Got into Montreal last night after some challenging times around Trois Rivieres.
But there it is- a complete journey.
Still hard to believe.
Thank you for reading about my trip- it really meant a lot, knowing how intersted people were.
I just biked across the country!
Cheers
Mikey
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Quebec City Rest - 2 Days Left
Biking Solo has really grown on me!
I'll take a quick walk through the last few days.
1) Moncton-Jemseg
This was by far the toughest day. It was crazy hot- like 37 degrees, the wind was in my face, and there was a pass of over 70km with NOTHING (no place to fill up water, get food, find a nice place for a break). So that sucked. Also, it was weird being alone...I was used to having the boys around. That night I stayed in a backyard in Jemseg, NB.
Funny story- when I asked Jim to stay in his backyard, he asked to see I.D before he said yes. I presented my good old Ontario drivers license, and I was clear to camp. Weird eh?
I felt kinda homesick that night, but a few phonecalls to my folks and meaghan made me feel better.
2) Jemseg-Southampton NB
I had good breakfast in the morning, and hit the 105- which turned out to be one of my favourite highways on the trip. The 105 ran right beside the St. John river...which was key for such a HOT day. That day I swam about 4 times, ate lunch in Fredericton, and stopped along the highway in a town called Southampton.
The house I stopped at belonged to Susan and Cliff- a couple with a beautiful property on the river. After I met Susan, I took my bike down toward the water to set up my tent. Cliff was down there, on the deck with his friend Wolfgang. The two were fishing and drinking a few beers when I met them. The welcomed me, and immediately asked if I was a strong swimmer (which was a bit odd...). I told them I was strong enough.
With that, they explained that they had just lost their boat's motor in the river, and they were wondering if i could try to find it for them. I agreed, as I thought it be a sweet adventure, and off we went down the river. Cliff and Wolfgang were great characters, but they didn't have the best memories, which meant that my general guidelines of where the motor 'could be' were pretty board. I dove to the bottom of the merky river about 10 times, found nothing. And in the process, I lost both of my contact lenses. But the boys apprecited my effort, despite my lack of results, and headed back to Cliff's place.
After I set up my tent and ate my can of beans, Cliff invited me up to the garage for a beer and some pickeled eggs. I went up, and was almost force fed 2 of Cliff's famous pickeled eggs (Wolfgang was a big fan).
Before he said his goodbyes, Wolfgang told me I was welcome to go to his place for breakfast. He the hopped onto his lawnmower, and drover home (which was directly next door).
3) Southampton-Grand Falls
In the morning I packed my things up, and went over to Wolfgang's for Breakfast. There, I was treated to a traditional German breakfast made by his wonderful wife. Over my eggs, meat, and strong coffee, Wolfgang explained to me why he moved from Germany to New Brunswick 6 years ago. He was a great storyteller. After breakfast I was offered a shower- which I greatefully accepted.
Before leaving, I thanked Cliff and Susan for letting me camp, they sent me off with a new can of beans and some snacks...both came in handy over the next few days.
Riding that day was great- I went over 165kms...and still had energy in my legs at the end of the day. But I ran out of light. So, I stayed in a town called Great Falls, NB.
It was supposed to storm all day, but I only got drizzeled on. so that was sweet. That night I fell asleep to a RAGING party at the Golden Age Hall next door. Who knew old people liked to party to Brian Adams Cover bands?
4) Grand Falls - Cambino
Over a stretch of 125km, I had to change my back tire 3 times. Not a great day!
But that night, I stated at a WICKED campground- only $12 for a site, unlimited swimming in a sweet pool, showers...the whole bit. That made me happy.
5) Cambino- _____________?
The highlight of this day was biking along the St.Lawrence river. It was incredible have such a beautiful view all day, and I was in the company of many other bikers. looks like bike tourism is big in this area.
After biking 1535 km, I slept on the grass of a football field along the highway. I'm still unsure of the name of the place I was in.
6) ________________?- Quebec City!
