Latest Media

Here are some items that, while they don't count as new news, they might be of interest to you!

First, here are two newspaper articles written about the project.  One by Dianne Wood of The Record, published August 31, 2012:

Have you checked the @wr_record yet today?Thanks @woodrecord for a great article! therecord.com/news/local/art…
— Bike For Bricks (@BikeForBricks) August 31, 2012

And also one from Ross Howey from the Elmira Independent, published on the same day:

Cross-Canada cycling feat raises thousands for Heartwood Place. bit.ly/T2lyIO @bikeforbricks @cycleontario
— Elmira Independent (@Indyupdates) August 31, 2012

Second, here is the final instalment of Holeshot's Bike For Bricks videos.  It covers the last days in Ontario and the homecoming.

I'm still working on the stats, map, and outstanding daily recaps.  Enjoy!

Some Figures

Hi everyone,

This is the last picture I took with my phone on the trip.

So the trip is over, and it's been an adjustment getting back to work.  Pros: indoors, air conditioning, constant access to cold water, comfy seat, I can even out my tan, and I love my job.  Cons: I can't see a window from my seat, I have "real world" responsibilities now, and my mind was still in a go-go-go gear.  But it had to happen sometime!

I haven't conducted a full analysis of the trip yet, but here are some initial top-level figures for you:

Home!

Bike For Bricks has arrived home!

After 52 days on the roads and shoulders of every Canadian province, we completed a 6811 kilometre route from Vancouver to St. John's, starting and ending in Waterloo.

The trip may be over, but the Bike For Bricks is still going.  Here's what is coming over the next few weeks:

The Des(s)ert

Sandwiches a la Mont Tremblant

The next BC story takes us from Merritt up the 5A, the first 90km of which can be unscientifically be called a desert.  No potable water, no shade, not even any stores.  There were lakes, but they were unfortunately unswimmable.  The picture to the right of Tyler making Mont Tremblant sandwiches on that tiny outcrop of rock is some of the only shade we found for the entire morning.  We carried full capacity (12+L) of water, and ran it really low, but we were aware of Kamloops and timed it perfectly.

As we approached Kamloops in the heat of the day, there was another 10+km hill at 10+% grade, which was difficult, but a welcome challenge.  At the top that hill, we finally get satellite reception for the first time since Merritt (sorry for the lack of tweets that day!), which leads to another surprise.

What the guys know is that Holeshot is coming all the way from Guelph to shoot us for the next two days in the mountains.  What they don't know is that along with Doug, we are also getting a visit from Lindsay!  If you don't know Lindsay by now, she is our guardian angel in Waterloo.  She looks out for us from the office, making calls, arrangements, and managing our online profile (including this blog!).  We could do it without her, but it wouldn't be easy, and you probably wouldn't be reading this!  I kept the surprise on the down low for the past week, so as to preserve the surprise.  At the moment when Lindsay and I both have reception at the same time, Doug and Lindsay have been driving all morning from Vancouver, and I make hilltop arrangements to meet them at a Dairy Queen in east Kamloops.  Ice cream after desert?  Yes.

DQ surprise

And the day takes a sudden turn.  We FLY some serious downhill into Kamloops, meet with some friendly faces, and Doug buys us ice cream!  They take our panniers, and we are able to make excellent time back on the Trans Canada eastward.  It's great to be back on wide, paved shoulders, cycling with hopeful eastward winds, and looking at some impressive mountains.  We are able to ultimately make it to Chase, about 15km ahead of schedule.  This will help us prepare for the coming days, because we really don't know what to expect in the Rockies.

To end the day, we have another mixed bag of surprises.  First, the bad: we notice my rack has broken.  This will be a time-consuming fix, and without our support, we would have had to stop in Kamloops, already 40km behind schedule.  But with our incredible support team, we will be able to make it to Salmon Arm tomorrow without bags - more on that tomorrow.  The next, most incredible surprise of Baumanesque proportion, is Kyle's coworker Angela just drives by us on the highway.  She is in Kamloops visiting her son, as spots three cyclists wearing blue cycling about 55kms east of that city.  Crazy!  Thanks for saying hi, Angela!  (And please send the pic :p)

But the last and most important surprise is this: Kyle's aunt Elaine and cousin Monica meet up with us in Chase, in a decked-out support vehicle.  This story is deserving of it's own blog, so you will have to wait for that!

Day 4 - Hazeldean

We don't have many pictures from today,
so here's our 9:30am lunch.  

Where do you even start with a day like today?

Let's start at the end , where late tonight, we get visitors from back home - Lindsay and Jason - with a special delivery.  It was great to see some familiar faces - but what prompted the drive to Ottawa?

The deal is, if Grayson ever cycles across
Canada, we'll buy him a pitcher and nachos.

