Dates:
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June 30, 1999 to September 4, 1999
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Type of trip:
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No frills. Camping in individual tents in campgrounds for
approximately 55 of the 67 days. Most campgrounds were well-
equipped, but some had only mediocre facilities and one had
no showers. Indoor shelter in a hotel (last night of trip)
university residences (7 nights), and in arenas and a summer
camp the other nights.
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Length:
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7, 400 kilometers; 67 days
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Route:
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From Vancouver BC to St. John's NF through all ten
provinces. Click here to see a map.
Vancouver - Fraser River Canyon- Okanagan Valley -
Roger's Pass - Rocky Mountains - Kicking Horse Pass -
Prairies (dinosaur trail; Qu'Appelle and Red River Valleys)
- Canadian Shield (Lakes Superior and Huron) - Tobermory -
Craigleith - Toronto - Ottawa - Montreal - Richelieu River
Valley - Trois-Rivières - Quebec City - beginning of
Gaspé Peninsula - Matapedia Valley - part of Acadian
Coast - mid section New Brunswick - P.E.I. - Nova Scotia -
Cape Breton Island - ferry to Argentia NF - St. John's
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Roads:
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Every type of road that one can imagine from gravel paths
to major highways, such as the Trans-Canada Highway - some
without paved shoulders.
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Participants:
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20 for the full trip - 12 men, 8 women; another man and
woman from Vancouver to Winnipeg
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Number of riding days:
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55
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Daily distances:
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under 100 km:
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8 days
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100 to 120 km:
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10 days
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120 to 140 km:
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10 days
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140 to 160 km:
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17 days
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160 to 180 km:
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7 days
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over 180 km:
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3 days
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Average day's
distance:
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Although the average daily distance is only about 132 km,
there were several days when the rides were very short. In
other words, the average day's distance is closer to 150 km,
especially since most riders experience difficulty with the
maps which means clocking on extra kilometers every now and
then.
Many of the more recreational riders would have enjoyed
more 100-km days. The cycling-club types never complained
about the longer distances.
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Number of rest days:
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11; only 4 in cities
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Daily routine:
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In the early part of the tour, some of the riders were up
with the sun. This means that you would hear the tent and
sleeping bag zips start opening any time from 4:30 a.m. on
and it wouldn't be long before you would hear the back door
of the Ryder truck swing up with its characteristic roller
sound. Showers would have been taken the day before and many
cyclists would get all their camping gear packed away before
breakfast. Breakfast was scheduled to be served from 6:30 to
7:30 a.m. but this schedule was not always respected. Many
people would have made their lunches the night before. Most
riders would try to get away early and some of these people
exerted pressure on the others to do so, too, showing little
tolerance towards those who wished to get a later start to
the day.
The day would be spent riding from point A to point B in
the way each rider saw fit. That is, some riders rode as
fast as possible between the two points with very few stops;
most riders adopted this policy at the beginning of this
year's ride because the weather was rainy and cold for most
of the first two weeks. Of course, there was always a great
range in arrival times because of the cyclists' different
riding speeds.
On days when the weather was fine, though, many cyclists
preferred to take their time with more stops to eat, relax
or visit along the way. On long days, however, you couldn't
really stop much or you would get into camp fairly late, and
if your galley crew was on dinner duty, you felt a lot of
pressure to get into camp as early as you could. Sometimes -
for example, on days with strong headwinds and long
distances - this was not possible.
Many people chose to ride alone or sometimes with one or
two other cyclists. Small groups were formed from time to
time, for example, when the map instructions appeared
complicated. Often there didn't seem to be much interest
shown for riding with others.
When people arrived at camp, they usually pitched their
tents and often took a shower as soon as possible or saw to
the repairs or cleaning their bicycle needed to be ready for
the next day. A few people would go for a swim - many of the
camp sites were close to lakes or rivers or had pools - but
there didn't seem to be many confirmed swimmers in the
group. The cold temperatures in the West didn't encourage a
quick dip, either. Then, many cyclists would relax over a
drink (pop or beer) and talk about the days' events. Others
would write their daily journal entry or read in or outside
their tents. After dinner, a small group often got together
to do stretching exercises and people would start retiring,
sometimes as early as 7:30 p.m.
