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

Done!

Just a quick update to tell you all that we have finished safe and sound. Expect a series of entries over the next couple of days finishing off the trip. First off a big thanks to Lanny for offering, and his dad Max for putting Aiden and I up for a night in Deer Lake, it was a great time. We arrived in St. John's yesterday afternoon completing the cross Canada cycle trip with a total distance of 8401.2 kms. Aiden's brothers Rhys and Elliot were waiting at 'Mile 0' to give us a surprise visit. And a surprise it was (It's OK Scott, I understand.) My friend Shawn met us shortly after we arrived in St. John's and suggested that we go to Quiti Viti harbour to take our pictures beside the Atlantic. Quiti Viti is a scenic little harbour with a very rugged shoreline just a short ride from downtown St. John's and made a great spot to officially end the trip. That's it for now, but check back soon for a proper conclusion.

Nine Down- One To Go!

Right now we are at the base of Marble Mountain which is during the winter time is Newfoundland's ski destination but not so much now. We have a short hop to Deer Lake today as there's a place for us to stay there. We did 140 kms yesterday which was very enjoyable because the tailwind some very lengthy downhill sections. After today's ride we will be a little less then a third across Newfoundland.

So far Newfoundland has been treating us very well. We have no other choice of roads besides the TransCanada Highway but it is a good road with large shoulders and not much traffic. At least the traffic is still somewhat paced to the ferry so there are sporadic waves of trucks and cars. Cheapest campsites since Saskatchewan- one night was 10 dollars and last night was 11.30. We asked how much firewood was at our first campsite and the guy replied in a thick Newfie accent that: "This is Newfoundland- you don't pay for wood here!" Another guy came over later gave us a stack of kindling he chop for us so thus far the people here have conformed to their friendly stereotype.

For bit of a flashback we made to Sydney two days after Antigounish. Sydney is a somewhat post-industrial town with a gritty reputation. Although it's infamous Tarponds were bit of letdown- they looked more like a creek then largest volume of toxic waste dumping in North America. Sydney is also the unofficial capital of Cape Breton Island which Tyler was shocked to discover is in fact an island rather a peninsula of Nova Scotia mainland. Tyler's back rims started failing on the island and about 12 kms from Sydney he had lost 6 spokes on his back tire causing it to rub against the frame. Not too safe so he had to take a cab in and we spent 3 days in Sydney getting new rims. We stayed at my friend Phoebe's apartment. We last saw each other when I as eight so it was super nice of her to let us crash at her place. We got a bit of sightseeing a we made it over to the Glace Bay Miner's Museum which I highly recommend if your ever in the area.

Should be a nice short ride today and we will probably be completing our journey in a week's time- w00t.

Coast to Coast? Check.

After taking a day off in Fredericton, Aiden and I began to make our way to the Atlantic Ocean. The first glimpse of the Atlantic was in Shediac, NB a place that certainly seemed to like its lobster as there was a giant plastic one outside the info center and more lobster restaurants than I have seen anywhere. From Shediac we were only a morning's ride to the Confederation Bridge that links PEI to the rest of Canada. While waiting for the shuttle bus to take us across the bridge (cyclists aren't allowed to ride it themselves) we met two other cyclists who were also waiting. One was a French gentleman on a mountain bike who we had seen the day before and the other was an older guy riding across Canada solo. The man with the mountain bike had done some riding in some pretty interesting places (Argentina and Chile were two he talked about) so I suppose his choice of bike made sense.

I had been warned by several cyclists along our travels about how hilly PEI was. Our first day on the island heading towards Summerside certainly disproved that; it wasn't any hillier than what we saw in Saskatchewan. In Summerside we were lucky enough to have accommodation that wasn't campsite, we were hosted by Brian and Daphne (Daphne, a friend of Aiden's mom, knew Aiden from when he was a little kid in Halifax.) It was our first home cooked dinner in a long while which was an excellent change. Thanks again for having us! The next day we did what seemingly everyone else visiting PEI was doing and that was to visit Cavendish and all of the Anne of Green Gables stuff. I haven't read the book, but the house that inspired Anne's home in the novel was nice. I thought the best part of the town was Cavendish Beach, I really liked the steep red cliffs.

On our way to Charlottetown we took advantage of the old railbed that has been converted into a bike path that runs the length of PEI. The path was some solid cycling, and in a uniform good shape, so I didn't break any spokes this time. On the ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia both Aiden and I were disappointed when they didn't have BC burgers for us at the cafeteria, other than that it was similar to what BC Ferries is like (except for the boat being a little more retro.) We had a long day into Antigonish, but it was good in that we have just over 200 kms of cycling left in Nova Scotia, so hopefully two relatively easy days await us before Newfoundland. More on the theme of running into cyclists, we saw Brain and Pat again at the Antigonish campsite, kind of funny how we keep running into them. Bed time.