The Cross Canada Bike Trip - Father and Son
Thursday, March 29, 2012 - 20:15
In just over one week, Jon and I (Dave) are starting our cross-Canada bicycle trip. Beth will be driving our new 30 year old RV support vehicle. The trip will begin at Pacific Rim Park on Vancouver Island where we will dip our bike wheels into the Pacific Ocean and will end in Halifax where we will dip our bike wheels into the Atlantic Ocean. The trip is expected to take just under 3 months and cover about 7,000km, biking 6 hours and 100km/day. Pretty much everything mentioned above is subject to change......
Preparation for this trip is well underway and should be complete by the March 28 departure date. We will start with a three-day shakedown trip across Vancouver Island so anything missing can still be pulled together as we pass back through Vancouver enroute to Halifax. We guys have been training on stationary bike stands using our touring bikes so we can get familiar with the gear changing, toe clips, and saddles, as well as getting used to proper eating and hydration while biking. Indoor biking on a stationary bike is pretty boring so we have a TV set up with any old VHS tapes we can find. On nicer days we have ventured outside but we don't get a lot of really nice days in Feb/Mar in Vancouver. Beth has done her preparation. She took our 27 foot RV out for a 10 minute drive around the neighbourhood, so she's all ready to drive the beast across Canada!
Of course we needed to get bikes and clothing for the trip but we also needed to get a support vehicle for Beth to drive. We found an amazing deal in Everett Washington..... a classic 1982 Winnebago diesel with 63,000 original miles. This "Retro-Bago" is in fantastic condition. It had one owner who babied it (it looks as though the fridge and stove have not even been used)! It comes with the orginal decorations including the green shag carpet. Perfect for our trip.
The inspiration for this trip (for Dave) goes back to the late 1970's when a friend from our church youth group, Paul Chevreau, flew out to Vancouver and biked to Halifax. This will be an epic challenge for all three of us. We can expect some good days and some bad days (i.e. weather, roads, wind) and we will need to be ever mindful of the dangers of biking alongside cars and trucks. As far as hills are concerned, since we start and end at sea level then climbing hills and descending hills should all balance out. Right?
http://bethanddavestravels.ptweb.ca/blog/bike-trip/cross-canada-bicycle-trip