Two-Wheeled Self Discovery
By: Aaron Clemens
Tags: Cycle Touring, Cycling, Canada

Two-Wheeled Self Discovery

If you’re new, please check out the first post in this series: Prologue — Setting the stage

Hello, and welcome back to the blog!

My name is Aaron, and this is my story…

MEC “The National” prototype touring bicycle

Back in late 2010, after moving to Calgary following my father’s death, I found myself unsettled, with a purpose left unfulfilled. I knew it was time to make good on my dream of a cycling adventure, one that my father could no longer take part in. It was as much for his memory as it was for me that I set out to craft this adventure. In the early going I envisioned cycling from Calgary home to Toronto. It seemed ambitious on paper, and avoided the daunting mountain passes of British Columbia. However, as the calendar moved in to early 2011, I realized this was not the right decision for me. I came to the understanding that I may never again attempt an adventure like this and should challenge myself to cycle coast to coast, to see as much of Canada as I could. It was important for me that I not shy away from the challenge the mountains posed or the intimidating longer length of the journey.

I was lucky that I found a job in Calgary at their Mountain Equipment Co-op. They provided me such opportunity to explore many outdoor activities, with up to date gear, knowledge and community. Perhaps the best perk working for MEC was that they offered a 3 months leave of absence. Staff were encouraged to use this time to embark on personal betterment, expeditions, education or other self driven adventures.

Where to start? Where to end?

Knowing I had 3 months to work with, I devised a rough route that I could accomplish in 2.5months, leaving me a 2 week buffer at the end in case of delays. Coast to coast seemed achievable in this time frame. If I started in Vancouver and ended in Halifax I was looking at roughly 60 days of cycling with about 14 days off throughout.

I wanted to avoid the rainy season of May and June so decided to leave in July, and based on work needs managed to set up my leave of absence starting July 25th.

I’d worked out I’d like to average 100km per day, even though I’d never cycled more than 50. I wasn’t a particularly fast cyclist, so I wanted to plan this all out with the notion that I would be able to bike at a comfortable commuting speed of 15–20 kilometres per hour on flat terrain.

The more I looked to the West, and the looming mountains, the more I dreaded them. I figured I would change my starting location to Victoria, that it would give me a few extra days to find my legs, and get used to a life on a bike, before the huge challenges began. Starting in Victoria also afforded me the opportunity to begin my trip at Mile 0 of the Trans-Canada Highway. Something that just felt too perfect to pass up.

In looking at my ending destination I wanted to find an access point to the ocean. Symbolically starting my trip IN the Pacific Ocean and ending IN the Atlantic. Scouring around the maps of Halifax I determined the best place to conclude this epic would be Point Pleasant Park, a cycling accessible spear-head shaped prominence jutting out into the ocean.

It was perfect.

4, 483km as the crow flies from Mile 0, BC to Point Pleasant Park NS.

The Plan — Straight Line from Mile 0, Victoria BC to Point Pleasant Park, Halifax NS — 4483km

As my plan took shape and my confidence grew I began to feel more comfortable sharing my trip aspirations with others. It began to circulate around our store and soon all my colleagues were aware of what I was striving to achieve. At a cycling staff meeting in April 2011, our lead bike designer was visiting our store from head office with the new crop of bikes that would soon hit the sales floor. Afterwards he asked to speak with me. Somehow word of my impending tour had made its way to head office and to his ears. H wanted to know what bike I’d be using for my trip. I explained I had a rugged cyclocross bike that could double as a light touring vehicle. He expressed how excited he was for me, and wanted to let me in on a little secret. MEC would soon be selling a cycle touring bike, but it had been delayed to the end of 2011. However, he was in need of someone to test ride his prototype, currently in storage at head office. If I were willing to change bikes he would ship me the MEC prototype to ride across Canada. The name of this bike?

The National. Again, perfect!

As for the rest of my gear, I began compiling what I had already accrued for general camping. I felt cycle touring was basically camping, on a bike, so aside from a few bike specific things I kept my organization similar to how I recommend packing for a camping trip. Use systems to group items based on their use. Ex. Shelter, Cooking, Clothing and Hiking Systems (here we can swap hiking for cycling systems), explained more below:

What I brought on my cycle tour