Category: Preparation

Trepidation and Travel

Bike & Gear
Bike & Gear

I am a homebody and like my routines so the approach of the trip has been a mixture of excitement and perturbation. I thrill thinking about the many different places I’m going to see but my stomach tightens at the realization that at the end of the day my bed will be far away. Just what have I got myself into? Besides food, my life will be reduced to these few belongings. Of course the anxiety isn’t about the things I’ll do without but the complete openness of it all. No schedule, no one relying on me or expecting anything of me, only open roads beckon. Yikes! Simply getting to the west coast is weighting the scale from anxiety toward excitement. After all now there’s just a minor issue of cycling back across the country over the next three months. Read more

The trip is on

Spring is here and the trip is on! I booked a flight to Victoria, BC today after a glorious ride this morning. The decision that this summer was the summer for the bike trip came together slowly. I kept making small decisions and feeling out the possibilities but always with easy room to back out. Somehow I assumed that a clear sign would present itself and declare, "Good idea. You should definitely take the summer off instead of being a good little student." No sign appeared so I just took the plunge. Now that I've got the tickets, it feels official. I am cycling across Canada this summer.

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Erie Canal Bicycle Tour

For a number of years now I have been dreaming and plotting to ride my bicycle across Canada. It felt like an phenomenal idea but I held some doubts about whether I could do it or not. Two summers again, I decided to embark on a two-week trial run by cycling from my current home in Boston to the family home in Ontario. The majority of the trip followed the Erie Canal in upstate New York. While my partner accompanied me for the trip there, he isn’t able to ride this time. Everything confirmed to me that cycling across Canada was not only possible for me but it would be an enjoyable adventure. I would also love to do the Erie Canal again. Maybe another summer. Read more

Training Outdoors

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Not helping!

Training for a bicycle touring during a New England winter is a tedious endeavour. I set my bike up in the spare room/library with the goal of putting in some serious time in the seat. In a good week I managed a couple of sessions. It turns out staring at the same spot on the wall is not all that inspiring so I furiously tried to distract myself by watching movies and tv. I can report that action movies work the best. Even so, it turns out I’m no all that in shape.

This past Friday the weather promised to be something other than winter with a possibility of spring. I got all giddy at the prospect of a lovely country ride so I planned an 80 mile loop that I am fond of. I learnt two things. One, I’m not nearly in shape as I had deluded myself into think. My knees starting a hurting halfway into the ride, which means I need to do a lot more stretching. My physiotherapist tells me my tendons are too tight and pulling the knee cap, which causing the pain. So I must stretch more. Second, I learnt again not to trust the weather forecast. Read more