeps tellings us about the bears, maybe we'll see one soon. Hopefully not as we open the tent zipper.
Cheers, hopefully I'll find time and a computer in Dryden, Kenora, or at the latest, Winnipeg.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
8 Days of Fury
Our legs deserve a day off. I write this from our friend Alexandra's house in beautiful Thunder Bay, Ontario. We can see the bay on Lake Superior from her backyard and the view is unbelievable. Yesterday we biked 137km into T-Bay, a long day with a black-fly filled wake-up, road construction, inconsistent headwinds, and sunshine all day long.
Our day ended at the Terry Fox Memorial statue located on the highway at the edge of town. We took some pictures there and I'm sure Mike will upload them shortly. Reading the engraving on side of the statue helped to keep things in perspective for us, knowing that however hard our days seem, no matter how much our legs ache, our trip still pales in comparison to the courageous Mr. Fox. From the scenic lookout where the memorial is situated, we could see a highway sign going East saying 675kms to Sault St. Marie, where we passed through on day 2 of our last 8 day stretch. Instilled a little sense of accomplishment seeing that at the end of the day.
I'll write another post later on tonight with the starting and stopping points and distances of our last 8 days, where we saw our biggest climbs so far, unpredictable weather, and the beauty of Lake Superior. We were told by many people heading in that the Lake is something comparable to the Mediterranean, and after biking along its shores and over the massive surrounding mountains for over a week now, I understand the admiration for this body of water shared by so many people in Northwestern Ontario.
That's all for now, time to eat some more breakfast. Another post with details tonight.
Our day ended at the Terry Fox Memorial statue located on the highway at the edge of town. We took some pictures there and I'm sure Mike will upload them shortly. Reading the engraving on side of the statue helped to keep things in perspective for us, knowing that however hard our days seem, no matter how much our legs ache, our trip still pales in comparison to the courageous Mr. Fox. From the scenic lookout where the memorial is situated, we could see a highway sign going East saying 675kms to Sault St. Marie, where we passed through on day 2 of our last 8 day stretch. Instilled a little sense of accomplishment seeing that at the end of the day.
I'll write another post later on tonight with the starting and stopping points and distances of our last 8 days, where we saw our biggest climbs so far, unpredictable weather, and the beauty of Lake Superior. We were told by many people heading in that the Lake is something comparable to the Mediterranean, and after biking along its shores and over the massive surrounding mountains for over a week now, I understand the admiration for this body of water shared by so many people in Northwestern Ontario.
That's all for now, time to eat some more breakfast. Another post with details tonight.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Manitoulin, Last Day Off For a While
Here is a picture of us with Ed, a man who's been riding for over 60 years and is heading East from Vancouver Island. We crossed paths just outside of Sudbury, and he has only taken three rest days since he left the Pacific! That is madness.
This is our last day of beautiful cloudless weather on Manitoulin Island before we head off for the remainder of Ontario. Our next expected stop is in Blind River.
But to continue with the story, Christine's cottage was immaculately designed, with a sprawling deck and open living space and kitchen. Our room had four single beds, feeling very much like a camp cabin. We swam in the lake (albeit briefly, a bit chilly), had some beers, watched movies, and mostly enjoyed each other's company and conversation. The Anawati family, including Christine's parents and sister, are all fantastic people and were anxious to learn of our trip, as well as providing their own life stories which we were eager to hear. And the food...Mrs. Anawati made us a great roast, tortellini, salads, burgers, eggs, in quantities even four starving bikers couldn't finish easily. All things said we had a great time in Sturgeon and Field, and so it was onto Espanola via Sudbury.
The first leg of the day was beautiful, with a bit of headwind but nothing difficult. I had the pleasure of leading the draft for the first half hour, and felt great riding at a fast clip on flat farmland highway. As the day went on though I began experiencing increasingly sharper discomfort, then pain, in my left knee, which wasn't unbearable but was still a nuisance because I knew I wasn't riding at my fullest capabilities. Also, knowing Mike had knee trouble earlier in our adventure, those worries began creeping in. By the time we reached Sudbury I couldn't ride uphill very well, one-legging most of the work. By the time we met Ed, in the picture above, just outside Sudbury, I knew I couldn't make it the extra 66 or so kilometers past the city to Espanola with the guys. Luckily, Adrian's mom generously drove up to the big nickel, our lunch stop, and picked me up in the van, which I drove with her to Espanola to wait for the gang. It was disappointing, but probably the right choice. Once the guys arrived in Espanola, we drove to a Murray family friend's home, where our bikes are now stored. From there we enjoyed a scenic drive to Manitoulin Island in the dying light of dusk. The country up here is something else.
