Craig Norris and I are Best Friends

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Yippie!

Genoux

Hi Team,

I'm encountering some trouble with my knees.
It worries me.

Since I left Saint John NB, I've had this feeling in my right knee like something is about to crunch, for lack of a better term.  Tends to come on about midway through the day, and is worst if I'm trying to stand up and ride (which is sometimes a nice change of pace, or helpful on a small hill). 
It was worst until about Quebec City.  The ride from Quebec to Montreal was a bit better, and the terrain had been getting easier.
My other knee has always maintained a dull ache that i tend to ride through, but its been getting a bit worse lately.

I'm going to see what the ride from Montreal into Ontario is like, after resting for a few days, and hopefully track down a physiotherapist or something in Ontario to see what they say.

The way it is now, I think i would be ok to make it to the rockies, but probably not over them.  Or maybe i could, but I think i'd rather be able to walk afterwards.

Any comments/suggestions/recommendations are welcome.  I've bought a knee brace and some advil.  But I'm not too sure what more i can do.   Leanne introduced me to the possibility of repetitive strain, which makes a lot of sense.  6-10 hours everyday i use the same group of muscles with little chance to work on the muscle groups that support those muscles.

So i'll see what i can do to sort this out.  Just want to keep you updated.

Wahn wohn wohn.

Quebec City

So i slept just outside Levis one evening, rode about 15 kms along a great bike path to the ferry which puts you right in the old port area of Quebec (looking up - UUUUUP!) at the Chateau Frontenac. The picture of Frontenac is as seen from the ferry, which was a very cool perspective, one i hadn't seen before.

I wandered about the old port for a bit, then walked my bike up to the walled city, and got lost about twelve times.  The old city is super cute, i searched for a place for lunch, trying not to hit anything too touristy, then saw l'entrecote saint jean!!!  This is a resto that basically only serves steak frites.   Leanne and I have visited their locations in Montreal and Paris so far, i thought adding QC to the list would be smashing.  It sure was.  Though the beer made me pretty heavy for the rest of the day in the heat.

After that I escaped tourist land and explored the real city a bit, which is also very cool.  Found a pharma-prix, and finally bought a brace for my knee (more to come...)

Then i left QC headed for a campground just outside Ste. Foy.  I was following the bike path.
This is sometimes a good idea.
This is sometimes a VERY BAD IDEA

At some point leaving QC, the bike path thought it would be fun to drive off the edge of the cliff... I encountered a VERY steep drop, complete with cattle gates to make sure cyclists can't go to quickly (kudos to the dude going UP this thing), AND STAIRS.
ON A BIKE PATH.

STAIRS
ON A BIKE PATH.
I take back whatever i said about a free Quebec.

The stairs (three flights!!) had a cute little trough on the side which you could walk you bike down.  All well and good for a bike without 80 lbs of gear on it...
I made it down the first two fine.  Then just as I was pulling my bike off the last one.  The screw holding my front rack onto my bike busted in half.  The bag fell off, the front brake went all wonko, and i lost the magnet attached to the spoke on the tire that tells the bike computer how fast i'm going.

I take back whatever I said about a free Quebec.

Surveying the damage, and the cliff behind me, i decided i would be fine to make it montreal.  I could deal with all this there.  There was no way i was going back up that hill in the heat to find a bike shop.
So i strapped the front bag on top of the bags at the back, stopped using my front brake, and gave up on the computer for a little while.

The day got better after that though.  My campground was pleasant, and i made friends a couple cool German dudes driving from Toronto to Halifax.  They made me a yummy BBQ dinner, we used my phone to get them up to speed on the world cup, and had some good drinks, great conversation, and a bonfire. 

Great end to a mostly good day.

Owning my Odometer

At some point during the past while I reached my 3000th kilometre biked this summer. 
I'll take a moment to catch my breath. And do a little dance.

I think I'm going to start owning what my bike computer says on the odometer function.
Purists will want to subtract 512km from this total: that is the amount of training riding I did on this bike prior to leaving ontario, however that all occurred in the month before i left. 

While it may not represent a precise amount of the trip across Canada, it also includes any running around I've done in towns and cities, back and forths, etc. which i feel skew the results a bit as well.

It also will not include the distance (roughly 260kms) between Quebec City and Montreal.  More to come on that. :(

Riviere du Loup to Quebec City

Sorry for the lack of updates, yes again.
I'm in Montreal, and will attempt a series of updates about the last week, which has been pretty much amazing.  Aside from heatwaves making serious attempts on my life.

