Ontario Border pic

It's old news now, but here's a picture of the Ontario border. How long will it take to get to the other side? Seems like it could be a while.
Speaking of news, I should mention that I am back to travelling on my own. Riding with Darren and Sebastien was a lot of fun and a good chapter of my trip. I guess I was just ready to see things from the solo perspective again. It changes the way people interact with you. Who knows, maybe I'll hook up with someone else to ride with before the trip is through. Good luck Darren and Sebastien!!!! See you in New Brunswick Darren.

Pictures added, words re-hashed

I've added at least one pic to an old post and have a couple more to do. Also, I have kindly changed the wording on the "Inconvenient Truth" post from:
'If you still believe this is just a natural cycle of warming, first pull your head out of your #!@, and then go see this movie'
to:
'If you still believe this is just a natural cycle of warming, you really, really should go see this movie'

I had just seen the movie and was all worked up. Not meaning to offend anyone.

PS - You really, really should go see this movie. Know what is happening.

Lake Superior Pic

This is a picture taken from the rest area where I camped last night.

Map of Canada with route taken so far

Finally, I can post pictures again. This is a picture of my map of Canada with the route I've taken gone over in felt. This was taken a few days back and doesn't have past Thunder Bay marked. I'm now 3 days along the north shore of Lake Superior. The far north of Canada has been marked with a line of samosa grease.

note: this map is not interactive

This section has been great, if not trying. I'm sure when I look back at this, I will remember the incredible views of Superior and friendly little towns along the way and not the leg burning, will breaking hills that seem to come one after another. I knew I was in trouble when a guy in Nipigon was telling me about the hills that were coming my way and referring to them on a first name basis. When a hill has a name, it usually means business. After a brief period of cooler temperatures last week, its getting hot again. The high in these parts today is 29. I think it hit that at 11:00. I stopped for a refreshing head soaking at Rainbow Falls Provincial Park earlier today. At least there's a lot of water around. This is a beautiful area of Canada.

The Ontario Outback

I'm in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I have pedalled over 2500 kms and am now into my fourth time zone. Eastern standard I believe. The last leg was a lot of fun. We took an alternate route from Winnipeg to near the Ontario border. There was no traffic which was a nice break from the busy Trans Canada. We were three through this leg. Sebastien, Darren and myself.


We camped behind a laundromat with a lakefront view in Kenora, behind a church in Dryden, at a free campsite in Whitemouth where all of the locals (many of them with white hair) get around on their bicycles, a rest area on the side of the highway with the heaviest concentration of mosquitoes I have EVER seen (and I lived in the Yukon), beside the hotel/restaurant at Shabaqua corner and finally shared a cheap motel in Thunder Bay after being soaked by rain two days in a row. How's that for a run-on sentence? We averaged close to 140 km a day which made my legs very sore as much of this was through hills. I've been riding the prairies for so long I forgot what hills were like.
It feels good to have made it this far. I am now over half way. Unfortunately, this blogger site is not letting me post any pictures right now. I will try again the next time I get to a computer. It shouldn't be so long this time. The last section I dubbed the Ontario Outback because there was some long stretches of not much at all besides hills and trees.
I'm excited about the next stretch from here to Sault St. Marie. I'll be riding alongside Lake Superior the whole way. First time seeing the great lakes!
Hope everyone is well!

Dude, where's your bike?

Today has been an interesting day. Darren's bike got stolen from outside the hostel this morning. Someone cut his cable in broad daylight in between people walking in and out of the hostel. He called all the pawn shops and the cops and then we went to meet Monika and Jonah who just arrived last night from Whitehorse. We met for breakfast with the two of them and our Winnipeg friend and guide - Liz. Thanks for everything Liz, you were a great person to show us the city! After breakfast Jonah was good enough to drive us to a bike shop so Darren could look for a new bike. He didn't want to let the loss get in his way of finishing his trip. Ya Darren. Jonah is from Winnipeg and used to work at the shop - Olympia Cycle. They hooked Darren up with a sweet deal on a new bike and all the accessories he needed. They were most helpful and now Darren has an even better bike than he was on before. When we got back to the hostel, we had a new roommate and he was another cross canada biker. His name is Sebastien and he has asked if he could ride with us. So now there are 3. By the Maritimes we should have a full troubadour. Sebastien seems like he's on the same kind of pace and he's a cool, friendly guy. Welcome aboard Sebastien!
Oh, and I got my camera today. Yeee hooo!

