Day 2: Mission to Hope, BC, 90.8km

Today was an exhausting, but extremely satisfying ride. For much of
the day we found ourselves in lush flat farmland as we hugged the
Fraser river and the rail line through the Fraser Valley. It was an
odd experience to ride through such level land, but to be surrounded
on all sides with seemingly insurmountable mountains; some so high
that a significant amount of snow still rests on their peaks.

Periodically throughout the day, often with little warning, the road
would suddenly catch up to these climbs, quickly waking us from our
leisurely pace and jarring us into a challenging ascent.

Despite predictions of a warm sunny day, clouds and unseasonably cold
weather dominated most of the day broken with small pockets of
relative warmth. Vanessa and I both donned and removed our
windbreakers more times than we can count. Tomorrow by all reports,
at least weather wise, should be a much nicer day for our 70km climb
through the Allison Pass in Manning Provincial Park.

The above photo shows a view about 10 km out of Hope BC and was
typical of the day. Long rolling roads and tall beautiful peaks.

Day 1: Daily Image

Day 1: Vancouver to Mission, BC 70.17

Hello from Sun Valley Campground. We had a great ride today, starting from our B&B in Vancouver we headed to Stanley Park for the symbolic launch at the Pacific Ocean. I had forgotten how wonderful it is to ride in Vancouver with fresh ocean air and bike lanes all around you. We were longing to spend an extra day in the city but we were too hyped about starting the ride so we started our trek east along Hastings, which eventually becomes highway seven.

We were feeling pretty smug about our quick adaptation to the heavy load we're now pulling on our bikes. On the flat and mild-moderate hills it doesn't make too much of a difference; we're a little bit slower but when you can build up a momentum it's almost possible to forget the packs are there. That is at least until you're 'mountain-struck', then there is no mistaking you have seventy extra pounds to heave up the steep grades. Burnaby mountain gave us quite the strenuous initiation into what lies ahead in the next few days. Luckily we got the worst of today's climbing out of the way within the first 20km before enjoying an invigorating descent and some relatively flat riding through Port Moody and Coquitlam. Between Maple Ridge and Mission some rolling hills pick up again as the vistas shift from power shopping centers to rivers, mountains, and railroads.

Following the Lougheed highway/highway 7 for the duration of the ride you'd expect it to have been miserable. I generally always find highway riding at least a little harrowing, and to be honest today there was some of that, but it helps that there was a wide paved shoulder for *most* of our route. Sometimes it dropped off or was covered in too much debris to safely cycle upon but drivers generally gave us our right to the road and passed us with room to spare. Actually, we get the sense that many of the drivers around here are also cyclists --in Toronto we get honked at for being on the road at all, whereas here we're honked at so that people can give us the thumbs up!

Amazing bike infrastructure generally attracts many cyclists and we've met a lot of great people today. We cycled briefly with a tourer from Belgium who has already been cycling for a month. He started in San Francisco and is now on his way east with no set destination. We have to admit we took some delight at us taking a faster pace than him ;-).  Now we're at camp bordered by touring cyclists on either side, all with stories to tell.

We're both feeling pretty good and happy to be on tour, though it hasn't quite sunk in that we'll be doing this for three months. For now, it looks like rain is coming and we need to pack up for the night.

We'll be in touch soon!
Vanessa and Alex

Note: we're writing posts through email on the iphone and it seems unable to accommodate text and photos at the same time so until we can fix it from a computer we'll be posting the two separately.

Departure

Photo - Vanessa at Toronto's Pearson Airport.

Vanessa and I wrote a lovely post, but now have unfortunately learned that we need to send email and photos to the blog separately or it deletes the text. So in short, we're here in Vancouver, happy, and looking forward to heading out tomorrow.

Wish us luck and more soon.

Alex and Vanessa

The Power of Spandex

There is something magical about the power of neon spandex. No matter how tired you feel, once you don a yellow jersey and skin tight shorts you feel like you can take on the world. I've often pondered whether the advantage of proper cycling attire rests more in self confidence boosting than in wind resistance. People also take it as an invitation to conversation. I suppose they figure if you're outgoing enough to wear something as silly as padded shorts you have to be pretty easygoing.