The ride from Riviere du Loup, was idyllic.  Flat farmland meets the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, randomly adorned with classic fieldstone farmhouses and artisan shops selling local made spices, soaps, antiques, sculpture, art, or just plain crap.

And everyone has a vegetable garden!!!  And the vegetable gardens are doing VERY well right now.  All of these lush well maintained gardens have me wishing for the chance to grown my own some day (and have the time to weed it meticulously....), and then have big kitchen parties to eat it all up.

I would recommend this stretch to anyone thinking about doing any kind of trip in quebec, cyclists will love it, "la route verte" is great for the entire way, there are constant b+b's, and great shops and cafes and things to see.  Driving would only take about 2 hours not including stops.  There were even several long-distance walkers out and about.

During this stretch, right at the beginning, I also was stopped by my first police car.  Somehow i had gotten onto the autoroute (and gone pretty far too!) without knowing that it is restricted to cyclists.  In my defense, the transcanada here looked exactly as it did in nfld, nova scotia, and new brunswick; no restrictions there.  The transition in riviere du loup from regular road to highway didn't include one of those handy signs saying i shouldn't be there, and i had come a good distance before having a friendly chat with the law about taking a new route.  I'm pretty glad about this too, because its how i found the quebec bike path route (the paved one finally) and started to see more long distance cyslists all over the place.  The drivers in Quebec tend to be ... far less encouraging ... of cyclists, however the presence of such a strong cyclist culture helps to balance that out.

Lunch

Pizza thailandais aux crevettes. Dead Aid. Église des bonseurs. St.
Lawrence River.

Lifes tough.

Stats July 1

Did I mention I'm in Quebec now?

Yay!!

Last night I stayed near Riviere du Loup. 

Today:

Total 79.0
Odo 2958
Avg 15.4
Max 47.8
Time 5:07:24
Start saint antonin (rivière du loup) 1030am
End rivière ouelle (la pocatiere) 430pm

It's Canada Day, and you would have nooooo idea considering where I am (I.e. with many many camping québécois pro-separation...) 

However, if you'll note the photo: SALTED CHEESE!!!!!

Vive la Quebec libre!!

Stats June 29

This is from a couple days ago, but I've had connection problemos:
>

> Total 79.4 kms
> Odo 2775
> Avg 18.0
> Max 60.0
> Time 4:23:51 Just outside Edmunston for the night.

> Made awesome pasta for dinner: rotini, red onion, green bell pepper,
> ground beef, tomato sauce.

> One pot. One spork. One not-so-sharp knife. One ziplock bag to hold
> the leftovers (a lot).

> Boo-yah

Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk

Also in Fredricton, I got to hang out with Krysta and her mom as they
road-tripped out to Halifax for Krys to settle into her new apartment.

We had some yummy food at their hotels bar (which has a cigarette
machine! Nuts!) and an awesome relaxo-session in the hot tub. Then a
yummy breakfast the next morning. Good times indeed.

Good luck with settling into being Halogonian Krysta!

Home again, home again. Jiggity jig.

Being home June 17-22 was pretty amazing.
I did pretty much everything I really wanted to: relaxed on the
Toronto island for a day, stopped into the sfgi mississauga office,
saw family, saw many friends. Sazzie, Sunga, and Sulkie: yes I did go
to popeyes *coughfourtimescough*, and yes k-phizzle I ate me some pho
too!

Dawn and Greggs wedding was pretty darn stellar, everyone looked great
(I even cleaned up a bit), and mucho fun was had by all. Except for
when I forced all the guests at the wedding to listen to my rendition
of 'a bicycle built for teo'

Mom made an amazing brunch for Kates birthday. Sooooo much food!

I didn't get to see a single nxne show, which, considering all the
other running about I had to do, it was a good thing I didn't realise
when it was happening ahead of time. There were many people playing I
would have lived to see.

Coming back to Saint John, was pretty much the hardest thing ever. And
then second to that, leaving Angelique and Kevin's comfy home was
pretty difficult too.

Now I'm well on the road again, and it's ok. The weather is crummy,
but looking better soon, and we'll see what's going on with my knee.
Scenery is jaw dropping though. I'm glad I'm seeing it on bike b

Keep on keepin' on

Saint John NB. Best Ever.

I finally have a little downtime!!
I had hoped to have lots of time while home to fiddle with the blog
and update and make it look pretty with pictures from a real camera
rather than those poorly embedded from an iPhone. I think we all know
how naïve that plan was...

