Leg 1 Stats

I take a lot of photos while I cycle.  

If you're curious about our stats and maps, don't worry...I was too!  I look at the Garmin all day long, but this weekend I also finally got the opportunity to do an upload and look at the data.  I don't have a lot of time to do a complete analysis, but here goes:

Total distance: 2277km
Total elevation gain: 12.8km
Approximate progress (total trip): 35%
Average km pace: 19.7km/hr  (this is skewed because I started only recording at 5km/hr after day 4.  The first four days have a lot of rest time included.  I would estimate the true average to be closer to 21km/hr.)
Max Speed: 62.6km/hr (Cape Breton)
Average Cadence: 75rpm
Total Calories: 69,000

Here's the B4B Leg 1 Map.

Map: Click here for our exact route.  It doesn't include stop markers, that will have to wait for another day.  Also, I seem to have deleted the 155kms from Day 14 between Fredericton and Moncton.  The route is pretty simple, though.


Hope you enjoyed it!

Day 16&17 - The Weak Link

My recounting of the past two days is framed by my experience with my left knee. As you know, it's been a problem since Fredericton, and the last you heard, we were resting in Charlottetown for the day.

It was incredibly tough to slow the guys down for a couple of days. Part of the skill set that I bring to the team includes cutting the wind, navigating, and setting the pace. As we rolled through NB and PEI, I could feel my knee slowing me down, with pain in most powerful extensions, especially on hills. So when we wake up Day 16 in Charlottetown, after a day of ice and rest, I wasn't sure what to expect. We only had a 55km ride to Wood Islands to our Nova Scotia ferry.

That morning would turn this frustrating problem on it's head, and not for the better. First, and you would have seen this joke on twitter, no province is complete without a flat tire. So even though we extended our 120kms on the island to 3 days with the off-day, it takes until within 10kms of the port to officially complete PEI. But this leads to Problem #1 - Kyle's bike takes a tumble while changing the tube, and his front derailleur is bent, in such a way that we can't fix it. Meanwhile, another story that I don't think has hit the internet yet is that of Tyler's left clip. It has progressively worsened, to the point Tuesday of stripping the screw and wearing out the plate. So Tyler has a delicate tradeoff between not pulling up on hills, and being stuck in the clip on a potential fall. Not a great choice. More about these later.

Back to the chronological order. On Monday, we ferry to Nova Scotia (new province!), which promptly greets us with a cold rain. That, combined with the stat holiday July 2 - we can't fix Kyle's bike, lead us to take comfort at Swv Chalet in New Glasgow, a hometown favourite. After that, we decide to cycle the 60km to Antigonish to round out the day. It is wet and progressively rainy, to the point where even after I put on my safety vest (only the second time on the trip), Kyle still can't see me from behind, and we take refuge under a bridge due to the visibility. And so we waited out the rain with about half a dozen motorcyclists, some only 13km from home. As we contemplate the possibility of spending the night under the bridge, we get a text from Tyler who is already in Antigonish, and is checking into a motel. It's frustrating to spend yet another night indoors, but it's supposed to rain, so we settle for the hot shower and clothes dryer, the opportunity for me to ice my knee again, and the chance to watch Romero throw a real stinker against the Royals.

The next day is where things get tricky. By this time, Kyle is struggling along in a gear too low for his fitness, and Tyler's clip is at a point where he can't exit the pedal. And just as we're leaving mainland Canada, we make a quick lunch stop. We had a choice - Tim's or Subway - which if you haven't heard, is the subject of our facebook poll of the week Click here to vote! We make the Subway choice, primarily for the ice machine, and it turns out to be a good one. There we meet Danielle et Jorn de Chateauguay, who help us out with both of their major problems. Thanks so much! We also met Melvin and Jennifer from Cape Breton who give us some pointers. Thanks again!

I'm running out of time. We crossed into Cape Breton, and it is gorgeous. Hilly, but not difficult. The shoulders aren't as wide as we're used to, but it isn't a problem. And Tyler and Kyle are in better shape, but still knocked down a peg: Tyler can't pull up, and Kyle is back in top gear, but losing efficiency to the chain friction. So even though my knee isn't 100%, it feels better than it has in days, and now we're all dealing with approximately similar performance issues. No more weak links!

Anyways, we're in Newfoundland right now, more blogs to come soon! But seriously, if you're interested in keeping closer track of our progress, and we know there are a bunch of you because we can see the hits on out blog, check us out on Twitter here. Thanks!

Day 15 - Canada Day in Charlottetown

Couple things to note: PEI is stunning. It looks really similar to New Brunswick except the hills are smaller and there's water everywhere and it's incredibly green. For those of you who said this little island is worth the detour we give you a big thank-you.

