Home again

Total distance: 6,361.6km

Amount raised: £5,380.70

Position: Point Pleasant park, Halifax

Ok, so that last one was a lie, I'm actually at home now, drinking tea and listening to some greatly missed music (Note to self: don't go travelling without Gorod).

I did it! All the way across - well, not the bits where I hitchhiked because my bike broke, but all of the 6,361km. To pick up where we left it, I rode the final two days into Halifax, getting lost somewhere in the city less than 5 kilometers from the finish, and then rode the last stretch as fast as my (now significantly more bombproof) legs would allow, 35kmph into the wind is a nice way to finish.

I was met at the finish line by my family, my girlfriend and her mother and sister, some family friends, a representative from my old school, and a man whose brother lives in Exeter and read about me in the Express and Echo (second story). It was a good feeling to have finally finished, despite it just feeling like the end of another ride. The reality of it didn't quite hit me, and still hasn't really.

We then took a tour of my old school, kindly hosted by Gay Silverman, once I'd got out of cycling cloths and into a shirt, which felt very odd having spent most of 3 months in bike clothing. I got to see my old grade 2 teacher, Mrs. Lewis, who greeted me with a huge (even though she's teeny) hug. I must have made a good impression those 13 years ago. The school brought back a lot of memories, and even thought a lot of it is new now, I could still recognise my old haunts.

I then got to spend the rest of my time in Canada with Becca or my family, sightseeing and generally being touristy. It felt very strange to not be cycling any more, and I was certainly suffering from the effects of withdrawal symptoms. Now that I'm home I'm back into it, less cycling, and more running and swimming, training for Ironman France 2011. Not as much as the roughly 36 hours per week I'd been doing but enough to keep me sane.

Seeing that this will be my final post, I feel a few thank yous are in order. Firstly, to the people of Canada, for not killing me with your trucks and RVs, for letting me sleep on your lawns and for giving me good breakfasts of bacon, eggs and coffee in spite of me being a total stranger wrapped in lycra. To the Hendersons for easing me into their country and making me feel at home. Special thanks to my warmshowers hosts for letting me into your homes, feeding me well and trusting me not to steal all your stuff. SPECIAL special thanks to Bonnie and Doug for being generally brilliant and being my favourite Canadians and to D'Arcy and his wonderful family for putting up with me for an extra day and letting me play with kittens all day. Thanks to Brad, Jeremy, Megan, Jenna, Christian and Julian for company on a very lonely road. Thanks to Johanas for carrying the beeeer. To Dutch cycles for the wheel discount and to Ron for the mochi. Thanks to my parents for supporting me and coming out to meet me at the finish, as well as doing a significant volume of planning whilst I was on my bike, and to Becca, Lucy and Carolyn for coming all the way over and putting up with me in the hotel. Thanks to Rob for the daily motivational texts (which were more help at times than I think he envisaged). A big thank you to everyone who donated, and thank you to you, for reading this, It was a big help when I was tired, wet, hungry, lonely or my bum hurt to know that people were following and supporting and wishing me good things.

Change of plan (Are we nearly there yet?)

