Preparation

I made my decision to travel across Canada, coast to coast, on a bicycle with Tour du Canada, in my fifth year at Trent. Once Christmas came and passed I began to seriously prepare for the trip which would begin in early June and end on the last day of August, lasting a total of 10 weeks.

Preparation obviously involved serious training. I had been speaking to a personal trainer, named Lesley, about my idea of cycling across the country. Come January, Lesley and I decided to seriously get to work to get my body in shape for this undertaking. Lesley was amazing, I could not have asked for a better person to help me train for the trip. She was there to answer all my questions or find answers to quesitons she did not know the answer too, come up with weight and endurance programs, and just be there to cheer me on. She believed that I could do the trip, even when I was second guessing myself, which was extremely encouraging.

Preparation also involved purchasing my first ever road bike. So off I went to “Wild Rock” in Peterborough to find my beloved bicycle companion that would take me across. The bicycle I purchased was a Trek Lexa SLX, which I named Paula Trekabecca because of course I had to name my bicycle, especially if she was going to be lugging my bottom across the country. At Wild Rock I met Kieran, co-owner of Wild Rock, who was absolutely fantastic. He gave me advice on what I should bring with me on the tour and was always there to readily answer my questions. He also whole-heartedly supported my undertaking which I appreciated immensely.

I also decided that preparation required obtaining some knowledge on basic bicycle mechanics. And so I joined B!ke: Peterborough’s Community Bike Shop. There, Tegan taught me basic bike mechanics and I am so grateful she did. Because of her help I successfully changed a flat, a tire, and a chain during the tour J Also, the introduction she gave me to basic bike mechanics inspired me to continue learning about the subject. Once you a comfortable with the mechanics of your bicycle you have the ability to travel anywhere. With bike mechanics comes confidence because if your bike breaks down you are able to fix it on your own no matter where you are, which is a liberating thought.

During my preparation stage I also met Alan who partook in Tour du Canada a few years back and has participated in several other tours. He was a tremendous help in preparing me for the tour. He told me stories about the tour which provided me with insight into what I could expect, gave me advice, and answered all my emails J He also became a cycling buddy and a mentor which I am grateful for.

Despite all my preparation, however, there was a slight problem in achieveing my cross Canada tour, and that was my saddle.

Saddle discomfort is a popular problem among cyclists and I became one of the many who suffered from this issue. Kieran tried to help me find a saddle but to no avail. When I went back home I sought out the help of Mark, owner of Thousand Islands Cycle. He was fantastic in helping me out and from his knowledge I became aware of my scoliosis. Essentially my spine is slightly curved which has resulted in my left hip being stiff and my right hip being more loose and generally there is an imbalance between my left and right side. This imbalance caused problems on the bicycle because I was trying to fit an asymmetrical body to a symmetrical object. As a result I developed saddle problems which made me question whether I should do this trip at all. On average I was to cycle 130km a day. With my dysfunction I found cycling long distances unenjoyable because of the saddle discomfort. But in addition to my saddle problems, I was actually terrified of doing the tour because of my inexperience. I spoke to several individuals about my saddle issues and my thoughts of calling it quits.  The best advice I was given was to try. One individual in particular recognized my fear instantaneously, bluntly stating that I was just scared and he told me, just do it. I put in some much effort thus far; it would be a shame to quit before I even started the actual tour. I could always quit once I began the tour. The key was to at least try because if I quit before I even experienced one day of the tour I would constantly question what it would have been like. And so, with the whole-hearted support of friends and family I packed my bicycle and all my gear and went on the plane to Vancouver, BC.