Canada Day, Victoria Park, Charlottetown.

Hello faithful readers!

For those of you not caught up with the Bike for Bricks readings, a lot has been going on. Right now it's Canada day and the Bike for Bricks team has enjoyed it in the best possible way for three intrepid cross country cyclists - we've rested. The day started wonderfully. We woke up according to our body clocks instead of Jordan's (now hated) Blackberry alarm, an incredible luxury that we took full advantage of as we didn't wake up until 7am! It may not sound grand, but in the world of 150+km days of biking 7am is sleeping in.

Anyway, after our leisurely wake up we took our time with breakfast, took our time with changing, took our time with cleaning, pretty much just took our time. Then we got on our bicycles and departed from the campsite near Confederation Bridge...and took our time!

We rolled over some hills, under some trees, around some penninsulas and eventually we rolled right into Charlottetown after an easy 57kms. It's very interesting that once upon a time a bike ride approaching 60kms would have been considered a decent workout and now it's considered an off day. Distances really are a relative thing and we've really improved our cycling ability.

Once we arrived in Charlottetown we went straight to the waterfront to enjoy the start of the Canada Day celebrations. There was a singing of the national anthem to kick things off and a 21 gun salute that initially scared us half to death and had us jumping while eating our "Loaded Fries" under the sun of the park. The day was hot, the fries were good, we were right on schedule and the scenery was spectacular.

We continued our little wandering of discovery around some of the other Canada Day attractions and managed to get into it with Red and White style! Pictures, sticker tatoo's, red and white cupcakes, and of course a busker show that I got volunteered to participate in. Definite nerve wracking moment as this goofy busker juggled some knives right over my body while I lied in the grass in front of hundreds of people. Thankfully it was over quickly and we recommenced our day by searching for accomodations; having spent the previous two nights outside and feeling like a place to put our stuff down in the city was necessary we headed towards the local youth hostel while checking our the prices for other Hotels. Naturally, we ended up at the hostel and signed in.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, and mingling with the other guests. We enjoyed a free late lunch of Canada Day burgers before hitting the computers hard with updates, blogs and emails - and though not as strenuous or exhausting as biking the day still felt tiring but great.

Chnage of narrative!
Kyle's Birthday:

Kyle's birthday DQ on the pier.

Canada day is also Kyle's birthday! A fact me and Jordan were both very aware of but chose to ignore for the majority of the day. All day we dropped birthday related lines and July 1st comments without ever mentioning Kyle's birthday. It may have seemed mean at the time but the plan needed to be followed through - and so we continued with the ploy the entire day. "It's Jerome Iginla's birthday today eh?" and other similar lines were splattered throughout the day. Until eventually when grocery shopping at 8pm Jordan and I commenced "operation ice-cream extravaganza" and set our well set up plan of distraction and misdirection into action. The details aren't important but we managed to buy an icecream pizza from Dairy Queen (without him noticing) and take a natural detour down to the ocean where I give Jordan the lighter, he lit the candles while I slowed down Kyle and finally, we acknowledged his birthday and sang loudly while eating icecream with all the Canada Day celebrations on in the background. It really was a trip highlight.

To conclude the day we made our way back to the hostel to set up for getting back on the bike routine and the impedning 4:30am wake up the next morning while resisting the temptations to go "get smashed' in the park with the other hostelers...will announce the results tomorrow.

Canada really is a stunning country, that I'm thrilled to be in, and even more thrilled to be touring and seeing in such a natual way.

Happy Canada Day and Happy Birthday Kyle. What a great way to celebrate.

Day 13 & 14- Fredericton, Moncton to PEI

Day 13- Friday, June 29/ 2012

We woke up from our hostel in Fredericton at 6 am. We hit snooze a few times before getting up. Still tired from the 200+ bike ride the day before. Didn't get out of the Fredericton hostel until 9:15 am.

The Friday morning and afternoon bike ride was different from what we had been used to the last few days. It was sunny! The sunny weather also caused us to underestimate the amount of water we needed to carry on our bike ride towards Moncton. We had been used to biking in the rain and not consuming much water.

Just after noon we were biking on the Trans-Canada (number 2) about 90 km from Moncton when we faced a sign that said the next gas station was in 70 km. At that point we were on a roll and didn't want to stop. We all thought that there would be something before the gas station at some point. None of us had enough water to last 70 km. We passed the exit and I recall Tyler at the time saying "This could be the best or worst decision of the trip."

We realized it was a bad decision not to stop when Jordan looked at his blackberry 15 minutes after that exit had passed and realized there really wasn't anything for 70 km. I looked at my water supply and I had about 1 hours worth of water for a 3 hour bike ride. I was in trouble. Tyler and Jordan were in similar situations.