The last major update was that AMAZING lobster dinner in shediac. I
can still taste it. I've considered going back.

Following that I rode to Moncton (30kms) and took a lazy day. Spent a
lot of it reading and drinking margeritas at a Spanish place downtown.

Then I rode to sussex and the campground also had a drive-in.
Including my lack of radio and lack of anything to sit on, I
considered this a tease.

And then I finally made it to Saint John, with time to spare before my
flight home! I was very much looking forward to spending some quality
catch-up time with two of my favorite people: Angelique and Kevin. And
they sure didn't disappoint, they pampered me! The first night I was
there they made me a delicious dinner and we just spent time filling
in the peices we've missed out on in the past three years.

The next night found us out on the saint john river with me attempting
to waterski: not my forté let me tell you. Not even a little bit. But
it was so fun just trying, and spending some quality time on the
water. Then we bbqed on the boat, took a zip down to look at the
reversing falls, and went over their friends home for a bonfire.
Apparently Angelique and Kevin spend their entire summers doing this.
It's a hard life eh?

The next day I flew home for the wedding, glad that I would have more
time in Saint John when I got back.

Coming back...
Was difficult.
Very difficult.
So was starting to ride again.
I was having such a great time with Angelique and Kevin that I even
stayed an extra day. We had some great drinks uptown and watched the
cruise ship leave, Angelique's mother Reine made us a meal that still
makes my mouth water. Kevin and I were getting ready to tackle each
other to decide who would polish off what dish.

Thursday night I talked Angelique into letting me cook (haven't done
that I a while...), we made some pasta and had some good napa wine.
Said our goodbyes, and I left in the morning. They've promised to come
to Toronto soon, and I'm going to hold them to that. I miss them
already.

Onward and upward!

Rainbows mean rain. They also mean sun!

Rode today from near gagetown, to outside Fredricton.

57.6 kms
Average 16.9
Max 44.0
Time riding: 3:23:35

It rained very lightly a couple times, only for a few minutes.

The camping I'm at also has a big waterpark and minigolf. And many
many children. I sense I will be kept up late.

My right knee started hurting today. A lot. I'm glad riding tomorrow I
can choose between riding about 50kms, or 100. 100 would be ideal, but
if I need to rest the knee I can.

There was a rainbow at my campground over the river!

Stats June 25

That's right I'm back riding again after an awesome seven day hiatus.

Rode today from Millidgeville (saint john nb) to a camping in between
gagetown and oromocto.

103.8 kms
Avg 18.7
Max 60.8
Time riding: 5:31:59

I debated going further, but found this great campground full of super
nice people and hilarious homos. One of the women who works here made
me an amazing chicken dinner, and this pack of funny guys invited me
over and plied me with beers. I could stay all week.

More to come soon about saint john and staying with Angelique and
Kevin and the wedding. All so amazing, it was hard to get started again.

T'was a sign.

I'm in Shediac NB right now.
(The Fronch is out in full force)
I'm greeted by a giant lobster perched on a rock.
Dinner was DELICIOUS.

PEI

So, spent two days here, and I totally want to move here.
For the most part it's very rural and pastoral, pretty farm homes,
gorgeous red soil, kind people with happy faces.

Charlottetown is super relaxed, a great small city with character and
awesome people. The university contributes to this a lot, it's like a
prettier Waterloo.

I stayed in C-Town with Janna's friend Katrina, a cool relaxed very
pretty girl, living with a couple other 'chill' uni students, in a
great old house, falling apart, full of instruments and character.
Made me think about 'the house that three hot chicks lived in' back in
Glendon days.

I also had a couple amazing conversations with men at least 70 or up
in PEI. Thoroughly enjoying, they just loved to talk. Now I know a
tonne about hauling produce between PEI and Florida, and about the
oher mans crazy inventive friend who I think would remind me of Tommy
Sayles (one year with no bees about, he used a vacuum cleaner to blow
pollen around the orchard. 'only guy with good apples that year')

Oh yeah, about 10 kms into riding in PEI, there was a derelict old
potato lying on the side of the road. No word of a lie. I wish I'd
taken the pic on my iPhone instead of my camera, so I could share with
you now.

Instead you get the CRAZY confederation bridge. I'm still a little
miffed they won't let you ride on it, there's plenty of shoulder for
cyclists, something about wind blah blah

So three provinces done. w00t w00t.

