After I got it in my head that I wanted to do this trip, it was only something I joked about with my girlfriend at first. Then I became obsessed with researching gear and looking at other people's websites to see what had been done before and how they did it and it started to become more and more of a realistic goal. After all, this trip, while it may seem crazy at first to a non-cyclist, is actually quite common. In fact, I'm doing a shorter route than most. The norm is Vancouver to St. John's which is around 7500 kms; Halifax to Calgary is about 3700 kms if you flew (I'll figure out the total distance when I get there, I'm sure it's more). So some answers to some common questions that I've gotten are below...
How long will it take, you ask? Should be about two months, give or take - more likely give as I'll be doing touristy stuff along the way.
Where will I stay? I brought a tent with me and plan on camping most of the time, but I plan to stay with some relatives along the way and in order to save money and meet interesting, like-minded people along the way I used a website called www.warmshowers.org, which is a forum for cycle-tourists worldwide who are willing to host other cycle-tourists for free. Otherwise I will be free-camping and randomly asking strangers to sleep in their yards.
How will I carry all my gear? Glad you asked. There are two common ways to carry gear on a bike. Use a trailer or use racks and panniers (Pannier, I've discovered after entering New Brunswick, translates to basket. From wordreference.com "a basket, especially one of a pair carried by a beast of burden". An apt description), or a combination of the two. I decided to use panniers because it's more compact and lighter than using a trailer (more on gear later).
Why are you doing this? I'm a masochist? No... Sort of. There are a few reasons ranging from simply necessity to move to more philosophical-type reasons:
1) I wanted to get out of Nova Scotia because I was in rut. I graduated with a BSc and did my honours, but I didn't want to go back into school right away to specialize and then start a career etc. etc. I wanted to shake things up a bit and I thought moving would be the remedy. I chose Calgary because my brother is there and offered to put me up for a bit until I could land a solid gig.
2) The want to move on a bike comes from many different desires. I wanted to test myself physically and psychologically, to see if I would come out broken or with new eyes on life. Then I figured that I'd already flew to Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver before, and I remember looking down at Northern Ontario and Manitoba at all the lakes and wondering what they looked like standing beside them - so being able to see most of Canada directly was another motivator. I would also be stopping frequently so I could get to meet people on the way, as opposed to driving when you only stop at a motel every 500-1000 kms. Also, to travel on my own volition and be totally self-reliant really appealed to me and it has become a rite of passage. Anyway, I could go on and on about why I wanted to do this trip...but that's the gist of it.
Those are all the questions I can think of right now, but if you have another one, please let me know.
A crazy idea became a spontaneous adventure when I decided to pedal a bicycle to Calgary, Alb. from Halifax, NS in the summer of 2011. Inside you will find stories, pictures, routes and the equipment I used for this journey.
