Brett's Cross-Canada Cycling Blog

Day 64 — Saturday, August 22

2008-09-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

St. John’s to Cape Spear
We woke up between 6 and 7 a.m. and set out for downtown St. John’s so Vanessa and Kelly could pick up where they left off, and head out to Cape Spear. I’d never been to Cape Spear before so this should be pretty nice. The weather was perfect.

It turned out, it was quite mountainous. It would put it lower than the Rockies, but still above northern Ontario, in terms of the difficulty of terrain. It was like climbing a little summit. After about 45 minutes for the cyclists to ride out there. Suddenly we were back at sea level again … weird.

We wandered around then stood and looked as far east as we could (photo above). After spending about 30 minutes admiring the site, we walked down to the ocean (photo left) and dipped our feet in. The water was pretty rough in some areas and some rocks were slippery, so we had to be careful to pick our spot. It was pretty calm where we waded in the water though, so no big deal.

It was nice to be done. For the first time in more than two months, we were on our way home.

Day 63 — Friday, August 21

2008-09-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

West of St. John’s to Zero Mile Marker, St. John’s
After driving into greater St. John’s area for a bite to eat, we went back to the campsite where Vanessa and Kelly mounted their bikes for the final time. Today was the last day.

Today was a nice day. We rolled into St. John’s in the mid-afternoon and arrived at the zero mile marker. Finally we were done. Photo right is at the Zero Mile Marker. We took some photos then wandered around St. John’s for a few hours. Our ferry back to Nova Scotia left at 4 p.m. the next day so we had about 24 hours to take in St. John’s.

We wandered around the harbour and had a seafood supper. After buying various souvenirs we found a decent campground within the city. I thought it’d be nice to go up to Signal Hill at night. So we did and it was pretty sweet. We then went to a movie.

Vanessa and Kelly decided to bike out to Cape Spear (the most easternly part of Canada) tomorrow morning, so we had to get up fairly early. Looks like tomorrow will be the day we truly finish.

Day 63 — Thursday, August 21

2008-09-22T16:42:00.001-07:00

Gander to Lethbridge to Argentia to west of St. John’s
We left Johnal’s house, but not before her neighbours gave us some capelin that he had caught himself. We packed it and were to enjoy it later. After an hour or so of driving (and a bit of a detour) we were in Lethbridge . . . Lethbridge, Newfoundland.

We wandered around a bit and took some pictures just for fun. There is basically just a church, a post office, and a general store, a cemetery, and some houses. A fellow there told me the population was about 400 or so.

We moved on and aimed the van for Argentia. My legs were still not feeling great. Vanessa massaged my IT bands as much as she could in the van. I was going to ride today

We finally got to Argentia and unloaded the bikes, pumped our tires, greased our chains, and went on our way. My knees didn’t feel great, but it felt so good to be on a bike again.

My first test was a decent sized hill which wasn’t too bad. The wind was at our backs and it helped. Within 15 minutes I went down a winding hill and hit about 60 km/hour, which also felt good. No peddling required.

Not long after, my left knee started to ache a little more. I kept going.

Ten minutes later my left knee hurt a little more. I had to stop and stretch. Strike one.

Ten minutes later, my left knee hurt even more. My right knee started feeling funny too. I stopped to stretch. Strike two.

Five minutes after my last stretch, my left knee was in slight pain. I stopped to stretch and knew for sure these were the warning signs that I experienced in both B.C. and Ontario. I have no doubt if I was to keep going it was inevitable I’d be in extreme pain again – even just a few kilometres down the road. Strike three. I was out.

For the third time this trip, I packed it in. Again, it wasn’t easy or fun, but it had to be done.

Vanessa and Kelly kept cycling and we ended up at a nice campground just west of St. John’s. We were probably about 50 km from St. John’s.

It was super windy when we were setting up our tents which made for a good time, and by “good time”, I mean “not a good time”. We sampled some capeline (which wasn’t bad) hit the hay.

Day 62 — Wednesday, August 20

2008-09-22T16:41:00.000-07:00

Port aux Basques, Newfoundland to Gander
After trying 3 different seats (and multiple positions in each seat), I finally got a little bit of sleep. I probably slept for about 2.5 hours.

We had a fair bit of driving to do this day. The plan is to get to where the other ferry docks (at Argentia — about 150 km from St. John’s) and drop the cyclists off there and just pretend we took that ferry. The reason we took the ferry to Port aux Basques is because it runs daily, whereas the other one runs only three times a week. So this worked better with our schedule and meant less sitting around, even though it required some extra driving.

Allan started the day at the wheel for a while before Vanessa took over after a couple hours (after a stop in Corner Brook - photo right), I then drove for about 1.5 hours, and then Kelly drove for an hour where we ended up at Gander. More specifically, my cousin Johnal’s house. I hadn’t seen her since 2001 at my older sister’s wedding.

We all visited with Johnal and she cooked us an authentic Jigg’s Dinner and then let us stay the night. It was great! I didn’t expect so much from her.

Johnal took us out to the Silent Witness which is a memorial for American soldiers who went down in a plane crash in 1985. Despite being out there when it was starting to get dark, it was still interesting to see.

We decided tonight that we would split the last day of riding (tomorrow) into two days. We still had to drive to the Argentia ferry tomorrow morning, which was to take about 3 hours.

Day 61 — Tuesday, August 19

2008-08-21T18:08:00.001-07:00

Whycocomagh to North Sydney
We knew today was a short day (about 100 km) so we slept in until about 10 a.m. After having lunch (genuine seafood) we set out for the second last day of biking. We were headed to the ferry which would take us to Newfoundland tonight.

Once again the roads were pretty quiet, the shoulders were nice, and the weather was just right. The terrain was pretty hilly, but it was a piece of cake for the cyclists.

We stopped at a town called Baddeck and checked out the Alexander Graham Bell historic site (photo). It was interesting. He invented the phone and created many other inventions.

We pulled into the ferry port and after checking in we wandered around to kill some time (about 3 hours) before we had to board the giant ferry. We were to depart at about 11:30 p.m. But before long, we were on our way to the final province in our trip.

There was virtually nowhere comfortable to sleep on the ferry. The ride would be about 6 hours long and we would get to Newfoundland at about 6:00 a.m.

Day 60 — Monday, August 18

2008-08-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

New Glasgow to Whycocomagh
I admired the campground pool I wish I had time to swim in, and then we left. After a stop at a gas station to get some supplies (mainly junk food), we let Vanessa and Kelly off at the spot we left off at the night before.

We went through Antigonish and stopped for food. We had a few honks (good honks) from people passing by this morning, which we haven’t heard in a few days.

We finally made it to Cape Breton Island, where we had to cross a man-made thing to get across (a causeway) from the west side of Nova Scotia (photo above is the end of the causeway). The weather was really nice today. In fact, when I woke up I could feel the sun reminding me how it was the boss. It was hot. I have to think hard to remember the last hot day we had. Somewhere midway through Ontario maybe? Maybe before that.

The country is very scenic here, the roads are very nice, and there’s not a ton of traffic. This is how I pictured the trip.

Day 59 — Sunday, August 17

2008-08-21T18:06:00.002-07:00

Charlottetown to New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
We made decent time from Charlottetown to the ferry at Woods Island that would take us to Nova Scotia. We still missed the ferry we were aiming for (2:45), but it looked like there was already a line of cars who had to wait for the next one. We joined the line after paying about $70. Of note, it’s free to get into P.E.I. byway of ferry or Confederation Bridge. They just ding you on when you’re on your way out.

While waiting in the line, a fellow (and his friend) from Pincher Creek came over and said hi and we all chatted a bit. While visiting, a guy on a bike pulled up and started chatting too. He was a middle-aged man from Seattle who teaches, and goes biking every summer. This was the first time he went across Canada. He was excited to hear we also took the Crowsnest Pass through B.C.

We all parted ways and then got on the same ferry.

Vanessa and I ended up talking to the cyclist from Seattle for 80% of the ferry ride. We enjoyed the view from the top deck the entire time as we aimed towards Nova Scotia. He was pretty interesting and had some good stories.

We got off the ferry and I was in Nova Scotia for the first time. I thought I was there when I was younger, but my parents told me otherwise about 10 days ago. I guess it was the last province I’ve been to. Last fall I was in Newfoundland, which I thought was the final province (not only to Canada, but for me as well).

We ended up racking the bikes near New Glasgow and then found a campground in Trenton. It turned out we were now a day ahead of schedule. We had allotted a full day to the ferry and a short 50 km stretch. We were now set to arrive at the ferry a day ahead of schedule. That had to be changed so I called them back and now we’re leaving for Newfoundland on Tuesday night.

Day 58 — Saturday, August 16

2008-08-21T18:06:00.001-07:00

Cornwall to Charlottetown
Today was supposed to be a rest day but all we had to do was make it to Charlottetown to be on schedule. That’s what we did, and then we headed downtown to a café within spitting distance of Province House, which is where representatives from PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Canada got together to discuss, and then follow through with Confederation in 1867.

Vanessa, Allan, and myself were sitting in the van waiting for Kelly when a fellow walked up to our van and asked “Have you seen Kelly around?”. The three of us were naturally confused to the max. It turned out it was Neil, who had just retired and moved to P.E.I. from Lethbridge. He was just downtown Charlottetown and he saw our van. He knew what we were up to so he thought he’d try his luck and see if anyone was in the van, which of course, we were.

Neil invited us to his house where he and his partner Kim (an ex-U of L professor, now at the University of P.E.I.) cooked supper and insisted we stay the night. We did just that. Their house is in Stratford, which is not far away Charlottetown at all.

It was a great time and they were more than hospitable. What a coincidence that was — how he turned down the same street we were on and saw the van. Awesome. I should mention that it was pouring like crazy from about noon to well into the night. We were very thankful for the roof over our heads.

Photo left was taken behind Province House (where the Legislative Assembly is still held in P.E.I.). Two guys dressed up in suits from the late 1800's (I'm guessing) played croquet and had some humourous banter that attracted people. It was pretty good.

Day 57 — Friday, August 15

2008-08-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

Moncton to Cornwall, Prince Edward Island
First thing we did this morning was take the van to a tire shop. We went for breakfast while the tire guys repaired the tire and gave the van an oil change. We went on our way for P.E.I.

It was a fairly uneventful day until Confederation Bridge (photo right). Vanessa and Kelly racked the bikes (as bikes aren’t allowed on the bridge) and we drove across the Northumberland Strait. It was pretty cool. The weather was great so we could see for miles.

We pulled into a tourist trap immediately after the bridge and had supper. I enjoyed some famous COWS ice cream (bottom photo).

We then continued on to Cornwall, which is just before Charlottetown. We found a nice campsite where we were right on the North River and could look across to see the lights of Charlottetown. That was also pretty cool.

Day 56 — Thursday, August 14

2008-08-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

Gagetown to Moncton
We woke up at a decent time and left the campsite without a campground manager berating us first thing in the morning, so we were off to a better start already. This campground reminded me of Saskatchewan campgrounds, but with a thick forest surrounding us. Our actual site was more in the open, and gave us a chance to talk to the people camping across from us.

The tire was a little flat but not bad. We pumped it up at the first gas station to its recommended p.s.i. It should be good to get to Moncton, which has a population of about 130,000 people — which, with our luck, has approximately zero tire shops. That’d be a very high, and very unusual, people-to-tire shop ratio.

Vanessa and Kelly made pretty good time and we pulled into a big truck stop near a town called Salisbury. We were only 20-30 km from our campsite by Moncton. It was a good day for riding but it looked like it could rain at any moment. I still thought it was necessary to inspect the quality of the pavement the cyclists were riding on (photo left). We pulled into Moncton at about 6 p.m. and went straight for the campground.

Vanessa and I thought it’d be nice to check out Magnetic Hill (top photo), so we took the van onto the hill and it was pretty fun. I drove down (up) what I thought was the hill, and put it in neutral. We began rolling backwards. “This is Magnetic Hill”, I said. Vanessa just thought I had the van in reverse and was giving it gas, but no, we were rolling up a “hill”.

Afterwards, I booked the ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland.

