2 pics to tide you over

Until we all get back together and merge pics from our cams.

We made it!

We finally have made it across the country! We're sorry for not updating more frequently in the past month. Not posting in awhile has made the idea of doing a picture upload or large post daunting. So we will be doing a large post when we get back into Calgary, instead of here on this little netbook.

 St. John's has been pretty amazing so far. We have met some fantastic people and been shown a great time. We definitely have some good stories to tell people when we get home.

Sitting outside the maritimes

Having breakfast with my two favorite travel companions. Okay, my only two travel companions. Looking out the window at our 7th province to conquer, New Brunswick! 6 provinces in 4 months. The last 4 in 2 weeks. No Problem. We took refuge in a motel last night to gain the strength for our last leg of the trip. Really I would call it a sprint. With no more days off till we hit Newfoundland we could be there by the end of the month. With the finish line almost so close I can taste it, about 1000 km's left, my wary legs have new vitality. The hills look less hilly, the road not quite as long and the air sweetened with the smell of the Atlantic.

One final advantage, crossing the bridge to N.B. also means we will once again be able to understand those around us. As well as, gain a little more information from the picture books, also known as "news papers", as English will once again become the dominant language.

With a look to the sky and hope for blue sky's and a tail wind, we ride.

Joe

The boys have made it to Montreal. The land of the flowing poutine, the smoked meat sandwhichs, where the consumption of beer in parcs is normal, and everywhere one looks...there are foxy foxy ladies....and of course me, the lil Jess! Yep these boys sure do smell. I wouldnt have it any other way. Being on the road for monthsssssss and stinking up my house with their stench..ya i get it. they are allowed to be smelly.  I strive to provide Joe with a smile on his face at all times, and following this i hope cody and bobby laughed lots too!  I hope this short wee visit has refreshed them and to give them that lil extra uuump to get back on the road and head east east east!   Now get the fuck outta here or as joe would say...gtfo.  

love ya guys thanks for the visit that was clearly waaaay too long and yous overstayed your visit....

 and for peoples who know me(Jess) and joe...there will be a fight to our deaths in 2 years. Joe has challenged me...and i will prevail and eat his heart....please stay tuned!

oh and mali says.....i woooooveeeeee wOOooOooOOOooooOos

To where we go and how we get there.

Your three intrepid heroes; C-Dog, B Money, and I, Joe Fresh, have planned our escape from Toronto. With a Patriotic eye cast at our nations capital, we set our tires for go. An apparent yellow brick road is yet again laid at our feet. The sand trails of the TCT keep echoing in my mind. Water Front Trail to La Route Verte is rumored to be a cyclists dream. With such a great ride behind us. Starting at Velorution, a unique bike shop with an emphasis on community, we sailed to TO. The rest of the almost 4000 km left in our journey East look quite promising. Crossing a province every few days will also be a great moral boost.

Once again, people continue to surprise us. After rolling in to Espanola far to late, we were stuck for a place to sleep and appealed to the local EMS unit for a spot in their back lot. Not a moment hesitation on their part and a gracious offer of water and toilet, really made our night. Thanks again Zach and Nick!

And a final, and huge, thank you to our host in " The Big Smoke", Bobbi Dedman! We feel recharged and ready to hit some more hills. 



Joe

Pics of Ontario so far

 

More Here , Here and Here

Currently in Sault Ste. Marie at an awesome place called Velorucion. Will post about it soon

Tunder Bay [sic]

We have been traveling in Ontario ( ie the center of the universe), for the past week. We have seen more and had more challenges than all of the prairies. With a hill every twenty feet, narrow shoulders seemingly at random and construction behind every turn, it has been exciting. After a much needed day off in Thunder Bay, we are preparing for bigger challenges to come. Evidently, all the hills we have been hitting haven't been big enough ( I think they have been). After hitting the half way mark across Canada, it has been easier to see the finish line. With such foresight we are able to re-think our gear. Leaving the uncertainty of B.C., and the bleakness of the plains, we can now discard most of the non essentials. A glorious day to be sure. Less weight also means less broken spokes, which I have busted two of already.
We start heading east again after our day off. I think I am going to enjoy cruising by the Lakes for the next while. Who knows, I might even get cell service again.