This was a pretty easy day, I woke up early and had 135km done by 5:30pm, which is pretty early. The highligh of the day was the ferry ride to Quebec from Levis.
7) Rest Day in Quebec
Now I'm at a hostel in Old Quebec city, and its great here. Tomorrow I will reach Trois Rivieres, and the day after, I will FINISH BIKING ACROSS CANADA, when I reach Brad's aunt's house just outside of Montreal.
Brad is meeting me there, and we are going to celebrate before we bike from Montreal to Ottawa on Sunday.
OVERALL-
Biking alone is a really cool experience. I'm almost glad it worked out this way truthfully!
I'll post again from MTL, and that will be the end of it.
cheers!!
Mikey
I'll take a quick walk through the last few days.
1) Moncton-Jemseg
This was by far the toughest day. It was crazy hot- like 37 degrees, the wind was in my face, and there was a pass of over 70km with NOTHING (no place to fill up water, get food, find a nice place for a break). So that sucked. Also, it was weird being alone...I was used to having the boys around. That night I stayed in a backyard in Jemseg, NB.
Funny story- when I asked Jim to stay in his backyard, he asked to see I.D before he said yes. I presented my good old Ontario drivers license, and I was clear to camp. Weird eh?
I felt kinda homesick that night, but a few phonecalls to my folks and meaghan made me feel better.
2) Jemseg-Southampton NB
I had good breakfast in the morning, and hit the 105- which turned out to be one of my favourite highways on the trip. The 105 ran right beside the St. John river...which was key for such a HOT day. That day I swam about 4 times, ate lunch in Fredericton, and stopped along the highway in a town called Southampton.
The house I stopped at belonged to Susan and Cliff- a couple with a beautiful property on the river. After I met Susan, I took my bike down toward the water to set up my tent. Cliff was down there, on the deck with his friend Wolfgang. The two were fishing and drinking a few beers when I met them. The welcomed me, and immediately asked if I was a strong swimmer (which was a bit odd...). I told them I was strong enough.
With that, they explained that they had just lost their boat's motor in the river, and they were wondering if i could try to find it for them. I agreed, as I thought it be a sweet adventure, and off we went down the river. Cliff and Wolfgang were great characters, but they didn't have the best memories, which meant that my general guidelines of where the motor 'could be' were pretty board. I dove to the bottom of the merky river about 10 times, found nothing. And in the process, I lost both of my contact lenses. But the boys apprecited my effort, despite my lack of results, and headed back to Cliff's place.
After I set up my tent and ate my can of beans, Cliff invited me up to the garage for a beer and some pickeled eggs. I went up, and was almost force fed 2 of Cliff's famous pickeled eggs (Wolfgang was a big fan).
Before he said his goodbyes, Wolfgang told me I was welcome to go to his place for breakfast. He the hopped onto his lawnmower, and drover home (which was directly next door).
3) Southampton-Grand Falls
In the morning I packed my things up, and went over to Wolfgang's for Breakfast. There, I was treated to a traditional German breakfast made by his wonderful wife. Over my eggs, meat, and strong coffee, Wolfgang explained to me why he moved from Germany to New Brunswick 6 years ago. He was a great storyteller. After breakfast I was offered a shower- which I greatefully accepted.
Before leaving, I thanked Cliff and Susan for letting me camp, they sent me off with a new can of beans and some snacks...both came in handy over the next few days.
Riding that day was great- I went over 165kms...and still had energy in my legs at the end of the day. But I ran out of light. So, I stayed in a town called Great Falls, NB.
It was supposed to storm all day, but I only got drizzeled on. so that was sweet. That night I fell asleep to a RAGING party at the Golden Age Hall next door. Who knew old people liked to party to Brian Adams Cover bands?
4) Grand Falls - Cambino
Over a stretch of 125km, I had to change my back tire 3 times. Not a great day!
But that night, I stated at a WICKED campground- only $12 for a site, unlimited swimming in a sweet pool, showers...the whole bit. That made me happy.
5) Cambino- _____________?
