Aug 22

Hi, we had a great vacation in NFLD and arrived home safely last week. I just wanted to let everyone know that Alley and I had 7200$ extra when we finished the trip. We are donating that to CF, to make the total raised during the trip to just over 9000$. Thank you all so much for your support, enjoy the rest of your summer and Farewell.

Aug 2

Hi it's Davey and I'll give my impressions on the trip. Overall it was an amazing experience. We had amazing support all the way across the country and was so pleased to see how happy everyone was to help us out. It was great to see the changing landscape of Canada. It is hard to pick a highlight of the trip as there were many great moments. It was a great summer and i wouldn't trade it for anything. To do it over again I would have packed a bit lighter, b/c you don't really need three t-shirts, but other then that we/Alley planned it very well. I am very proud of Alley who battled through everyday and although being very exhausted many days never gave up. We don't have the total we will be able to donate yet but it will be around 7000. We biked 7083 kms, so we raised about a dollar for every km we biked which is great. In 86 days we made it across the country only having to pay for hotels three times and camping less then half of the nights, for this we thank you all. Doing a self supported tour has been so much fun because of all the support we got from all of you. We couldn't have done it without you.



Aug. 1

 WE'RE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

We made it to St. Johns around 4. We didn't end up finishing at Signal Hill as we saw how incredibly high it is so instead we went down to the harbour and took pictures of the Hill. Nfld has proven to be quite hilly and rainy as we expected. The ferry ride here was long but the time passed pretty quickly with the help of a deck of cards, dolphins and cheesy movies. We were all pretty tired yesterday so just crashed early and lazed around for the afternoon. It was wonderful. Today was drizzly but not raining so we didn't get that wet. With a high of 15 today, getting soaked would have made the day pretty uncomfortable. Isaiah got 3 flat tires as his rim got a huge gash in it and then something ripped through his tire. It was pretty frustrating as we quickly ran out of usable tubes. We made it to the city limits 3 times and then while turning into Tims, Alleys tire refused to go over the curb and she wiped out. It will be a few bruises and perhaps yet another biking scar on my right leg but nothing more serious then that. We climbed the hill into St.Johns and then dropped the massive hill to the harbour. We ended up walking our first hill of the trip..and it was down. We didn't think our brakes would hold if we biked down it and with a huge drop and stop sign at the end that would have been an unfortunate ending. The brakes barely survived without our weight on them. We didn't end up finding a place to put our tires in as we didn't want to throw them in the harbour and then have to go swimming in after them. We decided instead to just take pictures near the water and be content with that. We went out for a delicious celebration supper and are now relaxing at the Andersons where we will be staying for the next few days until our parents arrive to go see the rest of Nfld and take us home.  

Its been such an amazing ride and couldn't have been done without everyones support. We had our ups and downs as can be expected with something this long. I (Alley) am so proud of us making it across, at times I thought that Dave would have to tow me but somehow I always managed to find the strength to continue. We had some amazing days and wonderful moments, and definitely enough stories to last for a little while. I wouldn't have done anything different on the way expect maybe remember to take a cloth to wash our dishes. Thanks to everyone who took us in and fed us so incredibly well. We ate everything from deer to buffalo. We were treated like family by people who didn't know us. We now know how friendly and generous all Canadians are. I feel like I've accomplished something so huge that it still hasn't sunk in yet. I pushed myself to the limit both physically and mentally and realized my limits. Its made me realize that anything can be overcome as long as you set your mind to it and are too stubborn to give up. It also helps if you have an amazing brother who will kick you in the butt when you need it and also take care of you when your unable to function. I couldn't have done it without him. Its now time to crash and spend the next few days sleeping and eating as much as possible.

If anyone has any newspaper clips of our trip, would they mail them to us as I'd like to have a copy for my journal.




July 31

We are in NEWFOUNDLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It took 17 hours to come on the ferry.  It is very pretty here.  We will be doing a short day today.   We are camping near Whitbourne.  We have 74 km to go tomorrow and the plan is to end at Signal Hill.

July 30

We were 5 hours late getting started but we are now on our 14 hour ferry ride to Argentia.

July 29

We made it to North Sydney!! Another province down and only one left. The last few days have been pretty muggy which means that Alley has a tougher time breathing. We decided to take the long ferry because of this and the fact that our bodies are slowly giving out on us and we don't want to be stuck in the middle of Newfoundland forever. We've camped at random places for the last few nights, so the hotel tonight provided by the Village of Petitcodiac is much needed. We were pretty sticky and dirty when we got here and being able to wash our dishes in running water is always a bonus. We're going out for supper tonight and then heading on the ferry tomorrow at 8. It will be a long ferry ride and we may end up getting a hotel on the other side depending on when we get in. It will hopefully only take us 2 days to get across the shorter section of Newfoundland. We are pretty bummed that we won't be biking it all but some things just don't turn out the way you plan. Plus this way we will be able to function when we are done. At least we will get to see the province afterwards when we spend a few days there with our parents. Time for a good hot meal.  

