Touring - Trans Canada Solo Tour

Tom Couture is biking from sea to shining sea following the (yet to be completed) Trans-Canada Trail. 6500 km of sweat!
This is a great site and well worth following Tom's journey.
http://sebulba.privatedns.com/tctrail.ca/en/index.html

It sounds like it will be an interesting trip and I hope he has good maps in order to find the Trans Canada Trail! And he will be going against the prevailing wind for the whole trip! I really like his list of technology he will be carrying, I always have to debate how many lens I will carry for my SLR camera! I will be following his adventures.

Dell Inspiron 7500 laptop Operating System Microsoft ME.
Suunto S6 Wriststop Computer with PC interface and Suunto S6 software (altitude, barometric pressure)
CicloSport HAC4 cycle computer distributed in Canada by Veltec. PC interface with Hactronic Software (altitude, speed, distance, heartrate, power production, temperature) www.ciclosport.de
Sony Clie PDA model PEGJ30 PC interface with Palm 4.0 Software
Sony MZN1 Digital recorder Mini Disc format with PC interface, Sony OpenMG Software.
Sony DSC-P51 2.0 mega pixel digital Camera
Adobe Photoshop version 7.0 Software
Sony CCDTRV520 digital video camera with PC interface through firewire. Studio 8 software.
Tri-pod
Garmin GPS 5 unit, provided by DMTI Spatial
He will be cycling on a sturdy but light titanium bike and hauling a bicycle bob trailer with all his gear.

I am trying to figure why he is going from east to west when the predominent wind is out of the west. Also, he lives in the west, so there must be a good reason to eat wind for that distance.

I guess his friends and family will be waiting for him when he arrives in BC and that is reason enough. It may also have something to do with cycling in the BC mountains in May. I paddled my canoe against the prevailing wind for three weeks and it was NOT fun, cycling against it would be very frustrating. Funny, most of the trans-Canada trips I have read about have been from east to west.

That's a lot of gear to be hauling, thank God for BOB!

I wish him good luck!

Part of the trail are hiking trails. I don't know what he will do then. I've hiked some and I wouldn't think of riding a bike on them. At one point there were a rope to help hiker pull themselves up the slope!

Erick L, where did you find the Trans-Canada maps? I have looked for them and have had little luck, I even went to a few government tourist information kiosks and they never even heard of the trail! One woman in Victoria tried to find some information for me and only came up with the web site address. I even wrote the TCT a letter volunteering my time to help build the trail and never heard a word.
Maybe it is only a dream. Hmmm.

I never looked for it. I just hiked some trails and there were signs at the trailhead or it said on the map that this strech was part of the TCT.

From the little I know, most of the TCT in Quebec is on existing hiking trails north of the St-Lawrence river. Like in most provinces, it's far from being complete.

There is a trans-Quebec bike trail under construction ("La route verte" or "The green route"). It passes right in front of my appartment! I take it for my commute. I rode many parts of it and I'm pretty sure one can start at the Ontario border and at least go to Quebec City on a dedicated bike path (there's maybe less than 20km of sharing the road with cars, on a paved shoulder).

Those interested in Route Verte should go to their English language web site. It even includes a listing of bike friendly accomodations.
http://www.routeverte.com/ang/index.lasso

There you go:

Some maps of the Trans-Canada Trail (http://www.canadiangeographic.com/CGE/SearchResults.asp?ProductNo=&Title=map&x=0&y=0)

... with some maple syrup to top it off! I don't know how good and precise the maps are.

Thanks Erick L; shortly after this thread started, I found that the Trans Canada Trail cuts right near my house about 1.2 km. away! I was following this unused footpath along a road allowance that skirted a manmade lake and about 400 metres down the trail I seen the TCT sign. A few days later, there was an article in the Winnipeg Free Press about how poorly marked and illogically planed the trail is though the city.

This much equipment vanishes the sense of remoteness and therefore adventurness. What kind of fun is that to be tracked by each sentimeter. What if he goes to look at something and comes back, that loop will be represented on the map? What if he needs to use a facility... Go to the grocery store and so on... Plain bike, only necessary gear will let person disappear in the wilderness of Canada and by being away from communications with civilization will provide a chance to rediscover ones self as well as intimate surroundings of great nature of Canada.

Originally posted by Inoplanetyanin
This much equipment vanishes the sense of remoteness and therefore adventurness. What kind of fun is that to be tracked by each sentimeter. What if he goes to look at something and comes back, that loop will be represented on the map?

I have to agree. Sure, the amount of material you take is always a personal preference, but all this high tech gear is linking (me) you to the very high-wired society I (you) are trying to escape by touring. When I went on my world tour, I told folks I would call home once every six weeks. Beyond that, they could follow the updates on my webpage, which I would add to if i had a day off and internet cafes were nearby.

If I was in a tour group and a cell phone went off...argghhh...that would be the last straw!

roughstuff

http://sebulba.privatedns.com/tctrail.ca/en/index.html

As much as I dislike replying to my own posts, some members seem to misunderstand the purpose of this trip. It is to publicize the Trans-Canada Trail (or lack there of).

The equipment he is carrying allows web users to follow his progress. He is posting both notes and digital images.

I personally like to keep my gear to two small panniers.

Originally posted by stokell
http://sebulba.privatedns.com/tctrail.ca/en/index.html


I personally like to keep my gear to two small panniers.
This is one subject I was wondering about.
Some people write lists of their stuff carried with them and often, there are only few shirts. Something like: 4 shirts, 4 pairs of socks, 4 underwear... Well, assuming person changes that every day, or even once in two days, the would have to do the laundry at least once a week or often...
Thet seems like a big touble to me...
How do you manage this issue?