Adrian's father Jim was awake and waiting for us when we arrived, and we had our first of many, and I mean many, great conversations about topics ranging from philosophy to women to architecture, music, politics, and the corporatocracy of the world. He has magnified and dissected many of our remarks and fashioned them into colourful, sporadic discussions of anything and everything concerning our lives and life in a broader sense, and most importantly has taught us the importance of appreciating this particular moment in our lives. After listening to him speak, I found that yesterday when the four of us were sailing on the water, that focusing on specific worries and future concerns isn't as pertinent a task as I sometimes treat it. Appreciating the immediate, tangible and intangible things in which we're currently involved, can often bring a lot more happiness than you'd first expect. I guess from our stay here I've really begun to embrace the journey and place less importance on the destination.
I wish I had more pictures of the house and cottage here, and the growing forests surrounding both. It's a very relaxing environment and I'm glad to be here with good friends and a warm, accepting family. The Murrays lead what city-goers would describe as an alternative lifestyle, living off the grid, sharing in community agriculture, and absorbing the world through intelligent literature and provocative music rather than mundane, televised feed. This is one of the places I'll remember most about this whole trip. Like I said before, I don't have pictures, but please check the other blogs listed on the right column for pictures and videos. Mike's camera is our vessel for sharing our trip visually, so check his blog for that sort of media.
Cheers everybody, hopefully tomorrow's bike doesn't bring more leg troubles. I had terrible cramps yesterday but the knee was better, and today both of those problems are pretty much gone. I'm optimistic about the biking to come, and the people we're set to meet along the way.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Manitoulin, Adrian's Amazing Alternative Energy Paradise
Hey Now.
A very unfortunate lack of updates since leaving Ottawa. So much to catch up on, but I'm writing this very late so I'll include the highlights since then.
I write this on our second of three days off in Adrian's home near Southbay Mouth on Manitoulin Island. It is stunning here. The water on Lake Huron is as clear as the night sky, and everything feels tranquil and serene. The house Adrian's dad built by hand is unbelievably unique, running solely on alternative energy generated from solar panels and wind power, with the help of an inverter and other gadgets better described by somebody without a Communications background. Jim tried explaining the amperage and voltage schematics to me, and I get the jist, but at the time of his explanation I was still too overwhelmed by the beauty of the house and the surrounding garden, waterfront, ponds, animals, you name it.
Backtracking though, from Ottawa we set off for Pembroke, but failed to reach it and stopped in Renfrew due to a day of tire popping and crap weather. The following day we were hit by similar conditions and ended in Petawawa with the Lafrance family. Their son is a friend of Rainer and the other guys and Mrs. Lafrance was unbelievable in accomodating us with beds, food prep, tea, television, warmth, laundry, and most importantly great conversation.
From there we travelled in much improved weather through the military lands of Petawawa and finished a good day in Deux Rivieres, camping behind a very gracious general store. If the details on riding seem short or completely absent, it's not because the riding wasn't great, it just escapes me now at 1:00am. The bike shop in Petawawa was incredible as well, bought a new tire to replace one I'd chewed up, as well as some red rear brake pads ensuring I don't smash into the back of somebody in the draft line. Still need more tubes though, running on a spare with a hole in it at the moment, not so smart. Our lunch stop earlier that day brought us to a beautiful spot in Deep River right on the water, where we met a cheery guy named Paul-David, who is riding solo from St. Sauveur near Montreal all the way to Vancouver. He rode with us after lunch for a while until the hills slowed him down and led him to end his day with a camp in the deep woods. Adrian spotted a black bear moments earlier, hopefully our Francophone friend and the curious bear didn't cross each other after we rode on.
From Deux Rivieres we travelled a long day through very hot weather and unpredictable roads. Lots of construction sites and some hills, though nothing we couldn't handle. We made our way through North Bay and then onto Sturgeon Falls to stay with our friend Christine and her family. Quite a long day of cycling, though on the last leg we were cruising along the flattest highway we've encountered yet, easily breaking 30km/hr consistently for the last leg.
