Equipment Review: Aiden Department

This post is for anyone who stumbles upon this humble blog and is instantly inspires to bike across Canada. Or perhaps someone who already has the seeds of wanderlust germinating in their fertile minds.

Bike: This obviously will be your most important piece of equipment. I got a 2006 model of the Trek XO1. Note: My bike does not look like the one in the picture as I will explain shortly. My bike was not a exactly a "true" touring bike so I had to upgrade it quite a bit as it was designed more for road racing and light touring rather then a cross-Canada trek. My main point here is that the frame was very strong and made it across which is what matters. Some people prefer to pick up a "true" touring bike and there is nothing wrong with that- in fact it can be better. But just because you don't have a "true" touring bike does not mean you and your bike can't make it across Canada.
The modifications my bike needed in order of importance:
New Wheels: The original wheels had 20 spokes up front and 24 in the back. Not Enough. I got Wheels that had 217-A Mavic Rims, Shimano Deore Mountain Bike Hubs, and 36 BT Swiss spokes. A substantial and worthwhile upgrade as I didn't lose a spoke and my wheel needed only the slightest of truing in Ottawa.
New Cassette (which in turn needed a new chain): I had a double crank which most people would not recommend for Cycling touring- but it is not of foremost importance if you have a large cassette. I got a new one that went up to 32 teeth as opposed to the 24 or 26 that I had before. Tyler had a triple crank but my larger cassette allowed us to move up at the same rate. Tyler could however get to a much higher gear but that generally only came into effect during monster down hills or headwinds. That being said I would have like one lower gear at least for the start of the trip. My uncle did 2 months in Thailand, Loas, and Cambodia with a double crank on a Kona Jake the Snake that he rigged up with a 34 teeth cassette and a different rear derailleur. So if I did it again I would go for a slightly bigger cassette but again I made it so it didn't make a huge difference.
Tires: I got these slick flat-resistant tires called Armadillos that were made by Specialized. They were good- I got one flat on them. Though they lasted for 9000 kilometres togeter rather then 17,000. The back one didn't make it to Winnipeg. The front one could have made it to the Maritimes but I ditched it at Montreal. After that I got from MEC kinda standard folding 700 x 32c tires made by a Japanese companies. They were convenient since they folded but got more flats. They wore out at a similar rate though.
Pannier Racks: A necessary modification for a lot of bikes esp. if they are not 'true' touring bikes. My Blackburn back rack causde me no problems. My Axiom front racks that mounted with the help of the quick release worked good- though one of them snapped in the middle sometime during the trip but since I didn't notice until I got home it was not a issue for me.
Pedals: I had basket pedals but then I got those double clip less type pedals that require a special shoe. I highly recommend them- very efficient and safer then the baskets. You'll bail a bit at the start but it becomes second nature very quickly.

Orignal things that I liked about my bike: Aside from the Bontreager stock seat this essentially boiled down to the headset. The dropdown bars that allow 2-3 hand positions are critical. Mine had two braking positions which was great for downhill. I had a slide shifter and a thumb shifter on each handle which enabled a really sweet and comfortable pistol grip. And I as already mentioned I liked my Aluminium frame. With gloves and handlebar tape you don't notice that fact that Aluminium carries vibrations better then Steel.

Whew that was intense- onto bike gear!
Panniers: I got Arkel Sakaroos- both front and back and for a lot cheaper then the site I linked to- so dont buy them from there. They were basic (which I prefer) and well made (except the mesh which goes pretty quick if you put large fuel bottles in there or have squirrel attracting treats stored there). Though the zippers of the front ones was sketch but only because I overloaded them. I would recommend both- And they were both made of recycled material if you want to feel good about your self.
Shoes: Specialized- haven't fallen apart would recommend the brand.
Clothes: Do not buy Cannondale Spandex- expensive and fall apart. Louis Garneau will fall apart but take longer to do it and are cheaper and as comfortable as Cannondales. Get some cycling jerseys cause you look like a thug. Gloves- got cheap Cannondales- got a hole after riding for a week but it never developed further so what ev. I had a fleece that I wore once and ditched in Montreal. And long johns that I wore once. My rain jacket was apparently horrifyingly heavy for Tyler who had his cycling jacket but didn't make a gain difference to me. A decent rain jacket with some layers is all your going to need. Cycling hood was needed once or twice- I would recommend carrying it causes it is very light and when you need it- you really need it.