Day 55 — Wednesday, August 13

2008-08-14T18:38:00.002-07:00

Hawkshaw to Gagetown
We woke up and after getting the van packed, we all sat down and threw some ideas around regarding the ferry situation. Which was necessary because none of really knew what we should do.

We were about to conclude our little meeting, but this old, balding guy mowing the lawn (and likely the owner or co-owner of the campground) drove his ride-on-mower, which was apparently fueled by angst, over our way. He came to accuse us of not paying for a site with electricity (which we were using) and that we were well past check-out time (11:00 a.m.).

After having a bit of an argument with us, he roared his lawnmower and he sped off as fast as he could (7 km/hr). Moments later we checked both our receipt and the time. The receipt showed we paid for electricity, and the time was 10:45 a.m. Genius.

We racked the bikes on Highway 2 and drove into Fredericton (photo right) for lunch. We ate at a Smitty’s which seemed a bit more expensive than I remember. After inspecting my fish and chips closely, I discovered my meal was actually made out of gold. Now the price made sense to me.

We went to Sport Chek where Kelly got a tube and then we aimed for a bike shop to buy more. Kelly had bought the last one in stock at Sport Chek. On the way, we were stopped at a traffic light and a man drove up beside us and directed us to our back tire where we had a flat. We pulled into the next gas station and pumped it up. It held air so I suspected a very small leak. We had to get it repaired sometime in the next day or two.

Just before pumping up our tire a woman jogged over and was very curious in what we were doing. Her daughter was taking a masters degree in neuroscience (somewhere I can’t recall), so I insisted she take a look at the ground-breaking neuroscience research happening at U of L as she might find it interesting. Unlike me, she might actually understand what they’re doing.

Vanessa and Kelly made pretty good time today and after a few stops, we pulled into a campsite near Gagetown. Gagetown is actually just a small village, which we didn’t even see. Later that evening a few gusts of wind took Allan's tent for a ride. Photo left is him retrieving it. It was originally to the left of the other tent shown in the photo.

We haven’t had internet in a few days and we discovered that it’s not even offered in this area to the locals. I guess we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to get on what I like to call “the net” for short.

Day 54 — Tuesday, August 12

2008-08-14T18:38:00.001-07:00

Grand Falls to Hawkshaw
I woke up at about 8 a.m., which was 5 a.m. in Alberta because we had passed into the Atlantic Time Zone yesterday. The Québec-New Brunswick border is where we lost an hour.

We got up and checked out the grand falls in Grand Falls. They were pretty decent. Apparently, nearly the same amount of water cascades over them that go over Niagara Falls. So it’s a pretty big deal. We watched the falls for a few minutes but started experiencing diminishing returns so we took off.

I spent a good portion of the morning on the phone with the ferry people. I took a break to give Vanessa a call on our banana phones, which come to think of it, would've probably got more reception in northern Ontario than our cell phones a few weeks ago.

A rather uneventful day. The roads are nearly perfect. They rival Alberta’s for the best we’ve seen so far this trip. We pulled into a campground off the TransCanada Highway (the #2 in New Brunswick) at about dusk and after having some rice and doing some laundry we hit the hay.

Day 53 — Monday, August 11

2008-08-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

Cabano to Grand Falls, New Brunswick
I woke up fairly early and it didn’t take much convincing to get up, as my back was so sore from my mattress. I got up to phone the ferry place in Sydney, Nova Scotia again. They were open. Good.

Here’s a transcript of the conversation:

Ferry woman: Marine Atlantic.
Me: Hi, how are you?
Ferry woman: Good.
(silence as I wait a second for her to return the question)
Me: Oh, uh, I’ve never been on the ferries from Nova Scotia, I’m just wondering how much it would cost for 4 adults and a van to go across to Argentia from Sydney.
Ferry woman: Ok.
(silence as I assume she’s checking her computer or something)
(more silence. I look at my cell phone to see if I got disconnected. Nope, looks good.)
Ferry woman: That’ll be $612.
Me: Oh ok, that’s for a round trip?
Ferry woman: No, just one way.
(silence as I’m not really sure what to say. Probably because I just lost my mind.)
Me: Oh ok, how much to Port-aux-Basques from Sydney?
(15 seconds of silence)
Ferry woman: $260.
Me: One way.
Ferry woman: Yes.
Me: Ok, thanks for your help.
Ferry woman: Bye.
Me: Bye.

So to take the van and all of us across the ferry and back would be over $1200. I don’t see that happening. When I told Vanessa and Allan to guess who much it was, they couldn’t believe I said “higher” when they guessed the expected $300 that the couple from Nova Scotia estimated.

400? Higher. $500. Higher. Try six-hundred and twelve dollars.

So taking the van to Newfoundland may not be in the cards. If we walk on the ferry and leave the van in Sydney it’ll be $100 per person + $30 per bike. So it’d be $460, so not much cheaper. And then we’d need transportation while in Newfoundland.

If we went the Port-aux-Basques way, which doesn’t take us close to St. John’s, it’d be cheaper ($260), but then we were told it’d be nearly 10 hours of driving, or two tanks of gas at $100 apiece. So that wouldn’t be much cheaper. If we were staying in Newfoundland for a week or two, it wouldn’t be hard to justify it. We plan on only spending a day or two on “The Rock”.

Barry and Beth (photo left) offered to buy us breakfast this morning so we all had a nice breakfast together. They gave us some suggestions about what to do down east. They also nearly fell over when we told them about the price of the ferry. We thanked them for breakfast and their help. They were very friendly people!

Oh, and then Vanessa and Kelly biked into New Brunswick and to a town called Grand Falls. I bought a new air mattress at Superstore and pumped it up with a smile on my face, knowing that it wouldn’t deflate overnight. I was also finally able to find the hot sauce that I like, so I bought a bunch. I will be looking for foods to dip in it for the remainder of the trip.

At the campsite, Vanessa saw a skunk and thought it was a cat at first and nearly called it over. That probably wouldn’t have turned out very well.

Day 52 — Sunday, August 10

2008-08-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

St-Denis to Cabano
We got up and went on the internet for a while. We didn’t get out of the campground until about noon. We drove back out to St-Denis and Kelly and Vanessa continued biking. Kelly wanted to stop at a restaurant down the road to get something to eat.

We found a cool restaurant (photo right) looking out to the St. Lawrence River so we had a snack there. It was only about 10 km into the ride. Luckily there was a fellow at the table next to us who was bilingual so he was able to help Kelly order his usual seven sunnyside-up eggs.

By the time we got out of the restaurant it was about 3 p.m. so this might’ve been our worst start to date. But not big deal, it was another nice day which made riding a little more enjoyable.

We turned east to New Brunswick (photo left) shortly before Riviére-du-Loop, and in doing so, kissed the St. Lawrence River goodbye. Once again the cyclists rode until it was dark and we ended up in a small town called Cabano, which was about 50 km from the New Brunswick border.

Vanessa and I met a couple (Barry and Beth) from Truro, Nova Scotia who were very helpful in telling us about the Maritimes. They went out of their way to give us advice and tell us what we should try to see and do. They gave us a thick book for tourists in Nova Scotia. It had a phone number we could call to make ferry reservations. They had warned us it may be about $300 to get across with the van. That’s a lot more than we anticipated. I tried phoning the number before I went to bed* but they were closed.

*the term “bed” refers to “my air mattress that had a tiny hole in it likes to deflate throughout the night and give me a sore back”.

Day 51 — Saturday, August 9

2008-08-14T18:35:00.000-07:00

Québec City to St-Denis
We got up at a reasonable time and went back to the Tim Horton’s we had left off at a couple nights ago. The forecast for today was “100% chance of rain”, yet it looked pretty nice out.

Not long into the ride, the weather was nearly perfect. A slight headwind for the riders, apparently, but the sun was shining as we made our way north-east, riding with the St. Lawrence River to our immediate left.

Kelly and Vanessa kept riding until it got dark. We had to take advantage of this nice weather, which has been so rare over the last week or so. We racked the bikes at a small town called St-Denis and then drove back about 10 km to a campsite at another town called Riviére-Ouelle.

Riviére-Ouelle is a very French town. English is beginning to become quite uncommon the farther we travel up the St. Lawrence. This campsite had a ton of amenities and it was actually having a “western soirée” the night we were there. Allan went and checked it out and said it was okay.

We stopped at a small town and had an ice cream break (photo above) and then stopped in another town for a snack at a convenience store (bottom photo). Both very French, but fun.

Day 50 — Friday, August 8

2008-08-10T08:06:00.001-07:00

Rest Day in Québec City
I woke up and discovered that I was the only person that didn’t have a terrible sleep. I just might have had the sleep of my life. Allan got up at 3 a.m. and Vanessa was up at 6 a.m. or something. She woke me up at about 8 a.m. and it was still raining. It turned out she had been on her computer inside the truck stop for over an hour.

The window that we had cracked open before we went to bed had water pouring in. But luckily it was only landing on my sleeping bag — and no one elses. Good.

I got up and walked straight to the truck stop, and through a puddle that went over my ankles. Good.

We ate some breakfast and then went for downtown, despite the rain. We stopped near Chateau Frontenac, which is one of the series of huge, old motels across Canada built by the same cool cats that built the railway back in the day (Banff Springs would be another hotel). I asked how much it would cost to stay the night at the Chateau Frontenac and rates started at $300. Which, if you do the math, is $300 more than staying in the van.

We walked to the Plains of Abraham and then wandered back to the van. But not before having a “beaver tail” that tasted pretty good but upset my stomach to the maximum. It actually felt like there was a beaver tail thumping the insides of my stomach repeatedly. How authentic!

It was hard to enjoy the sites with the rain pouring down on your head. Once Vanessa bought an umbrella, the rain was replaced with the pokey part of the umbrella stabbing the top of my head, with the occasional umbrella handle hitting me on the side of the head. At least I was nice enough to accidentally return the favour more than once when it was my turn to hold the umbrella.

We opted for a campsite tonight that was nearly $50. But at least it had a pool (closed!) and a whirlpool (closed!) to justify the price. Our sites was one of the smallest ones we’ve seen yet. It was pretty clean though, until our van doors exploded and we made sure it felt like home.

Day 49 — Thursday, August 7

2008-08-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

Trois-Riviéres to Québec City
Before leaving town we headed back over the giant bridge to get Vanessa a bike tire. She insisted she’d be fine but it wasn’t a risk anyone else wanted to take. She had no spare tire until we went and picked one up.

I drove about half of the day and it was pretty tame day. We got into Québec City pretty late and with Tim Horton’s on our minds, we ended up stopping there. In the meantime, all of the campgrounds closed. Perfect.

It had poured all day and the rain was coming down harder. We didn’t want to camp too badly but some of us needed a shower.

We ended up sleeping in the van at a truck stop, so it was a slight improvement from sleeping in the van in a Wal-Mart parking lot like we did it Chilliwack. We had all the amenities we needed at the truck stop.

Here's a video I took earlier today of us crossing the St. Lawrence River at Trois-Riviéres this morning:

Day 48 — Wednesday, August 6

2008-08-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

Joliette to Trois-Riviéres
I drove from Ottawa out to our starting point near Joliette. It was about a 2 hour drive which included going through the west side of Montréal. Man, talk about congestion.

Nothing terribly eventful happened today, except when my nose suddenly became very itchy. So I rubbed it pretty hard. You know, like when you make a fist and itch your nose. Just like that.

About 5 minutes later I started sniffling a lot. Then all of a sudden I realized I had a bloody nose. A wave of fear swept over me. I leaned forward and put my hand out to prevent any blood from getting on my white shirt (which already has a number of other stains on it), but nothing fell. Lucky day! My mustache had finally served its purpose and was my first line of defense against my bloody nose. It soon stopped and I thanked my lucky stars.

I should mention that I was driving and Allan was fast asleep in the passenger seat, oblivious to it all, until I told everyone at the next rest stop what had happened. I don’t know why I got a bloody nose. I wasn’t even doing hard math.

We finally got to Trois-Riviéres and it was starting to get dark. There was a giant bridge we wanted to get over so we could cross the St. Lawrence. We had to rack the bikes because they weren’t allowed on the bridge. We pulled into a decent little campsite and after going on the internet we hit the hay.

p.s. I would like to own this car.

