Final few thoughts...

As I sit here on the plane I think back to the amazing journey I’ve been on – from the mountains and steep passes of British Columbia, the ‘tunnel days’ when giant logger trucks revved their powerful engines as they passed just precious centimeters away from us in the tunnels, gorgeous Lake Louise, the crazy storms of the Prairies, the friendly locals in Manitoba, the steep sweaty climbs and heat of Southwestern Ontario, and the rolling hills and fantastic wide shoulders and smooth roads of Quebec, the mosquitoes of New Brunswick, the rain and golf-course-esque landscape in PEI… and finally the absolutely stunning scenery and steep climbs of Nova Scotia. It has truly been a fantastic, 72-day, completely ‘vintage Canadian’ experience....

While I still don’t have an all encompassing answer to ‘what makes someone a Canadian’, I have realized that it’s the mountains, the logger trucks, the tunnels, the scorching sun, the torrential rain, gigantic mosquitoes, black flies, the pow-wows, the roads, the trees, the Tim Hortons honey cruller donuts, the languages, the bridges and, most importantly, the people themselves the that make up the social and cultural mosaic that is Canada. How you embrace these elements and make make them your 'own' -  how you appreciate and genuinely respect them -  makes one truly Canadian. I believe that it is THIS very natural and richly diverse patchwork of landscapes and people and cultures which define who we, as Canadians are. ‘Experiencing’ ‘THIS’ by bike puts one on ‘ground level’ and allows one to feel and interact with the life and breath of the country firsthand…and then find and carve their own place in the patchwork.

I know the TdC journey has been one the most fulfilling journeys I’ve ever been on. The sense of achievement that I now feel will last longer than my stiff knees, dodgy tan lines, and the after-effects of 7500kms on a bicycle saddle..! Interestingly enough, I feel that the greatest achievement of all is more than physical -  it so much more than a ‘distance’ and a number on my odometer. The achievement is actually at the level of ‘spiritual’ and emotional. I now truly feel like I know my country and, more importantly, my place in it… and this, to me, this is the greatest achievement of all....