At Christine's we stored our bikes, threw our panniers in her Suburban and got a scenic drive to Field, where her family cottage sits by a beautiful lake. We had planned a rest day in Sturgeon, but got treated to an extra as when we were about to leave a neighbor drove by relaying warnings of falling trees and golf ball hail in Sudbury. Not biking conditions that's for sure.
It's getting late, so I'll finish telling the story up until now when we get some computer time tomorrow. Hope everybody is doing well!
A very unfortunate lack of updates since leaving Ottawa. So much to catch up on, but I'm writing this very late so I'll include the highlights since then.
I write this on our second of three days off in Adrian's home near Southbay Mouth on Manitoulin Island. It is stunning here. The water on Lake Huron is as clear as the night sky, and everything feels tranquil and serene. The house Adrian's dad built by hand is unbelievably unique, running solely on alternative energy generated from solar panels and wind power, with the help of an inverter and other gadgets better described by somebody without a Communications background. Jim tried explaining the amperage and voltage schematics to me, and I get the jist, but at the time of his explanation I was still too overwhelmed by the beauty of the house and the surrounding garden, waterfront, ponds, animals, you name it.
Backtracking though, from Ottawa we set off for Pembroke, but failed to reach it and stopped in Renfrew due to a day of tire popping and crap weather. The following day we were hit by similar conditions and ended in Petawawa with the Lafrance family. Their son is a friend of Rainer and the other guys and Mrs. Lafrance was unbelievable in accomodating us with beds, food prep, tea, television, warmth, laundry, and most importantly great conversation.
From there we travelled in much improved weather through the military lands of Petawawa and finished a good day in Deux Rivieres, camping behind a very gracious general store. If the details on riding seem short or completely absent, it's not because the riding wasn't great, it just escapes me now at 1:00am. The bike shop in Petawawa was incredible as well, bought a new tire to replace one I'd chewed up, as well as some red rear brake pads ensuring I don't smash into the back of somebody in the draft line. Still need more tubes though, running on a spare with a hole in it at the moment, not so smart. Our lunch stop earlier that day brought us to a beautiful spot in Deep River right on the water, where we met a cheery guy named Paul-David, who is riding solo from St. Sauveur near Montreal all the way to Vancouver. He rode with us after lunch for a while until the hills slowed him down and led him to end his day with a camp in the deep woods. Adrian spotted a black bear moments earlier, hopefully our Francophone friend and the curious bear didn't cross each other after we rode on.
From Deux Rivieres we travelled a long day through very hot weather and unpredictable roads. Lots of construction sites and some hills, though nothing we couldn't handle. We made our way through North Bay and then onto Sturgeon Falls to stay with our friend Christine and her family. Quite a long day of cycling, though on the last leg we were cruising along the flattest highway we've encountered yet, easily breaking 30km/hr consistently for the last leg.
At Christine's we stored our bikes, threw our panniers in her Suburban and got a scenic drive to Field, where her family cottage sits by a beautiful lake. We had planned a rest day in Sturgeon, but got treated to an extra as when we were about to leave a neighbor drove by relaying warnings of falling trees and golf ball hail in Sudbury. Not biking conditions that's for sure.
It's getting late, so I'll finish telling the story up until now when we get some computer time tomorrow. Hope everybody is doing well!
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Friday, June 1, 2007
OTTAWA!
So the last post was in Trois Rivieres, and much has happened since. Rainer, Adrian and I rode towards Montreal, and actually past it, to my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins' place in Pointe Claire. The West Island is absolutely beautiful, but it took a hell of a long day to get there. Mikey's train got into the Dorval station for 5:00pm and after assembling his bike he had hoped to meet us in Pointe Claire by the time we'd arrived. Unfortunately we took a long time in crossing the island, turns out to be quite a bit longer east to west than we thought, so we only ended up getting there around eight. Mike used the spare time to bike around the neighborhood and get his legs in shape to account for the time he missed in New Brunswick and north eastern Quebec. However, based on how well he biked at the front of the draft on the first leg to Ottawa, I don't think he, or anybody really, should find reason for worry.
In Montreal we had a great time with my family. My Uncle had burgers sizzling on the barbecue when we arrived, and we spent that night joking around with the family and amongst ourselves, playing video games (Top Gear 2 for Super Nintendo, the kids' entertainment for many Christmas Eves in that house) and watching tv.
The following day was a welcome day-off. My cousin Britt took us to Smoked Meat Pete in St. Anne de Bellevue for lunch, because you can't make the visit without a little Montreal Smoked Meat. Afterwards, we drove down the shore to check out the gigantic properties we would end up passing on bike on our way off the island.