The highlight of this day was biking along the St.Lawrence river. It was incredible have such a beautiful view all day, and I was in the company of many other bikers. looks like bike tourism is big in this area.
After biking 1535 km, I slept on the grass of a football field along the highway. I'm still unsure of the name of the place I was in.
6) ________________?- Quebec City!
This was a pretty easy day, I woke up early and had 135km done by 5:30pm, which is pretty early. The highligh of the day was the ferry ride to Quebec from Levis.
7) Rest Day in Quebec
Now I'm at a hostel in Old Quebec city, and its great here. Tomorrow I will reach Trois Rivieres, and the day after, I will FINISH BIKING ACROSS CANADA, when I reach Brad's aunt's house just outside of Montreal.
Brad is meeting me there, and we are going to celebrate before we bike from Montreal to Ottawa on Sunday.
OVERALL-
Biking alone is a really cool experience. I'm almost glad it worked out this way truthfully!
I'll post again from MTL, and that will be the end of it.
cheers!!
Mikey
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
To be Continued...
So, I am back in Moncton!
Today I flew from Vancouver to Moncton, the rest of the boys flew into Toronto on a different flight.
Flying back into Moncton was kind of weird- just over 2 months ago I needed crutches to get around in that small airport...and going back was quite odd. But, it was also a good feeling, knowing that I can finally get this done with.
Truthfully, I'm not SUPER SUPER pumped for this part of the trip- but I do think it will be a neat experience. I have 10 days of alone time- guess I should have my life worked out pretty well when this is all done!
Right now I am at the C'mon Inn (get it?) hostel in Moncton. Its really nice here, kinda feels like I'm staying in a REALLY REALLY nice student house in Ottawa. Tomorrow I will walk my bike to the nearest bike shop (2km), because I forgot to grab the good pump from Rainer before I took off, and I can't pump my tires up totally with the back up pump we had. Oh well.
From there, my goal is to be in Ottawa by August 4th. Brad is meeting up with me in Montreal, and we are going to bike into Ottawa together. So that'll be sweet.
And oh yeah- my mustache is gone. It just wouldn't have been the same being a lone mustached man, so i shaved it off yesterday. haha.
cheers!
Mikey
Today I flew from Vancouver to Moncton, the rest of the boys flew into Toronto on a different flight.
Flying back into Moncton was kind of weird- just over 2 months ago I needed crutches to get around in that small airport...and going back was quite odd. But, it was also a good feeling, knowing that I can finally get this done with.
Truthfully, I'm not SUPER SUPER pumped for this part of the trip- but I do think it will be a neat experience. I have 10 days of alone time- guess I should have my life worked out pretty well when this is all done!
Right now I am at the C'mon Inn (get it?) hostel in Moncton. Its really nice here, kinda feels like I'm staying in a REALLY REALLY nice student house in Ottawa. Tomorrow I will walk my bike to the nearest bike shop (2km), because I forgot to grab the good pump from Rainer before I took off, and I can't pump my tires up totally with the back up pump we had. Oh well.
From there, my goal is to be in Ottawa by August 4th. Brad is meeting up with me in Montreal, and we are going to bike into Ottawa together. So that'll be sweet.
And oh yeah- my mustache is gone. It just wouldn't have been the same being a lone mustached man, so i shaved it off yesterday. haha.
cheers!
Mikey
Friday, July 20, 2007
CELEBRATORY MUSTACHES!
People ask us- now that you have biked across the country, what will you do next?
The answer- MUSTACHES!
The answer- MUSTACHES!
Photos
the group shot in Vancouver!
Dipping the Tire!
Our tents outside of Meritt.
View of the mountains
Me and Brad in the Tent.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
VANcity Today
So here we are.
30km away from the end of our trip!
The road from Calgary to here (my aunt's house in Port Coquitlam, BC) has been an incredible one. We have seen the mountains. We have camped in some beautiful places. We have met even more giving and incredible people.