July 28

WE are camping in Estmere today.  It rained today.  We have decided to take the long ferry to NFLD instead of our original plan of taking the shorter one.  We have booked it for July 30.

July 27

We are just outside Havre Boucher camping.  It was very muggy biking today.  We met with the Shinearma folks at St. X University around 10am.  We had planned to spend the night there on Sat. but that didn't work out. There are ants everywhere here!!!!!  Dave is feeling better today - too much sun we think yesterday.  Isaiah is doing ok - getting better.

July 26

We are just outside New Glasgow tenting.  We stopped here for the day as Dave is sick and to tired to bike further today.

July 25

We were on CBC Charlottetown at 6pm.  Then took the 6pm ferry over to Caribou.  Camping tonight.

July 23

Hey, we made it to PEI!!!!! Another province down. We didn't have to wait too long for the shuttle which was great. We had light rain a bit.  We are having a potluck tomorrow with people somewhere. I hope to get to the beach, Isaiah is very happy for the day off. We didn't get kicked out camping last night and the bugs weren't too bad in the morning. Time to shower.

A


July 22

This is a picture of where we are setting up our tents tonight.  We are behind the Shemague Catholic Church behind the graveyard.  We did get permission to set up here.  Today we did 100 km and figured that was enough even though we had originally  planned to get to PEI.  Sharon Fawcett and Mom biked with us to the Parlee Beach turnoff and then they joined Dad in the van.  Vera, Edna and Bill from the Moncton CF chapter meet us while we had our picnic lunch at McDonalds in Moncton.


July 21

Today started out by Mom and Isaiah meeting us in Fredericton.  Mom to take our bags to Petitcodiac to make the load a little lighter and Isaiah Jacques (Alley's boyfriend) to join us in our journey to St. John's.  With 40km left to Petty,  Gordon Cook surprised us by meeting us and rode with us for the rest of the day.  We put him up front to do the drafting for us.  It was great!!!  Then another surprise was the firetrucks meeting us at the off ramp to Petty and then the greatest surprise was the amount of people who came to meet us at the firehall.  Alley and I were overwhelmed by all the people who were there.  They had a barbecue and bake sale and raised just over 2000 dollars.  We are overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone who was there.  It's been so exhausting biking through New Brunswick the last few days but WOW what great support to come into our hometown and see everyone.  We didn't get to talk to everyone and we are sorry for that but thanks so much for coming.  Tomorrow the plan is to make it to PEI but it's been a late night so we will wait and see what tomorrow brings.

July 20

We are in Fredericton.  Davey had another flat tire today near Nackawic.

We had a fairly good day today. We made it to Freddy by 6 so that was nice. We were treated to a great supper cooked by our cousin. This afternoon was quite an adventure though. Our aunt agreed to take our stuff to Fredericton to make our biking a little bit easier so when i ran over a mirror and busted my tube we realized our replacement one was too small. We then tried to patch it but it had broken on a seam so air still leaked. After trying a few more things we gave up and decided to hitchhike to Fredericton. A van pulled over after 15ish minutes and we were just finishing loading our bikes in when our aunt pulled up. We then got the correct tube from our luggage thanked everyone and continued on our way. Now we are carrying an extra tube each. We also found a computer that will accept our memory stick so we will put up some pictures from Quebec.


July 19

We enjoyed a day off in Centreville today with our grandparents and relatives. The Kinsmen held a bbq for us at lunch time and we had an interview with the local newspaper. We are going to be headed to Fredericton tomorrow and then home(Petitcodiac) for Monday night. These are going to be two long days but we are motivated to get home. It was an amazing feeling to get to the NB border after over two months of biking.  

July 18

It was over 140 km today from Edmunston to Centreville.  We are at our Grampy and Grammy Watson's house. The road was very hilly and we stopped at Rapid Brook Campground near Grand Falls for lunch.  It will be nice to have a day off tomorrow.  The Kinsmen here are having a barbecue for us tomorrow at lunchtime.

July 17

We are in Edmunston.  The radio interview will be tomorrow at 2:05 as it didn't happen today. It is  on CHNI 88.9 Saint John CKNI 91.9 Moncton CJNI 95.7 Halifax  "The Afternoon News with Tom Young".

July 16

We made it to Riviere-Du-Loup.  We took the northern side of the St. Lawerence River as we noticed it was shorter then the south side. However it was so incredibly hilly. I would put those hills to be compareable to the ones that we did in BC. They had such a steep grade. However, they were so much fun once you got to the top. It was such a thrill ride to fly down the mountain. We broke the speed limit in one town going 52km/hr in a 50 zone. Dave had another flat tire today so we had to stop at the top of a hill and change it as cars zommed by. We found the piece of glass that was lodged into the tire this time so hopefully it will be good for awhile. At St. Simeon we took the ferry across to Riviere-Du- Loup and made it to the house. Hopefully make it to NB tomorrow!!!

