Pretty close to 1000Km cycled

At the time of this posting, I am about a couple KM's shy of reaching the 1000 mark.

Throughout my trek, whenever I am riding my bike, I turn on my Garmin etrex Legend HCX GPS. It is logging my travel information (via tracks), guiding me to where I have to go, and keeping stats for my trek.

I only use it when I am cycling. In times where I have been hiking/walking, I've used the Google Maps app on my phone.

My stats thusfar are:

998 Km total distance
Max Speed - 65.9Km per hour
Moving Time: 57hrs 24 min

1000Km in three weeks might not seem that much (I've previously pulled off 240Km in a single day riding from Picton to Toronto), but keep in mind that all of this has been done while in BC, quite often in mountainous conditions.

Week #2

This is the data for week #2

June 8 - Woke up around 7:30am, did some quick reading. Packed things up, enjoyed breakfast with Karen and Russ, who were both heading up to Whistler for the week-end. Biked over to Stawamus Chief Provincial Park - stashed my bike and gear in the woods. Hiked up to Peak #1 of the Chief - Amazing view. Hiked down, and walked over to Shannon Falls.
Returned to hidden bike - continued riding back to Mike's in North Vancouver. Took a quick shower, and was picked up by Mike's friend Geoff, and headed out to Julian's for his birthday BBQ.

June 9 - Woke up, and hung out in front of Mike's house enjoying the sunny morning. Headed out for a late breakfast with Saulius, Julian and his wife, Mike and Morna. Hung out some more at Mike's,buteventually rode out to MEC Bikefest in North Vancouver. Took the Iron Workers Memorial bridge into Vancouver, travelling from east to west on Hastings. Popped in to the Robert Lee YMCA for some steam room jacuzzi stretches/refreshment, then back to Mike's for the night.

June 10 - Rode out for some early morning Yoga at the Robert Lee YMCA, then went to DIY bike shop "Our Community Bikes". Purchased a bike helmet, and some extra brake pads. Cycled the perimeter of Stanley Park, hung out at Third Beach, then rode the Seaside Bicyle Route. Returned to the YMCA, picked up my things, then headed back to Mike's.

June 11 - Rainy catch up planning research day.

June 12 - More work at the computer, but eventually headed out for some stretches at the Robert Lee YMCA. Returned back to Mike's to pack for my Vancouver Island expedition.

June 13 - Mike and Morna left early to catcha flight to Toronto, while I headed out to catch an early ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo. Just made it. Spent ride talking to a journalist from Ontario. Started ride to Port Alberni, where I would spend the night with Couchsurfing hosts Chris and Nathan. Took several breaks in Parksville, and enjoyed the magic of lowtide. Continued towards Qualicum Beach, then made my way to Alberni. The ride up the hump was long and tough. Enjoyed dinner, wine, and great conversation with Chris and Nathan.

June 14 - Woke up early, took a shower, then enjoyed breakfast with my hosts. Just made it to the docks and caught the ferry from Port Alberni to Ucluelet. Overcast and cloudy formost of the ride. Enjoyed talking to the various passengers, most of whom were returning to Alberni on the same day. Watched S3E9 of Game of Thrones. Yikes!!!! Arrived in Ucluelet around 1:30pm, and headed out for a chilly ride to Tofino. Picked up crazy expensive supplies from town, then pitched my tent outside of town.

Week #3

This is the data for week #3

June 15 - Rode out to Radar Hill, and enjoyed the view of the Tofino region. Rode into Tofino, enjoyed some coffee and wifi from Vincente's. No data access with my phone anywhere - only an Edge connection, which would cause my phone to convulse. Rode out and explored the various beaches in the area. Checked out the Rainforrest walk in Pacific Rim National park. Cleaned all the sand off my bike using one of the outdoor showers by the washrooms of Long Beach.

June 16 - Woke up really early, and packed things up for the early morning boat ride to Hot Springs Cove. Enjoyed coffee @ Vincente's, and briefly charged my phone and expansion pack. Locked my bike up, picked up supllies, then paid an expensive one way fare to the Cove. Sleepy boat ride to the Cove. Also - I came to realize that I was rather stinky. Upon arriving at the Cove, carried everything with me on the 2k boardwalk to the Cove. Upon arrival, tide was low, so bathed in the lower regions. Amazing! Water was really hot in the upper areas, and James (fellow passenger) and I snagged the best spots. Avoided dirty looks from the many others that rolled in. Returned to dock area, and set up camp in the campgrounds. Was the only person camping there overnight. Returned to the Hot Springs, and enjoyed more bathing time, and some reading. Some locals from Tofino came, and offered some local mud they had picked up to smear over the body. Met an elderly man who had sailed from Victoria by himself (1 week), lamenting that it was likely his last time doing so. Returned to the campsite in the early evening, made a pasta dinner that turned out rather bland, and went to sleep before dark.

June 17 - I slept 10 hours, which is something that I have not done since likely my teenage years. Hiked over to the Hot Springs, and met some people who arrived by sailboat the night before. Enjoyed the hotsprings talking with them about their sailing trek, and my cycling trek. Eventually a boat from Jamie's came, and I found out from the passengers that they would be returning around 1pm. Eventually returned, and packed everything up for 1. Met the park ranger, and enjoyed hearing his take on things with the park. Returned back to Tofino by boat, once again paying a steep price. Walked over and enjoyed a coffee and wifi @ Vincente's, picked up my bike and headed back to my original campsite to pick up the rest of my things that I had stashed in the woods. Various trials and tribulations which I will post on. Started making my way back to Alberni,encountering rain in the process. Stopped @ Kennedy Lake during a lull in the rain, and set up camp for the night.