So I've basically done it. YAY
Day 82, total current distance: 6160km
I'll start where I left Jeremy and Megan (who've since finshed on the 15th) in Fredericton. They took off to take a direct route to Halifax, whereas I had the benefit of more time and rode over to PEI. Riding alone for the first time in more than a month was a strange feeling, but not the same as when I was alone for the first month. I can go a bit faster, so I can get lost in my thoughts and just crack on and pedal. Which is nice. I also haven't been getting bored at the end of the day, moreover I've been really enjoying riding later, because you get everything bathed in a golden sunset light. Because there's so much less pollution here compared to the UK (it's hard to pollute such a huge area filled with squillions of trees to the same extent) that the sunsets tend to be pretty spectacular.
My plan to do 130km every day, for 10 days, having dome 1600km without a rest has backfired. My legs decided to wuss out and feel tired and a once comfortable 23kmph was reduced to a 17kmph slog. I had half a day of riding, then stopped somewhere to rest. 1 flat tyre, 2 broken spokes, 1 cracked rim (on my bike) and I decide to pack it in and go straight to Halifax and miss the Cabot trail loop I had planned. I took a day off and slept on the beach in my hammock, eating rice crackers and jelly beans and reading Macbeth. My first night was spent talking to a group of three locals who bought me food and beer. Beer makes getting into a hammock at night interesting. I was planning to spend the next night on the beach, but the first miserable Canadian (and as far as I'm aware, the only one) decided to kick me off. Fair enough, there was a NO CAMPING sign nailed to one of the trees in the corner, but threatening to acll the RCMP if I didn't leave was just unnecessary. Luckily I blagged myself a comfy lawn to sleep on and a meal of chicken and pasta with a Dave and Suzanne MacNiel. My family met me with an RV (a slammer version of those monstrosities i've been bitching about) coming off the ferry from Prince Edward Island the next day and since I only have 200km left to ride in a week I've been spending 5 days with my family driving the Cabot trail and eating too much. I'm glad my plan to ride the Cabot trail fell through though, 130km per day on the hills there would have crippled me. Driving still felt like cheating (although i'm obviously not counting the distance driven in my total), so I went for a ride up one of the mountains...twice. It was amazing to fly up them without any of my kit in tow with the trailer and the view at the top was amazing, both times.

The plan from here is to ride 170km to Clam Harbour tomorrow, to met up with Becca, Lucy and Carolyn (girlfriend and family) then do the final 80km on the 23rd to arrive as close as possible to 1200h to be met by whoever's been organised to turn up. Hopefully the streets will be lined with people 15 deep waving flags with my face on it miles before the finish line, but I'm guessing it'll be a smaller affair.

That's all I can think to type, I'l do a conclusion once I've concluded on the 23rd, and then Fly home on the 30th. Provided the flight staff aren't striking, I'll be home on the 31st, sometime around 9 in the morning. I'm flying with IcelandAir, so I get to spend 3 hours in Reykjavik airport which should be cool, or boring...we'll see

Fortitudine Vincimus
Ben



View Bens Transcanada for Help for Heroes in a larger map

ATLANTIC COAST

OK so this has to be brief, the tourist info lady is looking at me accusingly because I've sat at the computer too long already.

Basically, I've made it to the Atlantic coast, my first sight of ocean since I left Vancouver 6000km ago, and 76 days. It's beautiful. I only have 1,000km to go, and 9 days to do it in.

Laters potaters

Final day on my week of rest

So today concludes my week of rest. It would have been yesterday, and we would have been cycling to Rockland today, but Megan has been ill so we've postponed until she feels better. Hopefully tomorrow we'll make it somewhere past Rockland and try to catch up the lost day of riding before a week is up.

This week has been more static than my body is used to; we've watched films, eaten popcorn, and driven up to Quebec City. I'm sure it's been good for my legs, but the rest of me has gone into shock, it's not used to sitting for such long periods on anything other than a saddle. I'm looking forward to getting back into it for the final 2,000km into Halifax.

Friday saw me feeling very important with a meeting and photo shoot with the High Commissioner to publicise my trip. Also present were (and I hope I've remembered this correctly) the Defence Attaches for the Navy, Army and Air Force as well as a number of British officers present on exchange. After a couple of interviews, and when the photo shoot was over, the Commissioner had a play on my bike and we went into the bar so I could explain my trip and share a few anecdotes. Altogether a successful visit I think.

Because I've got so far ahead of schedule, and because I've got to be arriving in Halifax (which is relatively close) at exactly 1200h on the 23rd august, I've got rather a lot of spare time to fill. To fix this, I've decided to add a few kilometres to my plan, something in the region of 1,000 if google maps is correct. This means I'll be doing a loop onto the Cabot trail on Cape Breton island as well as taking the bridge onto Price Edward Island, before shooting into Halifax via the east shore of Nova Scotia on HWY 7. That's the plan at least, and I'll alter it should I fall drastically behind.

OK, so this is now the final push for the finishing line - I can do 2,000km faster than you think so time is running out for donations. I'll even make it easy for you and provide you with a LINK so you have no excuse not to. Consider that a guilt trip if you're reading this 'free'. If you're genuinely skint, then you'll at least have money on your phone to call the job centre - how about using some of it to send me a supportive text? 2,000km is still 2,000km no matter how good your legs are feeling (note: finish with your name, I only have a few numbers committed to memory well enough to transfer my numbers across phones).