We are now four days from our flight to Vancouver. Our living room is awash of camping equipment and Vanessa and I are frantically attempting to both ready ourselves for our trip, while also preparing to leave our apartment, city and personal commitments for three months. Vanessa and I have graciously taken turns over the last month both worrying and fantasizing about the journey before us. While one of us worries, the other inspires and vice versa. We've never been so excited and intimidated all at once. That being said, through this cold and rainy spring we've slogged through thunder, lightening and hail; dealt with achy knees and leaky rain gear and came out that much stronger for it. Neither of us can promise that we'll make it from one side to the other, but we do know that we'll set out on May 29th to meet meet new people, visit new places and experience long-distance travel by bicycle.

This is our first post in a while, but we hope to post regularly over the course of the trip. We have also confirmed that Rogers will graciously cover our communications costs, making it that much easier for us to post on an almost daily basis.

Wish us luck and see you all soon,

Alex and Vanessa

Almost Spring Training

There’s no easing into it, starting from Vancouver means we’ll be launched into the mountains nearly immediately upon leaving the airport. The coastal mountains will greet our arrival to the city and as we head eastward we’ll be looking at the Cascades range rising out of Hope. On the third day of our trip we will climb the infamous Allison Pass. With a summit at 1342 gruelling metres, this is speculatively the most challenging ride of the trip (Ha! We’ll let you know!). After the Cascades, we’ll go on through the Kootenays and Selkirk ranges to meet the Rockies. To me, all of this looks a fair bit more challenging than cycling along Lakeshore between Toronto and Hamilton.

We know that without adequate training the ride might be impossible, or at best, very painful. We’ve been trying to log as many kilometres as possible but the combination of Sunday being our only day off and that Sundays always seem to have terrible weather, means we haven’t gotten as far as we’d like. We also aim to do quick 20km evening rides after work when possible, but life has been very busy so we’ve only managed this a couple of times.

Our training started in earnest on April 3. It was a freezing cold day and we rode 66km from our Toronto home to the Aldershot GO Station. Considering it was the first long ride of the year and that we had lost feeling in our extremities, we were pretty satisfied and vowed to dress better and ride further the following Sunday. (Note: Because of the wind you create with the bike, riding is MUCH colder than if you were just outside walking around.)

When the next Sunday rolled around (April 10), it was already raining when we woke up. We decided we need to get used to riding in non-ideal conditions so we donned our rain jackets and took the plunge. As we were leaving Alex mentioned  you can get ‘rain booties’ to cover your shoes, I scoffed at the ridiculous idea.

Our plan was to ride 70 km to Oakville and back. By the time we hit the waterfront path, our shoes were already water logged but we kept going through the pouring rain. Things took a turn for the worse after we passed into Mississauga and thunder started crackling around us. Rain is one thing but riding a metal rod through a lightening storm is not the kind of conditioning we want. We decided to race the storm home –and so did every other cyclist on the road, we were passed by a huge racing peloton on their way back to the city. Somehow, the ride back felt twice as far with our feet sloshing around in our shoes, our fingers numb, and the lightening at our back.

We only covered 40km that day but we made some big training gains in gear and clothing appropriateness. Lesson: time to get some rain booties.

April 17: Really? It's hailing again? No riding today.

Finally, April 24 and 25th we had a long weekend and decent weather, which we took as an opportunity to ride out to my sister, nephews, and niece in Cobourg. On the 24th we took the GO Train to Oshawa and rode 70 hilly kilometres without any rain, hail, or snow –it was fabulous! But still, I felt pretty worn out on our shorter return ride to Newcastle the next day. By the end of the 40km my legs were screaming “No more hills!” I know that this actually means I need more hills. Ugh.

Now that we’re one month (!!!) away from departure we need to ramp things up. We’re counting on May for some less chaotic weather so we can stick to our plans for more riding through the week, longer Sunday rides, and hill training –Ugh, it’s for the best.

The Places We'll Go

Despite that we have been planning, saving for, and organizing our trip for months it still sounds a little fantastical when we actually say out loud that “we’re biking across Canada this summer.” I always laugh giddily when I hear myself say it, like the words came from someone else and couldn’t possibly be our own reality in what is now just over a month!

Plotting out and reviewing our route has helped to transform the dream into a plan that actually feels real and doable. So, behold our projected route plan below. Exact dates and distances may fluctuate with the weather, the hills, and our bodies’ abilities to adapt to those things!