Camping Gear
Tent: Used my 3 man North Face Bug 3 that had been set up for about a year before the trip even started. So it needed a new zipper pul in Calgary but that costed 16 bucks so no big deal. Heavy but roomy. Would not carry on a solo trip. But worth it for two guys esp. even one (Tyler) isn't a giant fan of spooning. But we got hella spooning in when Rich joined us for a week- might have been hard to do for another couple of months.
Sleeping Pad- Required- get a small Thermarest or a MEC clone.
Sleeping Bag- MEC Raven- too intense for across Canada during summer but I kinda knew that and I wanted it for colder camping after the trip.
Stove: Whisperlite Internationle. Temperamental- you need a intimate knowledge of your stove. And having a 900 ml bottle instead of a 450 ml might have been more useful. But the ability that it was down with Gasoline was convenient when we missed out on a Hardware store. Always funny buying 60 cents worse of gas.
Cookware: MSR Blacklite- no problems- would recommend though we never used that frying pan.

Thats pretty much it. There are a bunch of little tings but those are the big picture items. If anyone has specific questions we would be happy to answer them in the comments section.

Bonus Random Stats

Lamest Lake Superior related pun/ town slogan: Marathon- "Superior in the Long Run" although it was followed closely by Thunder Bay's "Superior by Nature".

Number of Ferries taken: 6- 3 in BC- Brentwood Bay to Mill Bay, Naiamo to Horseshoe Bay, Across Kootney Lake. 1 in Quebec- Quebec City to Levis. 1 between PEI and Nova Scotia and lastly the 8 hour ferry from North Sydney, NS, to Port-aux-Basques, NFLD.

Number of American States seen: 3- Washington from Sooke, BC and Osoyoos, BC. Michigan from Sault Ste. Marie, ON. And Maine For 100 kms or more in New Brunswick.

Okay now I really have to get a equipment review page up...

Equipment Stats

Number of tires replaced:
Aiden- 3
Tyler- 1
Number of busted tubes:
Aiden- 7 (1 pincher + 6 flats)
Tyler- 1 (1 bust valve stem + 1 flat)
We figured the reason for the difference here is that I weigh more so I put more pressure on my tires .

Number of brake pads replaced:
Aiden- 3 pairs (though I replaced another 2 pairs when I got to Ontario.)
Tyler- 1 pair (he had disc brakes as opposed to rim brakes so generally they were less fuss and worked better.)

Number of destroyed pannier rack sets:
Aiden- 0 (well one metal support was snapped when I got home but it that happened during the trip I didn't notice.)
Tyler- 3 (thank you-crazy Arkel panniers of doom.)

Number of broken spokes:
Aiden- 0
Tyler- 9 (that one is Kona's fault for putting on plain gauge spokes instead of buttered.)

Busted chain?
Aiden- No but I needed a new one after the trip for sure.
Tyler- Once in Manitoba.

Miscellaneous damage:
Aiden- One bent quick release (thanks Greyhound), destroyed handlebar tape, 2 gear cables (thanks Quebec mud), and a new cassette was needed at the end.
Tyler- Bright shiny new set of shifters was needed in Calgary and new wheels needed in Cape Breton because of the lame spokes.


The moral of the story is that if your cycling across Canada remember:

A) Get hardcore rims with 36 buttered spokes.
B) Have disc brakes instead of rim brakes.
C) If you want hardcore panniers get an equally as hardcore rack to hold them.
D) Lay off the party packs of cheese snakes and don't weigh 200 pounds.