My wonderful grandparents, Gaggy (my brother's version of Grandma as a toddler, it's stuck since) and Granddad, hosted us boys for a great take out chicken dinner that night. Granddad at 91 is still sharp and has a hilarious sense of humour. The guys all had a great time and rifled down the delicious food. After saying our goodbyes, we returned to my Aunt's and got ready for a night downtown, where we would spend at Foufounes Electrique, for sure my favorite bar in Montreal. Our flip flops, the most sensible alternate to our bike shoes for packing in the panniers, were laughed at by the doorman. We watched the Sens lose to our delight, and then saw The Saint Catherines close out their Poutine and Cigarettes tour. Raw, energetic punk was exactly the kind of sound we needed to keep us at attention, and we all left the show fans of theirs. Rainer was singing their praises on the way in, but the rest of left with a great first impression. The lead singer had a pair of Macho Man Randy Savage green stripe sunglasses, inside-out leopard print coat, Billy Joel and Elton John tour shirt with sleeves chopped off, and by the show's end he was shirtless bearing a mammoth beer belly. Hilarious stuff. Two dollar pizza closed out the night and we couldn't have been more pleased.
Yesterday we left Pointe Claire and headed halfway to Ottawa, stopping in Alfred, Ontario. We biked at a crazy clip for Mike's first leg back in the tour, going over 25km/hr on average. We camped in a family's yard, cooked up some Chili on our little propane burner and called it a night. Mike and I played poker in our tent until 11 or so, and I hustled him for $5.75.
Today we awoke early, made our signature peanut butter and banana sandwiches for breakfast, and made the short trip to Ottawa, about 80km or so. Pretty good ride overall, very humid with some headwind, and I flipped over my handle bars on the shoulder after a particularly tight squeeze on highway 17. Only a few scrapes, meh. We made it into Ottawa around 1pm, and Mike and I are staying with friends Becca and Nat at their aweseme apartment.
Tonight is our pub at the Cabin, and if you're reading this the cover charge is $3. If you print out the following ticket and hand it in at the door, the money will go directly to CANFAR, the AIDS research foundation we're representing on our trek. Hope to see everybody there, and go to Mike's blog for the ticket because right now the computer won't let me insert an image.....bah.
In Montreal we had a great time with my family. My Uncle had burgers sizzling on the barbecue when we arrived, and we spent that night joking around with the family and amongst ourselves, playing video games (Top Gear 2 for Super Nintendo, the kids' entertainment for many Christmas Eves in that house) and watching tv.
The following day was a welcome day-off. My cousin Britt took us to Smoked Meat Pete in St. Anne de Bellevue for lunch, because you can't make the visit without a little Montreal Smoked Meat. Afterwards, we drove down the shore to check out the gigantic properties we would end up passing on bike on our way off the island.
My wonderful grandparents, Gaggy (my brother's version of Grandma as a toddler, it's stuck since) and Granddad, hosted us boys for a great take out chicken dinner that night. Granddad at 91 is still sharp and has a hilarious sense of humour. The guys all had a great time and rifled down the delicious food. After saying our goodbyes, we returned to my Aunt's and got ready for a night downtown, where we would spend at Foufounes Electrique, for sure my favorite bar in Montreal. Our flip flops, the most sensible alternate to our bike shoes for packing in the panniers, were laughed at by the doorman. We watched the Sens lose to our delight, and then saw The Saint Catherines close out their Poutine and Cigarettes tour. Raw, energetic punk was exactly the kind of sound we needed to keep us at attention, and we all left the show fans of theirs. Rainer was singing their praises on the way in, but the rest of left with a great first impression. The lead singer had a pair of Macho Man Randy Savage green stripe sunglasses, inside-out leopard print coat, Billy Joel and Elton John tour shirt with sleeves chopped off, and by the show's end he was shirtless bearing a mammoth beer belly. Hilarious stuff. Two dollar pizza closed out the night and we couldn't have been more pleased.
Yesterday we left Pointe Claire and headed halfway to Ottawa, stopping in Alfred, Ontario. We biked at a crazy clip for Mike's first leg back in the tour, going over 25km/hr on average. We camped in a family's yard, cooked up some Chili on our little propane burner and called it a night. Mike and I played poker in our tent until 11 or so, and I hustled him for $5.75.
