Day 56

Video from last week's blog post, camping outside Cache Creek: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ_QWakS9bA&feature=youtu.be
This video depicts the arid landscape around Kamloops.

We left Sarah's place in Kamloops and headed towards Jasper National Park over the next week. We started to notice that the vegetation again changed from the arid hills of Kamloops to the dense vegetation and snow tops of the Rocky Mountains. Anytime we have a packed lunch we manage to bike an abnormal amount of kilometers, and again this was the case as we biked 130km and finished in Clearwater.

After camping in the backyard of a motel in Clearwater we woke up to torrential downpours. We hid out in a cafe for around an hour, however, it didn't help in the long run as we were soaked by the end of the day. We managed to bike 109 km over 8 hours on just protein bars and apples, so we were happy to reach our destination of Blue River and have some dinner. We set up camp behind the restaurant where Will managed to kill close to 6000 mosquitoes double-handedly.

 

Our first black bear sighting

We left our campsite and it was still raining, but luckily we managed to miss the forecast of thunderstorms. The hills were starting to get larger as we got closer to Jasper, but they were still quite manageable. We also had our first major wildlife encounter, as there was a black bear on the side of the road. As the day went on, the rain was on and off, so we decided to have lunch under a bridge.
Here's a video demonstrating "how we do": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rErs-i37sMg&feature=youtu.be 

We made it the town of Valemount which was surrounded by mountains and may be considered one of the most scenic towns that we've come across. When we had finished buying some groceries a man by the name of Dave donated $60 to our cause and also gave us a jar of homemade raspberry jam. Afterwards we managed to bike another 15 km before the headwind became too much and we camped in the Jackson Flats Provincial Park.

 

Harry rocking short-shorts in Valemount. He lost a bet.

We had one more day of biking before we reached Jasper National Park and the city of Jasper. The mountains were becoming larger both in size and in number. Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies at 3940m, and Mount Terry Fox at 2680m were some of the more notable ones. We were a little disappointed though because, as it was raining again, there were clouds covering most of the peaks. About 10 km into the day we entered Mount Robson Provincial Park, which not only offered great scenery, but clear blue rivers formed from glacier water. Legends say that it's not in fact water, but blue Gatorade, or maybe even Blue Gatorade powder in liquid form. When we passed the Alberta border and into Jasper National Park the scenery was even more spectacular and a sign of great things to come.
 

 Alberta. You're welcome.

 

Great things are coming

As we left Jasper we had to pass another gate to enter the National Park...again. However, before we even passed the gate we saw a herd of caribou (which we took the liberty of pronouncing "elk") and you can see the video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaTrfUkc22Q&feature=youtu.be), and we also saw two coyotes hiding in the bush.

Once we passed the gate we saw two more black bears. So in the span of under 5 km we saw three different large mammals. Further down the road Will also spotted a very large caribou and two wolves. We thought we were about to witness a show-down of epic proportions, but the wolves chickened out. Harry also had the privilege of spending some time alone with a black bear at the side of the road, for about 5 minutes before all the crazy tourists showed up and scared it away.

 

"Hey Harry"

The day consisted of very long and steep climbs, with very few downhills. We also had our first flat tire, Harry's rear tire was completely deflated by a piece of glass at the top of a large hill. We managed to repair the damage without a hitch. But then, we came face-to-face with a mysterious and majestic animal known by many as a mountain goat. We decided to use a more authentic pronunciation of goat in the video though:
http://youtu.be/B8GDgzXPmOw

By day's end we were at an altitude of close to 2000m at  the Columbia Icefields Info Center. We set up camp less than a kilometer from one of the largest glaciers in the Rock Mountains, so it was a little chilly.

 

We left the Icefields in the morning for another day of long hills. However, we were surprised to find that we also had about 20km of straight downhill in the morning. We did 20km in probably 30 minutes, a new world record. The Icefields parkway was scattered with gigantic mountains and clear blue lakes, the scenery is unbelievable. We finished the day passing Bow's summit, which marked the highest altitude for the entire trip. Our legs were tired but knowing that it was going to be downhill for the rest of the day made it easier. We camped just outside Mosquito Creek campground, about 25km from Lake Louise.

