Touring - Cross-Canada! Summer 2006!! Come w/ me!

Hi!

I'm planning to head across Canada this summer (so, 2006).
I will probably leave sometime in May, and end up somewhere in the Maritimes by the end of June or July. (Everything's still pretty open here.)

I'm a 21 year old male university graduate. I'm the most fun and interesting guy you'll every meet, I swear. I'm into music (I'm a jazz musician, too.) I'm pretty laid back, and some days I might bike 175km while other days I might bike 12km and sleep or read all day. I bike to travel, I don't travel to bike.

I bike fairly frequently at home (I live in Saskatoon, SK) and I toured Europe for 4 months in the summer of 2004, so I'm not exactly a newbie at this, but I still have lots to learn. I expect to be camping and staying at other people's houses a lot. I WOULD stay in hotels or hostels, etc, but I don't have enough money to go on a real luxury trip, who does, anyway?

So that's my personal ad/partner request....anyone wanna come with me or join me for part of the way? : )

Andy

Have you seen this site?
http://www.cyclecanada.com/

And specifically this part of the site:
http://www.tourducanada.com/

Fellow jazz musician here (primarily a classical pianist though), so I'm just saying 'Hi' and it sounds like fun, but I can't because I have to work all summer to pay for life.

I do dream of cycling across Canada though. I love it up there. I used to live a few streets and a bridge from Canada for most of my life, and I consider it a second (in many ways, a first) country of mine.

I hope you have luck finding partners though, and good luck! If you sit in up there on the trip, play a round of 'Waltz for Debby' or 'Caravan' for me. :beer:

Based on your schedule it sounds like you are likely to be long gone but if you happen to come upon me on your way across Canada while I am rounding Lake Superior please feel free to say hi since I'm very likely to buy you a meal assuming we can find a restaurant or something. I intend to tour the month of July.

Good luck with your tour!

~Jamie N

haha, 2006 seems like a good year to go across canada. Im starting my world trip in may, starting form Hinton, Ab, then going to Vancouver, then across the the maritimes. Im lookin at a pretty laid back summer however, Ive got so many friends across canada that in some places ill have only to bike half a day to get to my next resting place or friends house. but hey, if you want to come along, your more than welcome. I should be in Vancouver around the middle of may or so...drop me a line if your interested.

Steve

I'm just saying 'Hi' and it sounds like fun, but I can't because I have to work all summer to pay for life.


So i'm sitting up at night tonight because I can't sleep. Troubles at work are keeping me from sleep. I read this line and first thought "Yea, same here", then I thought "What sort of life is all this work affording me if I can't even sleep peacefully at night!".

i've nothing else to say really, except that I'm envious and also wish I could take a trip like yours.

Have fun!

re: sleeping at night

Downttheroad.org wrote a book called "The Road that has no end" which in the very first section talks about their five year plan to prepare for their future trip around the world. It's a good book that talks about the first sections of their world tour. They have now been out there 8 years I believe.....

I reviewed the book here:

http://www.bicycletouring101.com/BookTimTravisRoadThatHasNoEnd.htm

When I read your comment I thought that perhaps you might find the book, especially the first part, very interesting! (grin)

~Jamie N

Wow, it seems that there are going to be quite a few of us doing the Trans-Canada trip this year. I'm going to be going the other way myself.

Perhaps we should have a Cross-Canada Sticky so that we can post itineraries and the like, gives us a better chance of meeting up and riding, should we want to.

[/QUOTE]Perhaps we should have a Cross-Canada Sticky so that we can post itineraries and the like, gives us a better chance of meeting up and riding, should we want to.[/QUOTE]


+1

Howdy -

Just wanted to weight in that it's about 6200 kms from Vancouver to Halifax by the most direct route - Trans Canada - and further if you take more scenic routes - further still if you plan to start out on Vancouver Island or hit Newfoundland.
When you say sometime in May to late June - that would mean 125 km per day - every day if you left on May 10 - 50 days - leaving no days off for reading or sleeping. Plus, May is still pretty wet in BC and AB with a high likelihood of snow in the Purcells and Rockies. For example - Banff has an average high of 14.5 and gets 17 cm of snow in May - - EnvironmentCanada website - http://www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html

I've done up to 200 kms in the Prairie provinces - but having to do big distances every day to meet a tight schedule can really be a bummer. Also, having to ride in lousy weather is a bummer, too. Any way I might persuade you into considering a little more time for this trip?