It was great to have a day off in Quebec, we got to spend the afternoon wandering around the city watch buskers and eat crepes. It was very relaxing.

July 15

We are in Saint-Cassein-Des-Caps.  On the  north of the river. Dave got a flat tire.  It is super  hilly on this route.  We had perfect weather and are camping.

July 14

We are taking a day off in Quebec City and are going to be tourist for a day and go the festivities of the 400th anniversary of Quebec. Yesterday was a very long day as we biked for almost 12 hours in the rain. The rain was at times so hard that we had to find shelter.Thankfully we had a tailwind which at times gusted very strong which kept the rain from pounding us in the face and making biking a little bit easier.  We were picked up at the bottom of Quebec and driven to where we are staying which was very nice as we were very tired and it was all uphill. Alley and I (Davey) have been able to use our french over the past week which has been fun. We had the best poutine in the world last night as we stopped at a small vendor for supper. Well I best go eat breakfast, Salut!

July 13

We did over 160 km today.   It was a wet day. We are going to take tomorrow off.

July 12

Trois-riviere! It was a good bike today, we had decided because it was about 150km from Montreal to divide it into 2 days as there was noway we could have made it in one. Quebec so far has proven to be pretty flat, I would say flatter then the praries were. It makes biking a lot easier but tougher on the head as there isn`t much to look at. We decided today to just follow the road instead of the bike trails (route vert) which I think was a good decision as the trail wound across the main road a lot. I think while it would have made more interesting biking it would have added a lot of km to the day. Yesterday we broke down and paid for camping. There was a pool which was nice to be able to cool ourselves off. The other people in the pool were making fun of our tan lines but I guess that can`t be helped. We have met a lot of bikers since we hit Quebec, they always zoom past us but its nice to see we have company on the roads. Time for a much needed shower.

July 11

We made it out of Montreal without too much trouble and are at Saint-Sulpice.  We are at a campground with a swimming pool.

July 10

Montreal!!!!!!!! We are here!!!!!!!  The sad news is that we didn't make it in time to go to the CFL game.  It was a long day today - we had a good wind but we kept getting lost trying to find the bike paths through Quebec. We are happy to have finally finished Ontario, 5 provinces down, 5 still remain. Tomorrow we are going to sleep in and see how far we make it out of Montreal.


July 9

We had a good tail wind today and it was a fairly flat bike into Cornwall.  We are staying at the Comfort Inn tonight courtesy of the Cornwall CF Chapter/Kinettes.

July 8

We made it to Brockville!!!!! I was so happy to finally get into town. We are now almost done Ontario!!! It was a long haul through Northern Ontario but things picked up after our semi-day off in North Bay. Dave ran around and got groceries and did bike things while I layed in bed and watched TV. It was wonderful and much needed. Since North Bay we've been feeling alot better, its been super sunny which has helped too although we are both pretty red right now. We do use sunscreen but it doesn't seem to be doing much as we manage to sweat if off pretty fast. We are taking a day off here which will be nice. We have to clean up the bikes and get a few groceries. Dave is still asleep which doesn't surprise me as he always manages to sleep in on these days off while I am always up at our typical time. Time to get some breakfast. The cornwall radio station is going to do an interview this morning with me on the show for anyone that is around the area.

July 7

We arrived in Brockville today where we are going to stay until Wed. July 9 when we will head to Cornwall.  We did  100 km today so it will be nice to have a day to rest.

July 6

Today we did 115 km to Almonte.  It was a long sunny day.  Thanks so much to the Pembroke Kinettes for the great day yesterday.

July 5

Hey, we made it to Pembroke and had a nice supper with the Kinettes  and it was free thanks to the Boston Pizza owner for us. Then we went to the waterfront and talked to a journalist and the Kinsmen who are giving us breakfast tomorrow. Today was sunny and nice, it got less hilly when we hit Petawawa which was great.
The hotel was also complimentary...woohoo!!
A
Pictures from Pembroke courtesy of the Pembroke Kinettes. 

July 3

It seems like it took forever but we are finally in North Bay. We are treating ourselves to a hotel after 4 nights of camping. We(Alley) are so happy to have a bed to sleep in.  We need to find a bike shop here - nothing major just general things.

It's Davey and I figured I'd add my two cents about this leg of the trip. Northern Ontario has been tough on us both physically and mentally. We have had some good days but a lot of rain and wind. The worst part was biking all day and getting about an inch on the map. Northern Ontario is massive and it felt like we would never make it through especially the past few days where are bodies have started to become exhausted. We've been over two weeks since our last full day off and our break today is much needed. We are both extremly happy to have finally made it to North Bay and we are encouraged to be done this long stretch. The biking now although hilly should get easier as there will be more to see and we have more places to stay, which are always an encouragement to bike a little bit harder. Today has allowed us to relax and get rested before we continue on. I just want to thank everyone for there continuous support and their prayers. We are very grateful for both. As my time is running out at the public library I best go and find food for supper tonight, I think we are going to make french toast. Yum!!