Stats June 10

Start: Charlottetown PEI
End: Borden-Carleton PEI
Total Kms: 58.0
Odo: 1999
Average: 16.5
Max: 49.3
Time Riding: 3:29:54

Easy Day
Beautiful Campground just off the transcanada, super close to
confederation bridge.

Stats June 9

Started at Black Point NS (about 30 kms east from the ferry at caribou)
Finished in Charlottetown PEI

Total kms: 94.7
Odometre: 1941 (I'm going to fix this soon)
Average Speed: 16.3 km/h
Max: 47.6 km/h
Time riding: 5:46:37

Great weather (no rain on me!!!)
Good headwinds though.

Goodbye Nova Scotia, Hello PEI

Two weeks, two provinces, not bad

Stats June 8

Start: Havre Boucher, NS

Finish:  Black Point, NS
101.8 kms
Odo 1846 (biked 12km yesterday during rest day)
Avg 17.0
Max 50.6
Time 5:58:4

Only rained a little bit. 

Wasps

Ok, seriously. What is with all the bee carci on the side of the road?
I can't go 10 meters without seeing a bee, wasp, or bumblebee lying
dead on the side of the road.
I think it's because they're such poor drivers.

I can't tell you how many times these creatures have flown right into
my face or chest (which is terrifying by the by - first because you
just got hit in the face by something big, second because you don't
know where it is now. Did it go down my shirt? Did I SWALLOW it?!?!)

Speaking of, Nova Scotia expresses itself much more reservedly than
Newfoundland did. In Nfld, I was often encouraged by a horn blaring
out a boop-boop-naaaa at me (also sometimes terrifying). In Nova
Scotia, I see much less of this. People wave here, and they wave a
lot. I also find this very encouraging, though sometimes I miss it as
I often can't see into cars.

Nova Scotia has been gorgeous. And (if possible) wetter than Nfld, so
far. But things are looking up for me weather wise this week coming,
and I'm pretty excited. *Fingers crossed that today will be my first
rainless day!*

I've also experienced amazing hospitality here. My friend Brenna
insisted I visit her mother or aunt in Truro or New Glasgow. I'm not
going to make it into Truro, but I did spend last night with Brenna's
sister Janna, and Bruce and Janet Ervin in their idyllic home
overlooking the Northumberland Strait towards PEI. The photos are from
our walk on the beach after a yummy dinner, with their cute dog Lucky.
During dinner Janna decided that tomorrow night I would stay with her
friend Katrina in Charlottetown, made a call, and set it up. I think
if they knew enough people along my route, I'd never camp again.

So I left their home this morning clean and well fed and warm an heart-
warmed, making for the ferry to PEI.

That's about all for now.
What have we learned today? Keep your mouth shut while cycling, and if
you see a super-loaded cyclist, give them a honk, or a least a wave.
It means a lot to us.

Sabbath

It occured to me Monday morning while I was dreading getting up, and
dreading even more another long day in the rain, that I haven't yet
taken a day off since I started.

So that is just what I did.
Ate junk. Watched trashy movies and tv, read trashy novels, used my
stove to make KD!
Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

The pic is someones crazy lawn near whycocomaugh. J-Car and Sazzie
would approve.

June 6

So, so far I've been keeping track of my stats/etc just using the
'notes' thinger on my phone, but I think I'll start publishing them
here.
This is pretty much for my own personal knowledge/reflection, but
there are a couple of you who may or may not be interested in the day-
to-day. I'm thinking probably only Georges, Uncle Dennis, and
maaaaaybe Marko.

Wihtout further adoo...
Total kms: 141.4
Odometre reads: 1731 (but this had about 500+ kms on it before I
started)
Average Speed: 17.5 kms/hr
Maximum Speed Reached: 47.8 kms/hr
Approx Start: 8am
Approx Finish: 630pm
Actual Time Riding: 8:04:40 (h:m:s)

Left from KOA outside North Sydney
Ended camping at Linwood NS
Sleeping in a cabin. ($50)
Rain started 2 pm, has yet to let up.
Warm throughout the day though, that was a nice change.

Nova Scotia!!

So, raining again. And lots of it. LOTS.
I don't think I've had a rainless day yet since I starting.
Pretty discouraging, mostly because I can't really enjoy all the
beautiful things I'm passing.

Tonight is sopping, it's been pouring since 2pm. So I decided to use
one of the cabins at camping I'm at. It's a quirky little place, with
a mirror on the ceiling above the bed, but it's a barn ceiling, so
angled all askew for anything. Curious.

Yesterday I did errands in Sydney: groceries, book shopping, bike shop
stuff, and then got to camping before it started pouring for the night.