We biked for about 45 minutes and then had lunch under an underpass of the highway. After the lunch break, Tyler took the lead biking. He stopped over a bridge where a fast moving stream was going under. Tyler thought this maybe our best chance at water. Jordan and I- who had the least water- held off on gathering this water because we hoped something would show up. Some sort of house off the highway that we could get water from was what we were hoping for.

The Bauman's to the rescue in New Brunswick!

Just after we started biking- after deciding not to stop for water- a blue van with Ontario license plates pulled in front of Tyler who was in the lead as usually. I was biking behind Tyler. I saw a lady get out of the van that looked familiar. Then I heard Tyler shout something in a happy voice. Turns out the van was carrying Brent and Kathy Bauman plus their three daughters. They reside in Elmira and go to Elmira Mennonite Church- the church I go to. The Bauman's gave us water and saved us from dehydration. We are grateful and lucky that the Bauman's were driving down the highway when we needed water the most.

Another story for the afternoon bike ride was Jordan's sore left knee. His knee had started bugging him near the end of the long 220 km bike ride the previous day that took us to Fredericton. We're not sure exactly what caused the injury, but it may have something to do with a muscle in the quad being tight. The quad muscle group does the most work when you cycle and we've been cycling a lot. Jordan did phone his dad about the injury and his dad said to give it rest and ice it. Rest would not come for Jordan until Canada day (Day 15 in Charlottetown). 

Tenting in a hay field 30 km outside of Moncton. 

We tented over night- about 30 km outside of Moncton- in a hay field near the highway. We bought pasta and tomato sauce at a gas station before arriving at the hay field. Tyler cooked it with our propane stove. This was the first time we had camped in a farmer's field. Before we had had stayed in houses, motels/hostels, or campsites. We had no issues in the evening staying in the farmers field, but we did have to go to bed without a shower and sleep in a tent that smells like three sweaty bikers.It rained over night, but our tent kept the rain out. By morning the rain had stopped.

Distance biked on the day 155 km approx.

Day 14- Saturday, June 30/2012


We woke up to an overcast sky, but the weather cleared up quickly and was hot and dry for the remainder of the day.

The first task of the day was fixing Jordan's back tire. In the previous day I had noticed when biking behind Jordan that his back wheel was wobbling at bit. Jordan took a closer look and realized he had a broken spoke. This is the same thing that happened to me a few days ago when I had my bike fixed in Edmundston. We biked 30 km to Mike's bike shop. We had heard of this place after meeting the owner's sister the previous day when buying pasta at the gas station.

Mike's bike shop provided great service fixing the broken spoke and pumping up our bike tires. Thank you Mike's bike shop!

Kyle after biking on the closed road. Very sandy.

Loading the bikes before shuttling them to PEI.

After the bike shop we biked about 90 km in sunny weather to the Confederation bridge that would take us to PEI. On the way to the bridge we ended on up on a road that was closed. The closed road started off as pavement, but quickly deteriorated into a sandy dirt road. One good thing about our bikes is the Marin Lombard is a cyclocross style of bike that is built to handle tougher terrain. With the Lombards we fished tailed all over the place in the sand due to having lots of weight on the back end of our bikes. At one point I fell, but I fell into sand so I was ok. We creeped our way on the dirt road for 10 km until finally getting to a paved road. After that we stuck to major highways. 


We took a shuttle across the 13 km Confederation bridge because bicycles aren't allowed on the bridge. 


Once in PEI, we had subs and decided to camp at the closest campsite to the bridge. The next day we planned on biking the 60 km to Charlottetown and then rest in the afternoon.


Distanced biked in the day 125 km approx.
  

Roadside: Canada Day

The irony of spending Canada Day in Charlottetown is not lost on us, but even more poignant is the opportunity to reflect on our trip across the nation.

At Victoria Park in Charlottetown.

First, the obvious: we are finally getting around to see our own country. Cities and regions that we haven't experienced before, including this city for Tyler and I, and Newfoundland and the Prairies for all of us. It's big, but it's fantastic.

But also, like David Johnston said today, we are seeing the Canada that is the envy of the world. Everywhere we go, in everything we do, we see nothing but unequivocal support, both in principle and in local advice. (Maybe not that guy in Peterborough!)

And especially, to everyone back home. For every tweet, every email, every message, text, like, bbm, phone call, every blog read, every photo looked at, and to anyone who has hosted and met us along the way. We can't say it enough, thanks so much.

Happy Canada Day!

Also, Happy Birthday to Kyle. Tyler and I are trying to plan something exciting. Maybe Charlottetown fireworks?

Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.