So I suppose I should get packing - all of my kit is dispersed throughout Jeremy's house, so I need to locate what's mine and somehow get it all to fit back into my trailer.

Fortitudine Vincimus

Ben

New phone

So my previous phone got wet somewhere north of Lake Superior, and intermittently refused to work until it finally stopped functioning altogether. Since I'm now in civilization I've been able to buy myself a new phone (although I can't top it up with my British credit card). For those who want to contact/prank/send me supportive texts, it's now free for me to receive them, so my number is: 0016137620588, or +16137620588 depending on your phone

I realise it looks like a crazy number, but that's just how they do it here. Enter that into your phone, and you should be in touch with me.

Ben

Week off yesssss

I've made it to Ottawa, 4,500km-ish after leaving Vancouver 55 days ago. Christian and Jenna split off from Megan and Jeremy so they could hoof it to Halifax and make it to a wedding so we are now 3.

Jeremy's mother lives in Kanata, which basically counts as Ottawa because it's so close, so I have the luxury of a roof, bed and flushing toilet. A roof that isn't just partially waterproof, a bed that doesn't need inflating and a toilet that isn't in a gas station. Luxury indeed.

The first day was hot and boring, right up until the point where a spoke broke and it became hot and frustrating. Unable to fix it without a chain whip and casette tool, I tried to hitchhike to the next town. I was picked up by a man called Harry, he took me back to his house, because he wasn't actually going as far as I wanted so he would have to tell his wife. I was fed lunch and we packed my bike and kit into his SUV, then drove about an hour down the road to Iron Bridge where I was told a man who fixes lawnmowers "may be able to help". He couldn't, so we drove on to find 'Tommy' in home hardware who fixes bikes. He had to shoot home to get the tool, but I was eventually able to replace the spoke. We drove back to Iron Bridge where we had a bed to stay in with Tammy and Roger, one of Jeremy and Megan's contacts who was happy to put me up as well. We had the house to ourselves as Roger and Tammy went to a Pow wow, a Native festival, so we watched films and ate crisps until we fell asleep.

The next day we sailed to Massey, on a huge tailwind, and struggled to find a place to sleep. The campsite would be $37 for 3 people so I went into the Legion to ask if we could set up a few tents in their yard, and the barman said it was fine. So began a surreal evening being showered with hospitality, first offered showers then internet, rounds of beer, use of a kitchen, use of a bathroom, and sincere apologies for not having beds ready for us. Once we assured everyone we were fine, we sat down to our meal of barbeque ribs, rice and vegetables. The ribs had been in a slowcooker since the morning and were the best any one of us had ever had.

I've noticed that everyone to the west of us has been saying that everyone to the east of them is even more hospitable. People in BC said it about the plains, the plains-folk said it about Ontario people, and we're now being told that easteners will "look after us, like really look after us well". I can't wait, I may not need my tent or stove. If this keeps up I can just knock on anyone's door and introduce myself and expect food, a bed, shower and maybe a massage.

The next night was in Wahnapitae, if you can pronounce it you get a prize, but once again we were looking for a nice lawn to pitch our tents. The church had a nice looking lawn, so we asked the neighbors if anyone would mind us camping there. They offered us their lawn because they weren't sure. 5 minutes later the three ladies walked over and said that if we wanted we could sleep in the basement as it looked like it was going to rain (which it did), and they would feel bad if we got wet. The house was for sale, and they had just cleaned the ground floor, but we were free to use the basement and bathroom if we didn't make it dirty. We made ourselves at home, and had cold showers, and I was just about to start making supper when one of the ladies came over, she said that she still felt bad because they had left us without hot water or electricity. She then turned the power on and said we could make full use of the house, bathroom, kitchen, and bedrooms, and not to worry about a mess. While I was thinking of a way to properly thank her, she then handed me a bag of food, popcorn, pepsi, fruit and ice tea as well as towels and shampoo.