Cross Canada Reflections

The statistics entry below is sort of an intro to this post. A cursory glance will tell you that we skimmed through only about a fifth of the top 100 urban areas in this country. Keep in mind that only 20 percent of Canadians live in settlements not on the list of the top 100 cities or towns. Only a few countries can compete with Canada in the sheer vastness department. And those who can (the States, China, and Russia) have far larger populations. For this reason, despite being a profoundly urban nation, Canadians still have an attachment to the vast rural wilderness that surrounds us even while we cling to our pockets of concrete. Biking across Canada really reinforces this impression. Taking the back roads also allows you see the tiny hamlets and villages that you would miss otherwise. And despite most of Canada living in cities, the countryside is still largely fairly industrious. The declining forestry industry is still keeping on from BC to Newfoundland and most places in between. Mining though dead out East, is booming in BC and Saskatchewan and is at least staying afloat in Sudbury. Agriculture and ranching is very present in every province. Though here in Canada there are still vast areas of wilderness even if you don’t include the North. Parts of BC interior, Northern Ontario, the middle of New Brunswick and nearly anything not on the coast of Newfoundland all come to mind. The regional geographic differences such as the above examples are probably what really jumped out at me across Canada the most.

But that said the differences among people were also pretty interesting. It’s easy to find many different peoples across Canada. Language is the most obvious marker. From Manitoba to Nova Scotia we biked through Francophone communities and obviously had total immersion in Quebec outside of Montreal. Another obvious one is the fact the original inhabitants of this land are very much still here. I lost count of all the First Nation reserves we went through. And cities like Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and Thunder Bay all have large Native minorities. Biking through rural farming communities you see a lot of evidence of the immigrants that settled this land and whose descendents still live there. Random examples would be: Sikhs in BC, Ukrainians in Alberta, Dokhobours in Saskatchewan, Mennonites in Manitoba, Finns in Ontario, United Empire Loyalists in New Brunswick, Scots in Nova Scotia, Irish in Newfoundland with English and French everywhere in between. There are more subtle regional differences as well- or not so subtle in the case of Newfoundland. But really all that diversity and all those differences are superficial. I found that people were pretty much the same across Canada. Even if it is hard to communicate with someone (such as a Quebecer or even a Newfoundlander) everyone is more then willing to give you directions and help you out. And no matter where we were we always got a couple people coming up and asking what we were up to and encouraging us when they found out. So really Canadians are far less different from each other then we often imagine.

Aside from the Canadiana reflections I have to comment on our expedition unit. It was the smallest expedition group that I have had the pleasure of being a part of so the dynamics are obviously quite different in a two man unit as opposed to a 6 or 12 person group. We each had our expertise- mine on the camping/expedition side of things whereas Tyler was far more knowledgeable about bikes and cycling. We each had snippets of regional familiarity- Tyler guided us thru Calgary and Ottawa and I led thru the crucial metropolises of Aldergrove, BC and Thunder Bay, Ontario. And we both know how to get to Brentwood from the Mill Bay ferry terminal. Anyway it’s impressive that we made it 8400 kilometres and three months together as we can be pretty different people with slightly differing worldviews to say the least. But it’s hard to imagine myself doing it without Tyler so a heartily thank you. I don’t where we would have been without his heroic dishwashing efforts, steely determination in fending off Quebec bikers from jacking our campsite and the ever present can of bear spray- just in case the Grizz tore through the Subway window during lunch. And of course all the memorable conversations, jokes, arguments and debate whether good or bad while we were sober or shitterwrecked will be missed. I couldn’t ask for a better touring companion myself.

Tomorrow or so I will throw up a equipment review with some stats so that’s something to eagerly await.

Random Canada Statistics

Cites over a million visited: Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Montreal.

Cities over 600,000: Winnipeg and Quebec City

Cities over 100,000: Victoria (BC), Saskatoon (SK), Thunder Bay (ON), Sudbury (ON), Trois-Rivieres (QC), Levis (QC), Moncton (NB) and St. Johns (NF).

Cities over 20,000: Naniamo (BC), Sault Ste. Marie (ON), North Bay (ON), Kanata (ON),Riviere-du-Loup (QC), Fredericton (NB), Charlottetown (PEI), and Sydney (NS).

All in all we went to 19 of top 100 urban areas in Canada according to population.


Ethnic and/or regional flags spotted: Metis (MB), Franco-Ontarian (ON), Quebec (it counts I suppose), MLNQ (QC), Acadian (NB and NS), Cape Breton Island (NS), and the Newfoundland Tricolour.