July 2

We are in Tilden Lake, about 37 km north of North Bay.  We thought we might make North Bay today but did over 100km with the wind in our face and are really tired.  So ---North Bay tomorrow.  We are camping at a rest stop.

July 1

We are a little past Latchford.  The wind was crazy today and it was very hilly. We are camping on a sideroad.

June 30

We had a good day today with the sun shining down on us and the wind at our back.  We saw a bear and bought a watermelon for Canada Day tomorrow. Have a happy Canada Day tomorrow everyone!

June 29

We are 6 km before Matheson.  We had rain and a thunderstorm today.  We are camping at a rest stop.

June 28

We did a short 60 km day to Cochrane as it is raining.  We are staying in a hotel tonight

Alley and Davey leaving Smooth Rock Falls

Pictures and nights lodging courtesy of Brian Jones


June 27

Hey, we made it to smooth rock falls. We had our first flat today, my front tire went outside of Kapuskasing. We managed to fix it and realized that 2 out of the three spare tubes for my bike are the wrong size so we'll have to pick up more in North Bay or if we hit a bike shop before that. We'll just leave the other ones here because we have no use for them. I think we are going to do a short day tomorrow and try to find somewhere windy to camp, last night wasn't too bad. The flies weren't so bad last night but were horrible this morning.

June 26

We did a short day today to Opasatika. We are tired from two long days. Last night we ended up staying with a family that found us at the church and were willing to take us in. We have hit a french pocket of Ontario which is really neat. We get to see if our 8 years in immersion actually taught us anything. Tonight it looks like we are going to be camping unless some nice family will take us in.

June 25

We cycled 150 km today and 100 km yesterday so we could make it to Hearst today. We even made it through that section of highway with 2 L of water left.  Right now we are staying in a Catholic church that isn't locked.  If we get kicked out of here we will go to a hotel.  We are finding most of the churches are locked.  Last night we camped and decided that for the next 5 nights if we don't find shelter we will get a hotel.  The mosquitoes ,black flies and today horse flies are a million times worse than NB.  Last night we camped and  when we took the cover off to stir the pasta the bugs would get into the food and then as you tried to get them out more would come.  They even attack our eyelids so.... it's eating inside and sleeping inside for now.  One more little tidbit about the bugs.  We have to go more than 8 km an hour in order for them not to eat us so we stop and get a granola bar and then get back on the bike and eat while we bike.  The weather hasn't been too bad although it has rained some the last two days.

Pictures from Geraldton

Here we are with the Kin from Geraldton.  Thanks to everyone for all the support.


June 23

We made it to  Geraldton. The last few days have been shorter which have been nice. The road to here has been pretty hilly as we climbed back into the Arctic watershed but seemed to level off a bit this afternoon so I hope the rest of the way across this section will be flattish. Yesterday we got poured on in the afternoon,  we stayed at Beardmore at a old hotel room that someone was using as an apartment and wasn't around last night so we got to stay there. It was nice as it rained all night. Tonight we are staying at the Gold Nugget motel in Geraldton, the president of the Kinettes owns the motel so offered us the room. Thank you Kinsmen!!! Tomorrow we head through the long stretch of nothing for 200+ km. We have to stock up on  water and food here before we go. The flies are thick whenever we stop.  Davey almost hit a deer a couple of days ago.  It ran right out in front of  him and then came towards me - I think I got a picture.

June 21

We are in Nipigon just before the turnoff to Highway #11.  We just stopped here but are planning on going further today.  Our plan is to be in Beardmore Sunday night as we have a place to stay there.  Last night we camped at a rest stop where there was no sign that said "no camping".  It was near Dorion.  Once we stop the blackflies and mosquitoes are crazy here.  We have a new perfume we are using "deep woods off"   Yesterday we biked through construction and when it started downpouring the road was very slippery with no shoulder.  Ugggg! road construction.  We bought another tarp to go over our tent in Dryden and that is working better as we seem to get thunder showers often.  Davey's sleeping bag was getting wet at the bottom.   We've seen 3-4 moose so our collection of wildlife sightings continues.......

June 19

Here we are at the Day's Inn courtesy of the owner/manager Kevin Kalyta. Thanks Kevin!! We(Alley) had an interview today with the CBC New Brunswick afternoon program.


June 17

Happy Birthday Amy!! We are in Ignace, it was a good day today, a bit of a tail wind and sunshine. We saw a deer and a fawn so that was interesting and a waterfall, but other then that the ride was rather uneventful. Northern Ontario is full of trees and lakes and is nice but not as beautiful or as interesting as the praries or the rockies.

We are about halfway done and still in quite good spirits, for me (Davey) getiing past Dryden was the halfway point and we are past it so now we are headed home. It has been a great first half and hopefully the second wil be just as good, with more of those prevaling winds we keep hearing about. Thanks everyone for the help and the prayers they have been greatly appreciated.