So we had a house to ourselves, until there was a man walking around the house. Thinking that he may be the owner and may not have been informed of our presence I went out to explain we were in fact not squatters, but actually just exceptionally lucky cyclists. He informed me he was actually looking to buy the house and shared my amazement at our situation. He and his wife looked around the house, and before leaving told us the story of why it was up for sale. Apparently the husband had come home to find his wife with another gentleman, and proceeded to murder her, so the house was for sale because he was currently serving time in jail. Wonderful.

Once we had convinced Megan that we weren't going to be murdered in our sleep by the previous owner, we went to bed, and Jeremy and I (just I actually) made ghost noises until we (I) felt childish and went to sleep.

The next day we once again had a strong tailwind and flew into North Bay. The landscape is similar to Northern Ontario, except there are no brutal hills like there have been, just nice flat lakes and rivers, and still lots of forests. We were soft-pedalling to find somewhere to camp when a lady showed us to a place by the river where people often rough camp. It was beautiful, a little clearing at the connection of a few paths, and looking onto the river at the golden trees. We ate rice and beans and fell asleep.

Deux Riveries was the next stop, and the most expensive campsite at $36 for 3 tents. I was sleeping in my hammock but this still counted. we stayed there anyway because we all needed a shower after 3 showerless nights. It was once again beautiful. I set my hammock up almost on the water, and the tarp over the top so that I looked out over the lake. I woke up at 0540 to the sight of the red sun rising over the trees and reflecting in the millpond smooth lake. Amazing.

You all know the rhyme, 'red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning' (if you don't then stop living in a cave) and although the scene was serene, what had woken me as such a silly time was a huge rumble of thunder. What followed was some spectacular thunder, and surprisingly little rain. by midday we were back to riding under the hot sun, although there was an angry looking cloud on the horizon. However, I didn't have to care, I was staying the night with another Warmshowers.org host, so the clouds could rain on me as hard as they liked - I had a bed that night, as well as a tumble dryer, and a garage to hang wet kit. HA, take THAT silly weather.

My host for that night was Jackie Wall, who makes AMAZING pasta. She was in the Canadian Army, and had recently returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, so was happy to host me because of my charitable aims. I'll add that I've now raised 2,983GBP for Help for Heroes (no pound sign on this keyboard), which, although impressive, amounts to 0.66 pence per Km. NOT ENOUGH. If you're a regular reader and you haven't donated then SHAME ON YOU. Feel bad, then give me all your money. If you genuinely can't afford a few pounds, then at least send me a message, something along the lines of "woo, go Ben, you're awesome, I love you" will do. The ego boost will make me go faster and hurt less, which can't be a bad thing =p

The next day, from Petawawa to Ottawa, was one of the most beautifully easy rides of my life. I had planned on it being a big day at 170km, but hadn't expected to fly it. I crossed into Quebec after a brief stop in a grocery store to pick up pastries, muffins and bananas. I've spent almost a month in Ontario, and was getting sick of it, so it was a nice change. I took a bike path through it (an old railway line from which they had removed the rails), and was almost completely alone for the first time in weeks. The whole day was spent in sun dappled forests, cruising at 25kmph along a gravel path, no cars, no noise, just speed and sun. It was bliss. For the whole 70km path I saw 5 people, 4 of whom were cyclists going the other way. The end of the path was confusing though, I was spat onto a road next to a town that wasn't present on my map. I asked a farmer for directions and he pointed me in the right direction. I took a little ferry across the river back into Ontario (which sucks) and almost immediately noticed my front wheel was a little flat. When I inspected it, it deflated, along with my mood. I had no spare, and no way of fixing it, as the valve had parted its air-tight company with the rubber tube. More hitchiking was necessary.

Jeremy and Megan had continued on to Pembroke when I stopped in Petawawa as 170km would have been too much, so I was planning on meeting them at his house in Ottawa. Unfortunately this was still 40km away. Furthermore, all the traffic was going the wrong way, home from work in the city to their home in a small town on the outskirts. I pushed my bike a few kilometers to an intersection where I hoped there was more traffic and was soon picked up by a lady in a camper van. She seemed to want to eject me at the first gas station, but I typed Jeremy's address into her TomTom and smiled. She dropped me off just outside his house, and all was well. No more cycling for a week. Perversely though, I miss it, and spent most of today reading about cycling/triathlon related things.