Joe

Half Way Or Bust...

We have passed the half way across Canada mark! Only a few.. thousand... kilometers left. On the bright side, cruising through the prairies has put us back on schedule. We are maybe an hour away from the Manitoba and Ontario border, and couldn't be happier. The plains, though flat, were quite boring. With that boredom came a few records for our trip. We passed the 150 km traveled in one day mark. Also, we reached 55 km/hr on flat ground (with a "slight" wind at our backs). As well as, most amount of water lost from extreme heat.
We would like to thank Simone, our lovely host in Winnipeg, who put us up for a couple of days so we could rest and get a few things fixed up. And with that a thank you to Christine for for putting us in contact with Simone and swinging by on her way to Ontario.
We are looking forward to Ontario. More hilsl, yes, but there will also be more scenery!

Joe

Some Pics and Milestones

Myra Canyon

The TCT messing with us

Pool in Osoyoos(we knew someone ;P)

Above Christina Lake on the TCT

Trail on the way to Castlegar

BC...finito!

Alberta Foothills

Joe+Alcohol+McDonald's

Enjoying the scenery in Saskatchewan

Stayed on some amazing people's property in Mortlach(read Bobby's earlier post)

Some pics and milestones from the last couple weeks. Might re size them later. We did a pic dump of Cody's and Bobby's camera. You can see them by clicking the links below

PICS(Cody)

 PICS(Bobby)

Confirmation That Love Is All Around

Over past couple of months there has been one recurring theme to me as myself and two close friends travel across this amazing country of ours. To me this theme is the inherent goodness of man (or woman if you want to get PC about it). I have personally never done much traveling outside of my Albertan bubble and had never really wanted to for that matter, not because I was ignorant to the rest of the world's existence but because I perceived myself to be happy enough in my day to day life that travel wasn't really necessary to look for something I hadn't realized I lost. After a lot of thinking time on this topic however (you have nothing but time to think when you ride a bicycle for 8 hours a day) I realized I had lost something in the dull routine of my particular day to day. I had lost my passion for exploration, my energy flow as it were, or as a very interesting group of people we met just the other day had put it, I had lost my synchronicity. Where for no reason at all a chain of events that may appear completely random as they are happening, are all conspiring together to lead you in a certain direction at just the appropriate time to meet a certain person or take you to a certain destination where your mind and heart start to expand to ingest this information and energy as it were to bring us to the realization of LOVE. This may sound cheesy and corny but there is not any other way I can describe the utter elation I feel when meeting these incredible people, listening to there stories of life and experience and sharing our own. Being in the moment and truly listening to what these people have to say, and almost feeling (even though you had just met this person) like you have known them all your life. Like catching up with an old friend you hadn't seen in years.

Herbert. Remember it!

Sitting in the kitchen of a lovely couple, Ron and Kate. Letting a hardy breakfast settle and great conversation brew. How did we end up here? Great question. After another 130km day we roll in to a quaint little town with food on our minds. At what multitasks as a Chinese restaurant and everything else eatery, Kate befriends us, offering a spot in her garden for us to sleep. We had our eye on the local campground and decided to check it out first before accepting the local hospitality. A short, yet heated, argument over the price of a couple of tents, by the train tracks no less! Encouraged us to revisit Kate's generous offer. A few laughs, great conversation, a funny movie (a luxury on this trip) and the recognition of kindred spirits.

Now we are cooking with bacon grease. Mmmmmmmmm bacon.