We're going to be sharing more on planning, training, and general preparations in coming posts. In the meantime, if you're interested in how we prepared for our first cycle camping trip on Vancouver Island, check out past trips on our website: www.avclubbiking.ca

May 29th Vancouver 66.2 (Kilometres)
May 30th Hope 89.5
May 31st Manning Prov Park 71
June 1st Princeton 92.9
June 2nd Penticton 115.3
June 3rd Vernon 95.7
June 4th REST in Vernon
June 5th Cedars Campground 82.8
June 6th Revelstoke 57.3
June 7th Glacier National Park 70.7
June 8th Golden 81.6
June 9th Lake Louise 85
June 10th Banff 76.3
June 11th Canmore, Calgary 90.5
June 12th REST Calgary
June 13th REST Calgary
June 14th Chestermere, Strathmore, (Eagle lake RV resort) 63.8
June 15th* Bassano 90.4
June 16th* Brooks, Tillebrook Provincial Park 56.3
June 17th Redcliff, Medicine Hat 99.1
June 18th Walsh 91.6
June 19th Swift Current 135.6
June 20th Waldeck, Chaplin 138.5
June 21st Moose Jaw, Regina 114.8
June 22nd* REST in Regina
June 23rd Mclean, Fort Qu'Appelle 80.2
June 24th Melville 75.2
June 25th Churchbridge, Russell 119.7
June 26th Shoal Lake, Minnedosa 138
June 27th Portage la Prairie 129
June 28th Winnipeg 83.5
June 29th REST In Winnipeg
June 30th Prawda 108
July 1st Kenora 107
July 2nd Dryden 137
July 3rd Ignace 106.5
July 4th Upsla 124.8
July 5th Thunder Bay 136.1
July 6th REST in Thunder Bay
July 7th Dorion 86.6
July 8th Rossport 89.9
July 9th Marathon 112.8
July 10th White River, Obatanga prov park 132.7
July 11th WAWA 143.2
July 12th REST in Wawa
July 13th Sault Ste. Marie 134.6
July 14th Thessalon 133.2
July 15th Little Current 149
July 16th South Baymouth, (ferry) Tobermory, Ontario 63.6
July 17th Owen Sound 109
July 18th Orangeville 114
July 19th Toronto 79.6
July 26th to 28th REST in Toronto
July 29th Cobourg 126
July 30th Belleville 79.1
July 31st Kingston 77.6
August 1st Brockville 84
August 2nd Cornwall 98.5
August 3rd Montreal 123
August 4th REST in Montreal
August 5th Louisville 104.9
August 6th Portneuf 110.1
August 1st Quebec City 62.4
August 2nd REST in Quebec City
August 3rd Berthier sur-Mer 80.6
August 4th Kamouraska 110.3
August 5th Saint Fabien 99.3
August 6th Sayabec, 95.6
August 7th Matapedia 90.1
August 8th Bathurst 120.2
August 9th REST in Bathurst
August 10th Maramichi 87.3
August 11th Shediac 116.2
August 12th Shediac, Moncton, Shediac (to visit Centre) 60
August 13th Amhurst 74.2
August 14th Truro 112.8
August 15th Halifax 84.3
August 16th REST in Halifax
August 17th Sheet Harbour 113.1
August 18th Sherbrooke 81.5
August 19th Hastings 95.8
August 20th Cleveland, Saint Peter's, 70.8
August 21st Sydney 104.1
August 22nd Rest Sydney
August 23rd Ferry ride
August 24th Codroy Pond 108.1
August 25th Corner Brook 118.8
August 26th Pasadena, Deer Lake 49.2
August 27th Kona Beach Park Campground 133.8
August 28th Badger, Fallsview Campground 97.4
August 29th Glenwood, 79.8
August 30th Terra Nova national park 81
August 31st Arnold's Cove 114.6
September 1st Butterpot Provincial Park 108.2
September 2nd St John's!! 39.8
Total km 7950.6

You'll notice a jump in dates when we reach Toronto, this is because we've decided to build some flexibility into the route by adding a week's worth of non-designated rest or rather, non-bike activity days. We need to be in Toronto for a group ride event with the Cardiac Health Foundation on July 28, which was originally slated to take place a week earlier. Now we have some leeway to explore particularly interesting places or take a day off in bad weather or just because we feel like it! Inevitably, the specific date/location correlations in the first half of the trip are going to change as we begin to take up these extra days. We would rather take advantage of them as we travel than to sit around in Toronto, so our plan now is to arrive in the city for July 26 or 27.

If you're not local to Toronto maybe we'll see you enroute?