Questions and Answers

My recent invitation for people to follow my blog has resulted in a number of questions, which I will attempt to answer here:

Q. How do I keep current of any updates on your blog?
I think I have finally figured this out.  Hopefully if you click on the "Follow" button to the right you should be able to follow my postings in a relatively painless manner.  Please advise if this works (or does not work) for you...

Q. Are you riding alone, unsupported?
No, I am not riding alone.  There are a group of about 40 riders of all ages and from around the globe who have signed up for the Tour du Canada 2010.  As is typical of rides of this size, we will break into groups of riders for the days ride - (probably 4 to 5 people each), based on riding ability and riding speed. Typically if you run into trouble, and need help (a spare tube say) a rider or group will stop to help.

Q. How will you communicate with friends and family?
My plan is to either text or Skype Annie, Eric and Emma on a daily basis (dependent on cell phone and internet access) and to keep a daily log and update the blog (with pictures too) every few days - when internet access permits.

Q. Where will you be staying:

I have secured 35 Sq.Ft. of luxury accommodations for the entire trip! The optional A/C unit was too expensive an upgrade so I will be toughing it!  As my Mum said - "You will be sleeping out in Saskatchewan in the broiling heat of the Summer!"

We will be camping, rain or shine (hopefully mostly shine) for most of the days - I think we have indoor accommodations in real beds for only about 5 days in the entire 10 weeks. We are advised to camp out before heading to Vancouver so we are familiar with our equipment - hopefully the neighbors won't think it too strange to see me camping in the front yard - probably not since about 8 years ago I stayed out for most of a cold November night watching the Leonid meteor showers - Emma was afraid that the kids on our street would see me asleep on the front lawn as they walked to the school bus!

The tour schleps all our gear campsite-to-campsite each day, and we are on "Galley Crew" rotating cooking responsibilites once per week for the group of 40 hungry riders.  The truck carries a mobile camping kitchen and all the food.

Q. What gear will you be carrying?
I like to travel light (less stuff to carry up hills), so the only gear I will be carrying on my bike are two water bottles, camera, cell phone, a spare inner tube (or two) and CO2 cartridges to pump tires. On my person I will carry fuel (bananas, PBJ, GU) and gear for inclement weather if necessary.

Q. How does your camping gear and clothing get from Campsite to Campsite?
We are assigned limited space in the back of the gear truck to carry our stuff.

Q. What route will you be taking?
We will not know the exact route until we get to Vancouver as it depends on campsite availability, road conditions, etc. The 5,000 mile route stays in Canada and goes through each of the ten Canadian Provinces - which makes for a much longer ride (1,500 miles more) than across the US.

The "Space Shuttle" view of the route is shown below,
with detailed segments following.

You can click on each of the maps for a larger view.
There will be the opportunity to take side trips for sightseeing along the way. I already have a few planned.

There is a "pre-ride" option to ride to Victoria BC to see "Mile 0" of the Trans Canada Highway which I am doing.  It involves a ride to the ferry to Vancouver Island, riding to Victoria, a rear "wheel dip" in the Pacific Ocean, an overnight stay (not camping) in Victoria, and a ride back the next day. 

An approximation of the route is shown in the twelve map segments below. 
Each segment shown is, on average, about 400 miles worth of riding (except for the "Victoria" option above, and the last segment with the Ferry ride across the Gulf of St. Lawrence).
Through BC:












Through Alberta:

In the first day in Alberta, I am planning a 15 mile side trip to see Moraine Lake and the Valley of the Ten Peaks - hopefully it won't be cloudy when I get there.



Once east of Calgary it gets pretty flat - the only thing to contend with are rain and headwinds (although the prevailing winds are from the west).

Through Saskatchewan:

Pretty flat through the prairies - apparently the excitement is guessing how far away the next Grain Elevator is on the horizon.






Through Manitoba:












Through Ontario: (Lots here - it is the longest part of the route)

The section above, and the one below are, surprisingly enough the "Hilly" part of the route  (more so than the Rockies) as there are lots of climbs up and descents down the ridges carved into the Canadian Shield by the glaciers...

This segment has our first of three Ferry Rides - across Lake Huron to the Tobermoray Peninsula.












Hopefully, I'll get to see my sister in Ottawa (and she will cook me dinner).








After three weeks in Ontario, we should finally arrive in a new province, Quebec!
Apres avoir passé trois semaines en Ontario, on arrive au Quebec, enfin!
Through Quebec:

I am planning on dinner with my Mum, Annie, Eric, Emma and Annie's parents when we pass through Montreal.
It should be fun after 7 weeks on the road - hopefully they will recognize me!


More Quebec...













And now the Maritime provinces
(New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia):

To get to PEI, since bikes are not allowed on the bridge, we will ride over in a shuttle with our bikes loaded on the truck.  We get back to the mainland on the second of our three ferry rides.