Truthfully, I cannot remember each and everyone of our stops form Calgary to here at the moment- I will have to take a look at my journal and enter those in the next entry. But I will however, touch on some highlights.
1) Rogers's Pass
This was supposed to be the largest challenge of our trip- the steepest and longest climb in the mountains. Once we hit the pass, and I looked up the road which winded up and around the first portion of the mountain, I knew it would be a challenge. I would have to say that the hardest part was the heat- sweat poured off of my body the whole time. Luckily I was able to cool off a bit at creek of glacial water about half way up teh pass. Overall, it was a great feeling to conquor such a challenge- and my lunch of a burger and fries at the top tasted better than it should have for sure.
2) The Biker's Tan
After getting used to wearing my small biking shorts without anything over top, and after some shirtless days above 30 degrees, I have developed a sweet biker's tan. Basically, my back is crazy dark, along with the tops of my legs. Its a sight.
3) The Beauty of BC
After spending some time at my aunt's in Invermere, and after biking through places like Banff, Lake Lousie, Roger's Pass, Hope and many others...I think I have to give the prize to BC as Canada's most beautiful province. The mountains are incredible, the forests thick, and the lakes are amazing- especially if they are glacial fed.
4) "The Coq"
This pass was supposed to be the #2 to Rogers. People warned us of this gradual, but long uphill ride often. But we actually rode over the coquihalla without really knowing it- we had expected a larger challenge I guess.
But the best part was the downhill of the coquihalla. This was nuts, let me tell you. AND- we reached our highest of all speeds going down (mom, you probably don't want to know)...74km/h on our bikes. It was nuts, almost surreal. We were passing trucks in crazy videogame-like tunnels. That was definately a highlight.
5) Being "Done" the trip!
Eventhough I will bike the portion I missed during my knee injury, it is pretty amazing to be so close to done the trip. To think that we have covered over 6200km as a team is unbeliveable. But I think the most unbelievealbe part of it is how natural it all seemed to us. While there were some definate low points, the highs were just constant. For us, biking across the country has been nothing sort of a pleasure and a privilege. It is a trip I would recommend to anyone, and one I will never forget. What a journey.
30km away from the end of our trip!
The road from Calgary to here (my aunt's house in Port Coquitlam, BC) has been an incredible one. We have seen the mountains. We have camped in some beautiful places. We have met even more giving and incredible people.
Truthfully, I cannot remember each and everyone of our stops form Calgary to here at the moment- I will have to take a look at my journal and enter those in the next entry. But I will however, touch on some highlights.
1) Rogers's Pass
This was supposed to be the largest challenge of our trip- the steepest and longest climb in the mountains. Once we hit the pass, and I looked up the road which winded up and around the first portion of the mountain, I knew it would be a challenge. I would have to say that the hardest part was the heat- sweat poured off of my body the whole time. Luckily I was able to cool off a bit at creek of glacial water about half way up teh pass. Overall, it was a great feeling to conquor such a challenge- and my lunch of a burger and fries at the top tasted better than it should have for sure.
2) The Biker's Tan
After getting used to wearing my small biking shorts without anything over top, and after some shirtless days above 30 degrees, I have developed a sweet biker's tan. Basically, my back is crazy dark, along with the tops of my legs. Its a sight.
3) The Beauty of BC
After spending some time at my aunt's in Invermere, and after biking through places like Banff, Lake Lousie, Roger's Pass, Hope and many others...I think I have to give the prize to BC as Canada's most beautiful province. The mountains are incredible, the forests thick, and the lakes are amazing- especially if they are glacial fed.
4) "The Coq"
This pass was supposed to be the #2 to Rogers. People warned us of this gradual, but long uphill ride often. But we actually rode over the coquihalla without really knowing it- we had expected a larger challenge I guess.
But the best part was the downhill of the coquihalla. This was nuts, let me tell you. AND- we reached our highest of all speeds going down (mom, you probably don't want to know)...74km/h on our bikes. It was nuts, almost surreal. We were passing trucks in crazy videogame-like tunnels. That was definately a highlight.