 

Just after biking 20km in 30 minutes, not even tired. 

 

Just a taste of the two days that we were on the Icefields Parkway 

Our next destination was Banff, which would be a much flatter route but would prove to be difficult in other ways. One particular difficulty involved The first wipe-out of the trip, as Will flew over his handlesbars along the shoulder of the Trans Canada Highway. Harry caught-up with Will about an hour later, and we've decided to include the conversation we had in this blog, verbatim:

Harry: hey

Will: Hey, I wiped out.

H: what happened?

W: So there I was, minding my business, biking along, and then a road sign appeared on the shoulder, out of nowhere! So I swiftly swirved to the right and dodged the sign perfectly. But turned out that the fresh pavement on the shoulder was way too loose so my front tire turned 90 degrees. I went about 3 or 4 feet forward, but my bike didn't. I got my hands up pretty quick and capped off my landing with a forward roll, so i'm alright.

H: did anyone pull over to see if you were alright?

W: Nope. But I don't blame them. Do you ever stop what you're doing when you see a butterfly flutter and with a determined elegance land on a branch? No. And similarly, people didn't stop for me because I looked like a pro. One van even had a passenger judge my landing, and gave me a 9.5 on a scale of 1 to 9.5, presumably.

photograph taken by Anonymous

Will got right back up and kept trekking, but within a few kilometers his rear tire decided it couldn't handle being a part of such a legendary bike ride, so the inner tube popped. No problem though, Will had an extra inner tube in his bag so he just replaced it and went on his merry way. But the tire was relentless in it's effort to throw in the towel, so the brand new inner tube popped within 2 kilometers. 

Will giving a stern talking-to to his tire.

It's important to note that none of these hardships were caused by human error. Obviously. We then realized that the tire was in such bad shape that we wouldn't be able to make it to Banff. So we hitched a ride on a coach bus and made it to a bike store in Banff, where we proceeded to buy brand new tires that promise to never wear out on us.

We then spent the night in Canmore, and the next day we made our way to Calgary, thereby ending our run in the Rock Mountains. After having biked a stretch of 13 straight days and 1200 kms, we decided to take two days off at Harrison's Grandfather's place just outside of Calgary. Thank you to Roy and Jan for their hospitality.

NB: One of the highlights from our time in BC was when we stopped in a restaurant in Lytton and had a great conversation with the owner. She was a very talkative woman. One of her stories that she shared was about her then 5 month-old son who was terminally ill. Her son managed to survive and is doing very well now, 15 years later, but her story very much struck a chord with us. She told us that when it was determined that he was terminally ill, a government program made it so that she would be able to take him back home to her small town, so that he could spend his last days with his family, rather than in a hospital in the big city hours away from his family. She told us one of the most disturbing things for her, at the time, was that the government, which was allowing her to take her son back home by offering to cover the exepenses for all the necessary medical supplies, made her take four years of supplies at minimum. She, as well as the doctors, knew that she would only need one year's worth of supplies, but there was no way around it. The supplies had to be given to her, and she knew that this meant that they were going to be wasted. She did manage to give some of the supplies that didn't have expiry dates to the local doctor, but she felt bad that so many supplies had been needlessly wasted. In her own words, she told us that the supplies could have been used to help three other families, but that her hands were tied by the very program that was trying to help her. The reason why this struck a chord with us is because of how closely related it is to the cause that we have chosen to support. Among other things, including improving educational programs and social programs for on reserve aboriginal children, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society is actively involved in legislating something called "Jordan's principle". The program that allowed this woman that we met to take her son home for his last few days or months is a program that does not apply to on-reserve aboriginals, because neither the provincial nor federal government is willing to front the bill. All this while simultaneously affording an over-abundance of supplies to people that don't need them. You can read more about Jordan's principle, which aims to put an end to this discriminatory procedure, here. This was a great reminder for us about the cause behind our trip, and a great opportunity for us to extend our thanks to everyone who has donated to the cause and helped in any way. Thank you.

