The Countdown

With less than two weeks until I leave for Vancouver, I find myself going through various checklists to make sure that when I leave for the airport at 4:30 AM (my flight leaves at 7:00 AM and I will have over sized baggage to check in) everything is ready.

Judging from the postings of other riders on the tour's bulletin board, I am not alone with my anxieties.  I keep having to remind myself that the tour is designed to maximize the probabilities that riders who start in Vancouver finish in St. John's some 10 weeks later.

The biggest "unknown" at this point is "Will my bike and spare parts, my camping gear, and my riding and camping clothes fit into the bike box.  I have been rather ruthless in paring down non-riding clothing just to increase the odds in my favor.

Lots of people have asked for more specifics on where we will be going and when.  As mentioned in a previous post, we find out the specific route at the Orientation meeting in Vancouver before the ride starts, but I have pieced together the following "map" from previous riders blogs to give an approximation - each "Pin Point" represents an overnight stay.  If you click on the "map" it will open up a bigger sized picture.

From the route one can see the wisdom of the planned stops - fairly short daily distances (approx. 50 - 75 miles) in the first two weeks and getting longer as we go along.  This gives us time to acclimatize to riding day after day, get more familiar with our camping gear and sleeping outside, get accustomed to the responsibilities of galley crew, climb over the Monashees and Rockies, and getting to know the 40 other riders in the group.  Once we hit Alberta and the Canadian Prairies, you will notice that the distance between the "Pins" increases significantly.  We cross the Prairies in only 2 weeks of riding.

At this point I am beginning to feel like Santa Claus (making a list and checking it twice), and organizing clothing by weather - cold days, rainy days, other days... hopefully no cold and rainy days.  My last big ride is this coming Saturday - a 65 mile ride over most of the roads I have been training on.  I have decided to make it a challenge by riding to the start of the ride and riding home at the end, which should give me, in total, another 100+ mile day.  I will be riding with a group from Team Marty's (our local bike club) so it should be a fun ride - it even looks like I may get to try my rain gear.

One big mental adjustment I will have to make after heading west is to change from a "Training"  mode (constantly pushing one's self to build up strength and endurance) to a "Touring" mode - basically riding the miles and drinking up the scenery and experience.  I will also have to remind myself "It is a ride, not a race" and enjoy the sightseeing, although I suspect on rainy days it will be "Get to the next Campsite, and get dry!"

On my three other big cycling adventures (across Alaska, Montreal to Maine, and Toronto to Montreal with my son) it was much more enjoyable once the mental transition from Training to Touring was made, and we would stop along the route for the occasional blackberry ice cream cone - well not in Alaska!

13 days left to wheels up...