We have finally hit our stride. Alberta will take us a total of 7 days of riding. Alberta-Saskatchewan boarder milestone hit! We had another proverbial summit. A 130km day ride in plus 40 degree heat, 55 degree radiant heat, no shade and boiling water in our bottles. If we can make it through that without wanting to quit, we aren't going to quit! 
It's been wonderful crossing Alberta. A great turnout from friends and family. Such good food. Sooo much bacon and other deliciousness. Great support, and even more donations! My friends at ACS ( Allied Container Systems) have shined through with even more donations to our cause. The lovely ladies in Wardobe helped us out with a modification to a much needed tarp. I'm thinkin' of midday siestas, in the shade, to beat that relentless heat.
Thank you to the Hogg and Parks families for putting us up and feeding us like kings, and thank you mom. It was great to see you!


Joe

Fernie!

Another 100+ kilometer day and we are now in Fernie! We should make Alberta tomorrow...finally. Anyways short post, need to get some sleep. Uploaded some pics you can browse our Picasa album by clicking the link below, or by clicking pictures from the panel above

PICS

New Record!

We are GODS! Cooked it from Nelson to Creston in one day. 115 km, no big deal. Sure it is the first time we have hit the triple digits in a day. A big shout out to our friend the Mosquito. Without their support we would never have made to Creston in one day. What a great motivator.
After a relaxing 8 hour sleep we are off to the Kokanee Brewery for a delightful beer and maybe a tour.
Peace out Y'all!

Joe

Life Keeps Getting Better

While relaxing in Kelowna I was wondering why I don't live there. Both tents set up backyard styles. Justin, our gracious host, gone for the weekend. We lounged on the "shitty" beach. Played 27 holes of Frolf. Life is going just fine, what a province.

We have seen more bears then we can shake a stick at, some even in stick range. Eagles, fish, marmots( a.k.a. Giant Gophers!), snakes (some with rattles), smelt many a skunk but have yet to see one...hmmm and several infestations. Taking the road less traveled is usually slower, but offers far more then any highway will give you.

Kelowna

We are in Kelowna, we spent the weekend here as we had a free place to stay in the Okanagan with one of Joe's Good friends. It is really hard to turn down free accommodations in a place like this. That and we came down a huge hill to get here and the climb back up to the Trans Canada Trail on our bikes isn't very appealing. We will be leaving tomorrow though. We should be picking up the pace from this point on. A month and a half in BC is amazing, but it is depleting our money quickly and we need to get out of here and plow through the prairies to make up some time. Physically we have gotten a lot stronger so I believe we should be able to do it. Anyways, PICTURES! people love pictures!!

Climbing a summit in the rain, seems to be a trend with us

Tunnel on The Kettle Valley Railway

The smaller summit

John and his wife Marcie hosted us for a night, amazing people!

Trestles on the KVR

View of the Okanagan

Pierre and Caroline, also awesome people. Have been on a year long cycling honeymoon

Okanagan again

We arrived in Summerland............ barely. After a game of chicken on a dirt/gravel road going downhill I found out that using the brakes on my bike is a terriffic idea! Too much speed and the lack of using said brakes ended up with me meeting the edge of a cliff and finding out that even a weighted down bike can catch some pretty good air! The bike faired a little better than myself, although the right side of my body is scratched up pretty good our spirits remained through the roof and we had an amazing day of riding. I found a great hiding spot behind a bushy tree, enough so Joe and Cody could only see my bike at the crash sight...........hahaha. We ran into some pretty amazing people in front of the local ice cream shop who offered us their basement for the evening so we ended up celebrating my survival at the local pub. Summerland, it seems is the capital of amazing people in BC and we would like to thank John and Marcie for all of their fabulous hospitality! Great ride, great people, great fun. Much more to come stay tuned for more exciting adventures..........................please. haha

Pictures!

Sums up the last week

Service road at Chilliwack Lake

We've crossed way too much water on this trip

!?

Hostel in Victoria

Camping along the river

Spent a day going up the pass and had to turn around

Hope or Die!