Day 46

We left Vancouver towards Mission for a night of rest and relaxation at Beth and Greg's place (Harrison's aunt and uncle). The route was relatively flat, but we got to see the beginnings of the Rocky Mountains. It gave us a glimpse of the amazing scenery to come. When we arrived in Mission we were greeted by Beth, Greg and Lindsay and had a great streak dinner. That night we caught the final game of the Stanley Cup which was a nice treat.
When we left Mission we were excited to start biking into the Rockies, and we after much deliberation and consulting countless experts and after doing science, we made the decision to take the Fraser Canyon (Highway 1) as opposed to the Coquihalla (Highway 5). The Frasier Canyon had fewer summits and better scenery but 70 extra kms. When we arrived in the town of Yale we were assured that we made the right decision as the view was unbelievable. We biked another 15 km and set up our tent near what appeared to be an abandoned house. About 2 hours after setting up our tent the owner of the house came by with a report of someone on his property. He was a nice guy though and didn't mind us camping on his property.

Check out the scenic Fraser Canyon River:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sycwQ1oztc&feature=youtu.be

The road along the canyon has a few tunnels. Cool!

After we left our campsite we started to get a taste of the mountains that were to come. We had a few 2-3 km hills, but nothing too major. We also had the wind at our back which was a huge help for the first day of serious hills. We met our first serious BC hill, one that many had warned us about, and we met it with ease because we happened to have heavy winds at our back. Here we are after accomplishing that first big hill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc3NIqxel68&feature=plcp.
Unfortunately the camera was turned off right before we were presented with the most prestigious award ever, in front of everyone, for biking up that hill.We graciously turned the award down though, because we're not done yet, and will bike up atleast one other hill as we cross the Rockies.

 Not a word of a lie. This is the name of the hill we biked. Pretty harsh.

That night we camped just outside of Spence's Bridge.

When we left our campsite we had about 1 bottle of water each knowing that in Spence's Bridge we would be able to fill them up. However, when we arrived every single shop/cafe/motel was out of business. Our next stop was about 50 km away and so we had to stretch the one bottle each for around 3 hours of biking. We managed, mostly because the sun went away and it started to rain. The rain wasn't terrible and after a quick stop in Cache Creek we set up camp close to Savona. Video of the campsite to be added later.

 Harry biked right by this gem-like scenery without even stopping to look at it. Thankfully Will is better than Harry at some things.

The last video depicts one of the more interesting aspects of our trek along the Fraser Canyon, the vegetation changes drastically, and the change is not subtle at all. it goes from a lush green rainforesty vegetation and climate to a more arid and desert-like setting. It's really a quick transition, and we've been told it changes back shortly after Kamloops.

Just can't get that timer function on the camera right

The next day we arrived in Kamloops. With pretty harsh head-winds, we were reminded just how difficult the hills can be when the wind doesn't go our way. But it was a sunny day and a relatively short day distance-whise so we would be able to arrive in Kamloops without too much of a problem. We also met 4 other cyclists that were touring across Canada. Cool. They were Swiss. Interesting.

Up next we head north to Jasper so that we can take the road along the Columbia Icefields from Jasper through Lake Louise to Banff. We could cut through from Kamloops to Lake Louise, but we think the detour up to Jasper will be worth it. We're pretty excited for it. Thank you again to Sarah and Josh for the amazing hospitality, a welcome change from the camping over the past 3 nights!

