The Great Canadian Cycling Adventure
Across Canada by Bicycle in the Tour du Canada 2000
Forward
From the Tour du Canada® literature:
"Tour du Canada is an adventure that puts wheels on the Canadian courieur de bois tradition.
For most people, a cross-Canada ride starts with an individual goal because such a trip is the ultimate cycling experience.
A Tour du Canada ride is a shared experience that allows cyclists to see Canada at a human scale and meet people from all of its regions.
Being part of a group provides individuals with the confidence and resources to meet their goals and makes possible a trip that many would not contemplate on their own. Participants become part of a small, close-knit community that moves across the continent during ten weeks of summer.
The Tour du Canada route is one that samples the flavour of the country. The 7,300-kilometre trip goes through all 10 provinces and allows riders to experience the diversity of the regions. We ride from west to east, taking advantage of prevailing winds.
From Vancouver, our route takes us through the Fraser River Canyon, across the Okanagan Valley and over Rogers Pass to reach the Rocky Mountains.
After crossing Kicking Horse Pass, we descend to the dinosaur trails around Drumheller. Riding alongside the canola and wheat fields of the Prairies, we pass through the Qu'Appelle and Red River Valleys.
Our route takes us through rugged granite canyons of the Canadian Shield and around the northern perimeter of the Great Lakes. In Southern Ontario, we follow rural roads past historic settlements to reach the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill.
From the capital, we follow the Ottawa, Richelieu and St. Lawrence Rivers to reach the sea. Along the way we pass through Old Montreal and by the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. After crossing the base of the Gaspé Peninsula, we follow the Acadian Coast in New Brunswick to Confederation Bridge leading to Prince Edward Island. From P.E.I., we go to Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island to catch the ferry that takes us to the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland."
This website is the journal of Alan Medcalf, one of the riders in the 2000 edition of the Tour. The journal is a personal perspective. Each of us joined the Tour for our own reasons, and we each experienced the journey in our own way. Yet, we also transcended the collective individual experiences to share something quite special as bonded into an interdependent group, a little nomadic tribe cycling across Canada. This is my view of that shared journey. I hope you enjoy the story, and through reading my journal, can imagine yourself on such a journey. If you can imagine it, if my story makes you dream, then consider participating. Think about it now, because next year, you'll be one year older.
...alan