At the moment Hope seems unattainable. A vortex has opened in Chilliwack that refuses to let us go. Spent three days, covering some 140 km of pure hell, just to arrive back in The Wack. All because of an impassable Pale Face Pass. Your intrepid heroes decided to bunker down and dig up a bit more info on this so called "Trans Canada Trail". The promise of no greater than 2.2% grades is enticing. The day long pushing loaded bikes up a dried creek bed on the other hand is a mean prank.

Pro Tip: Always enlist the knowledge of locals and more importantly, listen.

After resupplying, food, maps, hockey, beer, we were set for Hope. Bobby's foot on the other hand had other ideas. 1 low curb, 2 over corrects, a splash of sandal, stir for a blink of an eye and you got a two day delay. Don't worry! He's on the mend. A toe/heel injury is more unfortunate then fatal.

I also want to thank everyone who has helped along the way. Truly amazing people to meet in this country. A special shout out to The Vedder River Inn. Amazing people. I have never been treated so well.

Joe

We are Okay

Having computer issues. Just thought we would try and let everyone know why we haven't been updating. Now to try and figure this out before it crashes again.

Vancouver must have an evil power, expected to be here a night and it has progressed into 3. I can't wait to leave the city of Canuckle heads and there silly hockey team.(GO BRUINS GO!) Greater adventure awaits in the vast BC wilderness. We have finally decided to take the Trans Canada Trail and it should be a promising early exit from a hockey crazy city

After a tough start in Nanaimo, horrible rains on the way to Tofino, there have been a lot of bright spots on the trip thus far. A great hill climb coming into Port Alberni.......... then my back rack falling off on the downhill on our way to Timmy's, which is still yet to be properly repaired (I did my best with zap straps), not great but manageable The highways were frightening on the way to Tofino, but the gelato in Ucluelet more than made up for the traffic that seemed to be mostly made up of porsches. The ocean waves were incredible on the Tofino beaches......... the wind however made playing Frisbee there a challenge.

Victory!

We have conquered the island! With our training ground finished we will head for the mainland. I now feel comfortable on the road and with the added weight to my ride. Mountains on the other hand, still suck. We have spent two days in Victoria. Enjoying some rare sun and the last we will see of the coast for the next 5 months.

Interesting note. Vancouver Island has gotten the most rainfall in recorded history this year.

A quick shout out to Sally and Mike who opened up their homes to us. We stayed in an awesome cabin overlooking a beautiful bay loaded with eagles and herons. Amazing and gracious.

Next stop. Van City and a butt load of mountains. Whoo mountains!

Across the Island

We have made it to the west coast of the island! Took a little bit longer than anticipated with the varying levels of fitness amongst the three of us, but we did it. Highway 4 is a pretty intense highway to travel and we weren't anticipating how sketchy it would be. No shoulder, tons of blind corners and hills...lots of them. It was a pretty intense training ground. Anyways, we caught a ride with a friend to Courteny, because we didn't see a point in cycling the route twice.

Anyways thanks to our friend we have some steady wifi so we could make a post. Just need to figure out why we can't map our route. but, that is a problem for another day.

We will be leaving here in the morning to cycle to Victoria. Malahat here we come.

It's JCB,Joe, bobby, Cody...pervs

More pics here

Holy cow! Lots has happened so I will keep it short and very sweet. Stopped in kelowna on the way to Van to see my grandparents. My grandpa isn't doing very well, so it was great to have a little visit before this epic journey. Van was a great experience with friends and our bikes officially way A MILLION POUNDS!!!!!!! Unofficially very [expletive deleted] heavy. All in all we are in good health and spirits and the bikes are performing thus far, stay tuned for our next wacky adventure ,please.

Vancouver

Posing with our bikes after a day at the track. Man, we're classy. More pics here

It Begins!