So begins my week of rest. I'm more than a week ahead of schedule, so I can afford to take time off, and what's more, I have the aforementioned luxuries at my disposal. I'm with friends, I have a bed, and I have all the filter coffee I can drink as well.

I'm now going to watch a film, eat food, and fall asleep as late as I like. Why? Because I can. Because I don't have to wake up at 7 and do something that makes my bum hurt all day.

I mean cycling.

Fortitudine Vincimus

Ben

View Bens Transcanada for Help for Heroes in a larger map

Latest phone news

As Ben didn't mention this in his latest post, I thought I'd better - his phone seems to be broken. Oh DEAR. So yeah, it's no use trying to get in contact with him that way.

On the plus side he appears to be both alive and un-nibbled by black bears in hedges.

Becca xxx

I'M ALIVE

It's true.

Apologies for the lack of an update, there appear to be nothing but rocks and trees and water in Ontario, which is a bitch, Ontario sucks.

I won't be quite so extensive in this update, because it's costing me money which I need for food and other necessities.

In brief, I'm in Sault Ste Marie, about to leave Lake Superior and head towards Ottawa. I've made four friends - Christian, Megan, Jeremy and Jenna - who are riding to Halifax as well. I've been riding with them for the last two weeks and sadly Jenna and Christian have had to keep going today (Jeremy and Megan and I are taking a rest day) because they really need to get to Halifax fast. We wish them well, it was sad to see them ride away at 0800h this morning.

The last two weeks have been both brutal and beautiful, lots of long steep hills to fly down and slog up. My body has noticeably changed since the start: I'm super tanned, with the ridiculous tan lines to boot, and I've definitely lost weight (although how much, I can only guess, maybe 15+ pounds). For the geeks out there, my fat metabolism is now in the realms of unnatural. I started the trip eating huge amounts each day and burning everything super fast, whereas now I can eat maybe an apple an hour, or about 150 calories, and still finish strong when powering along at 25kmph on the flats all day for 100km or more. These are all very good things.

We were in a quiet campsite in Marathon one morning when a lady came over and told us that there was a bear hanging about so we should keep our eyes open. Ten minutes later ,while we were packing our tents away, Megan said, "oh my gawd, it's the bear." About 50 feet away, just in the hedge, was a large black bear (although he was actually brown in colour). I whistled and made a ruckus and he bolted away into the woods. Exciting times. It showed we were really in the cuds (except not any more, because I've reached civilisation by now).

That's all, I'll go pay for my coffee and internet, and head off to Walmart to get some food. It's huge and scary, and I don't want to go in alone!

Fortitudine Vincimus

Ben

Ben who?

Another week slips by, like the tarmac beneath Ben's wheels, and still no proper update from 'The Boy' I'm afraid. The last e-mail we received was last Friday (9th July) and he said -

"Herro, I'm in Terrace Bay at the moment having lunch. I might stay here or we might push on to Marathon. I 'd like to do half a day today as it's nice here but we'll see.
Ben

PS. The hills here are brutal, I love it ".

Terrace Bay & Marathon are on the Northern shore of Lake Superior - look to be nice places. Nice images @ http://www.terracebay.ca/ & http://www.marathon.ca/

Since last Friday we are assuming that no news is good news and Ben's hasn't taken up residence in a bear's lower gut! Last we heard he was still with a team of 4 Canadian 'trans-Canada' cyclists heading for Halifax but we do not know their schedule. Best wishes, Stuart.

Lost in space...

Apologies for loss of normal service, as far as we are aware Ben has not been eaten by a bear but is struggling to get internet connection in the wilds of Ontario. We heard from him yesterday (6 July) from Thunder Bay. He has teamed up with a bunch of other cyclists heading east. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Stuart.

Out of the plains

Day 28

Total distance 2414.0km

Position, Winnipeg

Ahhh sorry it's been so long, there are so very few opportunities to update that I've got very behind with them.

I'm now in Winnipeg, with my warmshowers host D'Arcy Johnston and his family. I've done about 450km in the last three days and well over 1000 since my last rest, so I think it's time for a day off today.