Day 47 — Tuesday, August 5

2008-08-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

Rest Day in Ottawa
Vanessa and I made a point of getting up early so we could go tour the city. We only had a few hours of sleep, but I’m glad we got up when we did. We headed straight for the Parliament Building which was about a 20 minute walk. We went down Sparks Street and hit a Tim Horton’s for breakfast, which was a half a block from Parliament. We browsed the Parliament grounds and got a pass for a tour of the inside later that afternoon.

In the meantime, we went on a double-decker bus tour around Ottawa. We saw many sites, including the Governor General’s house, the Prime Minister’s house, the RCMP stables, and a number of museums. As I mentioned before, a double-decker bus would be pretty sweet just to use as my primary vehicle back in Lethbridge. This tour confirmed it.

We took the tour of the Parliament Building and then went to The Market to meet everyone for the alumni event. It turned out there were more people than I expected. I’m not sure of how many exactly came out, but I’d estimate about 15 to 20 people. It was awesome to meet these ex-U of L students who were so interested in the trip. It was pretty sweet.

Day 46 — Monday, August 4

2008-08-08T17:05:00.000-07:00

Rest Day in Montréal
We decided the best way to see downtown again would be to simply take the subway. We toured Old Montréal and stayed downtown for most of the day. My knees were starting to get sore from all the walking.

We met up with Jamie (who was living in Montréal for a few weeks learning French) and he cooked us some chili which really hit the spot. We ended up getting back to the van at about 11 p.m. or so and we drove back to Ottawa as we had an alumni event to get to the next day. We ended up getting to Ottawa at about 1:30 a.m. and stayed at Joanne’s place again. My knees were killing me and I could barely walk it was so painful. I hadn’t worked my knees so much in weeks.

We decided to do a couple days of riding and drive back to Ottawa rather than spend 4-5 days in Ottawa and wait for the alumni event. We’ll drive back to Joliette the morning after the alumni event.

Photo left was taken inside the Notre-Dame Basilica church in Montréal. It was pretty big and awesome, but you know, I've seen better — in like, magazines and stuff.

Day 45 — Sunday, August 3

2008-08-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

Lachute to Joliette
We packed the van and made a brief stop at the Wal-Mart and McDonalds where we had a delicious meal and enjoyed exquisite shopping. I’m making more of an effort to use French when I can — complete with hand gestures.

We went back to the Tim Hortons where we left off the night before. Kelly got a flat tire in the hotel room last night somehow, so he changed it in the parking lot. He pumped up his new one and it popped. Within 15 minutes of getting going, it started to pour again. Kelly got another flat. We had a late start today as it was already 1:30 p.m.

We went through a town and saw Wilfred Laurier’s house. In fact, it turned out that it wasn’t his actual house, according to the girl working there. Regardless, if we wanted a tour, we would have to pay. We opted not to. Laurier was Canada's first francophone prime minister. The photo to the right is not Wilfred Laurier's house.

Immediately after, we made our way back to the van and played a game of “Everyone Cross the Street Except for Allan” on the way there. Allan was left holding his gnome in broad daylight, trying to cross a pretty busy street and having little luck in doing so.

Today we packed the bikes near Joliette and then drove into Montréal. We drove downtown and right into Old Montréal without really getting lost — thanks to the GPS. After realizing everything downtown was either full or too expensive, we ended up at a motel near the outskirts of the city.

Day 44 — Saturday, August 2

2008-08-02T19:02:00.000-07:00

Gatineau to Lachute
We took just a few turns from our starting point and were on our way out of the city. We stayed on the same highway from Gatineau right to Lachute, which was about 130 km away. The shoulder was actually a designated bike route which was fairly wide. It was perfect. Then it rained. A lot.

It rained the last two thirds of the day, which meant it wasn’t super hot, which was good for the cyclists. The only downside was they were drenched.

We finally arrived in Lachute and after getting lessons on how to order particular donuts at Tim Horton’s (by the girl working there), we started hunting for a hotel. There were no campgrounds within 40 km of where we were, so a nice dry hotel room with a shower would be heaven for the cyclists after today’s ride. We haven’t had to get a hotel room since our first night on the trip in Surrey.

We crammed a lot of our junk into the hotel room immediately after getting the key. Our “roof bag” that is on the van was soaked. It included all of our tents and sleeping bags, so it wouldn’t be very good to sleep in them tonight anyway. Instead we’re drying them out.

The one downside to this hotel is that it was the last room and is a smoking room, and being allergic to smoke, it’s not the best for me. Fingers crossed I don’t wake up feeling like garbage tomorrow morning.

Day 43 — Friday, August 1

2008-08-02T19:01:00.002-07:00

Haley Station to Gatineau, Québec
We packed up pretty quickly this morning and despite no rain we headed straight to the Ark. This time for breakfast (and internet).

I drove the entire day. We crossed over into Québec and because it was not a significant highway, there wasn’t really any welcome sign or anything. “I guess we’re in Québec...” I thought to myself as I scanned for signs. The roads were pretty bad all the way into Gatineau. Once we got into the city, Vanessa and Kelly took a bike trail where we would meet them at the Ottawa Bridge.

While they biked, Allan and I went over the bridge into Ottawa where we got a nice view of the Parliament Building. Vanessa phoned as they thought they were at the right bridge. They weren’t, and they kept moving, but they went the wrong direction and ended up going north into Gatineau. We GPS’d their location, met up, and drove to a friend of Kelly’s (Joanne) where we would stay the night.

We met up with Joanne, Brittany, and Jamie (all U of L Alumni) and went to The Market where we had some pretty good burgers. It was a pretty good time.

Day 42 — Thursday, July 31

2008-08-02T19:01:00.001-07:00

Stonecliffe to Haley Station
I woke up and took my rubber tubing down to the beach where I did a brief workout. It was pretty nice down by the lake/river. It was foggy above the water and it still looked nice. In the meantime, a couple people were fishing off the dock.

After packing up everything and being ready to go we got a visit from a different old guy who likes to talk. Enter the guy from last night. Good.

Vanessa and Kelly were talking to them about the trip. I was sitting in the passenger seat when one of the guys referred to me as “a quitter”. Not once, but twice. Based on his own laughter, it’s likely the most hilarious thing he’s said in years, or centuries. Albeit jokingly, it didn’t sit well with me. One look at his tubby physique, I could tell he certainly wasn’t a quitter — particularly at the buffet table.

We finally got out of there, but still at a decent time. Allan drove the entire day and we stopped at a town called Haley Station. It was less than 10 km from the Ottawa River. The photo to the right is one of an interesting billboard I saw. You'll have to click it to enlarge it.

Two larger centres we went by today were Petawawa and Pembroke, we racked the bikes and drove into Pembroke for lunch at Tim Horton’s. During lunch today we thought it might be a better idea to cross into Québec before Ottawa so we don’t have to deal with Ottawa and Gatineau. Instead we would just have to deal with Gatineau. We’ll do that tomorrow.

We stayed at a campground that had waterslides, mini-golf, a petting zoo, and dismal showers. It was a pretty nice place. The waterslides were about to close for the night, so we didn’t bother. Instead, Allan, Vanessa and I played 18 holes of mini-golf where I showed them who was boss. And by that, I mean, winning by just one stroke. Here's a video of the excitement:

We went and had supper at a restaurant shaped like Noah’s Ark which appeared to be somehow connected to the campground. We walked 2-by-2 up the ramp into the restaurant and had some food, as well as went on the internet. We met a guy there who was with his wife and daughter. They were pretty interested in our trip and asked us for some literature on the U of L. Unfortunately we had none to give.

We played some Frisbee and then hit the hay.

Day 41 — Wednesday, July 30

2008-08-02T19:00:00.001-07:00

North Bay to Stonecliffe
We woke up to the sound of pouring rain. And not long after, we could hear a ton of ducks quacking around our tents as they played in the puddles. It was kind of cool. We packed up our junk and took off to get some grub. We ended up at Macdonald’s which was attached to a Wal-Mart. I bought some rubber tubing so I could do some upper body exercises aside from pushups.

Of note, I finally(!) got to turn the page in our map book from something other than Northern Ontario. I think I may have those two pages memorized.

The terrain was becoming noticeably more flat. Not as many hills. We finally made it to a campsite a few kilometres from Stonecliffe. It was a pretty nice campsite. The people there were friendly, but couldn’t stop talking. Allan, Kelly, and I were on our computers when a couple men came up to us and one felt obliged to tell us about his “original” business but how he might sell it for a lot of money “just ‘cuz” and how his entire family consists of millionaires.

I got a small hole in my air mattress so I tried putting a bike tube patch on it, which held just long enough for me to fall asleep.

Day 40 — Tuesday, July 29

2008-07-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

Sudbury to North Bay
Because we weren’t exactly in a campground and had no showers to enjoy, we ended up getting a fairly decent start. We stopped at a town called Verner and had some lunch. Most people in the restaurant were speaking French. We were only about 100 km west of the Quebec/Ontario border. After getting the grumpiest waitress on the planet, we kept rolling.

We made it to North Bay and after dealing with some serious traffic (Vanessa and Kelly were still on the bikes), we made it to campground. We were advised by the campground manager to check out the beach, so after setting up our tents, that’s what we did. We got to North Bay at a decent enough time to enjoy it.

We played some serious Frisbee in the water and soaked up some sun. The beach was pretty nice. I could see myself spending more time here. The lake was called Lake Nipissing. It was massive. The weather was perfect. I took some photos and my camera’s memory card had become full for the first time. I fit about 900 photos and videos on there. Not bad at all.

We then went down to an internet café where we had pretzels, coffee, and smoothies. Apparently North Bay is the smoothie capital of something (Ontario? The world, maybe? I can’t recall). I worked on a website (rentlethbridge.com) while everyone else did their blogs. I know I’ll have some time to work on my blogs in the van tomorrow so I wasn’t too worried.

Vanessa, Allan, and I were going to go see another movie (Step Brothers) but it was cheap night and it was already sold out. Instead we enjoyed ourselves at Shoppers Drug Mart where I bought something for my cold.

Day 39 — Monday, July 28

2008-07-30T18:05:00.002-07:00

Spragge to Sudbury
Again, I wasn’t feeling very well today, so I tried to get some sleep in the van but it’s not exactly the smoothest ride when one tire is on the shoulder of the road and the other is on gravel.

Vanessa bought a small box of fresh blueberries for the cool price of $20. They were pretty good. We ended up sleeping at a tourist information stop after cleaning the van out a bit. I discovered the iced tea I had placed on the roof about a kilometre ago. I’m glad it didn’t fly off in traffic. On the whole, a pretty uneventful day for Allan and I. We didn’t really see any of Sudbury as we went around it.

My knees still hurt, particularly when I walk down slopes or up stairs. On a flat surface the pain isn't really there.

Day 38 — Sunday, July 27

2008-07-30T18:05:00.001-07:00

East of Sault Ste. Marie to Spragge
I tried to get some sleep in the van today as I wasn’t feeling very well. I think I’m slowly getting a cold or something.

We drove back to the drop-off point and the cyclists kept going. We pulled into a campground at a town called Spragge. Just as we were pulling in, Vanessa got a flat tire and lost her balance and wiped out. Jeepers! She was only going about 5 km/hr but that still smarts. She hurt her hand but her shoulder looked like it got the worst of it. Surprisingly she got back up without a problem. Her shoes clip into her pedals so it’s not always easy to get out of them in time.

We met some folks from Edmonton and we saw another group of people from Grande Prairie. I did some pushups then went in the pool for a bit. We then did laundry while enjoying the slowest internet on earth, and then hit the hay.

Day 37 — Saturday, July 26

2008-07-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

Sault Ste. Marie to 50 km East of Sault Ste. Marie
I started the day off by going for a swim in the campground pool. It was nice. I did some pushups, then had a shower. My knees still hurt. Sometimes it hurts to walk. After giving my legs 4 or 5 days off entirely, I’ll probably start some light stretching soon.