It was a whirlwind 48 hours to get to Vancouver. Packing for the first time, then repacking a couple more times to make everything fit. A hellish sleep deprived road trip to Van city, yet still better then the Grey Hound, and a lovely visit with the elder Parks. We have arrived! A few meet and greets with friends, friends of friends, and strangers to get out of the way before we head to the Island. We have a couple of items to sort out today and tomorrow. Minor things like: What we are going to eat, a general plan for traversing the Island, and some adjustments to the bikes to make them perfect for riding a few thousand kilometers. All and all we are better set then expected, though tensions are increasing.

Next stop the race track to see if we can fund this adventure.

A huge THANK YOU!

The amount of support we have received so far has been amazing. At first we started off thinking that it would be cool to get a few donations but, we have already gone beyond anything we expected and we haven't even left yet. You guys are amazing. We honestly have to spend quite a bit of time updating our donation list. Something we didn't anticipate having to do. Our friends, family and coworkers(friends :P) are amazing people and it is a huge privilege to know you.

On a side note, we are almost completely set for the trip. There are a few odds and ends to grab and 3 days to get them. Shouldn't be too difficult, right?

Less than a week away. Freaking out starts now! All questions and second guessing are swirling around in my mind. Do i have everything? did i forget this? that? Am i prepared? The answer is i don't know. But it's exciting and terrifying and it is going to be an amazing journey and experience. The preverbial clock is ticking. Tick, tock, tick, tock.

My Very First Post

I guess I should start with something simple like hi, my name is Bobby. Now it's taken me a little longer to grasp the concept of this thing called a "blog", perhaps you have heard of it? I know I had heard of them but i didn't ever really see myself as the blogging type. I just wanted to ride bikes! Now I'm not very tech savvy, but I realize that there may be some people out there who are genuinely interested and sympathetic towards our cause and our goal to "ride bikes" all the way across our great land. It's thrilling, terrifying, and absolutely the craziest thing I have ever done! I cant wait, look forward to more posts from me much more frequently now that I have found the "on" button to this new fangled machine.

Each day is a new revolution

The bike ride to work each day keeps getting shorter. Or so it seems. When I get to my destination I want to keep going. I'm taking this as a good sign. Luckily there is a small cycling group that I team up with each morning. Some are leisurely and some are speed demons. A great mix. Today we cooked it. I got a good taste of how out of shape I am in. As we get closer to the end of work and closer to our leave date I find it harder and harder to stay focused on anything other than this trip.

A big thanks to Cody for covering the technical part of this website and getting us linked up with the Canadian Cancer Society. The site looks sweet and running smooooooth. Thank you to everyone who has given us donations and we look forward to seeing more come in. This adventure is getting more steam then I ever thought it could. If anyone would like more information please contact us at lifeonarim@gmail.com.


Joe

Reach For a Cure

We just changed our main method of gathering donations from CanadaHelps.org to Reach For a Cure. A program run by the Canadian Cancer Society. We also went ahead and got ourselves endorsed. This should add a lot more legitimacy to our fundraising efforts. If you wish to donate please click the Donate link at the top of the page.

14 days and counting!

We are 14 days out from our leave date for the west coast. Very exciting. Lots of support has been coming in and we are very appreciative for it. I just wanted to mention that we are also on Twitter. You can find us at lifeonarim. Also, I have signed up at warmshowers.org. I think this would be an amazing way to experience Canada, by learning from the locals, and cutting costs, especially in the bigger cities. So if there are any interested parties please drop us a line!

~Joe~~

A beginning

Donation have started coming in. Very exciting! We are looking into getting a counter up and running. It's funny what you don't think of till it's thrown in your face. Every new thing added makes this trip that much more of a reality for me.

I read a a quote today that really summarizes the mentality of this trip for me. " Life starts at the end of your comfort zone". With most of time spent on the road and just off in tents. We will definitely be out of our comfort zone. What better way to honor all the people we have lost and/or are now suffering with cancer then to attempt to live life to it's fullest. Though we haven't left yet, I am going to try and challenge myself in my daily routine.

The Challenge Begins!