5) Being "Done" the trip!
Eventhough I will bike the portion I missed during my knee injury, it is pretty amazing to be so close to done the trip. To think that we have covered over 6200km as a team is unbeliveable. But I think the most unbelievealbe part of it is how natural it all seemed to us. While there were some definate low points, the highs were just constant. For us, biking across the country has been nothing sort of a pleasure and a privilege. It is a trip I would recommend to anyone, and one I will never forget. What a journey.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Calgary!!!!!!!!!!
A sunset outside our tent
Welcome to Alberta where the players play.
Us with Jess- we will be seeing her again in VanCity!
Here we are with the Regina crew- minus Ben. They were a ton of fun.
CALGARY!
Here we are in Calgary after 5 TOUGH days of riding. Since leaving Regina, we have have encountered nothing but heat, head-wind and a slight (but very constant) uphill to deal with in the Praries.
We had a hard time leaving Regina- after Jess drove us to 3 different bike shops in the morning, we made a HUGE pasta lunch, packed, and THEN we were on our way (LATE). We rode 104 km that day to Basant SK, not a bad showing considering the time we left. That night we camped in a nice provincial park just outside of Moose Jaw.
Day 2, we had brutal headwind all day, but we still managed to get 176km under our belts, which landed us in the sprawling metropolis of Webb, SK. In Webb, we slept in a farmer's field, which had a wonderfully comfortable ground (really).
Day 3 we traveled to Walsh, AB which was just over the provincial border. A rider we ran into earlier that day told us that there was a great campground there. Turns out he was wrong. The camp ground was right beside the TransCanada, the bathrooms were dirty... but we did get a lot and a shower for $5 each. And what a shower it was. After days of being covered in sunblock, bug spray, sweat, and road grime, it was worth every cent.
Day 4 we rode to Brooks, AB. This day was a burner- over 40 degrees! On top of all that, we were riding through the DRYEST part of Canada- the southern Alberta bad lands. It was desolate- no trees, no green plants...it was just brown for hours and hours. And boy was it HOT. Like REALLY REALLY hot. But, we stayed nice and hydrated, and saved a good portion of our biking for the evening when it was cooler. We rode until it was dark...ate dinner at a Tim Hortons, and then camped on the back grass of the VICTORY CHURCH in Brooks. We found the name pretty funny.
Day 5 was an interesting one. In the morning we knew we would have a problem, as the rim on Brad's back wheel was cracked. This meant that his wheel could brake at any moment, and it needed to be fixed. Unfortunately, there we no bike shops in Brooks- so we had to ride on and hope for the best.
About 45km later, we stopped for lunch, and Brad's back rim bit the dust. It was pretty incredible actually...just as we realized that Brad couldn't bike anylonger- a man came up to check and make sure everything was ok.
After Brad explained his situation, the man (named Mike) immediately offered Brad a ride into Calgary- again showing us how amazing and selfless people can be. 5 minutes after we realized we had a serious issue, it was resolved.
So, with that we were back on the road- with a ton of kilometres to cover, and very little time. The 3 of us rode really quick, trying to get into Calgary befor the sun went down. We switched our lead every 10 minutes (usually we do 15min shifts), and boy were we fast.
I had two killer shifts in a row just before we finished the day- never going below 30km/h, even uphill. It was a wicked feeling- my legs were strong, and I found a perfect rhythm. I was amazed to find that I had that much power left in my legs after 5 days of intense biking into the wind. I guess this whole biking across the country thing really does get you into shape! haha.
Day 6 is the beginning of a little rest here in Calgary. Today we are going to relax at Chris' place- we are excited for the bachee ball tournament that is going on tonight in the backyard! Tomorrow we will have a full day at the Stampede- and I'm sure I will have a great amount to write after that!
All is well- we are healthy and happy. Today marks the beginning of the finale of our trip- we are over 80% done, and excited for all that is ahead of us (yes, we are excited for the mountains).
Cheers!
Mike
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)