We ate and Vanessa checked her voicemail. The hospital in Marathon left a message saying she had a different virus than what they thought she had. I wondered if the medication that I bought last night was the right stuff for me now.

So Vanessa and I went back to the hospital and it turns out the antibiotics I bought last night were useless. The virus we had were resistant to regular antibiotics, meaning that we had a “super bug”. Just great. The doctor we had today worked in the United States and said it was more common down there. He recognized it right away and prescribed some antibiotics where the main ingredient was sulfate, rather than penicillin or other types.

Vanessa and Kelly agreed today would be a light day since we had extra time in our schedule. They rode for a couple hours then we drove back into “The SOO”. Allan suggested going to see the new Batman movie, which we did. It was pretty good and I recommend it to anyone. My super bug enjoyed it too. The theatre was right by the river, so we saw the big bridge lit up at night. The bridge connects Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

We stayed at another, less expensive campground just outside of the city.

Day 36 — Friday, July 25

2008-07-26T08:02:00.001-07:00

Montreal River Harbour to Sault Ste. Marie
I woke up to the sound of pouring rain. I had wanted to get up to see the sunrise on the lake, but that wasn’t going to happen. It would’ve been awesome, but maybe another day I’ll get up that early. Or another year

When the rain stopped I got up to the sight of Allan dragging his yellow foamy and sleeping bag around the campground looking for the laundry room. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve seen that I’d have about 35 cents, which is a lot right now. It seems every time it rains, the rain finds a way into Allan’s tent. Either the top of his tent falls apart or the seams leak. I picture a little cloud right over Allan’s tent just pouring all night long, just like in Charlie Brown or Garfield comics. With the odd lightning bolt zapping Allan on the top of his bald head just for good measures.

It rained a fair bit today and at times I was glad I wasn’t riding. Vanessa and Kelly only stopped a couple times the entire 110 km ride which made things go by a lot quicker.

We pulled into a campsite in Sault Ste. Marie that cost $45 (thumbs up!) and I went to the hospital again. Another one of those weird sores came back near my shoulder. Apparently they’re just from sweating and chaffing. Guess I won’t have to worry about that anymore now that I’m not riding. Not only that, I’ve got some antibiotics for the next two weeks.

Day 35 — Thursday, July 24

2008-07-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

Wawa to Montreal River Harbour
We went into Wawa and hit Tim Horton’s again to get some brunch. After taking some photos with a giant goose, we went on our way. I had bought some calamine lotion, which really showed those mosquito bites who was boss. I generally don’t get very itchy from mosquito bites but this time it was virtually unbearable for some reason. I had about a dozen bites per limb.

It was a pretty scenic trip today. Lake Superior was to our right nearly the entire day. We stopped on a couple of occasions to take pictures. We were in a provincial park today, which was pretty nice.

We stopped at a beach and we (basically just myself) went for a swim. It was pretty cold at first and no one else wanted to jump in. Afterwards, Allan and I played a game of “see who can hit that log sticking out of the water with a rock”. It went into overtime where I pulled out the win. Allan practiced up for the next game while Vanessa, Kelly, and I layed on the beach in the sun.

We had a true feast tonight. Kraft Dinner, complete with hot dogs and ketchup. Kelly, Allan and I watched the sunset and then skipped some rocks on the lake. Before we hit the hay we all looked up at the stars where Kelly said with authority “There’s no way it’s going to rain tonight”.

Day 34 — Wednesday, July 23

2008-07-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

White River to Wawa
I woke up to Rob the Aussie and Allan discussing a bear that was apparently nearby. Within 10 minutes a police officer (or conservation officer) pulled up and shot it. Not sure if they killed it or just stunned it. If a bear had to be shot, the home of Winnie the Pooh would be the place to do it. No more than 100 metres from the Winnie the Pooh statue we camped near.

I decided now would be an okay time to get out of bed.

We went and had breakfast at a restaurant that had internet. Each of us had our laptops open on the table with barely any room to put the food. I think we were more interested in the internet than the food, which actually was pretty good.

We went on our way and stopped at a lake where none of us wanted to jump in. Mainly because of the various creatures we saw swimming inside. It was a scenic lake, much like the hundreds we've passed by.

We found a campsite a few kilometres before Wawa so we pulled in and set up camp. They had a pool, but it was locked by the time I decided I wanted to go for a swim. Instead I did some push-ups, had a shower, went to Tim Horton’s (for possibly the first time on the trip), and then hit the hay.

Allan had shaved his head again this evening. Midway through his efforts, he was sporting a sweet Mohawk. About an hour later I went in the vacant washroom to find his razor (still plugged in) with his hair all over the floor and counter top. At some point in the next 12 hours he completed shaving his head and cleaned up his hair. The next morning, the razor was replaced with Allan’s rice cooker going full blast in the bathroom.

Day 33 — Tuesday, July 22

2008-07-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

Marathon to White River
I’m back in the van after a two week hiatus. Listening to tunes and doing next to nothing for about 7 hours straight. The cyclists made good time today, as I wasn’t slowing them down with my injury.

We stayed just out front of a visitor centre in White River. We found internet not too far away and we had some pizza for supper. White River is apparently where Winnie the Pooh all started. I had no idea. Apparently it’s not unusual for bears to come into town.

Rob the Aussie camped near us tonight. I fell asleep as soon as I went to bed.

Day 32 — Monday, July 21

2008-07-22T19:11:00.000-07:00

Terrace Bay to West of Marathon — 78 km
This was one of our shortest days of the entire trip, which incidentally was the worst. Things started off okay as we took a short drive from the campground to check out some falls that weren’t too bad. We then headed on our way and immediately realized we had a headwind. Again.

My knee was hurting more today. My left one in particular. It worsened to the point that I had to put my brace back on. I didn’t wear my brace for the last couple days as it felt the same without it. I’m not even sure if it does much, but it made me feel good. But before long, I had to take a couple longer breaks to stretch out. My knee cap was killing me. We kept moving though.

Within five minutes of one of our stops, we saw a baby bear crossing the road right in front of Vanessa and I. It was awesome. I pointed it out to Vanessa, and as I was about to take a picture of it, a half-ton truck drove by and hit it. It happened no more than 15 feet in front of us. We couldn’t believe it. We slowed down, and as much as we wanted to help the little guy, it didn’t look good, and there’s little doubt it’s mother wasn’t far away. Unfortunately there wasn’t much we could do.

We met up with Kelly about 30 minutes later and told him what happened. My knee was still hurting but it wasn’t too much further into Marathon. We were about 20 km away. No problem. I could still cycle.

I was riding up one of dozens of hills and I noticed a billboard midway up. I started reading it and halfway through it felt like my kneecap exploded. “AHHHH!” There was EXTREME pain at the front and back of my left knee. I had to stop and I nearly fell over. Luckily there was a fence to keep me from falling down off the edge of the road.

I couldn’t believe the pain. It felt like a needle was pushed right through my knee cap and out the other side. It was definitely worse than in B.C. I sat on the fence and knew I was done. I am done. I couldn’t bend my leg or extend it. After icing it for a few minutes, Vanessa wrapped it and I climbed in the van.

A few days ago when I felt some pain I told Vanessa “It hurts, but I don’t know when to stop. I can’t stop.” Today, my knee made that decision for me. I was put out of my misery. It wasn’t as difficult to accept this time as it was in B.C. because riding was no longer enjoyable.

Kelly was ahead of us so Vanessa rode ahead and met him at a gas station, where Allan and I followed. We ate a truck stop and had an extremely overpriced meal and then took off for the hospital. Kelly wanted to get something on his neck looked at and we convinced Vanessa to get some sort of mysterious ailment checked out.

So there we were, all three of us in the waiting room at the hospital in Marathon. After doing some minor surgery on Vanesssa, the doctor saw me. I was not expecting good news. I still couldn’t extend it, let alone put weight on it.

I gave him the low-down on what had been going on the last couple months and he did some tests and examined my knee. He was certain there was no structural damage to the knee and no reason why I couldn't be back to 100% one day. I was in a lot of pain, but so relieved. As expected, he said I couldn’t continue riding for a while, and I agreed.

He said that if he knew of a way to take the pain away, he wouldn’t do it because chances are I’d get back on the bike and end up doing something more permanent to it. Today was Day 1 of rehabilitating my knee for when I complete my ride across Canada. Whenever that will be.

While we were in the waiting room, Allan was driving out to a campsite for us. He found one and set up our tents for everyone. Sweet! It turns out that Allan nearly hit a bear himself while driving out there. It about 11 p.m. at this time, and midnight by the time we got out of the hospital. We were there for about three hours.

We went to Mac’s and bought some snacks and then headed for the campground where we stayed in site #13.

Day 31 — Sunday, July 20

2008-07-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

Nipigon to Terrace Bay — 107.9 km
We woke up at a decent time (8:30 a.m.), packed up, and headed for a truck stop for some brunch at about 10 a.m.. After having some sub-par service, we finally got out of there at about noon. We were aiming for a town called Terrace Bay today. Not a big deal as it was just over 100 km away.

My right knee was hurting the most, but towards the end of the day it was my left knee giving me grief. We climbed some big hills. Somewhat similar to the Rockies, but only 1/20 the length. Similar grade though. I felt fine going up the hills.

Highlight of the day must've been while eating lunch at a restaurant in a town called Schreiber. There was a mosquito flying near Allan's head so he slapped it against his head, which killed it, and then it toppled down right into his soup. What a treat.

Just before we ate, we met a couple who had relatives in Lethbridge. Then later on at the campsite a woman said she had a daughter going to U of L.

Ever since hurting my leg in B.C. I don’t pedal down the hills as that would require getting into harder gears and pushing harder because of the higher speed. Regardless, I still pass Kelly and Vanessa without pedaling down the hills. It doesn’t help the Kelly likes to brake down the hills and Vanessa is considerably lighter than I am. I’m like the big kid at the waterslides who has to wait an extra few seconds to go down, otherwise the little kids get smoked in the back and their parents go ballistic.

Day 30 — Saturday, July 19

2008-07-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

Thunder Bay to Nipigon — 98.5 km
We had a great start to the morning as we had a big breakfast (thanks to Tracey, Bruce, and Irene) at about 8 a.m. We said our goodbyes and we took off for the east end of Thunder Bay to get dropped off at the point we left off at a couple days earlier.

I stretched a fair bit and my knees felt okay. They could’ve been better though. We stopped to take some pictures near a hostel and a guy came out of the bushes (literally) and he knew exactly where Lethbridge was. It turned out he ran the hostel and had wanted to start one in Lethbridge. Crazy. Naturally we had our picture taken with him too.

We got on the main highway eventually and the shoulder was sub-par. We ended up going through some construction which was kind of scary. It was all gravel and about two km long. Motorists were led through the construction by a pilot vehicle but because we were slower, we were left in the dust (quite literally) and before we could get out, another stream of vehicles was headed our way from the other end of the construction. Perfect.

Vanessa dropped her camera sometime while this was happening so she had to stop to pick it up. Luckily none of us got a flat tire from riding on the gravel. That would’ve been bad.

The road was not too bad after the construction. We heard there was a suspension bridge somewhere along the way that we could check out. So we did that. We each spent $18 to experience a hike that made my knee ache, and a two minute walk across two suspension bridges. What a deal. It was not terribly exciting. None of us thought so. I can think of about 400 other things I wish I had spent my $18 on. Like food and shelter for the night, for instance.

We finally pulled into Nipigon and claimed a campsite. It was a decent place. We ended up staying up until about midnight waiting for our laundry to finish. My knees were still aching when I went to bed.

Day 29 — Friday, July 18

2008-07-21T07:08:00.002-07:00

Rest Day in Thunder Bay
We went to a few stores today including the bike shop, Future Shop, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, and “Beer Store”.

We picked up our bikes at about supper time and I had to get a new cassette (sprocket/gears) for the rear wheel. I also had all my spokes replaced. The bill was just over $300. Not very sweet. I have to check my bank account soon to make sure I still have enough cash to get through this trip. One plus was I did get some new red handlebar tape to replace the other stuff that had become unraveled. Looks good, I think. It matches the sunburn on the back of my shoulders quite nicely.