Today we awoke early, made our signature peanut butter and banana sandwiches for breakfast, and made the short trip to Ottawa, about 80km or so. Pretty good ride overall, very humid with some headwind, and I flipped over my handle bars on the shoulder after a particularly tight squeeze on highway 17. Only a few scrapes, meh. We made it into Ottawa around 1pm, and Mike and I are staying with friends Becca and Nat at their aweseme apartment.
Tonight is our pub at the Cabin, and if you're reading this the cover charge is $3. If you print out the following ticket and hand it in at the door, the money will go directly to CANFAR, the AIDS research foundation we're representing on our trek. Hope to see everybody there, and go to Mike's blog for the ticket because right now the computer won't let me insert an image.....bah.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Trois-Rivières
Salut...
Nous avons voyagé 130 kilomètres hier et sommes maintenant dans la belle ville de Trois-Rivières. The french is getting used a little more often at gas stations, pubs, grocery stores, and what have you, it seems I'm a little more comfortable getting by with it than I had expected. Guess those years in elementary immersion paid off, it's strange how words will just creep back into my vocabulary slowly.
Currently we're staying in an amazing apartment with a guy named Phil, a friend of Guillaume who used to manage a pretty cool local band called The New Cities, and now works as a researcher. He also owns Borat too, which I put on last night so Adrian can finally fully appreciate the quotes I so sorely reguritate while we're on the road.
Quebec City was just amazing. After being generously hosted by Guillaume's brother Francois and his girlfriend Geneviève, who have a beautiful house in the suburb of Charlesbourg, we biked towards downtown to see old Québec. We stopped for some cheap laundry on our way and indulged in some Valentine hot dogs, which brought back memories of the same chain we'd visit around my Grandparents' cottage growing up. Delicious and cheap, not necessarily healthy but what the hell, we burn up everything we eat and despite consuming vast quantities of everything, we seem to lose weight, if anything.
Before we could really explore the old city we had to store our bikes and find a place for the night, so we visited some murky dungeon of an internet café where parent-hating role-players come to escape reality. After exploring options for hostels and couchsurfer listings, we called the first couch-volunteer on the list. His mother answered the phone and turned out to be one of the coolest, if not the most hip person we've met along the way. This art prof let us into her home, gave us a set of keys to get into the building, let us store our bikes in the underground garage, and had a converted artist-studio type apartment full of amazing art, furniture, books, a piano, etc. We were amazed at her youthful demeanor and brought her back a bottle of wine after our night out later on.
She recommended a great local restaurant frequented by our kind of crowd, but it was closed so we rolled up the street and had some great local beer at a little rock-indie bar called Scanner. 13 bucks a pitcher, fine by us! Afterwards we found a cheap little restaurant called Diana, full of old people so you know the deals are good. Following the food we headed directly for the old city within the walls, full of touristy shops, restaurants, and pubs, but just beautiful to look at nevertheless. We cruised around for a while taking it all in, taking pictures here and there, surfed on the ornamental cannons atop the hill, ate some crêpes, walked by the Château Frontenac, and did pretty much what all the other tourists did without spending the same kind of coin.
We marched quickly through pouring rain back to Scanner on our way back to Isabelle's apartment, had some more beer and some laughs, then headed back to the apartment to sleep. I had the pull out couch for the night, meaning that the likelihood of Rainer dreaming and flailing a wild fist at my balls was decreased significantly, fine by me. Two nights in a row wouldn't be good for anybody. In the morning we had some coffee with Isabelle and in exchange for her hospitality I did her English homework for the correspondence course she's taking. I told her to change some of the 500 word report around to make it more mistake-heavy and less like something that looks like it was written by somebody who has written more essays in four years than I would like to remember.
Leaving the city wasn't difficult at all, but the legs were a bit stiff after the day off. My now arthritic hands aren't much better either, but the day off did help. The Comfort Seat we use and resulting weight on the handle bars has lowered the circulation to my hands somewhat. Subsequently, the hands are weak and make me look half retarded when handling a knife and fork. At least the seat is great for ensuring some other things remain in good health.
The wind was pretty vicious leaving the city, but after a rough start we picked up the pace and started raising our average speed quite drastically throughout the day. I can tell now our legs are much stronger and the day off really helped.
Today we head for Montreal, well, the west island more specifically, and we'll stay with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. My grandparents are very close nearby so it will be great to see them as well. Mike is healed up and ready to go, so he will get into town by train tonight and we'll meet up to become four strong once more! We can't wait.