We are leaving Winnipeg tomorrow for sure, I promise. The break has been nice for the body but I'm ready to start seeing some more of the country.
Ontario, here I come.


Here's a pic of the new footbridge in Winnipeg we went over on the way out of the city.

An Inconvenient Truth

Forgot to mention, go see the movie - An Inconvenient Truth. It's a documentary about Al Gore touring around the world giving slideshows and talking about climate change. It's well done and has some good up to date information on how we're heating up the planet.
Those of you who still believe that this is just a natural cycle of warming, you really, really should go see this film.
Here's a VERY simple way of cutting down on your contribution to heating up the planet:

Stop going through the drive thru at Tim Hortons! (and any other drive thrus) It makes me cringe seeing a lineup of ten vehicles all chuffing out the emissions while they are waiting to pick up a coffee. Get out of your vehicle, walk inside!

If I had more time, I would throw some more out there but that one is really urking me these days.
Anyway, go see the movie whether you believe it is something that is of concern or not.
thanks

Winnipeg Rocks!

Today is the day I leave Winnipeg. My camera is supposed to arrive and after it does, I'm back on the road. Darren has stuck around because we decided to travel through Ontario together as well. We keep hearing horror stories about the highways in Ontario so thought it would be good to have some backup and some company. Ontario is by the far the longest province to get through so I'm just thinking of it one leg at a time. First step is to actually get into Ontario from Winnipeg. From there, the leg will be complete in Thunder Bay. That will feel good to get that one done.

I had such a good time here in Winnipeg while I've been waiting for my camera to arrive. I've always heard Winnipeg had a good music scene and now I know. Just went and saw a band play their first real show last night and they were really good! They are called The Green Room and we saw them play at the West End Cultural Center which is a great venue. I thought they were another band called Green Room I knew from BC so that's why we went. Turned out to be a good mixup. Heard great live music two other nights as well. We stayed at the hostel while we were in Winnipeg and had a good time hanging out with all the international folk. Did a lot of touring around the city and its parks and riverfront on the bike. Found an amazing place to eat for cheap. If you're ever in Winnipeg, go to Shawarma Time Restaurant. It's a Mediterranean restaurant on the corner of Ellice and Sherbrooke. Delicious!
Winnipeg is a beautiful city with a great vibe and it's full of culture. Favorite city yet!
Take care all and thanks for the emails and comments. Much appreciated while on the road.
I hope to get another post in somewhere before Thunder Bay.

Ok, I'm going heavy on the pics today. This was a self timer shot of Darren and I in the small town of Saltoaks. We were delaying getting back out into the heat.

I tried to post a picture of Darren with the last message but I think I can only have one picture per post. So here's a picture of Darren with a Roughriders flag he found on the side of the highway.

Saskatchastan to Manitoba

It's funny, everyone warned me about how boring the prairies would be but I have found them to be a lot of fun. I have not once found myself 'bored' anyway. The seas of canola are in full bloom right now, the skies are alive and amazing at night, the thunderstorms scare the shit out of me, and the people are getting friendlier and friendlier the further I travel. The interactions I have with people in all of the small little towns along the way is where I feel like I'm going to get to know our country the best. I regularly eat breakfast in restaurants. I cook my dinners and eat packed food for lunch but I love eggs for breakfast. Not to mention the coffee factor. I only have tea with me and sometimes it just doesn't cut it. Yes, you can still have a coffee addiction while you are cycling across the country. (In case that was holding anyone back)
The leg from Saskatoon to Winnipeg was great. I got to visit my friends Wayne Piett and Trevor Dyscievik who I haven't seen in many years. We camped with them just outside of Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Along with Deb and Matt, they showed us a great time. Here's a pic of of all of us around the camp minus Darren taking the picture.



Those 780 km also went by a lot faster largely in part to my new travelling partner Darren. We've been having a good time hanging out and riding. There is definitely a bit of a difference in our riding styles. That being that Darren seems to be able to ride as long and hard as necessary to "get it done". While I am finding it a bit tiring keeping up with his pace, I'm also feeling stronger. He's holding back a bit and I'm trying to pick it up a notch and it seems to be working. One disadvantage I have is that my bike and all gear weighs in at 102 lobs including full water bottles. His must weigh 60ish. He packed ultralight and I probably packed heavy as always. Besides that, he's just a serious biking nut which is cool. He's been in many races and won the 24 hours of adrenaline event before. Still not sure if we are going to continue riding together after Winnipeg but regardless, Darren has become a good friend in a short amount of time and I expect we will stay friends for a long time to come. Cheers buddy!

