Sunday, 10 May 2015
Tuesday, 7 October 2014
Tuesday, 30 September 2014
Summary
It is almost 10 days since the end of our tour and i'm still finding it hard to get my head around the fact that we are finished. I think i had always thought that something would happen to prevent us from finishing so i had never allowed myself to think of finishing. One thing that is clear to me now is that it was not about the start or finish or the distance traveled, but the journey in between.
It's crazy to think that this time last year i had barely cycled in 20 years and 12 months later i have completed a 7000km tour. It is amazing what you can achieve with a bit of dreaming, determination and planning. There was a number of times during the planning process when we encountered problems where we could have backed out, but if your determined enough you will find a solution.
We are very lucky that neither of us fell ill or picked up any major injuries in the 98 days. We had some close calls with some trucks and cars but we had no accidents. 99% of the vehicles that passed us gave us plenty of room and lots of waves of encouragement. Nearly every person we met had some sort of Irish ancestry even if some were very remote. It is funny to meet people whose great grandfather was Irish and they still consider themselves as Irish as we are.
The major highlight of the tour for me and the memories that will stay with me the most is the people we met. Every person we met was friendly and helpful, which is a great thing to be able to say. We had so many great conversations with interesting people and met some great characters throughout the US and Canada. Also other cyclists we met were always helpful with route tips and local knowledge.
The next highlight for me would be the scenery. We had the misty coast of Maine, to the White and Green mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont, to the Adirondacks of New York, to the Great lakes, to the flat corn fields of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, to the Katy trail in Missouri, to the Great plains of Kansas, to the Mountains of Colorado, to the dry desert of Wyoming, to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, and finally the real Rockies in Canada. We have seen some amazing and unforgettable scenery and people are always asking me what my favorite place is. It is impossible to select one, so my 5 favourite days for scenery in no particular order are:
We had a great final week in Vancouver. It was a great place to chill out and relax before we headed home. Brian and Shannon looked after us really well and we had a great time. There are some pictures below from the week.
We are home now and back to reality so if anyone knows someone who needs an accountant or a geneticist you can let us know.
It's crazy to think that this time last year i had barely cycled in 20 years and 12 months later i have completed a 7000km tour. It is amazing what you can achieve with a bit of dreaming, determination and planning. There was a number of times during the planning process when we encountered problems where we could have backed out, but if your determined enough you will find a solution.
We are very lucky that neither of us fell ill or picked up any major injuries in the 98 days. We had some close calls with some trucks and cars but we had no accidents. 99% of the vehicles that passed us gave us plenty of room and lots of waves of encouragement. Nearly every person we met had some sort of Irish ancestry even if some were very remote. It is funny to meet people whose great grandfather was Irish and they still consider themselves as Irish as we are.
The major highlight of the tour for me and the memories that will stay with me the most is the people we met. Every person we met was friendly and helpful, which is a great thing to be able to say. We had so many great conversations with interesting people and met some great characters throughout the US and Canada. Also other cyclists we met were always helpful with route tips and local knowledge.
The next highlight for me would be the scenery. We had the misty coast of Maine, to the White and Green mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont, to the Adirondacks of New York, to the Great lakes, to the flat corn fields of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, to the Katy trail in Missouri, to the Great plains of Kansas, to the Mountains of Colorado, to the dry desert of Wyoming, to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, and finally the real Rockies in Canada. We have seen some amazing and unforgettable scenery and people are always asking me what my favorite place is. It is impossible to select one, so my 5 favourite days for scenery in no particular order are:
- Day 4 Conway to North Woodstock, New Hampshire (Kancamagus Highway)
- Day 14 Lewiston to Buffalo, New York (Niagara)
- Day 65 Colter Bay to Grant Village, Wyoming (Tetons and Yellowstone)
- Day 76 Glacier to Babb, Montana (Glacier National Park)
- Day 86 Radium to Banff, Alberta (Kootenay National Park)
We had a great final week in Vancouver. It was a great place to chill out and relax before we headed home. Brian and Shannon looked after us really well and we had a great time. There are some pictures below from the week.
We are home now and back to reality so if anyone knows someone who needs an accountant or a geneticist you can let us know.
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| Seaplanes in Vancouver Harbour |
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| The Olympic flame in Downtown Vancouver |
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| Looking towards North Vancouver from Stanley Park |
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| Golf in Stanley Park |
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| Indian Arm |
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| Indian Arm |
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| Vancouver Skyline |
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| Ships in Vancouver Harbour |
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| Selfie with Shannon |
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| Sunset over English Bay, Vancouver |
Saturday, 20 September 2014
Day 98 Abbotsford, BC to Delta, Vancouver, BC 67km
Luckily most of the rain fell overnight so we ended up having a mostly dry day. The roads were again very busy. We have noticed the big increase in traffic the closer we get to Vancouver. We had one last puncture to deal with on Brian's bike. Our final 10kms was cycling along a bike trail next to Boundary bay which was a lovely way to end the tour. We are being well looked after by Brian and Shannon and are looking forward to the week ahead. It is a very surreal feeling to be finished and I will leave my summary of the tour to another day.
Thank you to everyone who has been following the blog. We have had close to 10,000 hits on the blog which is amazing and a lot more than I ever expected.
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| A damp start to the day |
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| One last puncture |
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| Boundary Bay |
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| Doing the wheel dip |
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| Arriving at Brian's' place |
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| A nice cup of Lyons tae to celebrate. |
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| Brian - Our generous host |
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Thursday, 18 September 2014
Day 97 Hope, BC to Abbotsford, BC 83km
We were back on the transcanada highway today which was not a lot of fun. The road got particularly busy around chilliwack but we just put our heads down and got through it. Tomorrow should be our last day on the road as we should reach my cousin Brian's place just south of Vancouver. It is forecast to rain which will make it very similar to our first day in Boston.
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| Leaving Hope |
Tuesday, 16 September 2014
Day 96 Merritt, BC to Hope, BC 120km
We were on the coquihalla highway all day. This would be equivalent to an Irish motorway but cyclists are allowed. We had a few climbs again today but after we reached the top of the coquihalla pass we had completed the last big climb of this tour. We then had an amazing 40km descent of over a thousand metres. We finally got some reward for all the climbing we have been doing. We are now at 50 metres above sea level which is the lowest elevation we have been at since lake Champlain in Vermont.
Monday, 15 September 2014
Day 95 Kamloops, BC to Merritt, BC 80km
We had another steep climb to start our day out of Kamloops. We had a nice peaceful cycle on the lac le jeune road before we joined the busier highway 5 all the way to Merritt. We then had a glorious 20km descent to finish our day. We are starting to notice signs for Vancouver now as the finish creeps closer.
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