Cheers!
Nous avons voyagé 130 kilomètres hier et sommes maintenant dans la belle ville de Trois-Rivières. The french is getting used a little more often at gas stations, pubs, grocery stores, and what have you, it seems I'm a little more comfortable getting by with it than I had expected. Guess those years in elementary immersion paid off, it's strange how words will just creep back into my vocabulary slowly.
Currently we're staying in an amazing apartment with a guy named Phil, a friend of Guillaume who used to manage a pretty cool local band called The New Cities, and now works as a researcher. He also owns Borat too, which I put on last night so Adrian can finally fully appreciate the quotes I so sorely reguritate while we're on the road.
Quebec City was just amazing. After being generously hosted by Guillaume's brother Francois and his girlfriend Geneviève, who have a beautiful house in the suburb of Charlesbourg, we biked towards downtown to see old Québec. We stopped for some cheap laundry on our way and indulged in some Valentine hot dogs, which brought back memories of the same chain we'd visit around my Grandparents' cottage growing up. Delicious and cheap, not necessarily healthy but what the hell, we burn up everything we eat and despite consuming vast quantities of everything, we seem to lose weight, if anything.
Before we could really explore the old city we had to store our bikes and find a place for the night, so we visited some murky dungeon of an internet café where parent-hating role-players come to escape reality. After exploring options for hostels and couchsurfer listings, we called the first couch-volunteer on the list. His mother answered the phone and turned out to be one of the coolest, if not the most hip person we've met along the way. This art prof let us into her home, gave us a set of keys to get into the building, let us store our bikes in the underground garage, and had a converted artist-studio type apartment full of amazing art, furniture, books, a piano, etc. We were amazed at her youthful demeanor and brought her back a bottle of wine after our night out later on.
She recommended a great local restaurant frequented by our kind of crowd, but it was closed so we rolled up the street and had some great local beer at a little rock-indie bar called Scanner. 13 bucks a pitcher, fine by us! Afterwards we found a cheap little restaurant called Diana, full of old people so you know the deals are good. Following the food we headed directly for the old city within the walls, full of touristy shops, restaurants, and pubs, but just beautiful to look at nevertheless. We cruised around for a while taking it all in, taking pictures here and there, surfed on the ornamental cannons atop the hill, ate some crêpes, walked by the Château Frontenac, and did pretty much what all the other tourists did without spending the same kind of coin.
We marched quickly through pouring rain back to Scanner on our way back to Isabelle's apartment, had some more beer and some laughs, then headed back to the apartment to sleep. I had the pull out couch for the night, meaning that the likelihood of Rainer dreaming and flailing a wild fist at my balls was decreased significantly, fine by me. Two nights in a row wouldn't be good for anybody. In the morning we had some coffee with Isabelle and in exchange for her hospitality I did her English homework for the correspondence course she's taking. I told her to change some of the 500 word report around to make it more mistake-heavy and less like something that looks like it was written by somebody who has written more essays in four years than I would like to remember.
Leaving the city wasn't difficult at all, but the legs were a bit stiff after the day off. My now arthritic hands aren't much better either, but the day off did help. The Comfort Seat we use and resulting weight on the handle bars has lowered the circulation to my hands somewhat. Subsequently, the hands are weak and make me look half retarded when handling a knife and fork. At least the seat is great for ensuring some other things remain in good health.
The wind was pretty vicious leaving the city, but after a rough start we picked up the pace and started raising our average speed quite drastically throughout the day. I can tell now our legs are much stronger and the day off really helped.
Today we head for Montreal, well, the west island more specifically, and we'll stay with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. My grandparents are very close nearby so it will be great to see them as well. Mike is healed up and ready to go, so he will get into town by train tonight and we'll meet up to become four strong once more! We can't wait.
Cheers!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Quebec City!
So I have 8 minutes of internet left here at this internet cafe, so ill make it quick. The punctuation mistakes are due to the francais keyboard.
Since we left Millville and the friendly family there, we have had quite the time.
We left and headed for Quebec some more, crashing in a farmers field outside Grand Falls NB. They had us in for breakfast and tea in the morning, pleasant old folks. From there we had another big day and crossed the border finally facing some monstrous headwind. It was difficult to fight against, and not fun on the knees. Ah well, we persisted and stopped in Degalis, where we camped in a municipal campground for free...heyoooooo...a nice lake in front of us and quarter showers!
