Mile 0

At 9am on June 18, 2013, myself and 10 0ther individuals headed to Victoria, BC, to Mile 0. I would be lying if I said I was not nervous. This was day 1 of 74 in which I would be cycling across the grand country of Canada with a group of individuals I never met before. But I was comforted with the thought that we did have one thing in common, we all wanted to cycle across the country just for the fun of it, making us all slightly bonkers :)

To get to the ferry which would take us to Victoria Island we needed to take the George Massey Tunnel; however, cyclists are prohibited from going into the tunnel and thus we took a bicycle shuttle through the tunnel. We loaded our bicycles on a trailer and through the tunnel we went. 

When we got back on our bicycles and headed towards the ferry I was overcome with a sense of familiarity. Although I had never been to coastal BC before, the environment felt similar to that of the ocean coast in the Netherlands, Costa Rica, and El Salvador which was comforting.

The ferry ride to Victoria was beautiful. The weather was fantastic as the sun managed to peek its way through the clouds. I could see the mountains in the distance and the ferry was just puttering along allowing me to take it all in. 

When we arrived on Victoria Island we cycled to a place called Mattick’s Farm which turned out to be a really cute spot. It consisted of several little shops, including a nice grocery store and a yummy ice cream shop. So obviously I had to buy some strawberry ice cream :) 

After stopping at Mattick’s Farm we took a beautiful bicycle route through a wooded area and soon after we were in downtown Victoria. We headed to Victoria International Hostel where we would be staying the night. 

We all cleaned up and went out to a Chinese restaurant for a delicious meal. There we met a couple, Dan and Joyce, who would be joining the tour. After dinner a few of us walked to the harbour and there I met my friend Mia who showed me a bit of Victoria. I also spoke of my fear in undertaking this journey to her but she was very supportive, expressing that she believed I could do it and she will be with me throughout the entire journey, eager to hear all the stories and see all the photos. 

The next day the group cycled to Mile 0. I thought it was kind of funny because I did not actually know that the place we would be cycling to was called “Mile 0.” Mile 0 signifies the final destination of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope. Although Terry did not make it to Victoria, BC, his legacy spread throughout Canada and the world and he actually became a part of the Tour du Canada journey, travelling with us from coast to coast. 

After arriving at Mile 0 we cycled to the ocean and dipped our wheels. At that moment my journey had officially begun. 

For the remainder of the day I cycled with Dan and Joyce. They were fantastic company, I quite enjoyed cycling with them. We took the scenic route through Victoria to get back to the ferry and it was beautiful. I saw some pretty spectacular houses and what was even more fantastic was the homeowners not only spent money on their grand house but also on landscaping. Some of these yards contained massive trees and it was incredible to see.

Once we reached the ferry my saddle was irritating me and I hoped the 90min ferry ride back to the mainland would decrease the discomfort. Unfortunately my saddle decided to remain a pain in my derriere and I was tired. As we cycled back to the University of BC (UBC) my blood sugar dropped and I began to feel a bit woozy. Luckily Joyce offered me a Nature Way granola bar which helped. However, I was beginning to internally freak out because I had only cycled 95km that day with numerous breaks and yet my saddle was creating a lot of discomfort. My mind began to wander, questioning whether I could cycle more than 100km in a day. Others in the group noticed I was tired and irritable. Michel, the oldest member of the tour at 71 years old (incredible isn’t it!) gave me some advice. He told me that I need to take the tour one step at a time. I should not regard the tour as one whole piece; rather I should regard it in smaller chunks. For example, if I am to climb a mountain, my gaze should not be focused on the top because that can be incredibly intimidating and it can feel as if it will take forever to get there. Rather, look a few metres ahead and tell myself the goal is to get to that spot. Once I have arrived at that spot, look again a few metres ahead and tell myself the goal is to get to that spot. If I continue to look just a bit ahead the journey becomes manageable, enjoyable and less intimidating. I told myself that I would take Michel’s advice and simply take it one step at a time.

That evening I met a few more riders one of which would become my riding buddy for the entire journey. As well, two riders I met that evening, named Bob and Irene, stuck out to me in particular. They were a couple in their late 60’s and I instantly thought they were so cute and fantastic. I thought it was amazing that that they were doing the tour together, it was beautiful to see. What was even more amazing was that Bob already did the tour in 2009 but he wanted to do it again just for the fun. However, Irene said that this time around he was going to do it with her at his side, which was lovely.

That night I went to bed with nervousness in my belly because the next day would be orientation which would give me a clear picture into what I actually got myself into. But there was also a hint of excitement because so far the people I had met who would be undertaking this adventure with me seemed pretty awesome which made me extremely happy :)