Cycling Canada, 10 years later.

It was ten years ago that David and I cycled across the country. We packed up our bikes, flew to Vancouver, and started peddling. So much has happened in the last 10 years that it seems like a lifetime ago now.

May 8, 2008. B.C. Day 3. I forgot my sunglasses a few hours later at Hell's Gate.

Every day technically was basically the same (pedal, eat, pedal, eat, sleep, repeat) but they were all so different from each other. From the terrain we biked through, the people we met, and the wildlife we saw. I have many stories about certain days or moments - more when I start looking through the pictures - but the enormity of the experience means that it's hard to concisely describe.

May 16, 2008. Somewhere in BC.These pictures perfectly capture how we entertained ourselves along the road. They still make me laugh.

When we peddled into St. John's on August 1, it felt as though we had simply completed another day and not as though we had just biked for 7000+ km to get there. It feels more significant and intense whenever I'm on a road trip and think "I biked all of this" or "Wow, this highway is endless, I can't believe I pedalled through here" or "did we camp in that field over there?"

May 27, 2008, Lloydminster AB/SK.

I'm not really sure how I physically did it. I hadn't practiced long bike rides with my gear before we left. I did a lot of exercise and weight training ahead of time but no overnight bike trips. It was very much a "learn as you go" adventure with a steep learning curve. We both had a determination that we weren't going to quit and that we would just take each day as it arrived. We motivated each other and took care of each other on the 'off' days. I think that is what got us through, especially when we hit Northern Ontario and the country felt endless.

June 5, 2008. Churchbridge, Sask. David attempts to steal a giant loonie.

We visited parts of Canada that we otherwise would have never seen and met so many wonderful people. We heard the same jokes ("You know what they say about the weather in *name of region/province*, if you don't like it, just wait five minutes!") and watched hockey in different homes. We learned to enjoy the simplicity of knowing that all we had to do the next day was to keep pedalling and our only big decisions were in what to eat and where to sleep.

June 26, 2008. Hearst, Ontario. We needed every minute of humour we could find in Northern Ontario. 

There are big and small life lessons that I got out of the trip. Big lessons like how to ask and accept help from people (although I continue to work on that), how to travel minimally, and that it's okay to not meet your daily goal if it means that you'll be better for the next day. Smaller lessons like crows will eat your food if you don't pack it away properly and that if you run dramatically through a kaleidoscope of butterflies they will not necessarily flutter away around you and the picture will not be what you hoped.

I just look like a terrible person who is trying to step on butterflies.

A lot of people ask if I've gone on other biking trip since this one and the answer is no. It was never something I had done before the trip and never seemed to be something I opted to do afterward. When my health declined pre-lung transplant, I rarely went cycling as it was hard to motivate myself. I didn't have the energy or endurance and it started to become more of a chore as I would have coughing fits and find it hard to breathe.

I've gotten back into cycling since my transplant because it's become fun again but still haven't gone on any overnight rides. I wouldn't say no if someone asked if I wanted to go with them but I seemed to have switched to wilderness hiking instead for my intense physical adventures. But if someone asked if I wanted to go with them on a cycling adventure, I would most likely say yes.

July 10, 2008. Quebec border. Never before have two people been this happy to leave Ontario behind.

July 21, 2008. New Brunswick. Happy to be on familiar roads.

There are many things I would change about the trip if we had a do-over but all of it is minor logistical details like packing different, eating out at restaurants more, and not attempting to cook a pack of bacon in a tiny frying pan on a camping stove that only has one setting (high). But I wouldn't change the trip itself. The passing of time has smoothed out my memories of that summer to the fun and exhausting three months I spent with my brother. I'm so thankful that we took the time to do this trip when we had the chance.

August 1, 2008. St. John's, Newfoundland. Yay!