Day 41

The morning of May 28th we were lucky enough to be interviewed by the local radio station at Cheticamp, but that meant that we didn't start biking until around 12. That morning we had also decided to change our chains because we had already biked about 2200 kms. Right when we started biking Will's chain started to skip and so we spent 30 minutes fixing it which put us further behind schedule. 2 km down the road Harry's chain started to skip and Will's snapped in half. Excitement ensued. We didn't have any backup chains at this point because we had just used them, so we took the good old trial and error approach and actually managed to patch things up and travel 30 or so kilometers. However, at that point our chains decided to start skipping again and we had no option but to keep trialing and erring, but mostly erring. Eventually we decided that it was hopeless, and that we would need to get a new chain, but we were in the middle of Cape Breton, and the nearest town with a store that would sell bicycle chains was over a hundred kilometers away. That misfortune actually proved fortunate. People in Cape Breton are some of the kindest people you'll meet, and we actually managed to hitch a ride all the way to North Sydney from Rob (lobster fisherman) and his fiancee, just beside the town that would have the store and chains we needed, as well as the port for the ferry to Newfoundland.

The next morning we stocked up on new chains, replaced our embarassing old ones, and hopped on the overnight ferry to Newfoundland. Will would turn 23 years old on that ferry, and slept a sound 4 hours on the floor before we set out to tackle all 900 kms of newfoundland in 9 days.

NL 

Here's a video of some of the scenery kilometers after leaving the ferry in Newfoundland, narrated by Will and guest starring the Trans-Canada Highway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvgGnhj-fd4&feature=youtu.be

The road from Port-aux-Basques to St. John's is just that, one road, and at points it is quite barren. We went the first 200 kilometers and saw more moosen (4) than we had seen stores (2 gas stations). Another interesting fact is that if you were to draw a line directly from Port-aux-Basques to St. John's it would head directly East. Our first two days in Newfoundland, however, had us going directly north, which of course meant that we would have to spend that much time to get back south enough.

The moosen built this fence so that we wouldn't bike on their turf

The trek to St. John's also featured some really cold and wet weather. We did not see the sun at all while in Newfoundland, and would wake up most days to puddles of water inside of our shoes. The first 30 or so kilometers would be the hardest. Our feet and hands would go numb from being so wet and so cold, but we would eventually warm up and would still manage to average just under 100 kms a day.

The sunniest moment of Newfoundland (it was behind a mountain)

We would still take some time to take in the scenery though, as shown in this video of scenic Gambo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMLQgQrr9Jk&feature=youtu.be . Additionally, we had a day with excessive amounts of fog and it felt like we were on another planet, one with a lot of fog, but otherwise very similar to earth and specifically newfoundlandish. A very weird feeling indeed.

Breathtaking scenery

Newfoundland wasn't without its highlights though, as one day we ran into a couple of cyclists that had just started their trans-canada trek. Within minutes, a journalist for Maclean's spotted our bikes and took the opportunity to interview us about our journey. He's writing a book about the Trans Canada Highway, and his personal experience driving across it. We're not guaranteeing that we'll make it into the book, or on the front cover, but we've got a bit of a hunch that there's going to be an alternate book about just us, and a subsequent major motion picture. He is blogging for Maclean's almost daily, and he was sure to mention us. Here's a link: http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/06/05/day-2-on-the-trans-canada-gambo-nf/. Additionally, the two other cyclists have a blog at: www.trekking4transplants.ca 

One day, winds were in excess of 57 km per hour. This means that had it been near a school zone, the wind could have gotten a ticket for speeding and would be the recipient of many frowns from onlookers, not that either of us know what that's like, but we suspect the wind should be ashamed of itself for that. Nonetheless, we eventually made it to St john's and were lucky enough to camp in the backyard of Will's cousin Michelle's place while she was away in another part of Newfoundland. St. John's is a really nice city. From far it looks like its a really big town, but it has many of the same amenities you'd expect from a city, including a vibrant nightlife which we took the liberty of exploring. One street in particular, George street, is considered the street with the most amount of bars per square foot in all of either the world or North America, or Canada, or something. The point is there are a lot of bars that the newfies love to frequent and make the most of.

On June 9th, we packed our bikes up and flew to Vancouver. The flight, including a short layover in Toronto, took all of 10 hours. We covered the distance that is taking us 3 months by bike, in 10 hours by plane. We dont know what to make of that. When we arrived in Vancouver we were greeted by Brian and Audrey who welcomed us into their home. The showers, clean laundry, and home cooked meals were a welcome change from the cold tent-life in Newfoundland.