From there, biked a whole lot to St. Germain, slept on the edge of the St. Laurent. Then we biked a huge 170k day to Quebec where we are now! and my internet is running out....
Since we left Millville and the friendly family there, we have had quite the time.
We left and headed for Quebec some more, crashing in a farmers field outside Grand Falls NB. They had us in for breakfast and tea in the morning, pleasant old folks. From there we had another big day and crossed the border finally facing some monstrous headwind. It was difficult to fight against, and not fun on the knees. Ah well, we persisted and stopped in Degalis, where we camped in a municipal campground for free...heyoooooo...a nice lake in front of us and quarter showers!
From there, biked a whole lot to St. Germain, slept on the edge of the St. Laurent. Then we biked a huge 170k day to Quebec where we are now! and my internet is running out....
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Millville, NB
Hey everybody, this'll be short and sweet because I'm on the computer of a nice family in a small New Brunswick town with Rainer and Adrian. Mike is resting up his knee in Waterloo for a week before rejoining us, we're all thinking about him quite a bit and hoping for his speedy and full recovery.
This family just had us in from the cold for tea, apple pie and ice cream, and offered to make us some waffles for breakfast...how's that for camping, haha! Our tents are in the front yard, hopefully tonight's frost doesn't cramp the legs too much.
We did 123km yesterday and 110km today, stopping in Fredericton for lunch. I wish we could've stayed there longer, the main strip feels very village-like with plenty of pubs and restaurants. Last night we camped in the yard of a nice retired school teacher in Jemseg, NB, and her amazing friend Willa had us over for dinner for some of the best spaghetti I've ever tasted. People have been overly hospitable so far, making me very proud to be a part of this country of ours.
Just had my first shower and shave in a few days, and words won't do justice to how great it feels. Time to go socialize with these kind folks some more before retiring in the tent for the night, will post an update at the next available chance...cheers!
This family just had us in from the cold for tea, apple pie and ice cream, and offered to make us some waffles for breakfast...how's that for camping, haha! Our tents are in the front yard, hopefully tonight's frost doesn't cramp the legs too much.
We did 123km yesterday and 110km today, stopping in Fredericton for lunch. I wish we could've stayed there longer, the main strip feels very village-like with plenty of pubs and restaurants. Last night we camped in the yard of a nice retired school teacher in Jemseg, NB, and her amazing friend Willa had us over for dinner for some of the best spaghetti I've ever tasted. People have been overly hospitable so far, making me very proud to be a part of this country of ours.
Just had my first shower and shave in a few days, and words won't do justice to how great it feels. Time to go socialize with these kind folks some more before retiring in the tent for the night, will post an update at the next available chance...cheers!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Last Day in Halifax
Hey everybody, the public library computer says no e-mail, chat, or games, but mentions nothing about blogs.
Our ride into the downtown was quite eventful. A popped tire for Rainer, a flying pannier for myself, dropped mirror for Mike, and some other inconvient moments did nothing other than give us something to laugh at. We're staying with Rainer's friend Nick who generously put us up for a couple nights. Wicked grassy backyard, nice digs, awesome overall ***just got kicked off the computer haha.
So...we've packed up everything, taken care of all the loose ends in terms of equipment, and Mikey and I tested out the tent which sets up very easily. Everything seems good to go except Adrian just broke his spoke on the way to the bike shop...better now than on the road tomorrow I guess. Still, shitty deal. After re-packing and getting rid of every unnecessary or redundant item, I tried to use my foot to push the cloting compression bag into my pannier. After ripping a huge tear in the top draw string I realized brute force is never the best route, lesson learned. Tonight we're heading to the Keith's brewery for a tour and are gonna cook up some fresh lobster, how Nova Scotian.
Tomorrow we're heading to Truro which is about 120k or so away, which will be our first test in the way of actual bike touring.
Our ride into the downtown was quite eventful. A popped tire for Rainer, a flying pannier for myself, dropped mirror for Mike, and some other inconvient moments did nothing other than give us something to laugh at. We're staying with Rainer's friend Nick who generously put us up for a couple nights. Wicked grassy backyard, nice digs, awesome overall ***just got kicked off the computer haha.