We had a huge, awesome supper back at Bruce/Tracey’s house then we finished off the night by playing Halo 3 on XBox. My night was now complete. I should be able to survive the next few weeks without Halo. Maybe.

Day 28 — Thursday, July 17

2008-07-21T07:08:00.001-07:00

Upsala to Thunder Bay — 143.8 km
Crossed into the Eastern Time Zone in mid-morning, just west of a town called Raith. Kelly rode with the Australian guy who is pretty quick for having to tow a trailer behind him. Meanwhile, Vanessa and I rode at about 20 km/hr as I was still nursing my knee, which has decided to act up whenever it feels like it.

I had to stretch frequently. Basically every 5 to 10 km. It really dragged down the day for Vanessa and I, but it was necessary. Otherwise, I couldn’t continue. The pain was throbbing in both knees.

After a few steep hills to climb, we rolled into Thunder Bay. As you can see in the photo, I was pumped. Particularly because I had rode my bike backwards the entire way there. We decided to take a route that would keep us north of the city, and would end at the Terry Fox Lookout. After biking around looking for the site, we decided to rack the bikes on the van and drive to it. Turned out we had to take the freeway anyway and bikes weren’t allowed on it.

It was such an interesting feeling when we walked towards the statue of Terry Fox. In my opinion, he’s one of the greatest Canadian heroes. I would say he’s the greatest, but I have to consider war veterans and what they did for this country. I would say that he is an inspiration to everyone who’s ever heard about him. It’s remarkable what he did . . . on one leg . . . with cancer.

From the statue we could see a fair bit of Thunder Bay, along with the Sleeping Giant, which is some land that resembles a giant lying on its back. The population of Thunder Bay is about 110,000 to 120,000 and is fairly spread out. It is actually quite a nice city. I’m glad we’re going to take a rest day here tomorrow.

Kelly phoned his dad’s cousin (who had sort of lost touch for the last 20 years or so) and his family invited us to stay with them for the next two nights. What a treat that was. We hung out with Bruce Kennedy, his wife Tracey, their son Phil, and Bruce’s mother, Irene. We had a fair bit of stories to share, and so did they as it turns out they had once been world champions in curling. Who knew? Bruce also won the Labatt Briar. Pretty sweet!

Day 27 — Wednesday, July 16

2008-07-21T07:07:00.001-07:00

Ignace to Upsala — 108.8 km
We all slept in a bit this morning because of the rest day. But, hold on. This Australian guy who we had met the night before (and is also biking across Canada) came over to our campsite and showed us how to temporarily fix my spokes. Sweet! We didn’t have to use a rest day in the middle of nowhere and try to hunt for a bike shop in a surrounding town.

We decided to instead use our rest day in Thunder Bay, where there would be plenty more to do, and Kelly actually had some relatives there we could visit with.

Despite being only 108.8 km it was a long day. We went through a fair bit of construction and rolling hills. My knees started to ache big time. I can barely stand it. We got into town fairly late. The Australian guy and the guy from British Columbia camped at the same site as us.

Day 26 — Tuesday, July 15

2008-07-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

Dryden to Ignace — 110 km
I felt considerably better this morning. Still very sore, but my extreme headache was starting to go away. I think the antibiotics are slowly starting to kick in.

Once again it rained today, but very briefly. Just enough to get us wet. Perfect. I was having issues again with both of my knees. Rarely both knees at the same time. It just seemed to be one or the other. Stretching seemed to help for a while.

We stopped for a bite to eat on the side of the road and then took off. Kelly got a flat tire so Vanessa and I slowly continued on. Not long after, I discovered I had a broken spoke. It actually turned out I had two broken spokes and my bike was just good enough to ride into Ignace, which was our stop for tonight.

I tried to put new spokes in myself but I had to remove the gears from the rear tire, which required a special tool. Of course I don’t have it so we’ll have to go back to Dryden or Kenora tomorrow to get it fixed. Tomorrow will be a much needed rest day for everyone. It’ll be nice. Photo above shows the two bad spokes with yellow tape.

We went to a Chinese restaurant for supper where I re-learned that I was born in the year of the Boar, or the Dog, depending on if you’re going by western years or Chinese years. I ate some hot sauce for the first time in a while, mainly because we decided tomorrow would be a rest day, which meant I could eat virtually anything tonight.

We met up with Devin again and he is actually staying at the same campsite as us. Chances are he’ll be long gone before we even wake up tomorrow morning. He’s not quite as slow as us.

Day 25 — Monday, July 14

2008-07-15T21:14:00.002-07:00

Kenora to Dryden — 135.6 km
I was so hot when I woke up. I didn’t feel good this morning either. I ate some random things and we took off. We had to stop at a Canadian Tire so Kelly could get a new rain jacket. While he did that, Kelly, Vanessa, and I went to Mcdonalds where we feasted on burgers filled with energy and other things that make your bones stronger and your waist smaller.

This was a long day. It seemed like it was taking forever. My knees started to hurt a bit. My left one would ache a bit and then my right one, for some reason. I guess riding over 500 km in the last three days doesn’t help.

The roads were quite hilly. No mountains though. I don’t know what people were talking about when they said “oh the terrain by Kenora is worse than the Rockies”. Either they had neither been to both, or they were drunk at the time. This was pretty easy compared to the Rockies. It took forever, but it was not difficult. Compared to the Prairies, it was challenging though. I guess.

It started to pour (yet again) and it was coming down very hard. It was slow going but we kept trekking on. It has been raining a lot lately. With all the twists and turns in the road, it was hard to notice the tailwind behind us, which was also pushing this storm over us.

I was lagging behind Kelly and Vanessa for most of the day so when they stopped for a coffee I decided to keep going. I did the last 70 km solo and pulled into Dryden. About 50 metres short of where I wanted to stop, because my knee started hurting. So I decided to stop and wait for them there. Another cyclist appeared and was coming down the hill. It turned out to be Devin from Hazelton, B.C. who is biking for a youth group he belongs to. What an awesome idea. We chatted for a while and then chatted some more when Kelly and Vanessa arrived. Photo above is looking at Dryden from where I stopped. The large buildings straight ahead are part of a pulp mill which I suspect is the driving force behind the city of about 8,000 people.

We racked the bikes and went back to a campground to set up camp. Vanessa and I went into town and bought a little food. We went to Mcdonalds again and I had the exact same meal I had this morning. I could feel my body thanking me. Thanking me with punches to the inside of my stomach, that is.

Day 24 — Sunday, July 13

2008-07-15T21:14:00.001-07:00

Richer to Kenora — 158.8 km
I woke up feeling like garbage. It was hot outside and I was sweating just from this weird virus. I didn’t feel good.

We’re really good at leaving late in the day. Today we left at 12:30 p.m. and were aiming for Kenora. After about 10 km of decent highway, we hit probably the worst highway I’ve ever rode on. It was ridiculous. Not only were the shoulders terrible, the lanes themselves were in rough shape and we could hear the cars hitting bump after bump.

The bugs were also terrible. They kept attacking us — so as we’re trying to navigate around holes in the road, we’re trying to swat horseflies off our arms and keep them from flying around our faces. One eventually found its way into Vanessa’s shirt, which naturally made her brake hard, fall on the rough shoulder, get ran over by Kelly, and then get the fly out. The fly was likely oblivious to what had just happened and it probably just flew onto the next cyclist that went by. What geniuses flies are. We now make a point of punching all flies in the face when they come near us.

We stopped at a provincial park and ate at a town called Falcon Lake. I slammed some sort of Reuben sandwich, which consisted of a pile of cheese, some other sort of goop, and some sort of meat substance. It was actually really good.

We enter Ontario and stop at the big sign welcoming us. Awesome! We take some photos and then continue on. Man, the roads became so much better. They're like we're back in Alberta now. Perfect!

Slowly, but surely, we make it to Kenora where we find a very nice campground. Just riding into Kenora at night was cool. It looked so nice with the water and the lights at night. I bet I could spend a few days in Kenora without running out of things to do.

We check our schedule to see what the next town was and we discover that we were actually just planning to stop at Fulcan Lake and Kenora was our stop for tomorrow. Sweet! We were actually two days behind at this point, but now we were just one day behind. But, we were also planning to have a rest day in Kenora. We decided to keep moving on. So now we were back on schedule.

The alumni people asked if we could take another rest day prior to Ottawa, so we can afford to have a rest day still. Which we’ll certainly use someday soon.

Day 23 — Saturday, July 12

2008-07-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

Portage la Prairie to Richer — 145.8 km
We heard the wind all night long so when we woke up we were praying it was blowing in our favor. We couldn’t tell because we were sheltered by the trees in our campsite. It turned out it was. Whee!

We were to meet my parents at 10 a.m. but there was no word from them where we should meet. I called them and they forgot about the time change. No big deal because that meant we could get going on the road and then meet them down the highway somewhere.

We pulled out onto the highway and without even pedaling we’d hit 20 km/hr. It was pretty nice. We probably averaged about 35 km/hr until we got to a Shell/Flying J truck stop on the outskirts of Winnipeg. By the way, it was raining like crazy. We were soaked, despite the gear we were wearing.

I had an awesome meal (buffet) and dried off (somewhat) with my parents. Kelly and Allan showed up about 30 minutes after us because Kelly got a flat tire, turned out. He said changing it in the pouring rain was one of the most uncomfortable experiences on the trip thus far.

After I showed my mom this strange sore I had developing in my armpit, we said our goodbyes. It turned out that I have the same virus that Vanessa did a couple weeks ago and now these strange and very painful sores were appearing. So weird. I got Vanessa to take me to the hospital tonight where I had some minor surgery and got some antibiotics. Man is it painful.

We made our way around Winnipeg and I actually didn’t see any of the city aside from a few subdivisions on the outskirts. If there weren’t signs, you wouldn’t have known you went by Winnipeg. The tailwind was still going strong, as was the wind. Kelly forgot his rain jacket somewhere so he bought a poncho. Within about 20 minutes of wearing it, it had transformed itself into a necktie. It was blown to shreds. I turned around and saw Kelly with this bright yellow thing hanging from his neck. The rest of him was drenched. Money well spent.

We ended up in a tiny town called Richer, Manitoba where we set up camp. The hospital I went to was in a larger town called Steinbach which is off of the TransCanada Highway so we didn’t see it as we were biking. It was about 20 km west of Richer. Much like Vanessa did a couple weeks ago, I started to get flu-like symptoms.

Kelly thought it might be from the hot tub in Osoyoos. He said he had something similar happen to him when he was a teenager. I guess that could explain this.

Day 22 — Friday, July 11

2008-07-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

East of Virden to Portage la Prairie — 204.5 km
It turns out that the top of Allan’s tent blew away during the night so everything that he stashed inside when he set up the tent (as he thought he’d be tenting last night) got drenched. We had a good laugh about that. We also had a good laugh when he told us how he slept on the bottom part of a bunk bed and when he woke up the next morning, he forgot where he was sleeping, sat straight up, and smoked his head on the top bunk. The best possible start to any day.

We thanked Cathie for her hospitality, then headed back into Brandon where I was going to get my bike “fitted”, which would hopefully help my knee. We went to the bike shop and after fitting the bike and putting toe clips on my pedals, I noticed a significant improvement. I couldn’t believe it. I’d already decided that today was the day I would try riding, and this was encouraging.

We drove out about 60 km west of Brandon and were dropped off at the exact spot (thanks to our GPS) Vanessa and Kelly left off yesterday. We had a tailwind. Nice!

The riding started off well and felt great into Brandon. Climbing one hill just before Brandon kind of hurt which worried me. I also had my knee wrapped with a brace, so it was snug. We stopped at a gas station to eat and it actually hurt more to walk than it did to bike. In this video I interview the other riders.

My parents (Rich and Ruth) were driving down from Provost, Alberta to meet us for supper. I was keeping my eyes open for them. They said they’d just catch up to us. After eating, we took off for Portage la Prairie, which with the tailwind made it a lot more attainable, despite already have done 60 km and starting at about noon.