I'll start where I left off, in Swift current where Bonnie and Doug dropped me. We had a hot chocolate and said goodbye before I cycled off into the sunset to find a place to camp. I stopped ata plant nursery and asked the elderly couple there if I could put up a tent in their yard. They kindly obliged and I spent the night in my tent on a lovely soft lawn. The next morning I was invited in to fill my water bottles and have a cup of coffee whilst they bombarded me with all the normal questions that people ask when they find out what I'm doing. Why canada? Why cycling? How's it been? Seen any bears? How's your ass? How far do you do each day? HOW FAR???

The next day I set off to try to make it to Moose Jaw, which lay 165km from where I stayed. I had a brutal headwind for the first 80km, so spent most of it slogging, and then the headwind got even stronger for the next 40km. I bonked twice. The cyclists amongst you will understand, but to those uninitiated, bonking is when you run your body dry of glycogen and all that's left is fat. This hurts, it really does, and every movement is deliberate and painfully slow. All you can do is rest and eat and wait for your body to refuel. The first one wasn't so deep, and I managed to eat enough and sit by the road for long enough that it passed, but the second time, at kilometre 162, was the deepest I've ever experienced. The next 3 km took about twenty minutes, and I turned up at my hosts' house in Moose Jaw absolutely knackered.

What made the situation worse was the HUGE thunderstorm overhead. I could see it coming, a hazy wall with angry looking clouds swirling overhead, the occasional crack and rumble of thunder audible above the rain noise. At one point I was ducking with every flash that went off, because the lightning was all around, and I must have been the highest point for a thousand yards in every directon. As with much of the weather on the plains it was fickle, and passed within half an hour - just long enough to soak me though. My spirit was lifted when a man stopped to offer me a lift and a bed just outside of Moose Jaw, but at that point I was so close to another 100 mile day that I declined and cracked on. I was to stay with Jim Forbes, another warmshowers host, which meant I had a bed, shower and lots of lasagne to myself. I hit the bed and have never fallen asleep so quickly.

The next morning I visited Mac the Moose, a large fibreglass structure that represents Moose Jaw. I took it easy that day, and slowly wound my way to Regina for 1800h that evening. I listened to Daft Punk and made the most of the sun.

So far Regina has to be my favorite city in Canada. I stopped at their city lake on Goose Island and just sat in the sun and smiled. It was a perfect moment. I was still on my post-exercise hormone high, and had just had way too much sugar in Tim Hortons. I sat and watched the rowing training and talked to another Brit for a bit. I ended up a bit burnt, but it was more than worth it.

That night I had another warmshowers host looking after me, so I made my way over to his house on the other side of Regina. I was joined by the people I had stayed with last night at Jim's house. Rose and Ray had met up somewhere in BC, and had stuck together for company. I was pleased to learn that Rose was a Londoner, so I was finally able to complain about the state of Canadian cheese, and drink proper tea and generally remind myself that I was British.

Apart from being an excellent host, Ron was also a bike mechanic. This was exceptionally lucky, as my back wheel had started to break only the day before. The spoke nipple had pulled through my rim. I apologise for the poor taste, but again, those with a knowledge of cycling will understand, whereas the rest of you must make do with the following explanation: my wheel was broken and I needed a new one. So it got fixed, and took much longer than expected, but eventually I got away and made the most of the rest of the day. I made it to Kendal - not the one in the Lake District, but the one along highway 48, a much nicer road than hwy 1, mostly because of the lack of trucks and crazy elderly motor home drivers.

I've found that the trucks will almost always, if they can, move over to give you as much room possible; even if there's a two metre wide hard shoulder, most of them will wave at you if you look back, so I've taken to waving a brief acknowledgement of thanks to every passing truck. The motor homes, however, are less forgiving. It seems to be a national pastime in Canada to retire, sell your home and buy a beast of a camper van, the type that could easily pass for a coach in the UK. They're mostly smaller than the trucks, but you're able to drive one of these monstrosities on a regular car licence. This means that every elderly driver out there has the capacity to captain one of these beasts, and very rarely gives much room to any cyclists, or anyone else on the road for that matter. If I look behind me and see a huge 60 foot long logging truck, I'm 99% confident that I'll be passed far too wide to cause any concern. If I look behind me and see a 40 foot long RV with an elderly driver straining to see which way the road goes, I start praying, and veering sharply into the hard shoulder, or, if needs be, into the grass bank.