This morning I threw my tent in the dryer and hoped or the best.

Cape Breton is very pretty, an polite!
I went up a hill and before it started there was a sign that said
"mount such-and-such: you will climb 250 meters in the next 7kms" (in
Nfld this would have had no sign, but several ponds, and the locals
would have said something like "ohyep yeah, you just go over that
little rise there, and keep going for about 100kms. There'll be a gas
station then".

I had a great breakfast in baddeck, and a great lunch in whycocomaugh
at a country shop called 'the farmers daughter'. Sulkie would have
liked it there I bet, except I don't think they serve salad.

Biked 140kms today.
Woohoo!

Reflecting on the rock

So it's high time I jotted down some more about Newfoundland, because
it really deserves it.

I originally didn't want to spend much time cycling on the rock, as I
knew it was a little too early in the season for it, and I'm on a
deadline to make it to Saint John NB to fly home for a vacation from
my vacation for Dawn's wedding.

I was pretty much right...
It was too early in the season for me to really enjoy it (at least
while peddling) and it's such a giant place I didn't get to do many of
the things I really wanted to do (Gros Morne National Park, l'Anse aux
Meadows, etc). I would have needed at least another two weeks to do
all that on bike.

That said, I really have loved the time I spent riding across, and I'm
glad I was forced into that by the ferry schedule. It not only gave me
excellent training for the rest of the trip (Savage weather, bike
breakdowns, HILLS!!!), but it gave me a chance to fall in love with
newfoundlanders other than Dana and Wade (and the deleriously charming
way that the handsome Michael Power calls everyone 'my trout'). Most
campsite owners and restaurant servers have fallen all over themselves
trying to find a way to help when I roll in looking all bedraggled.
When I stayed at the motel in Badger, Jenni who worked there made me a
paper bag lunch for the road for the next day.
So I'm grateful for the chance to appreciate such kindness.

And such savage beauty. And it really is savage... The Avalon
peninsula where St. John's is, is basically a windswept rock stuck in
the middle of the North Atlantic, connected to mainland Nfld by only a
tiny isthmus (dictionary.com krisitine). Once into the mainland, the
hills became steadier, larger but better grades, and by the time I
made my way to Cornerbrook, it thought it was all easy-peasy (that day
if 180kms really got my hopes up). And that's when the mountains
started, and the savage wind picked up. Sigh. Cornerbrook is just
gorgeous though. Scott, I have no idea why your family moved away.
The pic below is looking down on cornerbrook as I was on my way out.
Yep. Looking down. That hill was an unexpected treat.
And check out the mountains in the background with a bit of snow
still! Nice.

FML

So, 30 kms before I get to Port-aux-Basques there's a sign:

Wind Warning: Next 20 kms
Gusting winds in excess of 200kms/hr possible. Trailers and Campers
Proceed With Caution

It was like when Andrew almost took off of Signal Hill like Mary
Poppins, but worse.
AND it was raining.
Before this I'd only Thought Nfld was trying to kill me. Now I'm
certain.

I walked my bike (with a good deal of effort and expletives) for at
least 7 of those kilometres.

Booya

*gasp*
*pant*
in Deer Lake!!

*gasp*
*pant*
Saw a moose!! Like 20 feet away!!

*gasp*
*pant*
9 hours riding

*gasp*
*pant*
183 kilometers in one day!!

Booya

Nitenite

Quickie

Hi everyone,
I'm basically taking a quick opportunity to update the blog as I
realised that I left, and then dropped off the face of the earth

My apologies, my mobile phone hasn't had any reception since leaving
St. Johns, and by now I'm starting to worry about it (read: take it as
a sign I should toss it in the next pond... there are a lot of
ponds ...) and to be honest I haven't felt in the mood for a peppy
update anyway.

It's been tough so far, getting used to the terrain (constant hills...
big ones) letting my body adjust (read: hate me), dealing with the
weather (oh yep, driving rain, wind, a bit of snow even - yuck it up
Ontario heat wave, you'll get yours) and a couple stressful bike
issues (back pannier rack and fender near fell right off, front right
pannier rack almost busted in twain).

I knew the first few weeks would suck, it's part of the game as my
body and bike and the roads get to know each other, but I'm ready now
to be past that part of it.

I'm on day 5? 6? I guess. I'm in badger nl, staying in a motel for the
night to escape the rain. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, so that'll
be new and fun.

Newfoundland itself is rugged and gorgeous, and the people really are
just super swell. We'll chat more on that soon hopefully.