June 14

We made it to Dryden!! It has been an interesting few days from Winnipeg. We left with crazy winds, according to the weathernetwork they were 40km/hr eastren winds with 61km/hr gusts. We fought them as much as we could and then decided not to fight anymore. We figured it was better to stop then to get blown into the middle of the road when cars were coming. Guy from the kinsmen of Winnipeg rode with us for the day which was nice to have someone else to talk to and someone else to cut the wind for us. It probably wasn't the best day to have company as we didn't make it far. That night we camped at a real campground, they had paddleboats and a pool, we didn't use the pool because we were cold to begin with. It rained hard all that night. The next day (June 12th) was nicer. We dried everything out at lunch and made pretty good time once we got into the tree cover.  The road became much more hilly as we got nearer to Ontario. We spent that night across the road from the tourist info site 2 minutes from the Ontario border (we could see the 'Welcome to Ont' sign). Once we hit Ontario it got alot hillier with windy roads. They were actually quite fun to bike on providing there wasn't much traffic. Ontario believes in putting shoulders on their roads which is nice. It rained on and off all day when we got into Kenora, we continued on and stopped at the Willard Lake motel but Davey really wanted to camp. By this point it had cleared off for a few minutes so he convinced me camping was the best option. We biked abit further and pulled over beside one of the many lakes where there was a woodsy area. It ended up not raining for the rest of the evening which was great as we got to dry out some of our stuff. My clothes bag got soaked somehow so I had to wear Daves extra pants while my biking clothes dried. They were huge. Today was nice biking, it didn't rain at all on us and we had a slight tailwind which made the huge hills abit better. Once we passed Vermillion Bay the road got straight again (but still hilly) which made the biking somewhat less enjoyable then all the turns.

We have officially left the fields behind us. They gave us more of a challenge then we were expecting but we managed to make it through. Now a break in Dryden for 2 days to wash clothes, restock the food bag, and sleep then onwards to the vast nothingness.

I'm trying to add more pics if the website speeds up abit. 



June 13

We are in Kenora, it is raining but we plan on making it to willard lake (can't be found on mapquest) so I have no idea how far it is. We may get a hotel if there is one there otherwise it will be pretty wet tenting as it rained last night and has been on and off all day. I can't get cell phone reception right now. We then plan on going straight to Dryden.

A


June 12

We are camping tonight in Falcon Lake.  Getting closer to the Ont. border  We are now in to trees and lakes  and no fields.  We had a good day and saw a deer.  New pictures are posted by Guy Madill who biked with us yesterday.

June 11

Today we hit the worse winds we have experienced so far and so we made it only 40 km outside of Winnipeg.  We are camping tonight.  One  nice thing,  we passed the half way through Canada sign!!!!!!!!!!

June 10

We made it to Winnipeg!! The winds were definitly annoying and not very helpful but the road was flat. We got a shoulder on the road after lunch which was nice along with the good pavement but then 13km before Winnipeg it went back to no shoulder and crappy road which didn't make sense as that is when the traffic picked up. We took the perimeter highway around the city to avoid the stop lights and confusion which worked out well. There was only one bridge where I thought I might get smashed against the side of it if a semi tried to pass me. Definitly not built with bikers in mind. We got picked up at one of the off ramps to come to the house which was even better. It feels like we are done the second leg of our journey..the prairies, and now start the wilderness never-ending Ontario part of the trip in a day of so. I biked the last 2 days without my knee brace on and it only started getting slightly sore at the end of today so that is a huge improvement. I hope it is finally healed. Thanks to Janice and Co for letting us stay at their house for 3 days and eating all of their food. It was nice not to have to bike in the rain yesterday and felt even better when the area was put on tornado watch.

June 9

We are taking another day off. We woke up this morning to steady rain that is suppose to last all day and decided not to go out in it. It didn't help that I spent alot of the night coughing. After deciding not to go we went back to sleep for a few hours. We  are now just lounging around, Dave is watching the soccer game. We had someone from the MIX96.5 radio station come over and do a quick interview. He said it would be on around 5 for those who are in the Portage area.

http://www.portageonline.com/index.php?option=com_ezine&task=read&page=9&category=21&article=8429&Itemid=86

June 8

Well, we made it to Portage yesterday. We had the perfect day for biking, a flat road, strong tailwind and just a little cloudy. My only complaint was the lack of shoulder on the road and the horrible patching job. After we stopped for a yummy second breakfast with the Minnedosa kinnettes, the wind picked up so much and we flew for about a hour until there were more trees along the road. With the open fields, we were coasting along at 35km/hr, up little hills. It was so much fun. We had one downpour but managed to make it to a gas station so we could sit out most of it. One advantage of being able to see for miles is that you see the storm clouds coming. Yesterday made up for the other day when we biked from Yorkton to Russell with a stong headwind. That was a long draining day, especially when we hit the crazy valley just before Russell. It was nice to coast down into it but it was some steep biking out of it. The day managed to redeem itself when we got to the inn around 7 (with the time change). We went out back to our room and there were some guys from Pine River cooking up some moose burgers. They saw us and offered us some burgers and cold drinks.  Dave had about 5 burgers with fries and they let us take the rest of the burgers for lunch the next day. It was such a great ending to the day. 