From Yorkton, the first day was painful. We rode into a 20km/h headwind all day and only made it 66 km. We gave up early and saved our energy for better conditions. The next day the wind was calm and even at our back occasionally. We hammered out 190 kms that day to make it to Mendossa, Manitoba. Dead tired when we arrived in this nice town. I inhaled a banana split as soon as we got there. It's crazy how many calories you need to ingest every day to keep up the energy. The next day we had a headwind again but still made it 137 km to Portage la Prairie. It felt like another 190. We hit up the Tim Horton's and a bunch of cops sat next to us so we asked them where was a good place to camp for free in town. They were cool and suggested a nice spot on Island Park. They even came by to check on us later. Perfect example of the small town attitude in Manitoba. From Portage, it was about 80 km into Winnipeg. In that time we got hit by a severe rainstorm. It was fun once I became thoroughly drenched because then it didn't matter. It was also good timing because it made me aware of a couple of things I still needed and Winnipeg has a Mountain Equipment Co-op. That was our second stop, right after Tim Horton's. Darren wants to visit every T Ho he passes. So we checked into the hostel in town for a couple of days to rest and check out the city......

Riding The Wave

It's been a fun couple of days since I left Saskatoon. My first stop, 30 km out of Saskatoon, I met another cross canada biker. He left from Victoria one day before I started my trip so that means he's biked about 1,000 more kms than I have. That should have been warning enough to stay clear of this guy. Instead, we decided to ride together for a while. It was a good day, we had a decent tailwind that seemed to be picking up. After going pretty strong for an hour or so, it started to become evident why the wind was picking up. Slowly catching us, was an ugly looking wall of dark clouds and chaos. Some guy even pulled over in his pickup to tell us to "Get somewhere before this thing hit us". We quickly sized it up and decided to push on and use the storm to our advantage. The next 40 km were wild. The wind started gusting hard, both sideways and from behind. It was a serious effort just to keep the bike on the shoulder and stay in control. The storm was gaining on us and the winds kept getting stronger and it felt exactly like we were riding the wave of the storm. It reminded me of surfing a lot. We cruised the flat Saskatchewan highway at 50 km/h plus with a top speed of 62 km/h! Very exciting stuff. The storm eventually weakened as it went overhead and we avoided getting trashed. It seemed to horseshoe around us, with walls of rain coming down half a km to either side. Definitely the most fun I've ever had riding my bike on the highway. Speed is fun.
So that day we rode for 137 km. Good day, but then yesterday we rode for 214 km!!!!
By far the most distance I have ever covered on a bike in one day. It looks like if I keep riding with Darren (thats his name), I might get out east a little faster. We'll see how long I hold up. It all made sense when I asked him for his email address this morning - pedaljunkie@....
Pedal Junkie. great

He's got a digital camera, so here's a pic

Talk to you in Winnipeg!

Picture

Definition of frustration : sending your new digital camera away for a warranty repair and then, within days, losing your job and deciding to go biking across the country.

I'm waiting patiently for my camera to be fixed and sent out to me. In the meantime I thought I would buy a disposable camera to take some pictures. I just got my first one developed and have to say......I wish I had my digi back! They didn't turn out how I had imagined they would when I was taking the pics, but if they did I would be selling them. Instead I'm trying to find one worthy of this free blog.

The picture that takes top honors is this one

My bike underneath the World's Largest Pysanka

Vegreville, Alberta

Copies of this picture can be made available upon request.

C'mon digital, I need you back.

Saskatoon

I got into Saskatoon on July 5th (yesterday). At the last minute, I got in contact with my cousin Lori and her husband Morris who live here. They have been taking care of me in a big way. Comfortable bed, warm meals, cold beers - its nice to see family. Morris brought my bike to work to weld my second broken rack back together. Lori ran me around half the day so I could do my city things (pedicure, manicure,etc.....My nails are a wreck!)
They are Volkswagen enthusiasts and have a cool red convertible beetle (old school style), Veedub Van painted Saskatchewan yellow, and a Jetta. We cruised around in the convertible today which was a lot of fun. Saskatoon is a great city - friendly people and a relaxed pace. The river parks are amazing.
Lori and Morris - Thanks so much for the great recharge!