I think my parents must have went by us while we were eating at the gas station. I phoned them and they were nearly at Winnipeg already! They didn’t see us on the road so they kept heading east. They turned around and met us just west of Portage la Prairie and provided another follow vehicle for us. Awesome!

We finally made it to the campsite which was 10 km further east of Portage la Prairie. We set up camp and all went into town to Boston Pizza where we all had a good time reminiscing about the day and sharing some stories with my parents. It was really nice to see them. We decided that we’d all have breakfast together the next morning too. We headed back to camp while my parents went to a hotel.

Not a bad day. My knee felt great and I got to spend time with my parents. I didn't think I'd be doing my longest ride ever on my first day back but my knee felt surprisingly well.

Day 21 — Thursday, July 10

2008-07-15T18:45:00.001-07:00

Moosomin to East of Virden
We got up and uploaded a set of blogs, as we had internet at this campground. Turned out, it would be the last internet we’d have for a while.

We hit the road at about 10 a.m., Vanessa and Kelly being the only riders again, and soon discovered a big headwind. To make matters worse, not long after a town called Virden, Manitoba, the shoulder was completely gravel. We couldn’t believe it. Allan and I followed in the van while the cyclists ride on the right edge of the road. Motorists were very courteous and moved over into the left lane to pass us. Many giving us friendly honks.

Vanessa and Kelly had gone an extra 50 km or so the day earlier, so that helped, but they were unable to make it to Brandon today, which was our goal. We were still 60 km away from Brandon when they decided to pack it in. Not a bad idea considering their average speed was somewhere between 10 and 15 km/hour. Besides, we had supper plans.

We were told by Bob Cooney that he had a friend in Brandon who ran a restaurant and wanted to treat us to supper. Awesome! We walked in and met the owner, Cathie Crossin, and had an amazing meal. This was a little fast food joint (yet, still healthy) that appeared to be quite popular with the locals. Cathie subsequently invited us to pitch our tents at her house in Shilo, about 15 minutes east of Brandon.

We set up our tents and hung out with Cathie in the house while a massive storm developed. It was super windy and Kelly and I were the only ones to sleep outside. I thought my tent was going to get blown across the yard on a number of occasions.

Day 20 — Wednesday, July 9

2008-07-10T07:56:00.000-07:00

White City to Moosomin
We woke up and met Allan on the highway as he was given a ride from Regina this morning. Allan was offered a ride by a passing vehicle, but luckily for us, Allan refused.

Vanessa got yet another flat, which doesn’t make much sense to any of us. She’s getting low on tubes, so in Brandon we’ll have to get her some more. If we find a good bike shop, I’ll also take my bike in so I can get it fitted properly to make it as easy on my muscles as possible. We’ll be in Brandon either tomorrow (Thursday) or Friday.

We stopped in at a 50’s diner on the highway that was pretty cool. It was filled with Coca-Cola products and memorabilia. The food was pretty good too. There was an old limo for sale out from. Man, would that be sweet. Just to drive it around. Not for riding in the back with a chauffeur driving it. I would just like to drive myself around to get groceries or go to the mall. My second choice would be a double-decker bus to just drive around and use as my primary vehicle.

Today was the day I was to get back on the bike. Unfortunately, my knee didn’t think so. So I’m still sidelined.

After eating, I took Vanessa’s bike for a 2 minute ride because I think I need to exercise my knee a little more so it doesn’t seize up. It felt good. No pain. I could still feel the knee, but no sharp pain. I took Vanessa’s bike for another spin about a half hour later and it felt decent then as well. I iced it right after while Allan drove.

The mosquitoes at tonight's campsite were not cool. They were everywhere. According to the AMA Campsite Handbook I have, this campsite was rated as high as the one at Osoyoos, which was the best so far, in my opinion. This one didn't really compare as it was mediocre at best.

Day 19 — Tuesday, July 8

2008-07-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

Moose Jaw to White City
I ate a cheese bun this morning and readied myself for another wild day in the van. Allan ended up driving 90% of the day, which included a detour to Rouleau, Saskatchewan, which may be more commonly known as Dog River, which is of course, the setting for the show Corner Gas.

It was pretty good. We could see the gas station and diner from a distance, as well as the elevator with “Dog River” on it. The only building we really got to go in was the “Police Station” as it doubled as a gift shot and café.

Afterwards we went to the gas station/diner and peered through the windows. The security guard/guestbook guy said it was a slow day today. On weekends they generally get about 300 visitors/day.

We kept moving on. We went back to the TransCanada Highway where Vanessa and Kelly picked up where they left off. Not long after, we were navigating around the outskirts of Regina. Also a very nice looking city. I may have been in Regina once before as a kid, but I’m not sure.

Today my knee did not feel better. Ever since changing the flat tire (on the van) it had been hurting more. I was ready to go home to go through rehab, an MRI, and surgery, if necessary. After thinking it over for a few hours this evening, I decided to wait it out until Winnipeg. This is the 14th day without biking. Rest doesn’t seem to be improving it. Stretching seems to aggravate it. Doing the Riverdance makes it ache. I’m not sure what’s going on.

We ended up in a small town named White City. If Saskatchewan is truly going to boom, White City is just a Chestermere waiting to happen, as it’s about 10 minutes outside of Regina. I intend on opening an ihop here one day.

I was going to take a swim in the outdoor pool at the campground but it closed an hour earlier than it said it would. Just my luck.

Vanessa and I played some Frisbee while Kelly updated his blog. Allan was in Regina visiting some family. We did meet some friendly people at the campsite tonight. It was a decent place.

Oh, and we also got a peek at the video made by CRDC (Curriculum Re-Development Centre) for us cyclists: http://media.uleth.ca/crdc/sea_to_sea/sea_to_sea_web.mov — Check it out! It's pretty sweet!

Day 18 — Monday, July 7

2008-07-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

Herbert to Moose Jaw
We had some breakfast at Anne’s and hopped in the van. We made it to Herbert where we dropped off Vanessa and Kelly so they could pick up right where they left off. They had a serious tailwind this morning. If we had stopped biking in Swift Current last night, it would’ve made for a very long day today. Luckily, Vanessa and Kelly were able to eat into today’s ride yesterday.

I’m looking forward to Regina but at the same time, I’m worried things won’t work out. My leg actually started feeling virtually normal a couple days ago, but I promised myself I wouldn’t start until Regina. I’ve never looked so forward to Regina before in my life.

I thought since I wasn’t biking that I was done with flat tires. So, of course while driving today, Allan and I got a flat tire in the van (top photo). Rear-passenger tire. I showed Allan how to change it and he’s ready to go if it happens again. The most confusing part was how to get the spare tire off, after finally finding out where it was.

We went into Moose Jaw on the donut and checked out four separate tire shops and one finally had one. It took a good two hours of running around to find it. While our tire was getting changed, we went into Bonanza and had a pile of food, which really hit the spot. Anne Baxter, who handled the risk and liability assessment of our trip, will be happy to know that we hold hands across all streets (photo right).

Moose Jaw (and Swift Current) are surprisingly really attractive little cities. Both have a very happening downtown. Kind of sweet. I never thought I'd say it, but I wouldn't mind spending more time here. Vanessa even commented today how she thought Saskatchewan was her favourite part so far.

It's 7:00 p.m. and we’re currently in a café and for some reason my laptop won’t pick up the internet unless I’m close to the window. Since moving to the window by myself, I’ve been surrounded by upwards of 14 middle-aged women who have gathered here for their regular coffee/gossip/man-hating talk. Right now they're discussing how one made two tea-towels within 20 minutes.

Although the internet here is free, it has never came at such a steep price.

I’m scared.

Day 17 — Sunday, July 6

2008-07-07T17:50:00.000-07:00

Gull Lake to Herbert
Once again, we were all ready to go, then Vanessa discovered she magically got a flat tire overnight. I don’t know why that happens sometimes.

We went through Swift Current and beyond, to a little town called Herbert. We were offered a roof over our head by Maureen Schwarz’s mother, Anne, who lived in Swift Current. We put the bikes on the rack and headed back about 50 km into Swift Current. She was very hospitable and we all had a good sleep once again.

We were sure to put in a good word for U of L on at least two occasions — one to our server in Smitty’s that night, and later on at the drug store to a young cashier.

Day 16 — Saturday, July 5

2008-07-07T17:49:00.000-07:00

Medicine Hat to Gull Lake
We all woke up after having a pretty good sleep and were ready to go. We were sitting in the van with the doors shut. I was to navigate out of the city but I didn’t have the keys. It turned out no one else did either. After hunting for the keys for a good 15 minutes, it turned out they were in Allan’s jacket pockets.

We made our way to Gull Lake with a stop in Walsh. We had planned to stay in Maple Creek that night but because of a nice tailwind, we didn’t want it to go to waste so we kept going to Gull Lake where we stayed at a campsite for $10 — the cheapest campsite yet.

Vanessa and I wandered around the town and found a Chinese restaurant that was still open. We had a ton of food there.

The mosquitoes were kind of bad back at the campsite but we all passed out early, so no big deal. I had about a million mosquito bites the next day though, which was a real treat. Plenty of time to scratch them while riding in the van.

p.s. My hair makes my body temperature reach extreme levels.

Day 15 — Friday, July 4

2008-07-07T17:48:00.000-07:00

Lethbridge to Medicine Hat
Today I woke up pretty early and saw the team off for Medicine Hat. I stayed in Lethbridge as I had another acupuncture appointment (photo right). As well, I had an appointment with my sports physician.

Accupuncture went well, I guess. I think it’s working. We’ll know soon enough. While I was laying on the bed I heard cracks of thunder. I was wondering if the team was getting drenched. I was pretty comfortable where I was at the moment.

Later that afternoon I saw the sports doctor where it was somewhat nervous. I would compare it to checking your final grades on The Bridge. Depending on what the doctor said, I may not be able to continue.

She told me the cortisone appeared to have worked for the inflammation of my IT Band, but she discovered that the pain I now had was caused by a pulled hamstring. The pain was on the outside of the knee where the hamstring connects to the knee. She was not too worried, which calmed me down. She advised icing, stretching, and anti-inflammatory ointment. The inflammation was her main concern. If I could keep that in check, then I need not worry about permanent damage.

I drove to Medicine Hat and met up with the team at the World’s Biggest Tee-Pee. We stayed the night at my Gran’s and had a great meal. I also got to see my sister, Jill, and brother-in-law, Blaine. Including myself, Gran has had three grandchildren go to U of L.

Day 14 — Thursday, July 3

2008-07-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

Rest Day in Lethbrige — "ABBApuncture"
Little doing this day. We decided that we could all use a second rest day to heal up. I went to acupuncture for the first time ever. Over the last few weeks I've heard a number of people swear by it. What have I got to lose? I am optimistic this might just work.

It actually wasn't too bad. Aside from one needle, I didn't feel too much. I left feeling okay. Apparently it can take a few days to notice the wondrous effects acupuncture provides.

I downloaded (legally, of course, on iTunes) some ABBA to my iPod so Allan and I could have some more tunes for the next while. I don't think I'm the only one who listened to hours of ABBA at the hands of their parents on summer vacations.

After watching a movie at the house, we finally packed up the van to leave for tomorrow. I'm ending up in bed at about 2 a.m. and I have another acupuncture appointment tomorrow at 8 a.m. So I've got to get up in a few hours.

Day 13 — Wednesday, July 2

2008-07-02T19:25:00.002-07:00

Rest Day in Lethbridge
We were given a real treat today at the University. A free barbecue was held for all staff, faculty, students, friends, and family in the Atrium. It truly was unexpected to see so many people out for the event.

We rode our bikes down the path that we’ve walked so many times. In fact, this path says “No bikes allowed” but we were actually instructed to ride down it this time. I admit, I made sure to take a few seconds to check my brakes prior to riding down it. This is not the time to wipe out. Luckily it was downhill the entire way so no pedaling was necessary.

I saw many familiar faces. Co-workers, professors, friends — that guy I always say “hi” to but don’t know his name. It seemed like so long ago when we left for Victoria, but it was only 2 weeks ago. We had many stories to share and people seemed genuinely interested in them, which was fantastic.

I got to see my cousin, Shade, who’s taking a master’s in Education over the summer. I knew he was in town but didn’t expect him to walk up to me at the barbeque.