We are taking a day off today in Portage, it was much needed. We have to grease up our bikes and wash clothes. Its been over a month now we've been biking, we're having a lot of fun, meeting the most interesting people and being well feed everywhere we stay. Thanks to everyone who has taken us in.

 

June 7

We went 195 km today! It was a great day for biking.  We had lunch in Minnedosa and now we are  in Portage La Prairie.


June 6

We went 78 km today to Shoal Lake. It was a wet and cold day.  We are staying in a motel and felt better after a long soak in the tub.

June 5

We made it to Russell, Manitoba today- 101km..  A long and hard day averaging 11 km an hour. STUPID WIND!!!!!!
We are staying at an Inn that has been provided for us courtesy of the Saskatoon Kinsmen.  We saw this large loonie on our way in Churchbridge, Sask. 


June 4

We did 95 km today into Yorkton. It was pretty biking and we had the good pavement for the first bit. The wind wasn't too bad..not as bad as yesterday at least. We started at 640 in hopes to beat the wind which I think worked. We saw 2 foxes and a coyote on the way here which was unusual but exciting to see different animals then ducks and geese. We are now at the library for a hour until we figure out where we are staying.  We are only 100 km from the Manitoba border.  Then it will be 3 provinces down.  Hopefully we will reach the border tomorrow.

June 3

Today was tough, the wind was so brutal we only made it to Foam Lake. It didn't help that Davey stayed up last night until the end of the hockey game. The wind is so tough to bike against. We both decided that stopping was the best option. We have a campground by a driving range, we seem to be the only people in it which is nice. Currenlty we are at the library using the computers. The librarian kicked off the teenage kids for us. This town claims to be the best place in the world to live...I somewhat have my doubts.

June 2

We made it to Wynyard. We had a visit from some maritimers along the way, and from Daveys friend from Dryden. It was nice to see some familiar faces. We had to fight the wind again, it seems to be a continueal thing. I spent the day drafting off Davey, I'm becoming an expert at that now. Our bikes are working great now after the tuneup in Saskatoon. Last night was nice to have a bed at the Plunkett hotel and a hot greasy supper. A lady came buy and gave us cookies which were super yummy. We had a few and then decided to save the rest of them for next day. Then later when Davey came into my room to pound my back, he said " so I ate all the cookies..." Boys!! He eats an insane amount. Well, time to go watch the hockey game.

June 1

We are staying in Plunkett, Sask. today at a motel.  We saw an alpacha farm on the way.  We did 95 km  It was sunny and a little hilly.  There is a few new pictures posted on the picture page.


May 30

Today was awesome. It was one of those days when you remember how much fun biking is. We finally got a tailwind so made it 71km before lunch, then did the last 20 into Saskatoon before 1. Our average speed was 25km/hr when we hit Saskatoon. Much better then the 12km/hr a few days before. We are now just relaxing,  showering and washing clothes. Day off tomorrow which will be nice. I hope the wind doesn't change. We are finding the prairies not to be as flat as rumoured although sometimes it seems that you could curl on the highway its so flat. I loved the scenery from Alberta to here, its a different pretty then the rockies but still pretty. The only thing missing are the bathrooms along the highway.   

May 29

We made it to Maymont, we had to fight the wind so we didn't make it to Radisson. Davey is feeling a bit better but still tired.  Alley fell in North Battlefield, got scratched up and her arm is sore.  We camped near the gas station.  The weather today was sunny but then it downpoured.  If we have a good day tomorrow we will go on to Saskatoon.

May 28

We had a long bike today to Delmas with the wind in our faces.  The road is nice and flat but oh the prairie wind.  Davey isn't feeling well tonight so we probably won't make our goal of Radisson tomorrow.  Wouldn't it be nice if the wind would change direction!  We are really enjoying the Alberta/Sask. hospitality.

May 27

We are in Lloyminster tonight and staying at the Best Canadian Motor Inn.  It has a nice pool.  Thanks Bill Wilmot for providing this spot for us tonight.  We got a sunburn today.  Check out the Sunday night news at http://www.canada.com/globaltv/edmonton/video/index.html  We may be on again tonight.

May 26

We're in Vermilion. This morning was windy so it was pretty slow going, we started off at the giant egg that is in Vegreville, it was huge!! At lunch we stopped for about a hour, I was cold so Davey made me put on his rain jacket and dug out the tarp so I had a mininap while I warmed up. In the afternoon the wind slowed so we could go better.

Thanks to the Vegreville Kinsmen for coming to visit us yesterday, helping us out and finding us a place to stay in Vermilion. Yay bed!!!


