On the way to the train....

Here we go!!! After 2 days of madly packing we are actually ready to go. 2 1/2 years and here it is. Packing bicycles into boxes for transportation was a bit of an adventure. "Just turn the handlebars and remove the pedals" to quote the Via Rail box. Sure!!! I guess only bicycles built for children fit into their boxes. With a little work on the box, and a whole lot of "Tuk" tape, they slid right in.

As promised in the last posting, an official weigh-in took place. Sue's bike and gear = 92 pounds. Kevin's bike and gear = 106 pounds. (I knew that I did not want to know this information.)

A thank you to both family and friends who have been so supportive of us as we prepared for this adventure. Your well wishes have truly been "inspiring". Next posting probably sometime in the next 3 1/2 days on board the train. Washago here we come!!! Vancouver look out!!!

Kevin = 1 Sue = 0

Last Minute Scramble.....

With only 4 days until departure (Friday at 12:40 a.m.), the last minute scramble has begun. From training rides, to last minute bike details, to packing for the trip, to Blackberry issues, to dinner invitations (heck our social schedule in the last 2 weeks has been busier than for the last 10 years combined....maybe everyone considers them 'last suppers'), we have been busy. Hard to believe all the planning is finally coming together.

As can be seen in the latest picture, an awful lot of 'stuff' must go on the bikes. A weigh in is planned for today to see how much weight we will be carrying. Maybe this is a detail we should 'not' want to know. One last post will hopefully happen before departure.

Kevin=1 Sue=0

17 Days To Departure....

Everyone has been telling me I needed to update the blog so here it is. In the last 2 months lots has happened very little to do with our coming adventure. Preparation has continued, of course, to get away by the end of the month. A bad fall in our bush during Maple Syrup Season resulting in a sore knee and then a badly cut hand has slowed training but not stopped it. (Never thought I would say thank goodness for turbo-trainers).

Our training has now moved outside as the 3 feet of snow went away quickly (too quickly for Maple Syrup Season). Our bikes were missing in action for a period of time when they were in the "shop" for their final tune-up. Two new back wheels later and a complete cleaning and bearing check, they are now ready to go. (Dam near paid for a new bike!!!!) Still need to put the new rubber on them and do some test rides fully loaded. We are "really" looking forward to our coming "adventure" (a whole lot scared as well) and cannot believe it is only 17 days until it begins. Lots of things to wrap up before then!!!!

Kevin = 1 Sue = 0

More Not So Relevant Information....

By chance that anyone out there on the web cares, here is an equipment list that Sue and I plan on taking with us on this adventure.

Bicycles--Rocky Mountain Metro

These bicycles were off the shelf items but then we started "playing" with them. They are solid bikes, not too heavy, but hopefully strong enough to survive the pounding they will take on this trip. They have 24 speeds which we altered by adding a "true granny gear". They are now geared more like mountain bikes. They have strait handlebars with large hand grips. We chose the strait bars because the "road handle bars" force you to crouch over far too much...especially at our age!!! They are equipped with mirrors for safety reasons and we both have headlights and tail lights for that rare occasion of evening riding. The plan is to not be forced into this situation but who knows. We will also be wearing safety vests for better visibility. We have Sigma bike computers so we know how far we have "crawled" and so we know how "really slow" we are riding. We will be equipped with clipless pedals. Over the last couple of years some nasty tumbles have occurred (forgetting to unclip seems to have been a problem) but we really believe that extra power is provided by being able to pull up at the same time as pushing down. The bikes have 700-35 tires and we have chosen Michelin Tracker tires which have a puncture resistant kevlar layer inside the tread. We will see how effective this really is once on the road and riding over all the "neat things" you encounter on our highways.

Saddle Bags

Our cargo carrying system of choice looks like an advertisement for Mountain Equipment Co-op. I will have MEC World Tour 56 litre cycling panniers. Sue will have the slightly smaller MEC 43 litre Cordura Cycling panniers. Like I need the extra weight!!! Both of us will have front low-rider bags, the MEC World Tour 40 litre cycling panniers. All of these bags will be covered by "bright yellow" MEC rain covers when necessary. We really should be getting paid by MEC for advertising!!!

Camping Gear

Since we plan on camping as much as possible we have chosen a Sierra Design - Comet three person tent. This gives us a fairly large vestibule for overnight gear storage. Our minus 7 rated sleeping bags will rest on Therma-Rest sleeping pads. These bags will hopefully be warm enough for the cold mountain passes of British Columbia in May and will probably be too hot for the summer temperatures. The stove we will take is a single burner Coleman. We have been quite successful with this stove despite it's greater bulk and it should be less troublesome than the "whisper-type" stoves.

Bicycle Tools and Parts

We will be taking a universal hex key set, a spoke wrench, tire irons, an adjustable wrench, small needle nose vice grips, chain lube, a bike pump and tire guage. Our plan is to start off with a tube repair kit, 3 spare tubes each, 1 extra tire each, tire boots, extra brake pads, cleaning rags, zip-ties and of course bungee cords.