So I made it to Kendal, one of many little towns along the highway, and asked to stay in someone's yard. Her name was Jennifer, and once she had got past the strangeness of having some randomer stay in her yard, I was invited in for chamomile tea, and we talked late into the night about my trip and everything else that came to mind. In the morning I was invited in for a shower and a huge breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast. It's so nice for strangers to accept me and not only allow me to flatten their grass, but then go out of their way to look after me. It's a nice feeling to be unexpectedly looked after.

The next day took me to the farming town of Kennedy (through another called Bender) where I pitched my tent in another person's back yard; they weren't at home, but their brother-in-law said "it's probably ok". I took his word for it and got my head down. A rather uneventful day really.

The start of the next morning was more interesting. I passed through the Moose Mountain provincial park, and had the first hill in maybe 1000km. It was nice to remember that roads aren't just totally flat, and even nicer to desend a hill for the first time in far too long. I also passed the 2,000km mark and the 2,100km mark that day, which means according to my plan i'm roughly 1/3 of the way through the trip which is a nice thought and also means I'm just a little ahead of schedule, by about 4 days.

Another uneventful day followed, save for being unexpectedly and wordlessly bought a footlong sub in Subway by a total stranger. The usual afternoon thunderstorm gave me a thorough soaking just before I pitched my tent, which was lovely, but for the rest of the day my ride was sunny and usually windy, although it was mostly a sidewind which isn't so difficult.

Yesterday I completed my 450km beasting into Winnipeg with a final 151km day in the saddle. I seem to be encountering some, *ahem*, 'gentleman's soreness', shall we say (my arse hurts now) which makes riding all the more interesting, less for me and more for any passing cars who get to see all the strange positions I've been trying.

The road into winnipeg was pretty much just one straight road from A to B, with the occasional dog-leg to get around a particular field. It makes for some very meditative riding when there's nothing of interest to see or do. I often end up singing enthusiastically to the 1Gb of music stored on my phone, or working out an estimated time of arrival for no reason other than that it's something to do. It's boring, but tomorrow I'll be heading into the Canadian Shield, in Ontario, where the landscape makes it's next sudden change; from featureless plains to lakes and trees.

It should make a nice change, but for the next two weeks I'll be in some serious wilderness. The Rockies were wild, but there were regular towns; the prairies were less inhabited, but I could get between the towns because the riding was so fast and flat; Ontario is just rock, and trees, and water, and lots of each respectively.

So we come to today, and I've spent the morning sleeping-in and having breakfast before heading out to pick up a few things that I needed to buy, BUG-OFF being the most important of course (the mosquitos, or skeeters, will actually try and carry you away rather than just sucking your blood here, and some of them look big enough to manage it). I was treated to a nice Italian lunch in a restaurent, before we went to D'Arcys no-kill animal shelter. I can think of no better way to spend a rest day than playing with a room full of kittens, so that I did, for maybe an hour just mesmerized by them. Once I was bored of them we moved onto the puppies, but I had to do a shop, so left them pining for more cuddles. D'Arcy's daughter, Alex, and I went and did my food shop for the next week, which consisted of 32 oat bars, 24 nutrigrain bars, lots of oats and rasins, and packs of dehydrated pasta meals. And coffee of course, lots of coffee.

It can't have been very exiting for her, but it was nice to have a conversation with someone other than myself, and in the UltraSuperMegaHugemarkets she was invaluable in finding everything. I'm scared of those places; they're just too big, so I usually play it safe and shop in the aptly named Safeways. It's more expensive, but I don't get agoraphobia walking about the aisles.

I then accompanied D'Arcy's family, without him, to his wife's (Sharon) sister's house for a huge supper of chilli and salad. Canadians do chilli well, actually anything with beef they do pretty exceptionally. It was nice to sit in the sun and eat ice cream and have some company. That's what I've missed the most on this trip - not the comfort of a home, not good food, not even being dry and warm, but company. Luckily I've picked a country where everyone is happy to talk and most people are thrilled when they find out about the trip.