Well, today had been another great day physically.  Much hotter than yesterday - 35/42 with the humidex, so we made sure to stop early and often for water and rest.  That's how we ended up taking a 1.5 hour lunch break at 9:00.  In total, we did the 115kms in about 7.5 hours, again with little ascent and straight routes.  We are completely on pace, having done just over 500kms in four days.

We finished the day in Ottawa, which is special for a few reasons.  Again, we were blown away with the hospitality: first, with Kyle's cousin Lisa and her family, who took us in and pampered us with food, care, and beds.  Second, we got a chance to visit our good friend Grayson, finally, because he's been living in Ottawa for almost a year.  He took us out for drinks and to show us a bit of the city.  Also, it is Tyler's first time in the city, which is surprising given the circumstances.

McDonald's in Stittsville, ON.
Thanks Perry!

But getting back to Lindsay.  Great day, but it was largely shaped by one simple factor: no BlackBerry today.  Strange circumstances - the alarm went off this morning, but then before we could send out yesterday's blog, it quit.  And I'm not talking about the battery - I have three - the device just failed.  It wasn't so bad, because the day was again mostly Highway 7, but it is also our principal camera.  We decided to roll on, and figure it out later.  We inform our home crew about the situation, and Lindsay works this Twitter magic:

@BikeForBricks we can and want to help! What a seriously #BoldMove you guys are making! Follow & DM us ASAP 4 more. ^MS
— Research In Motion (@BlackBerry) June 20, 2012

WOW!  So RIM donates $500 to the Heartwood Place to get us back up and mapping.  Crazy!  But we're still on the ground, pedaling, with only verbal directions.  Which brings us to our final anecdote, which is the namesake of this blog.  


As we're heading up Highway 7 towards Ottawa, our instructions are to follow 7 until the Hazeldean exit.  Simple, except that 16km before that exit, Hwy 7 becomes a closed-access, divided expressway.  What!  But as a cyclist, you don't actually realize that until it's too late.  So we're just in the shoulder of major highway.  We want to exit, but it is just so gorgeous - wide, paved lane, no stops, no close traffic at all - and also, we would be completely lost if we do.  So Kyle convinces us to stay on the 7, which is exhilarating - we're doing an easy 35-40km/hr.  But all we can think about is "gotta get off...gotta get off...Hazeldean."  And then we see it:

A google streetview caputre of the sign.  Couldn't pull out
the cell phone camera there, for obvious reasons.

This sign was the highlight of our day.  And so Lindsay makes the commute all the way from Kitchener to Ottawa to bring the BlackBerry and some new mounts for our Drift HD cameras, so we're all set for tomorrow: Parliament and Quebec!

On a related note: my new PIN is 29B76242.

In case you missed it, click here to see yesterday's post.

One...Two.....Three.....and there they go!!!

When I woke up Sunday morning, it was just another day. Except my alarm was beeping, it was 5am and I quickly realized this was not an ordinary day. Today was the day we were going to send off Jordan, Kyle and Tyler on their cycle across Canada! This was the day we had all been anticipating for the last 3 months. The big "send off" from University Stadium at Laurier, where the guys would suit up in their new gear, strap all the belongings they would need for the next 7 weeks to their bikes and ride off.....into the pouring rain. What...rain...who said anything about it raining! As I drove to the stadium in the thunderstorms I prayed this was not a bad omen.

With Heartwood Place, Dave FM, Holeshot Productions, Royal Distributing and Marin Bikes all set up and ready to take some pictures of the guys, bikes and gear, we waited.....and waited. The moment arrived when all three of them came into the stadium, nervous smiles on their faces, friends and family surrounding them and this was their moment. Besides the obvious last minute rearrangements of gear, modifications to "booties" (Tyler I am using your words here), and minor adjustments, the trio was ready to go. A generous announcement by Dave FM and The Waterloo Classic Road Race sent lots of spectators our way to talk to the guys before they left. Typical questions included "are you nervous", "are you crazy" and "you're sleeping on what"? Great thanks to all who came out and supported us.

After posing for what felt like a million pictures and "feeling like celebrities (Tyler)" the guys gave one more goodbye to their families, hopped onto their bikes and hit the track for one lap around while the crowd shouted encouragement. This was the first time they were biking with the full weight of all the gear they were taking. A little wibble and wobble (just kidding) and as they came around the last corner I felt a little teary. Here they were, three young men off on an adventure of a lifetime all while raising money for a great cause.

Jordan, Kyle and Tyler are now off, free to cycle this country with literally "all they have on their bikes". They have trained for this for months, they have prepared their minds and bodies and they will succeed!

Follow the trio for live updates on twitter here

Our goal of raising $69,000 is still a ways off and we need your help! Donate here to help build more affordable housing!

Promo video by Holeshot!

Take a look at our first promo video:

Filmed in Guelph, ON by Holeshot Media.  We look great!  But seriously, thanks for watching.  You can learn more about Heartwood Place here.