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