Monday, June 16, 2008
I find myself sitting on an 8 hour charter flight from London heading back to Toronto with a duffle bag crammed full with shorts and spokes, helmets and headbands, tires and tiger balm, sunscreen and sleeping bag. Depending on how things progress over the next few days I will either be spending my summer in the South Western Ontario as a gel and lycra inspired fashionista or I will be spen
ding my summer biking across Canada with an organization called, ‘Tour du Canada’ (http://www.tourducanada.com/).
Many people have said that the ‘Tour du Canada’ is a “journey and not a destination”. The coming 2.5 months will be a journey of many respects. It will be a physical journey as I and 37 other people of all ages and nationalities will climb on our bikes and over the course of 66 days migrate from west to east over 7,500 kilometers of Canada’s vast geographic expanse - from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It will also be an emotional and, dare I say it, ‘spiritual’ journey. A journey through which I hope to ‘discover’ Canada and better understand how I fit into the social and cultural geography of a country for which I proudly claim citizenship but hardly know.
The background of the story is that through a series of ‘unfortunate’ (sic) events, which involves more immigration-inspired bureaucracy than I care to elaborate on, I have found myself with a surprising summer ‘opportunity’ to do something ‘different’ before heading back to the hustle and bustle of corporate life in London, England where I will start with PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PwC). When ‘opportunities’ like this arise in life I often wonder how much can be put down to sheer timing (eg. right place, wrong time) or put down to fate and the sense that something much more is at play. In this particular case I feel that it is a nice, clean combination of both the former and the latter.
The daunting part of the story is that it’s all happened rather suddenly. Flying by the seat of my (gel) pants seems to be the theme in the decision making process associated with my preparation for this journey. Organisers of the TdC recommend that all participants prepare by biking at least 2,000kms that season. Given that I signed up for the TdC on Friday, fly back to Canada today, buy my new (and first) road bike tomorrow and fly out to Vancouver on Friday I feel quite confident in betting that I won’t be biking 500kms /day to make up the ‘bum on saddle’ quota.
Whilst my ‘bottom’ will certainly feel the wrath of a hard saddle I hope that my recent mountaineering adventures in Nepal, my ‘weight lifting’ training (eg. recent moving my life from Amsterdam to London) and absolute determination to succeed will put me in good stead. I also have a bit of ‘into the wild’ saddle-related experience thanks to a rather mad (but successful) 500km mountain bike trip through northern Tanzania in October 2007 which did have a happy ending but did not come without its fair share of dust, sweat and tears.
In a nutshell, I know that I am taking a huge risk, will be facing an even larger physical challenge and that the odds are not in my favor... Having said that, I remain optimistic and if anything, will have a story to tell… even if that does involve hitchhiking my gel and lycra clad body across the country, road bike in hand, Neil Young on the ipod and the wind at my back. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Am I scared? Hell yes and I’d be lying if I said that I have not had a thousand second thoughts. I don’t want to dwell on my biggest fears – many of these are obvious. The mountains and steep passes of British Columbia, the ‘tunnel days’ when giant logger trucks rev their engines as they pass just precious centimeters away from the bike, the storms of the prairies, the heat of SW Ontario and the rolling hills of Quebec, the longing for 400 thread-count sheets, Jimmy-Choo heels, warm showers and a great big feather bed. I am confident that I have completely underestimated the mental and physical challenges which lay ahead. Wrapping my head around the mental elements of the trip, coming to terms with the duration (eg. 66 days of biking) and the distance covered will also be a huge obstacle. But not an insurmountable one.
But that is what will make this trip a completely ‘vintage Canadian’ experience… because it’s the mountains, the logger trucks, the tunnels, climate that make up Canada and help define who we, as Canadians are. ‘Experiencing’ it by bike puts one on ‘ground level’ and allows one to feel the life and breath of the country firsthand. Whist I know the TdC journey is by far one the most difficult things I’ve ever tackled I also know that the sense of achievement upon completion of the journey will last longer than my fears and the after-effects of 150km days on a bicycle saddle..!
Whilst doing my ‘research’ before singing up for the TdC I spoke to a previous participant who provided some hugely inspirational insights. She recommended treating the trip as a ‘job’ and to take it one day at a time and at the ‘nitty-gritty’ level, one pedal stroke at a time – however easy or painful that might be. Setting small goals for your self each day, each hour, or 15-minute increment is key to getting through the really long and tough days. It’s also important to remember to stop for small rewards along the way to indulge in Canada’s haute cuisine – Tim Hortons for Tim Bits, Swiss Chalet for chicken, Dairy Queen for milkshakes and local greasy-spoons for burgers, strong coffee and insights into small-town, rural Canada.