So...we've packed up everything, taken care of all the loose ends in terms of equipment, and Mikey and I tested out the tent which sets up very easily. Everything seems good to go except Adrian just broke his spoke on the way to the bike shop...better now than on the road tomorrow I guess. Still, shitty deal. After re-packing and getting rid of every unnecessary or redundant item, I tried to use my foot to push the cloting compression bag into my pannier. After ripping a huge tear in the top draw string I realized brute force is never the best route, lesson learned. Tonight we're heading to the Keith's brewery for a tour and are gonna cook up some fresh lobster, how Nova Scotian.
Tomorrow we're heading to Truro which is about 120k or so away, which will be our first test in the way of actual bike touring.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Halifax!
Hey Now! We have reached the airport safe and sound, and though the obese biochem salesdude pouring his heart out to Rainer on the plane was slightly annoying, there were no real difficulties aside from the two hours of sleep....
The weather at the airport is great, albeit a little chilly. While changing into our bike gear in the relatively crowded parking lot, I unknowingly mooned a pretty hot chick driving by. Not sure if the smirk on her face afterwards is a good or bad sign.
It took three hours to pack everything into our saddlebags, and now it's pretty damn difficult to lift the back tire. The wind's picking up and should provide us a nice struggle biking into it.
We've decided to stay an extra day in Halifax to enjoy the city and rest up, should be good fun. Will post again soon once we get into the downtown and drown ourselves in a sea of lobster buffets. The music in this airport cafe is pumping some havarti-esque italian euro, thus sending some sort of sign that we should get the hell out of here. Though they did rock "This is Why I'm Hot" earlier, which gave us a kick.
Time to go, will post again soon, hopefully with pictures. 30k to Halifax coming up, should be a good warm up. Cheers everybody.
The weather at the airport is great, albeit a little chilly. While changing into our bike gear in the relatively crowded parking lot, I unknowingly mooned a pretty hot chick driving by. Not sure if the smirk on her face afterwards is a good or bad sign.
It took three hours to pack everything into our saddlebags, and now it's pretty damn difficult to lift the back tire. The wind's picking up and should provide us a nice struggle biking into it.
We've decided to stay an extra day in Halifax to enjoy the city and rest up, should be good fun. Will post again soon once we get into the downtown and drown ourselves in a sea of lobster buffets. The music in this airport cafe is pumping some havarti-esque italian euro, thus sending some sort of sign that we should get the hell out of here. Though they did rock "This is Why I'm Hot" earlier, which gave us a kick.
Time to go, will post again soon, hopefully with pictures. 30k to Halifax coming up, should be a good warm up. Cheers everybody.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Welcome
So this is the first post of (hopefully) many documenting my bike trip across Canada from Halifax to Vancouver with friends Mike, Rainer, and Adrian. Our flight leaves very early Monday morning from Ottawa and from now until the landing gear leaves the tarmac, we'll be getting our equipment organized and packed and doing some last minute training. A beer or two may also creep into the mix.
The four of us have never taken on a physical and mental challenge quite like this, so it'll be interesting to see what problems we encounter and how we deal with them. I'm curious to see the diverse geography and weather conditions, camping sites, road quality, etc., but I doubt anything will be able to crush the will and determination of four stubbornly confident University students. Above all else, a grizzly bear knife fight in Banff is still sitting high on my checklist.
I'm not bringing my digital camera because I stupidly packed away both the charger and usb cable, but seeing as how disposables nowadays can be put straight onto cd, the hope is that I can upload pictures in cafes and homes along the way.
Our trek is part of the Speak With Spokes campaign, which raises money for Canada's leading AIDS research and awareness foundation, CANFAR. Donations can be made through the Speak With Spokes website, where you can also learn more about the various riders and the Brock marketing team responsible for the majority of corporate fundraising.
Cheers, the next post will be made from the road!
The four of us have never taken on a physical and mental challenge quite like this, so it'll be interesting to see what problems we encounter and how we deal with them. I'm curious to see the diverse geography and weather conditions, camping sites, road quality, etc., but I doubt anything will be able to crush the will and determination of four stubbornly confident University students. Above all else, a grizzly bear knife fight in Banff is still sitting high on my checklist.
I'm not bringing my digital camera because I stupidly packed away both the charger and usb cable, but seeing as how disposables nowadays can be put straight onto cd, the hope is that I can upload pictures in cafes and homes along the way.
Our trek is part of the Speak With Spokes campaign, which raises money for Canada's leading AIDS research and awareness foundation, CANFAR. Donations can be made through the Speak With Spokes website, where you can also learn more about the various riders and the Brock marketing team responsible for the majority of corporate fundraising.
Cheers, the next post will be made from the road!
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