Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.

Song of the Open Road - Walt Whitman

last day in vancouver! (may 7,2008)

There was this road, And it led up-hill, And it led down-hill, And round and in and out.

The Legs - Robert Graves

I'm a tad nervous. What have I gotten myself into? Three months and seven thousand kilometers away is my goal. I'm not fit, I haven't done nearly enough training, and I'm not ready. But tomorrow, I'm taking my first steps to get across the country. Thanks for all the support from couchsurfers.com and warmshowers.org hosts who have contacted me. I'm so looking forward to meeting all of you and putting a face to all the friendly emails that I have received. I also just received news that my old high school friend's wedding ceremony will take place at the end of July in Halifax - great motivation to keep moving! Though I fear I'll be the only one at the ceremony wearing bike shorts.

As well, although I'm doing this trip for myself, I am also doing it to raise awareness and possibly money for the CHILL inner-city learn to snowboard program (www.chill.org). I don't have anything officially set up with CHILL but they do have a paypal donation system on their website (if you do choose to donate, I please send me an email and I will match your donation - to a maximum trip total of $200). CHILL is a fantastic program currently running in many US sites and three Canadian cities (Prince George, Vancouver and Toronto). I was lucky enough to work as the outreach coordinator in Vancouver's CHILL site and the experience was incredible. Giving youth at risk the opportunity to thrive in a positive and supportive environment enables them to see the many positive ways that they can focus their energies.

kamloops and a rest day! (may 12,2008)

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of; wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sun-lit silence. Hovering there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air;
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor even eagle flew;
And while, with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sancity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

High Flight (An Airman's Ecstasy) - John Gillespie Magee

Riding along the Coquihalla Highway was an incredible experience - It will likely be one of the bigger climbs of my trip and crossing it successfully has thouroughly raised my confidence in my ability to complete the trip. Passing through rain, mist, snow and even hail and coming out with little more than wet clothes and little to dampen my spirits. A smilingly warm face at the end of most days has given me something to look forward to and to get over that last hill. Thank you Tiffany, Mykyle and Colleen for everything - you are all incredible in your generosity.

Highlights:
• Riding along the Number 7 from Abbotsford to Hope - a gorgeous and not-so-busy highway on the north side of the Fraser River.
• Reaching the summit of the Coquihalla from Hope to Merritt. Meeting Mykyle in Merritt - someone else who had done x-canada though far more masochistically than I could ever have imagined =)
• Reaching Kamloops and chatting with Colleen, her family and two Australian couchsurfers over a fantastic dinner.

Two quick days of cycling and another rest day in Revelstoke - this time it's because I'm going to cycle out to Golden with Felix, my couchsmurfing host. It'll be great to have someone to ride with through Roger's pass.

Lac de Louise! (may 18,2008)

Rainy and wet as I pulled into Lake Louise - it was an easy day though - relatively speaking. Kicking horse pass wasn't too bad and it's grrrrrrrreat to be finally done with all the big hills! only tiny ones, headwinds and relentless monotony to go. Great times ahead. Had a great time camping out with Felix, th e Revelstoke couchsurfer - no bears! Had to wait a couple hours while a mudslide was being cleared off the transcan - I suppose i was lucky - the backpackers at the front of the line up were waiting since 5 am for a 2 o'clock finish.

Cowtown (may 21,2008)

Hello, you fool,
I love you,
Cmon join the joyride,
Be a joyrider.
I take you on a skyride,
A felling like youre spellbound.
The sunshine is a lady
Who rox you like a baby.

Joyride - Roxette

Pulled out of Lake Louise with clouds and rain in the forecast. I was planning to go as far as Canmore - a cruisy 80 kilometers from Lake Louise, but ended up running into a trialthlete in training from Calgary who had started from Field that same day. After picking up lunch and a new supply of sugar from Canmore, I decided to try to make it to Calgary (after all if this guy was riding from Field and over Kicking horse Pass to Calgary in one day - easily over 200 kms - surely I can get to Calgary as well.) Cruising at over 40 km/ hr consistently over some parts, the trip from Canmore to Calgary was an incredible experience of how far one can really go in a day. My odometer read over 184 kms for the day.

