Summary of the trip
The world is a lot smaller than we think, When you are on a trip, what's the component that makes you feel like you are far away from home? I'm going to assume you answered "not being with your community" (friends, family, neighbors and people that make you feel like you belong). Well, I am happy to say that Canada made me feel at home for the extent of my 4300km journey. Canadians welcomed me and showed amazing willingness to form global communities regardless of where I called home. So basically, I was on an adventure while feeling at home. People supported and appreciated the cause that I was advocating for. My mission to fuel myself across the country consuming only Canadian food was successful (with only a few exceptions). I made it home on time and I would definitely do it again. Canada's amazing! |
Favourite Part
If someone was asked "whats your favourite colour" and answered with "rainbow", would it make sense? Well that is going to have to be my kind of answer; all of it! - The people. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read the "Good People" page. - The adventure. I was in total adventure mode for 30 days. Need I say more? - The country. Canada is amazing! Mountains, Lakes, Prairies, Forests, Wildlife. - The me time. When was the last time you had a month to think about your life? - The food. It was canadian and mostly cooked over a camp-stove. That's real food! - The tent. My tent was my home, and kept me away from mosquitoes. Bad Parts - The mosquitoes |
Family and Friends Reactions
As soon as I shared the idea of doing this trip with my friends and family I had a wide range of reactions. My mom quickly said "No, you can't do that", knowing that she couldn't actually stop me from going. I introduced her to the Find Friends app where she could track me continuously (when I had cell reception). Which she did... I would frequently get screen shots of an aerial shot of where I was. Sometimes she even found me a good spot to camp from the other side of the country. Crazy technology. I feel like a lot of my friends wished me luck, but didn't feel like I could actually complete the journey in 30 days. Nevertheless, as soon as I started off, everyone was very supportive. My brother was secretly arranging a ride for me at the end of my journey if I ran short on time. |
My Mental Journey
What the ____ am I doing! I can't say that it was all smiles and blue skies for the entire journey. There were times when I thought that I was in over my head and wouldn't be able to make it home on time. I woke up on June 16th and it was -4 degrees celsius. The limits of my +10 sleeping bag were most certainly being tested. I was wearing every layer of clothing I had with me, and still I didn't want to leave my tent. You know that feeling of having to wake up really early in the morning and all you want is to stay in your warm bed? Magnify that desire by 100. Fortunately, the most amazing thing happened everyday when i packed up my mobile home and took the first few pedals strokes into my day, I smiled. The challenges I'd faced got me to where I am now, and thats exactly where I want to be. The only thing I had to do was keep going. |
Packs in the Prairies
I was just getting tucked into my tent one night in the prairies when I heard the thunder of a pack of coyotes a few kilometers away. I felt as though they were celebrating a kill. I was just drifting off to sleep maybe 15 minutes later when I heard the call of a single coyote, but this time it wasn’t off in the distance, this time it was only a few meters away from my tent. My food was packed away in a stand of trees near by, but the animal still seemed to be drawn to my tent. A single animal wouldn’t be a problem. The problem was that, that single animal had just called the thunderous pack of animals I had heard 15 minutes earlier to come check out what they had found in the field; me. Although coyotes are not known to attack humans, I decided that due to the fact that they didn’t know it was a human inside my tent, they could have other intensions. So. I was lying in my tent, hearing the movements of the animal that was waiting for its friends outside of my tent. I didn’t really know what to do. So, I did what anyone would have done in that situation. I jumped out of my tent in my boxers, headlamp on my head and gripping my knife, and I chased that coyote across the field. At least now they know I’m human. |
Wildlife
I saw Elk, Black Bears, Coyotes, Moose, Deer, Eagles, and so much more. Taking out the Garbage
It was the end of a long day, a little over 175km and I had set up camp behind an information center that wouldn’t be opening up before I was long gone. I left most of my bags on my bike, only needing my sleeping pack and my tent for a quick rest. I was set up and just going off to sleep when I was interrupted by a ruckus coming from the information center. I thought someone had come by, and probably wouldn’t be very happy with my overnight presence. Then I heard it again, Crash! Boom! Hmm. If it was a human, they weren’t showing the place much respect. So I peaked my head out to see if a visual inspection would explain the situation. Just as I unzipped my fly the streetlight from across the road cast a very large silhouette of a black bear as it sauntered across the lawn. It was making its rounds of all the garbage cans, ripping the lids off and throwing them on the ground and definitely not being very courteous to cyclists trying to get some rest. I didn’t have any food in my tent, but my food bag was still attached to my bike that stood a meter away from my tent. So I decided for my bikes and my safety it would best to go out and bear proof my site a little. I heard the bear for the next 30 minutes as it ripped open all of the garbage’s in the area. |
Articles |
Escarpment Magazine |
Meaford Independent |