I was told there were about 400 people there. Unreal. It was great to see people come out for it. I am dead serious when I say that there was a time already when I wanted to quit (mainly the first summit after Hope, B.C. when I was dehydrated and having bike trouble). Today just reinforced how many people are cheering us on and supporting us as we promote the University from SEA to SEA. How can anyone just quit after seeing this? Good knee or bad knee.

Speaking of which, I’ve had about 7 days off since my last day of cycling. I will likely take another week off and hopefully be ready to go by the time we hit Regina.

I have never tried acupuncture but I’ve had several people tell me good things about it. I am going to get some needles jammed in me tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. I hope something positive can come of it.

Day 12 — Tuesday, July 1 (Canada Day)

2008-07-02T19:25:00.001-07:00

Sparwood to Lethbridge
Everyone woke up at about 5 a.m. except for me. I was conked right out. It was 5:45 when I was woken up. It was still raining a bit. We packed up and headed out. We were all hoping it would keep drizzling. We needed a break from the heat.

Vanessa’s dad (photo right) came down from Okotoks and joined us for most of the ride. He left his truck in Fort Macleod and started riding west to join us. He did about 130 km. Not bad at all for someone who doesn’t ride too much anymore. He used to do Ironman competitions, so there wasn’t any question about whether he’d be able to make it. In fact, he is probably much of the reason why Kelly and Vanessa made such good time into Lethbridge.

Allan and I noticed that we didn’t burn as much gas today since we were able to shut it off completely when we were stopped because of the cool weather. We pulled into Lethbridge at about 4 p.m. and were shocked to hear that parts of the city were submerged.

Day 11 — Monday, June 30

2008-07-02T19:24:00.001-07:00

Cranbrook to Sparwood
This was yet another warm day. We woke up to take Vanessa to the hospital for minor surgery. It turned out the guy who was to do the surgery didn’t think it was necessary. He thought some rest and antibiotics would be fine. It appears that when doctors tell any of us to rest, we interpret it as “go harder”. Vanessa rode that day and paid for it later, but she’s on the mend now.

Here's a video of a pit-stop from today:

We went by Fernie and Allan refilled a water jug for the cyclists. About an hour later we made it to Sparwood where we stayed at another great campsite for only $15.

Kelly ended up taking the van closer to the campground office so he could get internet. Turned out Vanessa and I had our food in the van and couldn’t cook anything until he got back, which was at about 11 p.m. We made some spaghetti and while I was washing a pot, Vanessa dropped my plate of spaghetti on the ground. And when I say “ground”, I really mean “interior of my tent and my clothes”. As a result, we ended up staying up later cleaning clothes. It began to rain for the very first time on the trip. We were nearly out of B.C. without getting a single drop. It was nice.

Day 10 — Sunday, June 29

2008-07-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

Creston to Cranbrook
We woke up “early” and were about to hit the road before Kelly discovered his rear wheel wasn’t aligned very well. Kelly tinkered with hit a bit but had no luck. We put our heads together and were able to make it half-decent and good enough to ride. Vanessa made some awesome pancakes on our brand-spankin’ new stove, which really hit the spot. I had some fruit and was charged up. I was now ready for a full day of riding in the van!

It was another hot day and Allan and I felt it in the van — big time. We tried to turn the van off as much as possible but we were sweating inside. We tried to read when we were stopped. I cracked a GMAT study guide. Much like how I will be in the real exam, I was sweating like crazy. I was simulating the exam perfectly.

Nothing too wild to report other than the terrain looked very nice to ride. We went by Moyie Lake after passing over Moyie River approximately a thousand times. According to Vanessa and Kelly, the cool breeze coming off the lake was certainly welcome.

We rolled into Cranbrook and after receiving incorrect directions from two separate people, we ended up about 15 km east of town, rather than at a campsite. Allan and I pulled over and gave Vanessa and Kelly a ride back into town to find the campsite. When Vanessa and Kelly are good like this, Allan and I don’t mind doing things like this for them.

Later that night Vanessa went to the emergency room (not sure if she’ll mention it on her blog or not but chances are if I said anything on mine it wouldn’t be a good idea). Nothing too serious happened. We waited for about 2 hours to see a doctor. At least there was a really hyper kid in the waiting room to keep us entertained during that time. And by “entertained”, I mean “annoyed”.

Day 9 — Saturday, June 28

2008-06-28T22:39:00.000-07:00

Fruitvale to Creston
We got off at a better time this morning (9:30) and stopped at Salmo for a bite to eat at Subway. Kelly and Vanessa climbed the Kootenay Pass Summit where we hit the top elevation for the trip (1774 metres). It is an extremely hot day. Mid-30 degrees Celsius for sure.

After Allan and I went back for Vanessa and Kelly (turned out Vanessa had a flat tire), I told them of a little waterfall we could cool off in. We fixed Vanessa’s tire and within about 20 minutes the three of us were standing in a waterfall by the side of the road. Man, was it cold. I had some serious brain-freeze. I was in my regular clothes, so they were drenched, but it was fun. I converted the bike rack into a clothes line and they were dry within about 15 minutes because of the heat.

We pulled into Creston and I talked to my parents on the phone, which was long overdue. I told them that today was the third day of sitting on the sidelines and that it may be a while till I was back on the bike. No big deal though. As anxious as I am, I won’t rush it like last time.

Top photo was taken at the Kootenay Pass Summit and believe it or not, the elevation was 1774 m (however, I suspect the sign itself was probably at about 1776 m). Bottom photo was taken after Kelly, Vanessa and I jumped in the little waterfall at the side of the road. The waterfall was a couple km before the summit.

Day 8 — Friday, June 27

2008-06-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

Christina Lake to Fruitvale
I had a long, but terrible sleep last night. The crows would not stop cawing. We needed our sleep. How dare they?

I’m writing this entry from the van for the second day in a row. As much as I want to be biking right now, I have to look at the big picture and take care of my knee. After some stretching and icing today, I hope I’m ready to go again tomorrow.

It’s frustrating, though. I have a bike that I can’t ride. It’s like a book for an illiterate person.

Before heading out today, we stopped at a outdoor sports store in Christina Lake and I bought a new bike seat. Vanessa has been raving about hers for over a month. They happened to have the exact same one (but for men) so I bought it. I trust it won’t feel like I’m sitting on open wounds anymore. Until now, I’ve been using the original seat that came with my bike. Compared to other seats, it’s rock hard and designed for triathlons. A new one was a must.

After buying the seat, we grabbed a coffee at the coffee shop next door and sat outside. A few minutes later a man with a cast on his entire leg walked by. I thought to myself, “things could be a lot worse” after seeing his condition.

We passed through Trail, which was a very nice looking town. We exchanged our broken camp stove for a new one. We stayed the night at a campground that looked like it was probably pretty nice at one time. Not so much anymore. But we can't really complain with $14/night for all of us.

Day 7 — Thursday, June 26

2008-06-28T22:33:00.001-07:00

Rock Creek to Christina Lake
Today was a difficult day for me, but only because I rode in the van while Kelly and Vanessa continued to bike. My knee was still bothering me so I thought I’d play it safe. I had to put my bike on the rack of shame (photo right) on the back of the van.

Vanessa and Kelly made pretty good time climbing hills with a headwind and then coasting down a series of hills into Grand Forks. Grand Forks is a very nice town. Population is approximately 4,000 and it has that small town feel to it.

I called a half dozen massage therapists in town to see if I could be fit in this afternoon. Luckily, one place had just had a cancellation. My appointment was at 3:30. It was now 3:15.

The massage really hit the spot. My lower body and back was worked. The massage therapist commented on how tight my legs were. That’s what I was expecting.

I hope it pays off. The stretches that I’m missing right now aren’t too far from Lethbridge so I can make these days up after the trip is over.

Day 6 — Wednesday, June 25

2008-06-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

Osoyoos to Rock Creek — 65 km — Max speed: 71.1 km/hr
After waking up and immediately regretting not biking the big Osoyoos hill the night before, I began to pack up my stuff. We all woke up at about 7:30, and didn’t have things packed in the van until about 10:00. Man. We’re pretty bad at getting going for some reason.

Attempting this massive hill in the heat was something I did not want to do. I dunked my head in the sink a couple times to cool myself down. I was getting anxious and was already becoming super warm in the increasingly hot sun. We took off.

The hill wasn’t terribly difficult, but it certainly was long. It was over 20 kilometres until we made it to the summit (1233 metres). If you were looking at a map of the Osoyoos area and drew a straight line from Osoyoos to the summit, the line would only be a few kilometres long. It was a very steady incline. Just picture Whoop-Up for 20 km with a few steeper hills thrown in there. The photo above is about halfway to the summit, looking back at Osoyoos.

Vanessa and I only made a handful of stops. Kelly would go at a quicker pace (1 or 2 km/hr faster) but take more frequent breaks. We’d catch him while he was breaking then he’d zip ahead of us for a few minutes until his next break.

My knee was feeling good and I wasn’t close to being out of breathe going up the hill. The mountains towards Princeton definitely prepared us for this. We reached the summit and suddenly my knee started to ache a little more. No big deal. We still had our sights set on Grand Forks and beyond (Christina Lake). We did have to stop for a few pictures with some wildlife (photo right) once we made it to the top of Mount Anarchist.

We went down a few very steep hills, one of which I hit my max speed for the trip (71.1 km/hr), and then rolled into Rock Creek. Vanessa and I had lost Kelly by this point. By the way, I'm pretty content with 71.1 km/hr being my max speed for the trip. You never know what can happen when you're going that quick.

Vanessa and I went about 10 km beyond Rock Creek where all of a sudden I experienced a sharp, shooting pain in my knee. I had to stop. I pulled over and was hunched over my bike because I couldn’t put any weight on my leg. I had a similar pain yesterday, but this time it wasn’t going away after a few seconds. I had to lay my bike down in the ditch and sit on it. I couldn’t believe it. I literally couldn’t stand up without leaning or holding onto something.

I rest for a bit then we walked our bikes to the top of a small hill. We got on the bikes and coasted around a couple curves where we met another hill. I peddled a few times and it felt okay, then that same pain came again. This time I could feel it shooting all the way down to my foot. I got off, sat on a cement barrier and after a few minutes, realized that this was likely the end of the road for me.

We waited about 30 minutes and Kelly finally got up to us. Turned out he blew a tire back where we lost him. Allan also pulled up in the van. Kelly told us what had just happened to him and how he thought Vanessa and I would be further up the road. I nearly couldn’t say the words “I think I’m done”, but I did. I could barely walk, let alone peddle. “Are you serious?” was his response, naturally. “Ya, man”.

We quickly decided we’d stay the night at campsite we passed a few kilometres back. An option I have for my leg is to rest for a couple days in the van and rejoin Vanessa and Kelly when it’s feeling better. By then we’ll be out of the mountains as well. Of course, after we made it to St. John’s I’d come back and finish off what I didn’t do over the next day or two. I have to cycle every inch of Canada. It’s possible it just may not be in order, which is fine. I can make up lost kilometres over a couple weekends once I’m back in Alberta.

We’ll have to see how things go. We ate at a local diner and I read the local newspaper (Boundary Creek Times), which was nice. I find community newspapers much more satisfying to read. It's nearly time to hit the hay, but not before I do some serious stretching/icing.

Day 5 — Tuesday, June 24

2008-06-25T08:15:00.001-07:00

Princeton to Osoyoos — 120 km — Max speed: 64.8 km/hr
We woke up early and were off to a good start. We checked over our bikes and both Kelly and I had flat rear tires. We fixed them and took off from the Princeton campsite.

Things were going great. We were told that the road to Keremeos was mainly downhill. Within 3 km, however, Vanessa’s rear tire popped. We replaced it with another tube which popped again. Turned out she had a whole in her actual tire. We went back into town and Kal-Tire told us it was irreplaceable. The only bike shop there didn’t have a tire that would fit her rim.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you want to look at it, we pulled the tandem out and made our way to Keremeos. I thought we had seen the last of it. Luckily it was mostly downhill because it would’ve been impossible otherwise. At some points we even had to peddle down a hill. Such a terrible bike. The weather and scenery was perfect, on the other hand. We just could’ve enjoyed it a lot more if we were on our own bikes.