~Joe~

Joyful Soreness

I have been biking to work regularly. In an attempt to break in my brooks saddle ( seat). I was surprised the first time I hopped on my new bike how comfortable the saddle actually is. A few klicks still have to be put on to get the seat sculpted to my butt. When it is though, I will be riding in luxury.

The Bikes!!!

We all had our bikes together so we decided to bring them out and snap a couple quick pics. Of course the urge to get on them kicked in and we went for a quick spin to get the feel for them. It was the first time Joe and Bobby had been out on their LHTs and the smile on their faces was awesome to see. It's amazing how a bike can instill that kind of feeling in people.

Their bikes are largely complete and trip ready, unfortunately I have a lot to do with my Masi CX. I crashed it awhile ago and it left the front wheel warped. It also broke my front brifter, so I have to get that dealt with. I'm thinking of switching over to bar end shifters and throwing a triple crankset on. Also, getting a Brooks saddle for good measure.

Anyways, figured we would give you an update, everything is coming along great. More Pics Here

Busy Busy Busy

Hello all, or one. My bike has come in however I am extremely busy working for the next couple of days. As soon as I get home on Monday I will snap some picks of my sweet new bike and post them. We are about 6 weeks out and are closer then ever to being ready. I have mostly odds and sods to pick up. on the physical side I am trying to shed some poundage before the big quest. At the very least I am eating better. I have to crash for an early call time tomorrow. Night!

A new arrival!

I have ordered my bike! A blue Surly Long Haul Trucker is on it's way. This is the biggest purchase I have for the adventure. I wanted to buy a road bike once and this is it! I had to make a few adjustments to the factory model. First up I swapped out the cantilever brakes for a set of Shimano V brakes. I am what's considered a Clydesdale biker. Meaning I'm a pretty big dude. I need a bit more stopping power that the cantilevers just are not built for. Along those lines I upgraded my crankset to a Shimano Splined model. I have a nasty habit of ripping the pedal arms off my bikes. My last customization was a purely vain one. I replaced the standard black for some cork tape. I think the brown will really pop with the blue. Once it comes in I will upload some photos.

Cheers!

Joe

Inspiration

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about this bike trip. Browsing forums, subreddits and various blogs trying to gather as much knowledge and inspiration for this trip as possible. With 8 weeks left before we leave everything is becoming much more real. Struggling to work out the finances, get all the gear we need and organize travel out to the coast are becoming very big priorities in our life right now. Needless to say it is a little intense and the stress is building. This isn't a bad thing, though it is both scary and exhilarating at the same time.

One of the few things that I find quite motivational is a documentary by Mike Beauchamp. You can visit his page at http://mikebeauchamp.com/crosscanada

The Cross Canada Project: Documenting a Bicycle Tour Across Canada from mike beauchamp on Vimeo.

I would like to apologize for the lack of posting. We are still learning and ironing out a few communication kinks and such. I will definitely be upping the frequency of posts in the next couple of weeks.

Getting Started

We have been slowly getting our gear in. Bobby has made the most progress in acquiring some new items. I am lagging behind. At the moment I don't even have a suitable bike for the trip. Along with going over gear lists and a thousand hypothetical problems we are also solidifying our route across Canada. So far we have agreed on May and to start on Vancouver Island. We figure a trip around the island will help us work out any major kinks in the bikes and how the gear sits before passing Vancouver on our way to the mountains. Some photos are on their way. At the moment we are approximately 9 weeks out from leaving. I feel the energy build up in the three of us. Very exciting!

~ Joe

P.S. I threw in a picture of a bike the same as Bobby's.

First of Many or Some

Okay, this is our first post. There are three of us that will be posting to this blog and two of them need to be taught how to use Blogger. Once that is figured out the posts should start happening. We will be leaving for our cross Canada bicycling trip around May. At that time this blog will mainly be a photoblog documenting our progress. Until then we will try to keep people updated on the planning stages of our trip.

We will be fundraising for The Canadian Cancer Society on this trip .If you are interested in donating please click the donate link at the top of the page.