May 25,

We made it to Vegreville!! It was a long rainy day. I think we were still tired from the day into Edmonton. We were interviewed by Global on the way and are on TV soon. Its pretty exciting.

May 24th

Hey all, we made it to Edmonton!! It feels like the first leg of the trip is over. Thanks to mom for updating the website all along and to everyone who has sent us emails. The last few days have been pretty rough. We found someone to stay with in Edson while we waited for the bike to get fixed. The next morning we had to leave around 630 because he had to go to work so we took our stuff to the Tim's there and spent the morning sitting in the Tims eating doughnuts. The staff was so friendly and helped us out by locking my bike in the shed while we got groceries. The bike was fixed around noon, we left around 1 and only made it to Nojack. It was a rainy cold day. We ended up spending the night at the campground. They had a shelter with picnic tables and a wooden stove, we made supper and then Cory and Theresa other campers showed up. They made a fire which made me so happy, I finally got to warm up and dry out. They let us sleep in their site and gave us this thermal blanket. It was so nice. Yesterday to Edmonton was a long day. We started at 7 and didn't make it to the DeJongs until 9ish. We went 185km and spend 10 hours biking. Not the best of mileage but it was surprisingly hilly and we had a crosswind that was a huge deterrence. Wind is worse than hills. We are holding up, my knee is feeling much better now that I have the brace on it. We have spent the morning getting groceries. Davey is now trying to get all the mud off the bikes from the last few days. We are spending the day relaxing which is much needed. Hopefully the weather holds for tomorrow. I'm trying to upload some pictures now. Thanks for everyones support!!

 

Hi, It's David, I figured I'd add my views of the first leg of the trip. We have been very happy with all the support we've been given and all the wonderful people we have meet along the way. It's been an amazing 2ish weeks of biking. I personally really enjoyed BC and all of it's great scenery which made biking so much more interesting. The mountains were tough, but we made it over them and we are in much better shape now then when we started. We've had good luck with the wind until yesterday so that has been very pleasant. We hope to get back on our schedule in a few days and with a long day on monday this can be accomplished. Thanks again to everyone who has helped us along the way and who have been praying for our health and safety.


May 23, Edmonton, Alberta

We made it to Edmonton!  185 km!!!!!!!!! 

May 22, Nojack, Alberta

Another cold,rainy, muddy day.  Hope to get to Edmonton tomorrow.

May 21, 2008 Edson, Alberta


Hey, we are in Edson, we made good time here.  It was raining and cold the entire way here, the brakes on Daveys bike went so its now at a shop, its going to be until tomorrow around 4 before he can get it fixed is what we were told so we are stuck here for a day. Davey has gone to some churches to see if we can find a place to stay, if not we are going to get a motel although I hope there is one close as we can't really carry everything with us in one load as we are down to one bike and its mine which has less room to carry things. Its been a frustrating day.  We had a hot lunch at the gas station on the way here which was the highlight of the day. It was warm and my toes finally warmed up. They are kicking me off the computer, we have been hanging out at the lib all afternoon. I'm sure the librarians think we are up to something.

A


May 20, 2008 Hinton, Alberta

Today we are camping by a lake in Hinton.  We saw 37 elk on the way here from Jasper.  It was 17 degrees today.  .  It was pretty good going today although still mountainous - we are biking between 6-8 hours a day- about 80 km today.  We enjoyed the internet in the Hinton library today.


May 18, 2008 Jasper, Alberta

We arrived  in Jasper today after spending last night in Mt. Robson Provincial Park.  We camped by Moose Lake, the prettiest lake in the world.  We got the last two beds in the hostel here and plan to stay for two nights.  Everything has been going well - no major bike problems and the highways have had a good shoulder for biking.  We did about 70km the last two days and so far have only had about 1/2 day that the wind was bad.


May 16, 2008  Blue River, British Columbia

Last night we camped for the night at a campground in Blue River.  We saw two bears so decided it wasn't a good night to camp beside the road.  It's all uphill here and so we are slowly making our way to Jasper.  We are doing well although Alley has developed a sore knee.  Here's hoping it will work itself out!


May 12, 2008  Kamloops, British Columbia

We are in Kamloops tonight.  Yesterday we slept in real beds in a hotel.  It had rained off and on all day and we were wet.  Sure was nice to soak in a tub.  Check out the page under pictures.  This was the day we started.


May 11, 2008

Our goal today is to reach Cache Creek.  It rained last night but isn't raining today.  Our bodies really hurt from all the biking but other than that we are doing well.  We had to open a can of tuna last night with a rock!  Where was the can opener?


May 10, 2008

  We are at Lytton, we can't get any phone reception. We are taking highway 1 instead of the pass because we heard it was terrifying. It will probably take us an extra day to get to Kamloops this way but with less climbs. Today was cloudy with a bit of sun, it was nice and very hilly. We went on a gondola ride over Hell's Pass because it was Canyon Appreciation Day and it was free. It was nice. The library is closing now so I have to go and we have to go find a camp site. You probably won't hear from us for a few days until we hit Kamloops because we are in canyons.