Riding into Calgary, I met Sam and her roommate Deb with another couchsurfer from Franc, JC in tow. I've rarely laughed so long and so hard and this has been one of my favorite experiences on the trip. One more rest day at Chris' place and tomorrow it's onward to medicine hat!

medicine hat (may 24,2008)

I've come to the realization that the mountains would not, in fact, be the hardest part of my trip - it's those bloody headwinds. It's like climbing a mountain for a hundred kilometers while someone tries to push your bike into the middle of a busy highway where big semi trucks whiz past you. Trying to make it to Medicine Hat and finding myself 40 clicks away and dark would have brought me to my knees had it not been for the kindness of the guy working at the Cactus Pizza and Submarine restaurant in Sutcliffe, AB. After two of the longest cycling days of my life and I'm thouroughly estatic to be at Doug and Bonnie's place in Medicine Hat.

regina, saskatchewan! (may 29, 2008)

It's been four days since I've been heading into the wind - where are these prevailing winds blowing east?!?!!? I'm at Ron's place in Regina right now - happy to be taking a break from the wind and even happier to be having my first real rest day since Calgary - my knees are definitely thanking me! The thing about cycle touring really is the people that you meet and the truly randomness of experiences that you can have.

heading out from medicine hat, I've

• caught up to Kris Coward - another cycle tourer headed across the country who i've been in regular email contact with - we've been riding together since Thompkins and it's nice to have some company.
• stayed a night at Darcy's place in Thompkins, SK, at Buffalo Bean, drinking far too much beer and watching some videos.
• met Dan from Big Sky Bicycles in Swift Current - great shop and an amazingly friendly person who kept the shop open after it was closed to get some spare spokes to Kris - then sketched out a map for me to have a secluded place to camp out for the night!
• spending the night in the prarie oasis of Mortlach - one of the most vibrant and picturesque small communities out there! Met Derek and Theresa and their friends Karen and Brad the next morning. Derek and Theresa run Mortlach Sweet Shoppe, a great place to stop for some fantastic STRONG coffee and Saskatoonberry ice-cream. Definitely stop by - if you ever head across to Medicine Hat or Regina. It's been the most pleasant surprise I've had so far. Shari from photoartcanada gave me a cute little bear keychain as a memento of my stop. Honestly I am in love with this town!
• met Jim - (medicine hat) and Ron - (regina - and a big pipe afficianado!) on the warmshowers list. Friendly hosts like this make me want to cycle tour forever!!!!! Thank you soooo soooo soooo much!

rest day regina! (may 30, 2008)

My map so far.

View Larger Map

Winnie the Peg, Manitoba! (june 6, 2008)

A big hello to all the people at CHILL who are following along with my ride. Thanks for all the big words of support. You won't believe how much supportive words keep me going when the rains are falling and the winds are blowing every which way but the way I want them to blow. I'm at the last of my big prairie stops - Winnipeg, and staying with Pam and Kevin's lovely family who have given me some shelter during a massive downpour. Seriously, will it ever stop?! Met up with my cousin William who I haven't seen since i was "yay" high (visualize a hip level action gesture). The ride has gone far better than I thought it would (other than the headwinds which you must be absolutely sick of hearing about). Ended up staying in Regina for three nights - Ron was too good of a host, I'm sure he was wondering if he'd ever get rid of me. Finally got my ipod shuffle loaded with some new songs (my first opportunity since Calgary) Sorry Sam, I loved your music - I just couldn't ride to it. Bjork was never designed for high energy riding!
Some snippets of action since my last update:

• Meeting Neal in Grenfell and having him pick me up and drive me out to the Sakima first nations reserve to spend the night! Had a great time and if you're around Grenfell (100 kms east of Regina) in early - mid-June contact Neal via couchsurfing (look for Grenfell - he's the only one) - they're going to have a great pow wow celebration!
• Staying with Judy in Brandon and hearing about her adventures. Was great chatting about books, travel and everything with a very chilled out host over a beer and wine.
• Met another Chris from couchsurfing that night for a beer at an Irish pub just down the road from Judy's place. Great guy and had a ton of laughs with him. He stopped off to say hello as he saw me on the highway the next day on his way back from Winnipeg. Top notch guy!
• Watched the Stanley cup finals from a gaming room in Portage La Prairie. The game was great - the venue was rather lackluster, but according to pretty much everyone in town that i asked, the only other bar in town burnt down about a year ago and the only other alternative was Boston Pizza. Ugh.