Best - J

Howdy -

Just wanted to weight in that it's about 6200 kms from Vancouver to Halifax by the most direct route - Trans Canada - and further if you take more scenic routes - further still if you plan to start out on Vancouver Island or hit Newfoundland.
When you say sometime in May to late June - that would mean 125 km per day - every day if you left on May 10 - 50 days - leaving no days off for reading or sleeping. Plus, May is still pretty wet in BC and AB with a high likelihood of snow in the Purcells and Rockies. For example - Banff has an average high of 14.5 and gets 17 cm of snow in May - - EnvironmentCanada website - http://www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html

I've done up to 200 kms in the Prairie provinces - but having to do big distances every day to meet a tight schedule can really be a bummer. Also, having to ride in lousy weather is a bummer, too. Any way I might persuade you into considering a little more time for this trip?

Best - J


+ 1

Why the rush? If you have committed to the trip, take time to smell (in SK) the prairie lillies. Sounds like a fun trip. I envy your initiative. But if you are too beat to enjoy the trip, what's the point. I've seen a good chunk of this country by car, bike and train. A really big chunk of it is really dull. Don't get me wrong, the prairies and the Canadian Shield are both awesome to look at and cycle through...But there is just SO MUCH OF THEM! And even great sex gets boring if you don't change positions, you'll want to take some time out of the saddle looking at, tasting, smelling, climbing everything Canada has to offer.

Besides, there is nothing worse than planning a trip with a goal and not meeting that goal because it was too ambitious timewise!

Good luck!

There's quite a few of us doing this one next summer it seems. I'm doing Vancouver to St. John's starting in May. Awc, you and I have already talked but I think you'll always be ahead of me because I start from Vancouver (flying there from Ottawa) in May and you start in Saksatchewan already. Still, it would be neat for all of us to discuss routes and schedules and possibly meeting up at some point on the road. I'm still trying to decide on a route personally but luckily schedule is a non-issue so I have time to experience the journey no matter what route I choose.
A Canada sticky sounds like a good idea to me.

well, i vote that we all stop in the center of Canada and have a party. Im not sure of the actual center of canada, but i can guess its somewhere between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay..i think...any more insight on this would be good. But ya..it might work.

steve

The geographical centre of Canada is in Nunavut. It would certainly make for interesting cycling.

I'm doing the St Johns to Vancouver (possibly the island if I have time), all ten provinces and expecting up to 6500 miles. I hope to keep an average of 65 miles a day, keep away from the Trans Canada as much as is reasonable and spend about three to three and a half months doing it.

Hey,

Ok, ok, everyone's input greatkly appreciated, but the trip is still real, real open, so I'm not so worried about having to cram 125km into each day. I'm gonna start from Saskatoon, Sk, and now I think I'm probably gonna end in Quebec City, QC. My ending date will be determined by this french program I'm trying to do. If I don't get into this thing (which is a very real possibility), then the trip's deadline will be extended by 2 months. If I DO get into the program, I will have to get there for around July 1st.

Dig?

It's kind of ad hoc here, since they will let me know whether or not I get to go by maybe April. So...yeah.

But yeah, who is moderator here?
Make this a sticky!!!

Andy

I have the summer off.... I want to go, but I only have mountain biking experience. I'd need to buy a road bike. Why bike across Canada and not the US?

re: Why bike across Canada and not the US?

Good question!

First answer - why not do both, swing across one and then head north or south and do the other. The people are great in both and both countries are peopled by truly wonderful humans.

Second answer - Where are you located? Which is easiest for you to get to with the least hassle?

Third answer - Canada offers a longer tour since it is a longer country. You will experience coastland twice, mountains, prairie, canadian shield hills/rivers/swamps/forests followed by capital city, french culture and history and then of course the fine hospitality of the eastern parts of Canada

Fourth answer - US offers many wonderful things to see too but is more heavily populated in most areas so you are likely to have a less remote experience IMHO. You have things like the Grand Canyon, deserts, heavier traffic on the east coast and like I said before interesting people.

First comment - Many people have ridden modified mountain bikes across both countries and many others. Comfort and durability are key while bike type is a bit less important.

~Jamie N

And Canada just happens to be a civilised country.

I'm going across Canada because: a) I live there, and; b) I will probably need to be in Quebec by early July.

I'd love to bike across the US, and I will eventually. Remote experiences aren't specifically what I'm after, either - I'm just after experiences.

Andy

Im doing it to visit people that I havent seen in a while. I have a lot of freinds and contacts across canada and around the world, so im going on a trip of socializing.

steve

Why bike across Canada and not the US?

If I were going to do a cross-continent tour, it would be across Canada, not the US ...... but then I live here in Canada! :)


Incidentally ... for the Canadians (and others) who are planning to cycle across the country, I lived in Winnipeg for 13 years, and I cycled all over southern Manitoba, from Riding Mountain south ... so I could give you a few tips about cycling across that province. I currently live in central Alberta, and have done quite a bit of cycling around this area in the past year. I've also cycled in the Rocky Mountains, lower mainland (around Abbotsford, BC), and a bit in Saskatchewan.