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

Day 1

We left today at 10ish to go to Bowmanville for the first leg of our cross-Canada tour.
By 1:30 we had made it to Port Perry for some lunch at a chalet type restaurant where we had some decent sandwich and fries. Will forgot to tip the nice lady.
After lunch we set out for Bowmanville, with make shift google map instructions. As a result we ended up on a dirt/sand road and we had to walk the bikes for about 45 mins until we found a rideable road. When we got off of the dirt road we found out we were on the edge of Oshawa. After some Iphoning from Will we got new directions and set out again for Bowmanville. By this time it was about 3:30 (our original goal to get to Bowmanville by).
This may have been the most difficult part of todays trip because of the amount of incredibly large hills that we were not prepared for, so we ended up taking a few unplanned breaks.
Once we made it to the outskirts of Bowmanville the roads started to get flatter and smoother and we got to our destination pretty quickly. We reached Kim and Rons house at about 6 o'clock, only a few hours behind schedule. Dinner was waiting for us and now we're excited to relax, watch the hockey game and have a good nights sleep.
Thank you again to Kim and Ron for the hospitality, as it was much needed at the end of our first day.
Tomorrow we are biking about 110km to Belleville.
Highlight of the day: Seeing a mailbox that had the following painted on the side of it: NO PAPPERS!

The Plan

We're just days away from starting our journey across Canada, and we've decided to share with you our game-plan.

We'll be leaving from Richmond Hill/Aurora, Ontario on May 1st. We will be heading east until we get to St. John's NewFoundland. We'll then fly over to Victoria, British Columbia, and continue cycling eastward until we arrive back in Richmond Hill/Aurora. 

Here are a few highlights:

May 4th - Kingston

May 6th - Ottawa

May 9th - Montreal

May 13th - Quebec City

May 20th - Dalhousie (or we may go to Fredericton instead)

May 24th - Moncton

May 25th - Charlottetown

May 30th - Cheticamp (considered to have some of the best bike paths in all of Canada)

June 10th - St. John's, New Foundland

June 12th - Victoria, British Columbia

June 16th - Vancouver

June 18th - Squamish

June 26th - Jasper (the trail from Jasper to Banff is an early front-runner for "Highlight of the Trip")

June 30th - Banff

July 2nd - Calgary

July 8th - Saskatoon

July 16th - Winnipeg

July 23rd - Thunder Bay

July 30th - Sault Ste. Marie

August 5th - North Bay

August 7th - Bracebridge

August 9th - Aurora

This is how it has been planned, but we may take a few extra days off at various points in the trip.

We got business cards that have our website's URL, so we hope to be able to continue raising money for the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society while we're cycling from town to town. That URL again is: http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=17127

We've got our bikes, now we just need our camping equipment and to tie a few more loose ends and we'll be good to go.

Harry insisted on holding this blank piece of paper