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Canada

What a huge country! The map below shows the route that I cycled across- each pin is where I stopped for a night or more. Zoom in, then click on a pin to see the day’s blog. My original plan is down below. It had to be revised as the ferry to Newfoundland was taken out of service following too close an encounter with the dock. Victoria to Halifax is coast to coast and it was over 7500 km.

The Map

The rough plan…
30 May – start cycling from Victoria
1 July – spend Canada Day in Winnipeg
Nip on the ferry from Manitoulin island to Tobermory
Squeeze in a canoe trip in Algonquin
early August – chilling out in Montreal
Circumnavigate Cape Breton island (because I hear it’s the most beautiful place on earth)
4 September – arrive in St John’s NL

The original plan

This includes ‘spare days’ which I planned to take as extra rest days or by splitting a day’s mileage into two in the preceding leg.

Date Day Destination
30-May x Victoria
31-May 1 Mission – 33.5km from “Mile 0” to Swartz Bay ferry post. Then 75km from Tsawwassen Ferry Port to Sun valley campground in Mission. Total 108.5 km
01-Jun 2 Hope – 105km
02-Jun x REST DAY
03-Jun 3 EC Manning Park – 63 km (with LOTS of ascent – from 56m to nearly 1400m above sea level)
04-Jun 4 Princeton – 71km
05-Jun 5 Penticton – 111km (KVR or HWY 3? Decisions, decisions)
06-Jun 6 Kelowna – 75km
07-Jun 7 Armstrong – 95km
08-Jun 8 Revelstoke – 140km! Epic!
09-Jun 9 Albert Canyon – 37km uphill. To a hot spring. Phew.
10-Jun 10 Golden – 117km. There’s no other option. Just keep pedalling
11-Jun 11 Lake Louise – 82km. Climbing from 738m to 1570m above sea level. Where’s a ski lift when you need one?
12-Jun x REST DAY
13-Jun 12 Canmore – 77km. Wheeeeee!! Downhill all day.
14-Jun 13 Calgary – 91km. Still freewheeling…
15-Jun 14 Bassano – 154km. Good as 100 mile day. Furthest I will ever have cycled.
16-Jun 15 Medicine Hat – 155m. Nicking yesterday’s distance record. This is a long, flat day.
17-Jun 16 Eagle Valley – 92km
18-Jun 17 Swift Current – 136km
19-Jun 18 Besant CG – 139km
20-Jun 19 Regina – 115km
21-Jun x REST DAY
22-Jun 20 Fillmore – 105km. Check out this day on Google map. There’s nothing.
23-Jun 21 Bear Claw Casino – 110km. I really hope this place lives up to the name.
24-Jun 22 Pipestone – 114km
25-Jun 23 Wawanesa – 99km
26-Jun 24 St Claude – 104km
27-Jun 25 Winnipeg – 108km
28-Jun x SPARE
29-Jun x SPARE
30-Jun x REST DAY
01-Jul 26 REST DAY
02-Jul 27 Falcon Lake – 156km. Why did I think this was a good idea?
03-Jul 28 Kenora – 68km. Welcome to Ontario.
Change of plan. Down Hwy 71 to Fort Frances, then east on Hwy 11, as it should be quieter than Hwy 17, the main Trans-Canada
04-Jul 29 Dryden – 138km
05-Jul 30 Ignace – 107km
06-Jul 31 Upsala – 104km
07-Jul 32 Kakabeka Falls – 115km.
08-Jul x REST DAY
09-Jul 33 Nipigon – 140km. This is supposed to include the worst bit of highway of the whole trip.
10-Jul 34 Terrace Bay – 104km.
11-Jul 35 White Lake Provincial Park – 138km
12-Jul 36 Obatanga Provincial Park – 75km
13-Jul 37 Lake Superior National Park / Montreal River – 150km
14-Jul 38 Sault Ste Marie – 135km. Yep, still Ontario.
15-Jul 39 Blind River – 145km. Because rivers normally have eyes.
16-Jul 40 Espanola – 100km.
17-Jul 41 Tobermory – 120km not actually on Mull. Still northern Ontario.
18-Jul x FERRY TRIP
19-Jul 42 Owen Sound – 117km.
20-Jul 43 Wasaga Beach – 93km. I’ve been here before! First place I might actually recognize.
21-Jul x REST DAY
22-Jul 44 Orilla – 83km
23-Jul 45 Huntsville – 107km
24-Jul x SPARE
25-Jul x SPARE
26-Jul x CANOE
27-Jul x CANOE
28-Jul x CANOE
29-Jul 46 Haliburton – 102km. Ontario. Yawn.
30-Jul 47 Barry’s Bay – 115km
31-Jul 48 Pembroke – 80km
01-Aug 49 Shawville – 83km.
02-Aug 50 Ottawa – 83km. Yippee! I’ve arrived in the capital and OUT of Ontario.
03-Aug 51 Voyager Provincial Park – 114km
04-Aug 52 Montreal – 92km. I will be VERY excited to arrive in Montreal: bagels, poutine and friends I haven’t seen in years!
05-Aug x REST DAY
06-Aug x REST DAY
07-Aug x REST DAY
08-Aug x REST DAY
09-Aug 53 Yamaska National Park – 92km
10-Aug 54 Victoriaville – 115km
11-Aug 55 Quebec City – 106m. Parle vous francais?
12-Aug 56 St Jean Port Joli – 98km
13-Aug 57 Riviere du Loup – 94km
14-Aug 58 Degelis – 100km
15-Aug x REST DAY
16-Aug 59 Grand Falls – 96km
17-Aug 60 Napadogan – 114km. How do you pronounce that?
18-Aug 61 Fredericton – 72km
19-Aug 62 Sussex – 119km. I’ll nip to Brighton and have an icecream on the pier. Oh, wrong Sussex.
20-Aug 63 Bay of Fundy – 84km. Famous for its Rocks. I’m a rock. We shall bond.
21-Aug x REST DAY. Bonding with Fundy rocks. (To confirm: I’m being funny/odd, I don’t actually have relatives here)
22-Aug 64 Moncton – 56km. Leisurely day.
23-Aug 65 Confederation Bridge – 98km
24-Aug 66 Charlotte Town – 76km. A one night stay on Prince Edward Island.
25-Aug 67 Pictou – 96km. Off the island now.
26-Aug 68 Antigonish – 76km
27-Aug 69 Whycocomagh – 100km. “Because we’ve run out of tea darling.”
28-Aug 70 Cheticamp – 85km. Cape Breton – supposed to be the most beautiful place on earth.
29-Aug 71 Ingonish – 111km.
30-Aug 72 Sydney Mines – 104km
31-Aug x SPARE
01-Sep x SPARE
02-Sep x Sydney to Argentia – I’m on a ferry.
03-Sep 73 Butterpot Provincial Park – 111km. Nearly there!
04-Sep 74 St John’s – 40km. Champagne! Who want to join me for the party?
05-Sep x REST DAY
06-Sep x FLY to Montreal
07-Sep x REST DAY
08-Sep x REST DAY
09-Sep x FLY HOME
10-Sep ARRIVE HOME

Thank you to: 3 x wonderful Canadians all called John (for information on routes), Ruth (for feeding me biscuits while I struggled with the technicalities of uploading this map), and my Dad (for giving me the original map and painstakingly plotting my route on Viewranger!)

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