Wendy
Riding a bike has always been a form of escapism for me. Flying along on my bike, wind in my hair, the sky seemed like the limit. Problems and worries just melted away. It gave me a feeling of freedom and independence similar to owning your first car.
The thought of biking across Canada first occurred to me when I was about seventeen, but it was just an idea, not something I ever intended to seriously pursue. I didn't want the responsibility of planning a trip like that. I figured that biking across Canada was going to be one of those things that I would always wish I had gotten around to doing... but never actually did.
When Blue told me he was planning a bike trip, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Here was someone else to take most of the responsibility for planning the trip. I had expected my husband, my boss, and my parents to all be vehemently opposed to the plan and was very surprised they weren't. My boss was willing to let me take a leave of absence, and my parents were downright supportive. I didn't actually believe we were really going until we got off the train in Vancouver; I was convinced that someone else was going to call the trip off.
My main motivation for wanting to bike across Canada was really a desire to get feel for exactly how big our country really is. I had traveled by plane, train, and automobile but had never spent more than thirty hours just getting from one place to another. In fantasy novels the characters spend weeks traveling on horseback and I had always wondered what that would really be like. An unsupported cycling trip seemed like it would approximate that type of experience. On top of all that, I wanted the badge to pin on my chest that said, "I've biked across Canada." I hadn't really realized that when we left, but it became apparent pretty soon that that was a big motivating factor for me.
Before we left, the thing I was looking forward to the most was freedom. No more getting up early, hopping on a bus, spending all day in a cubicle, getting home after the sun had set. I would be outside all day, every day, getting as much exercise as I could possibly want and sleeping every night in a different place.
As far as training for the trip went, I wasn't very organized. I just tried to get out on my bike "as often as possible." Riding in Toronto during the winter struck me as not being a great idea so I started taking Kung fu but that was only three times a week. Once the weather got warm enough to ride my bike, I started going out more often, but since I didn't want to ride after dark and I didn't want to ride on an empty stomach, it was hard to get out after work. On weekends I would go for several hours on Saturday or Sunday (at this point three hours seemed like quite a long ride) but not usually both. On top of that I never went out when the weather was lousy. I also didn't do any training with the gear since it was such a pain to set it all up (I live in an apartment and had to take everything down in the elevator which wasn't really possible to do on my own since I couldn't just make several trips, the gear would have wandered off). I really wish that I had made a training schedule and stuck with it, rain or shine.
Even though we only traveled as far as Winnipeg instead of going all the way to Toronto, I don't feel like the trip was a waste. I learned a lot about myself and about this style of traveling. I really enjoyed going to sleep every night in a different place, the feeling of accomplishment when every kilometre you travel means that you are one kilometre closer to your final destination. Sure there were times when I wished I was back at home in my nice warm bed, but I learned a lot about myself, what I'm capable of, what makes me happy. I really want to bike across Canada, go all the way from the west coast to the east coast. I've never been east and have always wanted to go. This trip has given me some really valuable experience along with the confidence that I really can bike from coast to coast if I want to, I just have to make up my mind to do it.