Keep on keeping on!

Finally, officially, on my way!

Yippie!!

I started. And I didn't

The plan was to start biking today.
May 25th.

That didn't happen.

I started early, biking from Cape Spear, the furthest eastward point in North America (wait, where does Greenland count to?) to Dana and Wade's house in St Johns.



It took about two hours, i went about 20 kms, and up and down 4 killer hills, got up 65kms/hr! Eeep.
Yep i definitely did some walking up them, especially Barletts Hill in St. Johns. Preposterous! I almost called a cab.
This is a pic of my first hill, seen from the edge of Cape Spear. Sigh.



That was a great trip, and allowed me time to sort out any kinks with the bike, which i took today to have fixed up. I also caved and bought a handle-bar bag.

So I'll be starting to bike tomorrow morning. Its calling for rain, and maybe some snow up towards Gander.
I may just go live in Gander actually.

Trash

We all know how i love my quiet time.
And I've taken a good deal of it here, in the form of a new series of trashy novels!

The minute i walked in the door, Dana flicked on True Blood and addicted me to the series, one I've been meaning to pick up for a long, time, but lacked the time.
I still lack the time to watch it, but I can read it instead.

I'm already through book one.
The novels are trash, but the very best trash there is.
Anything set in the deep south is fine by me. The Sookie Stackhouse novels are southern small-town, rootsy-backwoodsy, and have creepy vampires. Perfect for starting to camp alone in the woods.

Thank you Dana.

owshitgettinonbys?

I love St. John's.
I love Dana.
I love Wade.
I love it here.



This is Dana and Wade, our hosts.
Both very talented musicians.
They compliment each other so well, and have been so generous and hospitable, i don't want to leave.

In fact i stayed an extra Day.

So far in Newfoundland I've seen signal hill, and cape spear: where I'll be starting my bike trip, the Quidi Vidi brewery (yum) and eaten enough food to have more than my fill (some of you know that's a little tough). Sunday night we killed and ate almost every little animal in the sea. We even went to Dana's parents in Paradise for breakfast: Homemade bread, eggs rancheros, bacon, bologna, waffles, homefries, heaven.

The weather has been super co-operative, but we'll see what its like for when i start biking. We're in a mean cold spell right now...
There has been a bit of rain almost every day. Sometimes a lot, but its always been nice for when we wanted to go out.
Its a fair price to pay for being on a gorgeous island right in the middle of the north atlantic.



So many good times have been had, from Dana's over-the-top musical theatre show "Stucco in the 80's", to friday night debauchery with some of Dana's friends, to watching Dana and Andrew and Michael feed off of one another to mounting heights of hilarity.



Just a bit of the action.
More to come soon

All my bags are packed..,

Ok we're on the plane and on our way!!
Andrew got strip searched. It's profiling, we can tell.

This Weeks Horoscope, Rob Brezny

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
When Paul McCartney first got the inspiration to write the song "Yesterday," he had the melody and rhythm but couldn't get a feel for what the lyrics should be. For a while, as he was waiting for the missing words to pop into his brain, he used nonsense stand-in phrases. The dummy version of the first line was "Scrambled eggs, oh my dear, you have such lovely legs." This approach could be useful for you in the coming weeks, Gemini. As you create a fresh approach or novel departure in your own life, you might want to show the patience McCartney did. Be willing to keep moving ahead even though you don't have the full revelation quite yet.

Pret a partir

Let me introduce my bike:



This is a Caribou 2 by Devinci.
The company is Canadian, which I like a lot for a trip like this, and the bike is meant for long distance touring like this. Dark green with light brown leather; sexy.



This is my stuff...
There's a lot of it. I hope to shed some of it as I go, but I figure this should be everything I need to get me through 3 or 4 months.

Proper Welcome...

Ok friends and frenemies, I've realised some of you may not have had a proper introduction to my most recent step away from "sanity".

For a long time I've wanted to see Canada, and my old man-ish sensibilities have encouraged me to do so in the slowest possible way; to take in as much of our beautiful country as I can.

The plan is to leave from Cape Spear NFLD on the morning of May 25, and cycle as far as I can, ideally ending on the west coast of Vancouver Island at some point in September.

I will be camping along the way (and potentially couch surfing with a few welcoming relatives and friendos. I'm definitely glad to have the chance to live outdoors for another summer. Its been too long.

More to come; feel free to follow along, and send encouragment as you like.

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More to come.
Please make yourself at home.