I find myself sitting on an 8 hour charter flight from London heading back to Toronto with a duffle bag crammed full with shorts and spokes, helmets and headbands, tires and tiger balm, sunscreen and sleeping bag. Depending on how things progress over the next few days I will either be spending my summer in the South Western Ontario as a gel and lycra inspired fashionista or I will be spen
ding my summer biking across Canada with an organization called, ‘Tour du Canada’ (http://www.tourducanada.com/).Many people have said that the ‘Tour du Canada’ is a “journey and not a destination”. The coming 2.5 months will be a journey of many respects. It will be a physical journey as I and 37 other people of all ages and nationalities will climb on our bikes and over the course of 66 days migrate from west to east over 7,500 kilometers of Canada’s vast geographic expanse - from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It will also be an emotional and, dare I say it, ‘spiritual’ journey. A journey through which I hope to ‘discover’ Canada and better understand how I fit into the social and cultural geography of a country for which I proudly claim citizenship but hardly know.
The background of the story is that through a series of ‘unfortunate’ (sic) events, which involves more immigration-inspired bureaucracy than I care to elaborate on, I have found myself with a surprising summer ‘opportunity’ to do something ‘different’ before heading back to the hustle and bustle of corporate life in London, England where I will start with PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PwC). When ‘opportunities’ like this arise in life I often wonder how much can be put down to sheer timing (eg. right place, wrong time) or put down to fate and the sense that something much more is at play. In this particular case I feel that it is a nice, clean combination of both the former and the latter.
The daunting part of the story is that it’s all happened rather suddenly. Flying by the seat of my (gel) pants seems to be the theme in the decision making process associated with my preparation for this journey. Organisers of the TdC recommend that all participants prepare by biking at least 2,000kms that season. Given that I signed up for the TdC on Friday, fly back to Canada today, buy my new (and first) road bike tomorrow and fly out to Vancouver on Friday I feel quite confident in betting that I won’t be biking 500kms /day to make up the ‘bum on saddle’ quota.
Whilst my ‘bottom’ will certainly feel the wrath of a hard saddle I hope that my recent mountaineering adventures in Nepal, my ‘weight lifting’ training (eg. recent moving my life from Amsterdam to London) and absolute determination to succeed will put me in good stead. I also have a bit of ‘into the wild’ saddle-related experience thanks to a rather mad (but successful) 500km mountain bike trip through northern Tanzania in October 2007 which did have a happy ending but did not come without its fair share of dust, sweat and tears.
In a nutshell, I know that I am taking a huge risk, will be facing an even larger physical challenge and that the odds are not in my favor... Having said that, I remain optimistic and if anything, will have a story to tell… even if that does involve hitchhiking my gel and lycra clad body across the country, road bike in hand, Neil Young on the ipod and the wind at my back. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Am I scared? Hell yes and I’d be lying if I said that I have not had a thousand second thoughts. I don’t want to dwell on my biggest fears – many of these are obvious. The mountains and steep passes of British Columbia, the ‘tunnel days’ when giant logger trucks rev their engines as they pass just precious centimeters away from the bike, the storms of the prairies, the heat of SW Ontario and the rolling hills of Quebec, the longing for 400 thread-count sheets, Jimmy-Choo heels, warm showers and a great big feather bed. I am confident that I have completely underestimated the mental and physical challenges which lay ahead. Wrapping my head around the mental elements of the trip, coming to terms with the duration (eg. 66 days of biking) and the distance covered will also be a huge obstacle. But not an insurmountable one.
But that is what will make this trip a completely ‘vintage Canadian’ experience… because it’s the mountains, the logger trucks, the tunnels, climate that make up Canada and help define who we, as Canadians are. ‘Experiencing’ it by bike puts one on ‘ground level’ and allows one to feel the life and breath of the country firsthand. Whist I know the TdC journey is by far one the most difficult things I’ve ever tackled I also know that the sense of achievement upon completion of the journey will last longer than my fears and the after-effects of 150km days on a bicycle saddle..!
Whilst doing my ‘research’ before singing up for the TdC I spoke to a previous participant who provided some hugely inspirational insights. She recommended treating the trip as a ‘job’ and to take it one day at a time and at the ‘nitty-gritty’ level, one pedal stroke at a time – however easy or painful that might be. Setting small goals for your self each day, each hour, or 15-minute increment is key to getting through the really long and tough days. It’s also important to remember to stop for small rewards along the way to indulge in Canada’s haute cuisine – Tim Hortons for Tim Bits, Swiss Chalet for chicken, Dairy Queen for milkshakes and local greasy-spoons for burgers, strong coffee and insights into small-town, rural Canada.
No comments:
Post a Comment