Clothing

We have chosen to again be the "poster people" for MEC. We will be taking MEC Whoosh Cycling Jackets, red for me, yellow for Sue. We will have MEC Rain Cycling Pants. "Layering" we are told, is the key to survival when the temperatures change in the mountains or cold rains occur. (Have to hope that never happens...ya right!!!) We will be taking 3 layers of Merino Wool underwear for this purpose. Each is slightly heavier, and if the advertising is correct, should provide us the "whicking" abilities so crucial to staying warm when those downhill things actually happen after "hours" of climbing. We will have Nanu Lobster Cycling Gloves for cold weather riding and MEC Cycling Shoe Covers. Hopefully the shoe covers can provide "some" waterproofness when riding in damp weather is neccessary. We will be taking 3 pairs of MEC riding shorts (the best padded ones we could find)!!! For the after biking hours we will be taking one non-riding t-shirt, 1 pair zip-off long pants (doing laundry regularily will be crucial!!!),a pair of shorts, and a bathing suit (I am sure the bathing suits will be good for those "nice warm" mountain streams or maybe those rare campgrounds with hotubs)!!! And to keep us "toasty" at the end of the day a down filled vest. (This will also double as a pillow if we are not forced to use it to keep warm while sleeping.)

Countless hours have gone into the planning for this adventure. We know we will have gotten some things wrong but with a little luck hopefully we will have more things right than wrong!!! That will be part of the adventure!!!

64 days and counting....

Confirmed....

It is confirmed that Eric, our 15 year old nephew, will be joining us in part of our adventure this summer. Eric rode with us, or maybe I should say "led us", in our training rides in the summer of 2009. Young legs never seemed to get tired. Oh to be so lucky! Eric will ride with us for a couple of months on his summer holidays. Some holidays!!!! His fluency in French should be invaluable since our skills in our other "official language" are lacking. High School French was a long time ago.

We also will be glad to be joined by Sue's brother, Neil, for a week in the summer. Neil has become quite an accomplished "road rider" in the past few years. His idea of fun is to go out for a 60 to 100km bike ride after work. Should be fun to test his stamina on a "fully loaded" touring bicycle.

Training is "going". That is about all you can say about daily rides on turbo-trainers. Oh to live in a warmer climate!

70 days and counting....

Kevin

Update - 83 days and ...

83 days and counting. Yes, we are now into the "days" countdown. Again how time is flying. So many things to do to get ready to leave.

We have now booked (and paid for) our train ride to Vancouver. So if nothing else we will at least be in Vancouver May 3 with our bikes. We chose the train as an "expensive" alternative to flying. We have always talked of taking a train ride west so what better time than to combine it with our Bicycle Adventure. It also means not having to "dismantle" the bikes quite as much to box them for transportation.

And oh yes, there still is that thing called "training". We are doing daily rides on our bikes using turbo-trainers since the 3 feet of snow outside is not exactly condusive to "touring" training.

Kevin.

The Journey

  We will be leaving from Vancouver on or about May 10.  We want to stay off the main highways across Canada (The Dreaded Trans Canada) for many reasons, particularily the poor road conditions for cycling and because of traffic.  As a result, we have chosen the southern route across British Columbia on Hwy #3 despite the steeper climbs to the mountain passes.  We will continue on Hwy #3 across Alberta to Medicine Hat joining the Trans Canada and continuing into Saskatchewan where we will drop down onto Hwy #13 and proceed into Manitoba.  Through Manitoba we plan to take Hwy #2 to Winnipeg where we will hook back up with the Trans Canada into Ontario.  At Kenora we plan to take Hwy #71 and then Hwy #11 to Thunder Bay where we will be forced back onto the Trans Canada again until we head for Manitoulan Island at Espanola.  We will head down the Bruce Penninsula and into Southern Ontario winding our way to Ottawa by a series of less travelled County Roads.  We will cross into Quebec and make our way north of Montreal and then down to the St. Lawrence River where we will follow secondary roads and as many bike paths as possible on the south side of the river.  We will cut across the Gaspe Penninsula to Campbellton New Brunswick and follow the coast to the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island.  We will leave Prince Edward Island by the Woods Island Ferry to Nova Scotia.  Depending on our "time" and maybe more importantly our "desire", we will ride the Cabot Trail around Cape Breton to North Sydney and the ferry to Port aux Basques Newfoundland and then the Trans Canada to St. John's. 

The plan is to be very "fluid" and open to alterations as we go.  We are doing this as a unique way to see our vast country and meet its unique people.  If we get all the way to St. John's - "great", if not - "so be it".   IT IS NOT NECESSARILY ABOUT THE DESTINATION ....IT IS ABOUT THE JOURNEY.

Kevin.

Introduction: "Are You Nuts?"

It has been a dream of mine to ride across Canada for a few years now. Having been introduced to touring cycling by "my better half - Sue", we have embarked on numerous 10 to 14 day self contained rides in Ontario and one in New Brunswick. After meeting a cycling group crossing Canada in 2008 and following their exploits by way of their blog, the dream became far more. It was now "a must do". In the past 2 years I have read blog accounts that have thrilled me, excited me and most definitely scared me senseless. As the time draws closer and more preparation takes place, including the "necessary evil called training", those emotions have only intensified. Somewhere along the way, Sue, who was quite hesitant at first, has been caught up in the adventure.

Four months and counting ...

It is hard to believe that after 2 1/2 years of planning, the adventure is only 4 months away. Way too many things to do between now and then, including training!

The planned route is Vancouver, British Columbia to St. John's, Newfoundland with the start date being May 7th to 10th, 2010.