May 6, 2008

We made it out to Vancouver and met up with Nicole pretty smoothly.  Everything went fine, they didn't feed us on the plane but we were prepared for that.  We didn't have to pay extra for the bikes to go in our luggage so that was great.  We are going to set up our bikes tomorrow and do nothing tonight.  It will be enjoyable.  It isn't overly warm here but perfect for biking,  all the trees are blooming which is pretty.  Thanks for the great send off last night.

April 28, 2008

We got a cell phone finally, the number is 506-871-4760. We have a pay-as-you-go card so prefer texting if possible. We will contact people that have offered us a place to stay a few days before we expect to be there.
We continue to thank everyone who is helping us a long the way. We've started packing, a week and day before we leave. Eek!!

For those in the Moncton area, we are having a get together on May 5th after 6 as a drop-in send off if you want to come say goodbye. We live at 75 Main street, Petitcodiac.

April 12, 2008

Thanks to everyone who has donated money to our cause. We have been given around 700$ to help us get across. This money has been given to us personally for food or accommodation but we will be giving any money we have at the end to CF research.
Thank you again to everyone who is helping us out and supporting us.
Less then a month to go!! I'm getting excited and sometimes nervous of the challenge ahead but I know we can do it, so we will.   Only 3 assignments and 3 exams left!!

April 11, 2008

My bike!!


March 30, 2008

Davey got his bike finally!

A little over a month before we fly out. Eek! I need it to stop snowing so I can go outside biking.


March 13, 2008

Thanks to everyone who showed up to the movie. We raised over 300$ which is great and the movie turned out to be good which was my biggest surprise.
I started making the list of everyones address and phone number so if you've offered us a place to stay, could you pass along your contact information so we have everything organized. There is still 2 months (eek!) but as Davey likes to point out, I'm sometimes obsessive about being organized.
Thanks to everyone who has emailed us, we love hearing from you even if it takes a bit for me to respond.

March 04, 2008

Wow, its been awhile since I've updated this. The plans are coming along quite smoothly. At Dalhousie, we had an article printed in the Gazette stating what we are doing.
For those of you around the Halifax area, this thursday, March 6th, the Dalhousie University Chinese Canadian Society is holding a movie at the Oxford theater. Admission is 5$ and the proceeds are going towards the bike trip. It starts at 930pm for those who can make it out.
Other then that, there isn't any real news. Davey's bike is at the shop waiting to be picked up and we are on a search for a battery operated handblender. This would be for us to mix Scandishake along the way. If anyone knows of a good brand, please pass it along.
Thats all for now, back to studying.


Feb 05, 2008

We just bought tickets!!!! We fly out on May 6th which means in 3 months and 1 day we will be in BC. We fly out at around 6am which sucks but it means if anyone is going to meet us at the airport or we have to find some place then it means we won't be wandering around BC at midnight. We will stay the night before heading off in the morning to begin.

A few people have been asking how much it is going to cost along the way and I thought I would break it down for those who are interested and because I don't want to go write my paper. This is just a rough estimate, I think its best to estimate high. That way we won't run out of money and end up having to hunt moose in Newfoundland. If the grocery money seems high its because we can't carry much with us from day to day and  small packages of food is always more.  Also, because of my CF, I need to eat high calorie, high fat food which tends to cost more money.
Food - 150$ week   
Sleep - 100$ week  - this may be lower depending on how many nights we end up at campgrounds.
Extra - 50$ week
for 3 months = 3600$

Jan 28, 2008

Davey got his bike!!!!!
Well he bought it, he just has to pick it up. I (Davey) just want to say how much work my sister has done as this is the first thing I have written and she has emailed everyone back and all those things. Anyway, so thanks Alley for all you've done and for lining everything up even in your busyness of school to get everything organized.  Thanks to everyone who has emailed, you really have given us an overwhelming response. We are so happy to see all these generous people. Thanks for your support

Jan 25, 2008

We have been trying to get sponsorship or donations from some phone companies around the area to provide us with a cell phone and some phone minutes along the way. This is so we will be able to contact someone in an emergency but we can not find a company to help us. I realize that we don't meet a lot of their criteria such as 'not being an individual' or 'having an event' but I still thought I would be able to find someone to help us. Every store told me to contact the district office which I did but was unable to get a response.
My friend has graciously offered her old cell phone for me to use along the way but this still leaves us without phone minutes. If anyone knows a company that would be willing to help us out please let us know.

Davey still doesn't have his bike but plans on going bike shopping this weekend. We are both exercising like crazy to get ready to go. 

Jan 15, 2008

We are amazed at the response we have received. Thanks to everyone who has emailed us, we're always happy to hear from you.
Updated the 'How to get Involved' with a Donations sections on how to donate to our cause.

Jan 12, 2008

Alley has her bike!!!!
Updated 'How to get Involved' listing all the places we need spots to spend the night

Jan 09, 2008

We have a website!!