November 2004
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A look forward - Until I have pictures of my 2005 adventure to post, this will be a reminder of what I have to look forward to. This shot is of the Vernon Outdoors Club on a bike ride that covers a very, very small part of the Tour du Canada route. The Trans-Canada highway is along the base of the hill on the far side of this valley and the community is Chase, B.C.
What is the Tour du Canada? It is a group of people cycling about 7500 kms across Canada from Vancouver, B.C. to St. John's, Newfoundland. It is not a race to see who can get there first but is primarily a supported tour with a large rental van hauling all our gear and the cyclists generally following the suggested route for the day to get to that nights camping spot.
The adventure does start a long time before the actual start date of the ride in Vancouver. I believe I first found out about the Tour du Canada when doing a search on the web for adventure tours. A number of them were quite costly for a one or two week tour but somewhere in one of those searches was a link to the Tour du Canada website or a journal with a link and I found their site. The cost for a whole summer of a guided adventure was the same or even less expensive then a one or two week specialty tour and I couldn't resist finding out more. I know that the Tour is mostly self reliant on cooking work and providing your own camping shelter but that only adds to the adventure. I decided to become a member of the Tour du Canada to find out more while testing myself out on some extended bike rides. I had never even completed a short century (100 kms as compared to a full century of 100 miles) before this point. I signed up in June of 2004 but did not receive my membership package until September due to the fact the 2004 Tour was in progress and the coordinators were busy with that. Even so, I did do a few short century rides over the summer, including a 126km ride which had some major elevation gains (and drops as well) with 20 kms of logging road thrown in for good measure. This ride at least let me know that with the training I would be doing, a 160 to 180km day would be doable. After receiving the member package, I started a small training schedule with minimal commitment and was able to cycle 1000kms over the next 2 months, letting me know that when I commit next March to start my training, the 2000kms should be easy enough to get in that 3-4 month period. I was originally planning to do the Tour in 2006 but shortly after sending in my member registration I sold my business and therefore decided to do it in 2005 before committing myself to another business.
It is now November 2004. My training schedule is slowing down for the winter but I have done over 2300kms this year on a 50 to 60lb (depending on fluid needs for the day) mountain/touring hybrid bike. Some may think the trainig a necessary evil but I look forward to it. I will be looking forward to getting a new bike that will be appropriate for this trip and getting used to it. I look forward to building up my endurance and strength so that I will have an enjoyable summer of 2005 as I see this country from a unique vantage point. I know some of the training days will feel a bit repetitive as I just put on some kilometers but a few special rides as well as a multi-day group ride with the local club will still make this a time to look forward to.
A different perspective. What I will be riding through next summer. The Trans-Canada highway as it travels through Glacier National Park. Pictures taken from one of the hiking trails above Illecillewaet Campground.
You can just make out the lighter green roof of Glacier Park Lodge at the Roger's Pass along the valley bottom.
Can you tell I am looking forward to this trip?!