Here is a link to an interesting page
containing Mark Bazerman's description of a
typical day followed by additional comments by Mike Nash
and Don Peddie.
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Food and meals:
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Our group was divided into five different galley crews of
four or five people which meant that we had to plan and
prepare dinner and the following day's breakfast once in
every six days or so (on rest days, people were on their
own). Both the dinners and breakfasts were very good to
excellent, in general (much better than we had expected, in
fact). As the food was cooked 95% of the time on a portable
camp stove with three gas burners, it is a credit to all
concerned that the meals were so interesting and varied.
There were five confirmed vegetarians in our group and a few
semi-vegetarians, so all the meals took this into account
with alternate meat and meatless options for some of the
dishes. Fresh vegetables for salads were always in supply
and our usual fresh fruit consisted of bananas and apples.
There was often a cut up watermelon awaiting to quench our
thirst after a hard day's ride. It would have been nice,
though, to see more oranges.
Breakfast menus included, on a rotational basis, pancakes
(the group's favourite), French toast, Red River cereal,
Oatmeal porridge, bagels, eggs, bacon, hash browns. Only
lunches were rather tiresome; the usual fare consisted of
peanut butter and jam sandwiches and although we saw cheese
from time to time, it would have made a nice change on a
once- or twice-weekly basis.
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Maps:
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Maps which indicate each day's route were supplied on a
daily basis to the riders. Unfortunately, the maps contained
many inaccuracies and even wrong information and this often
resulted in unwelcome additional kilometers at the end of a
day's ride. On many days, the route was traced out of
context so that you didn't even see the body of water on the
map beside which you might be riding during most of the day.
Oft times, by the names on the map, you could not
distinguish whether there was actually a town or not at a
particular spot. In three instances, names of campgrounds
which had been changed two and three years previously had
not been changed on the maps, making it hard for people to
find the exact spot they were headed. Sometimes, we arrived
at large towns and even an important historical site that
were not mentioned on the map.
Although many of us procured provincial maps at local
tourist bureaus, sometimes free of charge, these maps were
often drawn on too large a scale to be of much help on some
of the back roads we were riding along. It can only be hoped
that Tour du Canada will find a way of making the required
improvements on the maps; these would most certainly add to
the quality of an average rider's day.
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Truck:
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A five-ton Ryder truck, with a sliding door and a ramp at
the back and a swing side door, containing two refrigerators
and an electric coffee maker, galley and personal storage
areas, a small safe and a small library, including cook
books. The truck could accommodate one or two injured riders
if needed. It did not act as a SAG vehicle although it would
pick up a needy person in passing. Once it had gone past, it
would not return to pick anyone up except in the case of an
emergency. This meant that people often had to hitchhike to
their destination if they could no longer continue the ride;
this happened a lot more frequently than we had expected at
the outset but was mainly due to the bad weather this
year.
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Cost:
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$2,645 which included all the food bought for group meals
during the trip, including treats from time to time,
beverages (such as coffee, tea, powdered milk and juice),
campsite and inside accommodation fees, ferry crossings
costing more than $1, oil, grease and regular bike
maintenance supplies, and sunscreen lotion. There was also a
cooler full of beer and soft drinks that people could
purchase for $2 and $0.50 respectively.
During long rides, most people stopped for treats and
drinks during the day. On two days when the weather was
extremely bad, we divided ourselves into small groups and
rented indoor accommodation (motel, heated cottage) that was
available on or near the camp site. One day with gale-like
conditions, 16 of us rented a school bus to get us from
Point A to Point B.
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Organizers:
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Tour du Canada is a not-for-profit corporation. In 1988,
the tour originated with Bud Jorgensen, who now owns
Veloforce Inc. which provides administrative support for
it.
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What the ride is:
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Crossing Canada on a bicycle - Demanding - Difficult -
Dangerous at certain points - The longest annual bike ride -
An amazing experience - Fun for those who cycle for the sake
of cycling
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What the ride is not:
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A relaxing vacation! - Easy! - A cultural tour of Canada
- A recreational ride - A race -
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