About December 2009 the feet got itchy again and I decided I was due for another cycle tour overseas. I decided Canada might be nice. And everyone I have spoken to raves about it.
I tried to rope somebody else into coming with me; but Joy is busy (some excuse about now having a boyfriend and she'd rather spend time with him); and various girlfriends were unavailable or indecisive.
Jimmy, who lives in Nelson, phoned to wish me Happy New Year - and when he heard of my plans he said 'Can I come?'
So my travel buddy this trip is Jimmy, a hostel owner in Nelson who also loves cycling. He left NZ in June and flew to San Francisco; and has cycled his way up to Vancouver to meet me.
Meanwhile back in New Zealand I have been distracted by a charming chap called James, so preparations for this trip have been a little more patchy than in the past. Breaking my little finger (playing volleyball of all things) 3 weeks ago also hasn't helped the cycle training. I am hopeful Jimmy is not expecting 100km days into headwinds right at the start!
The vague plan (as Jimmy says, no plan is the best plan - allowing plenty of flexibility and spontaneity) is to head East along the British Columbia portion of the TransCanada trail (a biking/walking trail in various stages of completeness); then head north to the famous Icefields Parkway, then turn west towards Whistler and roll back to Vancouver along the Sea to Sky Highway.
We have six weeks.
I have retired my beloved green cycle shirt (edition 2) as even I started to notice how thin it was getting. I think it lost a whole layer of fibre... so for this trip I have splashed out on not one but TWO new cycle shirts. Actually, I bought 3 but left one at home. I have bought a colourful New Zealand-emblazoned shirt; with scenes of the southern alps and other NZ icons. My other shirt is a bit of an experiment, a Ground Effect part-merino long sleeved shirt, this time in a more subtle silver and purple colour. Nice enough to even wear off the bike! Other new purchases for the trip are an orange jacket; and a new Domex sleeping bag. I'm sure I saw the exact bag in the shop 3 years before; and the shop owner thanked me profusely for buying it (I was in a 'buy NZ-made' mood that day). My very faithful bike shoes were not replaced; they have a few more kilometres left (nearly 6 years old, over 23,000km - after seeing the state of a couple of french cyclists shoes mine looked practically new); as do my 'go anywhere' black Keen shoes; and the same successful combo of Down jacket, touring pants, blue merino top, blue denim-look skirt.... in years to come I might confuse my different trip photos as i'll be wearing the same clothes in all of them! Joy will be pleased to hear I did buy new bike tyres.
We are staying with a warmshowers host in Vancouver; I arrive 2:15pm Sunday, Vancouver time; about half an hour before I left Rotorua the same day! I've built up plenty of good karma hosting cyclists this year, so am looking forward to meeting the Canadian hosts. Unfortunately they seem a very active holiday-loving bunch, as I struggled to find a host in Vanouver who was not off touring themselves!
No comments:
Post a Comment