One box per bike and an additional box for our bags, tent, and air mattresses.

The following day we took some time to travel around the city of Vancouver on our bikes, but without all of our heavy bags. We were able to check out Stanley Park where we dipped our bikes in the Specific Ocean (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFSsXhyw6E0&feature=youtu.be), just a day after being right by the Atlanta Ocean. Note: Vancouver needs more coffee shops...could not find anything.

Will and Harry just about to bike through Stanley Park

We are now heading to potentially the most difficult, yet scenic portion of our trip...the world-famous Rock Mountains.

Day 27

here one of the videos from last week's post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEEzPHnjALw&feature=youtu.be

We left on May 21st from New Maryland towards Moncton and eventually PEI. We had the wind at our backs and a relatively flat road so the riding was very smooth and enjoyable. We had lunch and dinner already in our bags thanks to John and Jennifer, so we also did not waste anytime in grocery stores or restaurants. All of this combined into 135 kms, our personal best to date. We eventually camped on an abandoned lot behind a house that looked like it belonged in a horror film, like the Texas Chainsaw Human Centipede.

The next day we were in high spirits because of the personal best the previous day. We were also on the way to PEI which we had only heard amazing things about. We had about 200 km to get to Charlottetown and 2 days to do it so we didn't go too hard, and we finished the day after 100 km and in a small town called Cap Pele. We visited the local pub to watch some of the Memorial Cup, then called it a night by camping behind a large fence.

Will found a way into a washroom facility that was locked up for the season.

Is it wierd that after going in, Will went out of his way to make sure he was technically using the men's facilities? Na, I think thats just respect.

We finally hit the Confederation Bridge the next day around 1:00. We had to take a shuttle because no pedestrians or bikes are allowed on the bridge (even us... professionals... I know, it's crazy) something about the winds being too much and road being too narrow and us looking too professional. Once we hit PEI the wind decided to pick up and it became very cold. It took us nearly 4 hours to do 50 km to reach Charlottetown. We eventually decided to pay for a room at the University of PEI residence. For dinner we hit the Gahan Brewhouse in the downtown area and had an amazing dinner. Overall the town has been a highlight of the trip thus far.

We both only took one picture on the island.

We passed this sign and different times, and both decided this was worth taking a picture of.

We are both very mature.

It was tough to leave PEI the next day because we only got to spend one day on the island and it was such a nice place. Additionally, we had to bike 50 km to get to the ferry by 1:00 or else we would be a day behind schedule. We left our dorm room at 10:00 and made it to the Wood Islands ferry by 12:30, which was impressive in our books. The ferry ride was about an hour long. When we arrived in Nova Scotia we still wanted to bike another 30-50kms so that we could reach our goal of getting to Cheticamp by Saturday. We finished the day by camping on the side of the 104 highway.

Nova Scotia has Celtic roots. The river-dance may be considered celtic-ish, by some, maybe.

Our second day in Nova Scotia was quite eventful. We made it to Cape Breton around 4:00, and decided to bike until we had no more sun so that the day after to Cheticamp would be that much easier. We also saw two other bikers (presumably doing a trans-Canada trip) heading west. We decided to take the road along the coast because there would be less hills, and we were amazed by how amazing the ocean already looked before we hit the famous Cabot Trail. We finally finished in Judique, the first Scottish settlement in North America, across the street from the St. Andrew's church.

The next day we had significant tailwinds and we rode 110 kilometers into Cheticamp.

photo op, take 1

take 1

take 2

We didnt have a take 3, because Harry probably would have given himself a concussion.

Originally the town of Cheticamp was considered a "maybe" destination for us. Will's good friend from University, Andree, is from Cheticamp, and Will had heard about it from her and seen pictures of it before. Before making up our decision on whether we make make the detour to Cheticamp, we decided to do a little research and found out that Cheticamp isn't just some town in Cape Breton, it's The Town in Cape Breton. A small, 3000 person fishing town right along the famous Cabot trail between high hills and the ocean is a must-visit. We were happy to take the detour and it has probably been the best decision we've made. We also had the chance to have some fresh lobster. It was amazing. We were treated like family by Bourgeois family, and we are very grateful.