Just for fun- Subway Log:

Total amount of Subway stops- 27

Provinces with 4 Subway meals- British Columbia and Ontario.
Provinces with 3 Subway meals- Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Newfoundland.
Provinces with 2 Subway meals- Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Province with 1 Subway meal- Prince Edward Island.

Most Common Sub for Aiden- Italian BMT with 13 occasions
Amount of times Aiden succumbed to the lure of double stacked meat- 9
Amount of times Tyler succumbed to the lure of double stacked meat- 0

w00t! Maple Leaf Foods recall here we come!

A More Elaborate Conclusion Entry

Well it has been over a week since Tyler and I have returned to our respective bases in Calgary and Brampton so I guess it’s about time for a more complete conclusionary entry. To start I will recall how Newfoundland was won.

Newfoundland as you can tell from the trip statistics is bigger then you might think and it took as 8 days of biking to complete. Deer Lake to St. Johns was the most challenging as it was five days of relentless cycling of between 120 and 135 kms. The first four days were overcast with a serious headwind and a seemingly never-ending chain of hills. Occasionally there was a downpour but generally it was just drizzling. We had some nice camping along the route. We stayed in the first National Park of our trip I believe- Terra Nova- which improved the somewhat drab scenery but at the cost of some serious hills. Along the way we ran in Brian and Pat again for probably the fifth time, Greg from Montreal who was in the same shuttle bus over Confederation Bridge as us and for the fist time Mike and Mary from Victoria- you can read their blog here.

Our last night on the road we stayed at a campsite 5 kms out of Arnolds Cove where there is a giant refinery briefly making me think of Sarnia, Ontario. We were ready for a big push the next day got up uncharactictally early- around 615 am. We got off to a good start even though the conditions- hills, headwind, and overcast weather- continued unabated. The only other minor problem was that Tyler had a bottle of hot sauce explode in his pannier after it hit a rock in the shoulder- messy but non-threatening. Then, 35 kilometres into these conditions we started going east rather then south and that seemed to change everything. All of a sudden we had a tailwind, and the weather improved dramatically. The hills (perhaps because of tailwind) because less and less signifigant. It was a wonderful to cycle with such ease at the end to our journey across Canada. 100 kms later, I was almost euphoric at the sight of St. Johns and its harbour from the last hill on Highway 2. Tyler called his friend from there and I called my Mom because she wanted me to call her before I reached the city- which puzzled me at the time. I told her that we would be at Mile 0 in about 15 minutes. 10 minutes later after cycling by the incupicious sign we had arrived. Then my brothers sauntered out from behind a bush which was a huge and most welcome surprise.


We found time later that afternoon to dip our wheels in Quidi Vidi Harbour which was our official end to the journey. That night we partied and got screeched in at famous (or infamous) George Street. My brothers and I spent a couple days in St. Johns enjoying its sights and strange weather. The highlight was when then rented bikes and came with me to Signal Hill (which overlooks St. Johns and was the site of the first transatlantic radio transmission) and Cape Spear which is the easternmost point in North America. There were quite a number of hills on the way to Cape Spear which were the hardest on Rhys with his fully tricked out mountain bike but it was a very worthwhile trip.

I’m going to write another entry concerning the whole journey later and another entry will be an equipment review. And a huge thank you the large number of people who hosted us and met up with us along. And same goes to everyone who read our blog and encouraged us. And to special thanks to Rich and Simon who traveled with us for about a week apiece.

Trip Statistics

Distance

Total from Sooke, BC to Qudi Vidi, NFLD according to Tyler's bike computer-8406.1 km

British Columbia- 1318 kms taking 14 days of cycling.

Alberta- 665.8 kms taking 5.5 days of cycling.

Saskatchewan- 698.5 kms taking 5.5 days of cycling.

Manitoba-634.8 kms taking 4.5 days of cycling.

Ontario- 2223.5 kms taking 17.5 days of cycling.

Quebec- 748.6 kms taking 6 days of cycling.

New Brunswick- 615.5 kms taking 5.5 days of cycling.

Prince Edward Island- 193.3 kms taking 2 days of cycling.

Nova Scotia- 314.6 kms taking 3 days of cycling.

Newfoundland- 946.2 kms taking 8 days of cycling

71.5 days of cycling in total