I hooked up with fellow IEP grad Graham Pipher for a beer and some live music last night. His roommate was spinning at a cool bar named Lydia's. Met some cool people and heard some great music. Felt like drinking 10 beers but only drank a couple. (I'm saving myself for the maritimes)

I'm leaving first thing tomorrow morning to start the next leg of my journey - 780 km to Winnipeg. Come on tailwinds!

Saskatchewan's not that flat

I've always heard "you can watch your dog run away for two days". that to me implies flat as a pancake. I feel like I've been pedalling uphill most of my time in "the land of the living skies" (that's Saskatchewan's catch phrase-it's true, the skies at night are amazing)
I think I'm just feeling a bit burnt from the sun. It's basically too hot to ride from noon until six. I still ride during that time, but with a lot of breaks. I've been getting a good session in the morning and a good session at night. Makes for long days. I'm in the library at North Battleford right now enjoying the air conditioning. I plan to be in Saskatoon by tomorrow sometime.
Hopefully, I'll get to post a couple of pictures there.
Blaine

Congratulations Ari and Shari !

My good friends Ari Gore and Shari Russell are being married today. I wish I could be there.
Congratulations to both of you! Enjoy your new happy life on the lake.... after a few hundred more hours of back-breaking labor that is.
I know your wedding day is going to be so much fun, I'm thinking of you all!
Blaine

Link to great canoe adventure!

I just set up a link to my friend Helene Marcoux's website. She and her friend Anne Marie are getting set to canoe 1200 km from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Thunder Bay, Ontario. They are trying raise money and awareness for ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease). They have a great website, check it out.
I'm hoping to meet up with Helene in Winnipeg before they start their trip in a couple of weeks.

On my trip, the first thing people want to know is Why am I doing the trip? I think many of them are expecting me to have a cause of some sort. Really, I just have always wanted to see the rest of the country and I thought a bike would be one of the best ways to see it. Of course, its a big personal challenge and chance to grow and learn as well.

Well, I still don't have a personal cause as such but if anyone would like to put some money towards sponsoring something good and worthwhile, then check out www.paddlequestforals.com . They have it all set up. Even if you don't want to sponsor them, check out the site!

Ya Helene and Anne Marie!!!

Trip Background

Ok, time to get posting. It's July 2nd and I'm in Loydminster which is on the Alberta/Saskatchewan border. Made it through Alberta!
Maybe I should give a quick background to this trip.
My plan is to ride my bike from Prince George, British Columbia to St. John's, Newfoundland. I started the trip on June 20th and am hoping to get to St.Johns in late September.

Biking across Canada is something I've always wanted to do. I did a week long bike tour up in the Yukon and Alaska last summer with a high school group out of Whitehorse. I was an assistant on the trip and the head instructor had biked across Canada before. I definitely got some inspiration from him. Thanks Greigg!

I was working in Kelowna as a surveyor on the new bridge across Okanagan Lake for a couple of months this spring making better money than I'm used to. When I got laid off unexpectedly and couldn't find any other work right away, I started thinking of the bike trip. I've never taken a summer off in my working life and have always wanted to. Luckily, I had been saving my money I was making on the job to pay off debt, put a down payment on a house, etc, etc. So I actually had enough money to take the summer off and do the trip. (There will always be time to pay off debt and buy a house right?) Within days of thinking it, my mind was set. I was doing the trip. I had a road bike that I was riding a lot but it wouldn't work for this type of trip. I traded it in towards a touring specific bike, with attachment points (braze-ons) for racks to hook panniers on and burlier tires and frame. The model of the bike is a Kona Sutra and so far I'm loving it. It carries a load great and is so efficient on the road. I bought a set of 4 panniers which are like saddlebags if you're not familiar with the term, a little bike computer and a bunch of other touring odds and ends. I'm going into this pretty green on the experience end. I only rode the bike fully loaded once for 30 km before I left and that was the day before.

So the trip has been pretty spur of the moment really. I didn't have time to put a website together or come up with a cause or anything like that. I just found this blogger site while I was in Edmonton. It's completely free and takes about 10 minutes to set up. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it updated.

out for now
Blaine