Chunder Bay, Ontari-O! (june 13, 2008)

Pedalled into Thunder Bay as fast as I could because of ever looming Thunder storms (how appropriate!). I pretty much resigned myself to staying in my tent for blocks of days only to have the rain break most mornings. Northern Ontario has been beautiful (apart from the weather that is). This might just be a happy change after being completely deprived of sights for a few weeks of prarie riding, but the lakes and rolling hills of the Canadian Shield have brought plenty of relief.

Again many thanks to everyone who has made this such a great trip so far!

• Allan and Cindy in Falcon Lake for being such great hosts! Thanks for picking me up even though I arrived a day early and at 10 pm! Your place is incredible and I'll miss your low key humour Allan!
• Meeting Rockstar Supernova host, bandmember and former member of Gun's and Roses' Gilby Clarke at a Subway in Ignace - very random!
• Frank - for a great stay in Thunder Bay - loved the bands and impromptu jam session!

The Sooooooooo! Sault Ste. Marie (june 19, 2008)

It's definitely been an interesting few days of weather since leaving Thunder Bay. Forecasts of possible thunder storm after possible thunder storm after possible thunder storm pretty much day in day out for the past week. Sometimes it's just better not to open the weather page. Never did get a chance to get hot enough to dare jumping into Superior. Some things sound better on paper than in reality I suppose (4 degree water temperatures sure don't help as well!).

Ontario is huge. Huge with a capital freakin' H. After skimming past the praries, the behemoth of Ontario is almost half over. If I time everything correctly now, I should hopefully be in Ottawa for Canada Day celebrations! I just hope my restlessness doesn't have me take off too soon if I arrive there early!

In any case, I have finally started to run into other cycle tourists! Many of them riding out East to West. (Which just goes to show, whatever trials lie ahead, there is someone out there doing something immensely more difficult.)

Other highlights have been:

• Meeting an English couple headed the other way. Geez I feel bad for them. Wet, cold, sick, running low on funds, facing headwinds and some pretty big climbs. I hate it when others don't have a good experience cycle touring. Felt kind of guilty as I had tailwinds all day long, meaning the reverse for them.
• Seeing a baby bear cub on the side of the road - taking a picture and then quickly riding away before mama bear showed up.
• Having lunch at a roadside dinner in Marathon and having my lunch tab picked up by a friendly motor biker sitting across from me. Then having another motor biker offer to pick the tab for my lunch again just as I was leaving!
• Doing a 199.80 kilometer day from Lake Superior campgrounds to Sault Ste. Marie. Spent the night at Velorution (www.velorution.ca) where they have showers and campgrounds for cycle tourists!
• Crossing into the twin city of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan turning my national ride into an international one =). Had a McMeal on the otherside and that's really pretty much it. Can't say it was worth the hour and a half I had to line up at the border but who's to know?

Ottawa - Ontario (june 30, 2008)

The heat has finally come out! Too bad the rain is still here as well. The ride from the Soo to Ontario wasn't terribly interesting. Lots of long busy highway stretches - with continuing constant threats of thundershowers. At least the tailwinds continued and with it long days covering eight or nine hours on the saddle! Blackflies and mosquitoes came out on masse and started to drive me batty - peeing in a bottle because mosquitoes are swarming outside your tent is NEVER a good time.

Saw a TV clip on the news earlier this evening about a tragic accident that claimed two cyclists lives just past Virden, Manitoba on the transcanada highway. The highway really is as bad as the article makes out and it is a nerve racking ride with constant checks in the rear view mirror.

Some trip highlights since my last update.

• Riding into North Bay during Chadfly season and seeing the city absolutely covered in flies. It was pretty disgusting and creepy. Met my first host since Thunder Bay - Kelly, thanks for being such a great host! Was great to meet you and Zephyr!
• Meeting another cyclist Geoffrey along the road who started in Whitehorse! Rode two great days with him and had a great rest day in Deep River. Deep River was an amazingly friendly town between North Bay and Ottawa - (and apparently has the highest percentage of per capita Phd holders in all of Canada).
• Rolling into Arnprior on a sunny and stormy day and meeting my old friend Meaghan (who I first met in Japan, then met on my trip to Australia) Having a ball at her parents house and then at her brother's place in the city. It was great to veg and recharge while the rains just poured outside. Thanks billions!

