Day 16 – Borden-Carelton, PEI to Charlottetown. Total 50km. Total to date 1317 km.

This morning we awoke to windy and rainy conditions in PEI. Suffice it to say that they stayed that way for the entire day.

In really short today was brutal and by far our worst day of cycling yet. My knee was in constant agony and there was no way PEI was planning to take it easy on me. With the hills and wet pavement it was very slow moving. With the insane winds it was a fight to stay in the side of the road or to maintain any semblance of momentum.

My knee was in such a bad state that I ended up walking several hills that I should be able to cycle without problems. The issue now is with my right knee sore (which is my lead leg)  I am having to rely on my left leg to do 80% of the work. This is of course not sustainable.

I did manage to grab a photo of the confederation bridge as we got a view early in the morning:

Also notice how angry the sky looks…

So Julie and I spent some time discussing my knee situaton the last few days. You may or may not know that last year on  a 2 week trip Julie had similar knee issues, and on the 2nd to last day her knee entirely gave out. A dislocated kneecap, 2 weeks of barely being able to move, 6 weeks of physio, and almost 2 months of the.summer she couldn’t cycle. All of this to say that I am worried that I am bordering on exactly that.

As Julie and I have said from the getgo is we have to listen to our bodies, and that health is the most important priority for our trip. For these reasons we are making the very sad and difficult decision to postpone the remainder of the trip for the time being. One day we plan to tackle the West Coast, but in current state it is not wise.

We will be taking a couple days in Charlottetown to prepare to fly home and drop off our stuff. Then we plan to vanish for a couple of weeks and fall off the grid. We need a vacation to process all of this and to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

This will likely be the last blog post for a while. I may start a new blog for our cycling and other adventures, as I am really enjoying writing and sharing photos and fun.

Thanks to everyone who replied to the blogs and on facebook. We really enjoyed hearing from you, getting your well wishes, and support 🙂

Here is a big cheers to all of you out there!!

26 days to departure!

Holy Crapiola! Less than 4 weeks to departure!

So I know it has been a while since I have posted a blog, but man does time fly when you are busy and getting ready for an epic adventure such as this one! So much has come together since the last post, but sometimes it feels like so little to report.

So to celebrate today, the first of April, the weather decided to pull a real April Fools Day joke on us. Haha the laugh is on the weather though!

So Julie and I headed out to explore our Lachine Canal to see if that @#$%& snow melted yet. For the most part the canal is clear of snow and ice, minus a few parts, mainly under the bridges, and in shady spots! So exciting to have a safe and serene space to bike. The path was littered with tree guts (sticks and the such) but for the most part really nice!

We departed despite the wind and rain warnings. Armed in our Gore Tex Bike Wear (TM) we were prepared for the day ahead. The wind was a factor leaving from the Atwater Market with a major 30+kmph headwind coming from the west. As we were heading into the wind at first at least we knew that the return trip was a tailwind. Original plan was to cycle to Dorval but as we progressed the snow and ice on the path was worse and worse. We turned back with the plan to continue past our turnoff and go to the old port of Montreal to make up the distance we were missing. Needless to say the tailwind made 30++ kmph easy heading back. So we skip the turnoff to go home and head toward the old port, and our favorite little friend RAIN comes on fast and furious. We got caught in a torrential downpour!! This was really awesome in a way as we were decked out in out new Gore Tex Bike Wear ™ [hey guys we love this stuff and will be blogging across Canada, any chance of a little “sponsorship gift??] and man we were invincible. Other rain gear would have shat it in this storm but for us we were dry, breathable and comfortable despite the rain and cold condtions.

All told we did 26km as seen here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/292051966

So all in all this is a great start to April, where we hope to get in many many kilomoeters before leaving. Weather will be a factor, but heck on the road it will also be a major factor and we wont have the option to just stay home and forget about it.

Hey Gore Bike wear! Here is a promo [yes I want free stuff, seriously want to see us cross Canada in this stuff and have a free advertisor?] Here is a shot of me in the rain just arriving home. Normally I would be drenched to the bone. I kinda figured I would be after the downpour. Have a peek at the drenched Wesley, and inside dry Wesley. Yes this gear was expensive, but hey wanna go out in any conditions and still stay dry? Gore Bike Wear my friend. (They havent sponsored me yet but there is still time) 🙂

Moving forward I hope to rack up the KMs with some longer day trips to condition my legs and body to longer rides (and yes that sore butt that comes with it), and to get more blogs in before departing. My goal on the road is to write every night no matter how little. Sometimes there might not be coverage for the phone, but they will get posted when we do have coverage!

So with less than 4 weeks to go, please check my previous posts for looking for places to stay! Oh and if you cant help there then donations to the “hungry cyclist fund” are always appreciated 🙂

Take care! May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back.

Day 2 – Louiseville to Sainte-Anne-de-la-Perade

Title 2: Really weather is that necessary? Really??

What is there to say about today? Well remember yesterday when I was talking about the wind and the rain? Today was worse.
Way worse.
It was one of those days where you keep asking yourself why you’re doing this. Why didn’t I just stay home, stay dry, make other plans.

Here is the short summary of today: rain, wind, bike, rain, wind, bike…..

Trois Rivieres was interesting some very historic buildings, but winding to get through. I realize that I mainly kept my head down to fight the wind, so I probably missed a lot.

We did take one photo today, but not on my camera. It is the most dangerous cycling surface ever. This bridge was iron and a honeycomb surface, slick with rain, and slippery as hell. We ended up walking the bridge and holding up traffic. Pics to follow.

We ended up almost blind in the rain, drenched to the bone, but hit a little town and found a nice bed and breakfast to weather the storm and spend the night. As I write this it is pouring rain and the forecast is for 20-25mm rain overnight. Add time that wind warning of up to 90km gusts we did well not camping.

Tomorrow we will have breakfast here and hit the road. We have 80km to Quebec city then the rest of tomorrow off and Tuesday to explore the city. The weather is meant to improve in the short term, but I am concerned about the rest of the trip at this point.