Our tenth and final Province (below) after an overnight ferry crossing - I have booked a real bed on the ferry :)

Through Newfoundland:

After about 5,000 miles, the ride ends with a ferry ride followed by a short ride into St. John's to the end of the Trans Canada Highway, finishing off with a front "wheel dip" in the Atlantic Ocean.

In the evening there is a celebration dinner  for all the riders, after which I will be flying back to New Jersey the next morning - hopefully my bike won't get lost in transit.

Other than 5,000 miles of pedaling and completing an item on my "Bucket List" that's it in a nutshell.  Needless to say I am looking forward to the adventure, although some folks think I am crazy to do so.  For some of the riders this is their 2nd "tour" so it can't be all that bad.  Maybe I'll have a different view of things after a 5th consecutive day of riding in rain.

It will be good to sleep in a real bed after 10 weeks in a sleeping bag/tent.

Feel free to post comments and ask questions on the blog.

Looking forward to the adventure of a lifetime - as someone I know who has done the ride said "For me it was a GREAT GREAT thing to do, a highlight in my life, a source of fond memories and an endless source of party stories."

One down, Two to go...

Mileage YTD:     822
Climbing YTD:   ^^
(each ^ represents one Mt. Everest or 29,035' of altitude gain...)

Yesterday marked the completion of the first of three organized "Training Rides" I have tagged on my training regimen for the Tour du Canada - the Hills of Attrition.

The weather was a little chilly (42°F - about 30° colder than last year's ride), but the skies were dry. The weather prediction was for a light rain.  I rode with three of the regulars from our weekly club rides which made for a fun trip.

As mentioned in earlier posts, the ride is not particularly long (56 miles) but what it lacks in length, it more than makes up for in climbing.  The ride is basically a series of long, relatively steep (from a New Jersey, perspective) climbs, about one every 7 or 8 miles followed by descents and flats. 

The route profile, from a mileage perspective is 35% climbing, 20% flats and 45% descents.  With 5,200 feet of total climbing on the route, that translated into an average grade, when you are climbing, of roughly 5%.  (If you click on the image you will get a larger view of the route profile). See the note at the end of this posting...

The route organizers make sure the ride lives up to its name, because towards the end of the ride (mile 44), there is a particularly steep section, about a mile in length, just after a slogging 3 mile climb to soften up your quads - for about 300' of the climb, right near the top, the grade is 20%.  On the cue sheet, the route planners show their sense of humor with an added comment: "Friendliest pitch on the ride - enjoy!!"

Last year on this section, for the first 200' of the climb  I started out "delivering the mail" (which is basically zig-zagging from side-to-side, or "mailbox-to-mailbox" on the street making the ride longer but - in theory at least - not as steep, except for when you have to "zig" or "zag")  and had to get off my bike and walk the last 100 feet, with my heart rate maxed out and starving for both oxygen and power in my legs.

This year with a much better training base going into the ride (750 vs. 170 miles) I rode up the climb in a steady straight line and made it to the top with plenty of gas left in the tank, although towards the top I did "max out" on my heart rate.  I am sure the training had a lot to do with the change in performance, but feel that the cooler temperatures (mid-40°s vs. mid-80°s) made a difference too. 

We finished the ride feeling pretty good for having once again, taken on this challenge early in the season - not only that, but Paul observed that for the entire length of the ride, not a single rider passed us.

Next "organized" ride is the Montauk Century on May 16th - a "flat as a pancake" 106 mile ride to the Eastern tip of Long Island.
64 days to "Wheels up" from Newark...

Bill
A perspective on climbing...
Note: The Tour du Canada has a little over 100,000 feet (or a little under twenty miles) of total climbing  spread out over roughly 10 weeks of riding. With yesterday's ride, I feel pretty good about getting in more than a half of a week's worth of climbing in a single day, but am wondering what it must be like to get in an average of 10,000 feet of climbing per week over a 10 week period - especially when that average includes the Prairie Provinces...

March is DONE - bring on the sunny days!

Despite record rains in New Jersey, and recovering from foot surgery in late February, I managed to log a little over 300 miles on the road in March. This year I am keeping track not only of my total mileage, but of my total altitude climbed. I am now at 34,000 feet (or 1.2 Mt. Everests), and four miles shy of 500 miles since January (with 85 miles planned for tomorrow and Sunday).

My legs lungs and heart are getting stronger with every ride, and I am now logging over 100 miles per week. With that base of training, I have got back to what I call the "Sea (sic) Food Diet" (I see food, I eat it!) and the winter pounds are beginning to drop off.

I have a couple of big rides coming up as part of my training regimen for the Tour du Canada, the very hilly (5,000 feet of climbing) 50+mile Hills of Attrition on April 18th, the pancake flat, with a tail wind 107 mile Montauk Century on May 16th, and the hilly 65 mile Revolutionary Ramble (with really cool cycling jerseys) in early June just before leaving for Vancouver.

With each passing day, the hills seem a little flatter and shorter, and I am sleeping better every night. I passed a big commitment milestone this week with the Full and Final payment for the Tour du Canada, was due on March 31st.

Onwards and upwards - 81 days to wheels-up from Newark.