The Cabot Trail is beautiful. And we saw a moose!

Here is a video the us on the cabot trail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yk5lSZDcUQ&feature=youtu.be

Day 20

We left Quebec City and started heading towards the border of New Brunswick. We hit our first major milestone as we passed the 1000 km mark. By the end of the day, in St. Jean de Port Joli, there wasn't  much for suitable camping grounds so we just found a random store, "Beer and Wines of the World" and set up camp deep in their back yard behind some trees and bushes.

The next day we said goodbye to the St. Lawrence river and started heading east towards the New Brunswick border where we were going to hug the border of Maine as well. We also saw a bridge where we managed to cross over to US soil. There were some rumblings about turning our trans-Canada trip into a trans-continental trip, and we could tell that the locals of Pohenegamook were starting to get extremely excited about the prospect of us doing so, but after briefly and intensely considering it we quickly put an end to those rumours and kept our eyes on the trans-Canada prize.

but when the locals demanded a photo-op on the bridge to Maine anyway, we politely obliged

The day after we finally hit the border of New Brunswick around 4:00 pm. However, the day was not over and we ended up in Edmunston camping in a vacant lot near some subdivisions (people either really don't observe their surroundings or just don't care).Our tent was actually set up a baseball throw away from the trans-Canada highway and the city Edmunston. Crossing into New Brunswick is significant for us. Will has never been east of Quebec city before, and this was also Harry's first time in NB.

After a night of some thunderstorms we woke up to find that the rain had stopped. Again the hills kept getting larger but by the end of the day we made it to Perth-Andover. We were lucky enough to have an offer to sleep in a vacant home by a landlady in town. There was a very serious flood in the town about a month earlier and as a result a few of her rooms were available. (Video coming soon)

The next day we were well rested from sleeping on beds and we began our two day journey to Fredericton (total of 160 km). We made really good time and had some tailwind when we found a very nice place to camp just a few kilometers outside of Millville around 6:00 pm. The black flies were pretty rough but we managed to keep them outside of the tent for the most part.

Our campground in Millville

Our last day before our rest day in Fredericton would only be a total of 60 kms. We managed to arrive in Fredericton for lunch at 12:30. From there it was only a short distance to our lodgings for the night (thanks to Mark Browning for lending us two rooms for the night).

The rest day was very relaxing, but we were unable to run some errands we planned on doing because of the long weekend. Thank you to John and Jennifer for the hospitality, it felt great to be rejuvenated with some warm supper and clean laundry.

Turns out New Brunswick is in a different timezone, something people are referring to as an "Atlantic" time zone. But we've never heard of that before so we're pretty sure they're just making it up, those jokesters. 

wait, it does kind of look like we traveled through time as we stood on the border. 

looks like half-past handsome-o'clock.

Day 13

Click the following link to see the video talked about in the Day 6 post about our third night campsite http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FJRPEnj6s4&feature=youtu.be.

The exhilerating Prescott Russell Trail (just outside Quebec)

En route to montreal via the Prescott Russell Trail. We crossed the Quebec border around 7 pm. We had a new personal best of 120 kms (with headwind all day). We ended up camping just across the street from a campground, because it was closed. We are pretty sure we camped on somebody`s private property. Either way no one bothered us, with the exception of a very hungry raccoon.

When we woke up the next day it was raining and we had to ride in the rain for the first time. Our end goal for the day was montreal so we decided to not take that many breaks and we made it to montreal by 4:00. Will`s mom was in town on business and she was generous enough to get us a hotel room for two nights. The hotel room was a refreshing change of pace after a long day of rain and numb hands. We went out for a night on the town and ran into SAC old boy Raffi. good times.