June 18 - Rained throughout the night. Tent was wet inside and out. Loose pegs shifted in gravel exposing portions of groundsheet. Packed everything up, had some breakfast, and started cycling to Alberni. Road was not as dangerous as everyone made it out to be, but could see why there would be concern. Plenty of climbs, but really not all that bad. As I got closer to Alberni, turned on my depleted phone. Was happy to once again have a data connection, but found out that Chris and Nathan would not be home until 8pm. Since it was around 3pm, I decided I would keep biking. I quickly sent some hosting requests to Warm Showers people near Nanaimo. Ride up the hump from Alberni started dry, but became really wet. Pulled over to change into rain gear, only to have rain stop 10 minutes later. Changed again, and got a message from Tobi that I could crash at her place. Made it there around 8:30, did some laundry, and dried out my gear. Charged up most of my energy depleted electronics. Did some reading beofore falling asleep.

June 19 - Woke up, and started packing everything up. Enjoyed a coffee and some travelling information from Tobi. Headed out to visit some stores in Lantzville. Visited the Costco, and was greatful that an employee allowed me to make a purchase using my dad's account (via a temp card). Proceeded towards Duncan riding the trans Canada, eventually getting off to explore the Crofton region. Met up with my hosts Alan and Sandy (CS) at their home in the outskirts of Duncan. Unpacked my bike, then rode back into town to pick-up a few things. Made it back to Alan and Sandy's around 8pm, and enjoyed a wonderful dinner and sampled some of their tasty homemade wine. Enjoyed great conversation with both.

June 20 - Was originally going to head out to Lake Cowichan, but as it was a rainy day, headed out to Duncan and hung out in the Tim Hortons, finally updating things with this blog!

Rainy Day in Duncan - Catch Up Time

Originally, was planning on heading towards Port Renfrew this morning. However, since it has been a rainy gloomy day, have opted to head into Duncan, visit the Tim Hortons, and take advantage of the free wifi to catch up on the many things I have been neglecting. Am hoping to update this blog, and hopefully finally actually launch/publicize both the blog and fundraising aspect of this trek.

Tofino

Am in the Tofino region for the weekend, and am experiencing problems with data access on my phone. Am way behind on updating things, but expect to do so sometime in the middle of next week when I am less remote.

On the learning curve of maintaining this blog.

One thing is certain - I need to find better ways of maintaining this blog on a regular basis.

With all the travelling and exploring, it's not that easy to find the time to write about things. It hasn't helped that the weather here in BC has been amazing, so I've actually had very little down time.

Thusfar, I have not gone public with this blog, as I have been waiting for my CamH event page to go live. Once that is ready, I will send out info to everyone and anyone.

Week #1

I'm still in the process of figuring out how to manage this blog. Whenever possible, I will write as much as I can. Whenever I can't, I will try to make some form of a weekly sketch that provides info about where I was, and what I was doing.

As time and experience progresses, will (I hope) eventually get the hang of things!

May 31 - Flew out from Toronto, arrrived at Vancouver airport, picked up by Mike, first visualizations of Vancouver while driving to his home in North Vancouver

June 1 - Morning at the Cleveland Dam, re-assembly of bike, met Julian and , Grouse Grind, hung out at Mike's house, once visited (tailgated) Spencer while he was running the "Vancouver 100".

June 2 - Went over to Darski's house to help him move Leanna's pics from local gallery. Went out for first ride to the north shore MEC, had my fall on Fell, went for dinner with Mike and Morna at her parents place. Cousin Philip (maritime lawyer from UK) was visiting - great stories of his travel experiences.

June 3 - Spent the day "catching up" with various loose ends, contacting Warm Showers people, prepping for ride to Whistler. Rode out to Vancouver for first time - Lion's Gate bridge. Visited the Robert Lee YMCA, and attended a hatha yoga class.

June 4 - Headed out for my ride from North Vancouver to Whistler. Stopped and took various photos on the ride up. Met up with Alex (WS = Warm Showers) as she was finishing work. Went back to her place for dinner and settling in.

June 5 - Woke up for breakfast with Alex, then headed out with Alex to ride the gondola up Whistler. Hiked up with Alex, enjoyed the views, then hiked down. Alex went to work - I went Peak 2 Peak, yoga on the gondola, exploring above. Met up with Alex at work, picked up various things needed for dinner.

June 6 - Woke up early and went out for coffee in Whistler, worked for several hours updating things. Returned to Alex's around noon, fixed her bike, rode out with her to Lost Lake. She went to work, I rode around exploring. Hung out on dock on Lost lake, which turned out to be the nudist dock. Met a couple from Vancouver, and a local from Whistler, and enjoyed the afternoon talking to them while chilling in the sun. Early evening, rode out to Pemberton. Met with my hosts Anna and Nikki (WS).

June 7 - Originally planned on exploring farming areas near Pemberton, but clouds looked ready for rain, so opted to start my ride to Squamish. Cool breeze was perfect for uphill climb to Whistler. Picked up the rest of my stuff from Alex's in Whistler, met her at work to say bye, and continued on my way to Squamish. Made it to Karen/Russ (WS) around 6-ish. Enjoyed drinks with Karen, had dinner with both her and Russ, then went for an evening hike around their neighbourhood.