Meanwhile, Allan made his way into Osoyoos (and then Oliver) to retrieve a tire that would fit Vanessa’s rim. We all met up again just outside of Keremeos where we fixed Vanessa’s bike with the new tire. After slamming a bunch of water/Gatorade to alleviate early signs of heat exhaustion/dehydration, we were on our way.

Aside from the Husky gas station, we didn’t really stop in Keremeos. We aimed out bikes toward Osoyoos and continued on. It was 50 km away at that point. It took about 2.5 hours to get to Osoyoos which involved rolling hills and a rather lengthy hill at the end. The last 10 km included a great view of Osoyoos as well as Anarchist Mountain, which is a steep climb up the mountain on the East side of Osoyoos. I wanted to do it tonight to get it over with, but no one else was very interested in that. We pulled into a rather nice campground instead.

Vanessa and I did some laundry, hit the hot tub, and then ate some Dairy Queen. We’re at yet another campsite right beside the river. We’re getting spoiled. Too bad we barely spend any time at the campgrounds to enjoy them as much as we would like to. The photo to the right was taken from our campsite. Not too bad.

Day 4 — Monday, June 23

2008-06-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

Hope to Princeton — 128.1 km — Max speed: 67.3 km/hr
We woke up at about 7:45, which is about 3 hours earlier than the previous two days, and headed for the bike shop. Within 10 minutes my bike issues were resolved. Allan gave us a ride to the drop point and we started on our way.

Within 5 minutes we were going up a massive hill. I nearly lost my mind. It was so hot (it was about 10:30 a.m. at this time) and I was sweating like crazy. I started to slam back the water. It took 30 minutes to ride 5 kilometres. This was not good because we had to make it to Princeton which was, turns out, 128.1 km away.

A couple hours went by and things weren’t improving. Incline after incline. My leg was starting to ache with every hill. Once again I was not able to maintain any momentum. I was absolutely drained. Was it my bike that was the problem? Was it my leg? How could Vanessa and Kelly still be going that much quicker than me?

Within an hour Kelly was out of site (but actually only a kilometre or two ahead, turned out). I couldn’t believe this was happening but I was ready to call it quits as I thought it was either my bike or my knee. I couldn’t possibly make it over 100 km further at this pace.

Vanessa and I finally made it to Manning Park (about 50 or 60 km into the ride) and we had a bite to eat with Kelly and Allan. I had more water too. I layed down on a picnic table and iced my knee.

I got up feeling great. The next stretch was mainly downhill, but I was able to easily maintain a 40 km/hr pace. Even when it came to hills again, all I would do is take it slow and not force myself to get up the hill/mountain in record time. I found that when I went at a slower pace, it was much easier, and I wouldn’t be sweating and out of breathe at the top of the incline. It may have taken me an extra minute or two to get up, but it likely saved time in the long run.

We went through some wild stretches of road, which is what I had pictured of B.C. Steep declines and sharp turns made for a good ride. I hit my max speed (67.3 km) for the trip thus far on one of the steep slopes.

We finally made it to Princeton and were feeling good. We checked into the only campground here and we were given yet another site right beside the river (photo right). Not sure offhand if it’s the same river as last night. I don’t think it is, but I’m not sure. Super friendly people staying here tonight. Even friendly people running the place. Too bad we couldn’t enjoy it a little longer.

We had a good supper and hit the hay, vowing to get up at a decent time so we can make it to Osoyoos at a good hour. I’m looking forward to sleeping. I’ll be asleep within the next five minutes.

Day 3 Sunday, June 22

2008-06-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

Chilliwack to Hope — Approx 70 km
I had a discussion with my knee and we decided that I’d give it a go on my own bike today. I iced my leg and took some ibuprofen — it seemed to like that. After having a Starbucks coffee for breakfast, I hopped on and cautiously rode away with Vanessa and Kelly. So far so good.

Although bikes were allowed on the TransCanada Highway at this point, we decided to take a different route that was slightly longer and believe me, it was worth it. The scenery was amazing and the road itself was in great condition. Few vehicles meant more fresh air for us. Here's a video from that stretch of highway.

We made decent time and arrived in Hope. Hope was actually a lot smaller than I was expecting. It was a pleasant surprise. We stopped at a vacant gas station for a break and I iced my leg again. In plain site was a nice looking campsite right beside the river where we wished we could’ve stayed last night instead of in the van.

We took off looking for Highway 3. We were waiting for Hope since the outset of the trip. Simply coordinating with Allan would be so much easier once we were on Highway 3 and only Highway 3.

We found Highway 3 and suddenly things became tough for me. I showed Kelly how my back tire was rather warped so we fiddled around and it turned out I had a broken spoke. No wonder. We put a new spoke in but weren’t sure if it was right. It didn’t feel any better to ride. It was so difficult to peddle and maintain any momentum. I suggested to the group that we go stay at “that nice campsite by the river” and get my bike fixed in the morning. It wasn’t really a hard sell, as this meant we’d set up camp at a decent time, eat a good meal, and get a good sleep. So that’s what we did. We had a campsite immediately beside the river and the sound that accompanied it, which helped us fall asleep even faster.

Because we had actually gone by Hope by about 10 km, we would get a ride out to the point we left off at so we didn’t have to do that stretch twice.

Day 2 — Saturday, June 21

2008-06-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

Surrey to Chilliwack — Approx. 75 km
ihop to iHope . . . almost.

Despite making it to Chilliwack as scheduled, it was not the most enjoyable riding I’ve done. Once again, on the tandem with Vanessa, we had a difficult time reaching decent speeds. By the way, the tandem is not a road bike. It has mountain bike tires and a frame that outweighs the van Allan is driving for us. I’m certain we look like clowns riding this thing around, but without it, we’d still be in Victoria. The bike has given my knee an extra couple days of rest.

We ate at an ihop in Langley for breakfast, which was a real treat. No meal is ever complete without locals giving us funny looks as we stroll in with bike shorts and helmets on. After a worker (perhaps the manager) gave us a spiel on how we should start up an ihop on Vancouver Island, we kept moving.

Today we were in Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, and now Chilliwack. After exhausting our efforts to find a campsite, we are now staying in the van outside of the Wal-Mart. Pure luxury. At least it offsets the hotel expense from last night.

We can’t wait to get out of the urban centres as lights, traffic, and streets with names that are different than what the maps say, complicate things and slow us down. We’re looking forward to Hope, where we can turn down Highway 3 and not worry about getting lost. I hope my knee feels better so I can make this trip more enjoyable for everyone.

I may try my own bike tomorrow, but because tomorrow is a big day, we may fall behind schedule a bit as I don’t want to push my knee too hard. Not only that, I also need time to develop a business plan for an ihop on Vancouver Island.

Day 1 — Friday, June 20

2008-06-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

Victoria to Surrey — Approx 55 km
We drove through the night from Lethbridge and ended up at the Tsawwassen Ferry at about 8 a.m. local time – roughly 15 hours since we left University Drive. My driving shift was from about 12:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. Not very easy considering what had to be put up with (mountains, turns, dips, wildlife, hot chocolate spilling on my lap) and the fact I only had about 60 minutes of sleep up to that point. Over the course of the entire drive, I probably had about 3 hours of sleep. It’s now 1 a.m. Saturday morning and I’ve had about 7 hours of sleep since I woke up Wednesday morning.

Once we arrived in Victoria we met with various alumni at a luncheon at Chateau Victoria. It was nice to see some new faces and old friends. One alumnus is actually riding across Canada starting next week! We took photos at the Mile 0 marker, dipped our wheels and feet in the Pacific Ocean, and headed out on our trip. We had a local U of L alumni navigate us out of the city and point us in the right direction for the ferry.

The ride (approx. 35 km) to the ferry was difficulty as it was the first time Vanessa and I really rode the tandem together. It was tricky and only towards the end of the day were we getting more efficient at it. But don’t get me wrong, we both hate the bike now. I rigged it so I could rest my left leg in a comfortable spot while I peddled with the right leg. Man, I hope my left leg improves soon because I’m not sure how much more of the tandem we can take. It’s pretty slow going.

We got on the ferry and after realizing Kelly wasn’t on the same on, we began to worry a bit. He didn’t have his wallet or cell phone. Turned out he was rushed onto the one before us because he offered to take the tandem bike on the ferry. There was plenty of space for him on the one that was minutes away from leaving. Meanwhile, Allan, Vanessa, and myself were in the van waiting for about 45 minutes to board the next one. After docking at Tsawwassen Ferry again, and locating Kelly, we covered another 20 km or so before stopping where we are now – in a small Surrey hotel room that has had at least 1 billion cigarettes smoked in it before.

Tandem-onium

2008-06-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I saw the doctor for the second time in two days to discuss a cortisone shot for my knee. I was willing to push back the start date a few days to give the knee time to heal from the shot itself, but my doctor wasn't terribly keen on the idea. She advised me that there was potential for a long-term disability if I had the shot and then went out and rode for 10 weeks. I was literally speechless. It took about 2 minutes, but I realized my dream of riding across Canada wasn't going to happen. This was two days before we were supposed to drive out to Victoria. How could something I've wanted to do for years and trained for 10 months suddenly be out of reach?

I didn't want to talk to anyone, but Vanessa insisted she come see me. She had a solution. To me, the only thing that might've made me feel a little better is if I threw my computer through the wall.

I could give my one leg the rest that was needed (cortisone shot or not) if we took a tandem bike. We had joked about riding a tandem across Canada before. Usually the mention of it would be followed by "Wouldn't that be hilarious/ridiculous?". I called a few places in Calgary and found one tandem bike left. I asked them to hold it for me and we drove up to Calgary and rented it. About $200 for two weeks. Not bad at all.

We'll have to do some tinkering to make it as efficient as possible, but this will now allow me to ride a bike from coast to coast. After resting my leg enough and if it feels good I'll revert back to my own bike. The other option was to simply sit in the van for virtually all of B.C. and then join the other two. I'd have to go back and do B.C. on weekends after we finished the trip. I have to travel all of Canada on a bike.

Waterton - Second Attempt

2008-06-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

So Vanessa, Kelly, and myself made it to Waterton from Lethbridge yesterday. All 150 km. We made it! This was our first ride with the support vehicle, which I understand is the very one we'll be taking across Canada starting in less than a week.

I woke up to the sound of rain and wind which made me immediately think of my new rain jacket that I had bought just a few days before. We ended up leaving Lethbridge at 7:00 a.m. and after stops in Standoff (~65 km into the trip), Cardston (~95 km in) and a number of shorter breaks along the way, we made it to Waterton at about 6:00 p.m. Over the 11 hours, we had been riding the bikes for 7.5.

I had 3 flat tires, and a fourth tire blew while Kelly and I were pumping it up. So I went through 4 tires yesterday. I can't believe my luck. However, one highlight of our trip was the food. Thanks to our driver for the weekend, Anne Baxter, we had a fantastic meals at our campsite. We truly were spoiled.

My knee was a concern for me, although I did learn that only two days of rest improved its condition considerably. I didn't start feeling pain until about 80 km into the trip and I really had to play it safe over the remaining 70 km.

I plan on taking 4-5 days off this week for my leg, along with visiting a massage therapist, and a physician. I don't want any trouble on the real trip.

Training Continues: Half-Marathon

2008-06-01T18:01:00.000-07:00

After dozens and dozens (and dozens more) of hours on the bike, I finished my first ever half-marathon today. I did the 13 mile run with Vanessa and boy did I ever feel it afterwards. My IT (iliotibial) band was killing me. I could barely walk. My cardio conditioning was fine, thanks mainly to biking regularly over the last few months.

The half-marathon took about 2:32 to complete, which a few months ago may have looked like quite the task, but going out for a 2+ hour cardio workout takes little persuasion now.

With just over 2.5 weeks before we leave for Victoria, we'll be biking at least twice every three days. Ideally, I'd like to be biking everyday, but we'll see. The training is just one of many ducks that we have to get in a row before we depart.