La ville de Quebec! - Quebec (7 de julliet, 2008)

Cycling in the province of Quebec during the summer is like cycling in heaven. The route verte is an incredibly well designed series of connected bike paths that goes from Gatineau all the way through to the New Brunswick border. It's flat for the most part, along the river, and on little trafficked roads. These guys at Velo Quebec know what they're doing!

Great times since Ottawa

• Canada day celebrations on July 1st! Ottawa is THE place to be. Spent a few days with Meaghan at her brother's place in the city and caught the evening concert and fireworks show. The rains that came down for 4 days cleared up just perfectly for Canada Day!
• Rolling into Montreal and taking a header over the handlebars after colliding with some bike marker on the road - lovely. Montreal was having a bunch of festivals when I left - the huge Jazz fest, Just for laughs fest, and an artists display down the street.
• Passing through Trois Rivieres on my way to Quebec city and meeting Gerard (a crazy-but-in-a-good-way Quebecois) who invited me to lunch with his grand daughter for some fevre au lard (baked beans) and later to stay over at his place. Checked out the city at night where the fete de voix was happening and having random laughs and impromptu french lessons all night. Also thanks to Rene, for the lunch!
• And thanks to Francois Xavier (FX) for hosting me in Quebec city. My first experience sleeping on a waterbed in years! Great top notch guy with a hilarious sense of humour.

Fredericton, NB (July 16, 2008)

Hills abound in New Brunswick! Will there ever be any flat ground here - it's an unrelenting up and down and up and down from Edmundson to Fredericton. All this in sweltering 30 degree temperatures (though the reality is probably a few degrees short) The past week has had it's share of ups and downs (no pun intended - actually, intended) Quebec City was amazing - I stayed another four nights with Carl and Anne-Marie (a double hosting set - they were on warmshowers and couchsurfing) and they were great hosts. Carl brews a mean homebrew. I caught them just as they were moving into their place and am proud to be their first guest when their new stove arrived. Caught plenty of concerts during the Summer fest in Quebec City - Stone Temple Pilots - they're back! the wailers, Akon, and a bit of Wyclef Jean (got sick in the crowd - too much waiting and too much smoke) Regrets, I've had a few - Missed the former lead singer of Styx sing because I didn't know who the hell he was (FYI - the guy who sang Mr. Roboto - I could kick myself for missing that!).
The Route Verte from Riviere du Loup to Edmunston, NB is absolutely incredible. If you only cycle tour once in your lifetime - I'd recommend, Ottawa - Montreal - Quebec City - Riviere du Loup - Edmunston. (You might have to cycle through Manitoba and Norther Ontario to realize how good it is there!)

THE END - Halifax, NS (July 20, 2008)

Racing across New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, it felt as though my bicycle knew my trip was almost over. A broken front rack and a leaky pannier bag meant that I'd have to put on the kilometers to avoid the on coming rains. Cycling late into the evening on my last day into Halifax and pulling up to my old high school friend's place at almost ten pm. I was done. I'm not too sure how I feel right now - I'm happy that the hills are over, that I can sleep on a comfortable bed again, that I have made it with plenty of time to spare to make it for my friend's wedding, to see some friends again, that my bum will no longer be incredibly sore - but I will miss all the randomness - the stares, the friendliness and support of people cheering me on.

But most of all I am grateful - for my health, that nothing went terribly awry. For all the incredibly generous people that I met who went out of their way to help a stranger, who opened their doors to me, who feed me, who gave me beer, who took the time out and chatted with me - I am thankful. I don't know if i could have managed the trip without your support, your emails, your love. To everyone who sent me emails or facebook messages - you have no idea how much your messages meant to me. Thank you - I hope to repay the favor in kind to you or to anyone in need. I hope this trip has made me a better person, will make me a better person.

EPILOGUE - Toronto, Ontario (october 2, 2008)

New classes and a new place with an old friend. I'm enjoying being back at school on the verge of something new and exciting again. It's an incredible experience to be back at University with a bunch of other amazing people who have all done so much.

I think I've rejuvenated my desire to do more long distance cycling after this trip. First North America, now the world!

Do not go gentle into that good night
Old age should burn and rave at the close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.