Ride of a lifetime: Tour du Canada ride report by Leslie Strugnell
Posted In: Goals September 12th, 2014 divider No Comments »A friend of mine just concluded an amazing bucket list trip, cycling from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic of our great nation. I asked her for a quick recap to give ECinc readers a sense of what the journey was all about. Here is part 1, stay tuned for part 2 next week!
Have you ever felt the desire to embark on a great adventure? One that would test your physical and mental toughness as well as leaving you in awe at the beauty you discover?
Well, there were seventeen other people with the same idea of adventure as me – to bike coast to coast across Canada. I went with a tour group called Tour du Canada, and I met up with the group in Vancouver, B.C. We set out from Vancouver on June 20th, and never looked back.
As I dipped my rear wheel in the Pacific Ocean, I knew it would be a very challenging couple months, but there were no doubts in my mind that we would make it 8000km to St. John’s Newfoundland. Having reached our goal on August 28th, I can say now that it was that mind over matter attitude, which we all shared, that allowed us to finish strong. No one rode a single day in our support truck. The days with a headwind of 40km/hr and the cold rainy days were the most mentally challenging, but having the group of people we did, no one let each other give up.
Although I would say 80% of being able to go across Canada was mental, that’s not to say that the other 20% physical was easy. I remember our first real mountain summit – the Coquihalla Summit – 4081ft. 20km of steady climbing. Sounds daunting eh? Slowly, but surely we spun our way up the mountain. Getting over the fact that my odometer was reading 9km/hr for well over an hour was the beginning to conquering the mountain. With a speed that slow, I was really able to take in my surroundings, and to appreciate the shear greatness of the Rocky Mountains. Often times, the days that were the most physically challenging, were the ones with the most spectacular views. It was a “workout to the lookout” we liked to say, and worth it each and every time! It seems that way in life too – the best things are often the toughest. The exhilarating down hills at 75km/hr (sometimes going over the speed limit) always made it worth the climb on the other side as well.
Leslie Strugnell recently completed the Tour du Canada, a supported cycling journey from BC to Newfoundland. This is her report.