The following day we had off to run a few errands and enjoy the sights of Montreal. That night we were treated to dinner with Will´s family at a japanese restaraunt with the hockey game playing. One thing that was cool about Montreal and Quebec in general is that no matter how fancy the restaurant is, they will have a tv screen and they will be showing the hockey game. This is Quebec, and the restaurant industry has figured out that the food will taste better when the patrons compare it to the terrible play of the habs.

Leaving Montreal (matching orange jackets because we are ballers)

We left the following day en route to Quebec City (over three days), along the south side of the majestic St. Lawrence river. Every 30 kms or so there would be a small town, and in between it would be farmland and auto repair shops. Tons of auto repair shops. What does that say about the drivers in quebec? Probably that they are very responsible car owners and they take car maintenance very seriously. It was raining the entire day again, so we decided to stay in a motel room in Pierreville.

The next day the weather was beautiful for the first time in a while and we had two days to finish 175kms. We were still biking alongside the St. Lawrence and around 5 pm we had the best view of it so far when we arrived in St. Pierre les Becquets (watch the video at the following link 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJgsH1mJoeI&feature=youtu.be). At the end of the day we made it just outside of Leclercville where we found a hiking trail that we camped on.

Camping just outside of Leclerville

After an incredibly cold night we had about 80 kms to Quebec City and a beautiful day to do it. The biking was relatively uneventful and we arrived in Quebec City at about 3:00. After crossing the bridge we happened to run into Will`s aunt and uncle who we would be staying with on Sunday night. That night, however, we were staying with Alveric, Will`s friend from his trip in Senegal. We also met up with another friend of Will`s, Melina, the inspiration for this trans canada trip as her and her friend had done it a few years earlier.

The next day we saw the famous sights in Quebec City and some of the locations of the Samson family history. Quebec city is really nice. Its not too big and has a lot of history. Harrison`s french has improved dramatically. he can now say complete words like merci and bonjour, a feat most-everyone thought would be impossible for him to accomplish.

walked all the way to quebec city while carrying our bikes

Day 6

After leaving Bowmanville around 10 we headed east. The wind was blowing right in our face all day and it made biking pretty tough. By the end of the day (around 6:00 pm) we made it to Brighton. We got really lucky and one of the locals offered to let us camp in their backyard. Our original goal was to make it to a campground in Carrying Place, with the option of continuing for another 20 kms to get to Belleville. But because of the wind and the offer of a backyard campground we stayed in Brighton for the night.

Will and Harry biking on Highway 2 towards Brighton 

After undershooting our target, we admittedly felt a little discouraged, but the next day we powered through with some tailwind and biked from about 9:30 am to 7:30 pm for a total of just over a hundred kilometers. We went through a few smaller towns and ended up on the Cattaraqui trail which we would stay on for a total of 90 kms. By the end of the day we set up camp in an abandoned lot at the top of a hill, which turned out to be a great idea because of the magnificent thunderstorm that night. There is a great video we took of our campsite but there are some technical difficulties uploading the video so it may be uploaded randomly later.

The next day we followed the Cataraqui trail to Lombardy, just outside of Smiths Falls and stayed with Andy's family. It was our shortest day of biking so far at only 75 kms. We enjoyed the good food and good company (and hot tub), as Mitch and Fred even made the trip up from Brockville to see us. They drove though so its not that impressive.

Will and Harry biking on the Cattaraqui trail

After a good night's sleep in a bed we made our way to Ottawa, a city known for having a tremendous university and an even better hockey team, and will also be remembered as Will's Alma Mater. They have yet to erect a statue in his likeness but rumors and general buzz suggest it's well passed the discussion stage. Stayed with Tanner "Teej" and Breen "Weenman", right in the heart of centretown and enjoyed ourselves a nice evening out, knowing that the next morning we would have the privilege of sleeping in and doing nothing.
The next day we slept in and did nothing.

Will and Harry near a really big clock

Next stop, camping in Vankleek Hill and then off to Montreal.

Highlight of the day: We watched a Terry Fox mini-documentary on our day off, a great way to get pumped up for the road ahead.

kilometers traveled so far: 447
number of times people have honked the hell out of their horn, obviously in order to demonstrate their respect and admiration for us: 2