So where are you going?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that question lately. People at the airport as I shlep my boxed bike around, family here in Toronto where I’m getting ready to head out on the ride, random folks, nearly everybody is curious as to what I’m doing and I haven’t even done anything yet! So why am I here in Toronto? Where am I going? How long will it take me? And exactly why am I doing this?

So I’m in Toronto because in 2007 I rode my bike from New York City to Windsor Ontario. It was supposed to be a one time thing - a lark into the world of bike touring. Didn’t quite work out that way – after that trip I was hooked. So what was always supposed to be an isolated idea became the seed for another adventure and inevitably spawned the feeling of unfinished business. Fastforward to right now and I’m getting all set to finish this all up once and for all. Instead of starting from where I left off I’ve decided to backtrack a little bit and start in Toronto (or just south of it to be exact in the town of Burlington). Why there? I have family in the Toronto area and through a few other points in Ontario and this seemed like a fine way to catch up with some folks along the way. Word to the wise, never pass up the offer of a home cooked meal, a warm bed and a ride from the airport.



So the plan is to head west, roughly along the path that I’ve scribed onto this map. As you can see I’ve colour coded the lines – you can see what I did a couple of years ago, you can see what I’m planning to do this time and also a green line far to the west of possible ideas. The reason for this is time. I hope to have the time to ride all the way to Vancouver on this ride, but it may turn out that I don’t have time to do that portion of the ride this time. It’s not a huge deal to me, I’ll just come back and finish it up next summer, with my wife Sophie who’s dead keen to ride the Rockies with me – funny she wasn’t superstoked about Saskatchewan…

So that’s the plan, that’s what’s up – all I need to do is get on my bike in about 12hrs and turn dreams into reality! The mere thought of riding 3200km to my parent’s house in Calgary is both terrifying and incredibly exciting all at the same time. Scary and exciting – two vital ingredients for a great adventure! Chat to you soon from the road.