That brings me up until now, where I'm sitting at a computer typing away. It's getting late and I'm rather sleepy, but I hope that binge of trip info is of some interest.

As a final thought I'd like to share the lyrics of a song I've listened to pretty much every day, often on repeat. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk. It seems to fit:

Work It Harder Make It Better

Do It Faster, Makes Us stronger

More Than Ever Hour After

Our Work Is Never Over

It's true.=p

View Bens Transcanada for Help for Heroes in a larger map

Quick update in a cafe

I'm sat in a cafe, with a Saskatoon muffin and coke, trying to type this out within my 20 minute time limit. I've made it to Redvers, about 450km from Winnipeg. Hopefully I'll be in Winnipeg two days from now, which means (including today) 3 days of 150km each. Brutal, but I've discovered the secret to it. Eat LOADS. By that I mean, every 20 minutes or so, have 150 calories (about a single nutri-grain bar or apple). Keep doing that for hour upon hour, and you'll still be powering along. Bear in mind that I've been doing this for a month now, so my body is almost tolerating this.

I encountered something unexpected today. I stopped in a Subway for a late lunch, and was wearing my Royal Navy jersey and a Canadian naval cap that I was given at the start. When I was about to pull out my wallet to pay, the clerk said that the man before me had already paid for my sandwich. I was grinning for the next few hours on my bike - he never said a word to me, we were total strangers, but this act of blind kindness has really made my day.

On to Pipestone then for me, my 20 minute limit expired a while ago and my coke is all gone and I need to pee.

There're HUGE dark thunderclouds chasing me from the West, so I'd like to get the next 54km over and done with so I can cook food and hide from the horrific weather that this area has been experiencing.

Fortitudine Vincimus

Bonnie and Doug

So I'm still in Medicine Hat. Brad and I cycled through some of the worst rain southern Alberta has had in a long time, and this has caused some pretty substantial flooding. Luckily we've been hosted by Bonnie and Doug Dirk from warmshowers.org and have waited for the floods to subside, and the highway to re-open. Being Canada, the roads system isn't really that intricate, so going around the flooded section means a 200km detour. What was intended to be a one night stop for just me turned into a 3 night stop for Brad, and 4 for me. Despite the last two days being brilliantly sunny and warm, the highway is still largely underwater. It's so flat here that there's nowhere for the water to really go except down into the ground, which unfortunatly for me is taking days.

Had it not been for Bonnie and Doug, we would have been stuck in a flooding area with nowhere dry to camp; had we been in the wrong place at the wrong time (i.e. anywhere in the next 60km of HWY1 for the last two days) the situation would have potentially been serious. I've just had my fourth night at their house, and I still feel more than welcome. I said Canadians tend to be more friendly and helpful than Brits, but this couple are taking that to a whole new level. Bonnie has just insistently offered to drive me to Swift Current, a 500km round trip! Her exact words were "well we haven't really done anything, all we've done is give you a bed, and I cook food anyway..." I don't really know how to be sufficiently grateful to them. I didn't mention that we took up space in their home, generally smelt like touring cyclists most of the time, and ate a LOT of their food (I'll add that it was unfailingly awesome food, quinoa is a new favourite). If every other warmshowers host is even half as accommodating, then this trip will be a breeze.

Thank you Bonnie and Doug :)

Flatland

Three things have of note have happened in the last two days. Firstly, we turned right. Secondly we got wet in the rain. Thirdly, we stopped in Tim Hortons for hot chocolate.

The plains are 1,000km of grassland and prairies, stretching thousands of kilometres to our north and south. Highway one is a taut and shimmering line connecting the infinitely distant horizons between which we slip. To see one landscape here is to see them all, and to pass over them gives an impression of being stuck in space; the only indication of time is the sun passing over our heads. Everything would be still if it weren't for the ambient truck noise, occasionally crescendoing into a maelstrom of dust and an intense but brief tailwind before it's passed, and we return to our comatose state of pedalling and waiting for something - a hill, a building, a tree, a thought, or another kilometre.

The only thing to punctuate this endless repetition is our conversation. Brief small talk and sarcastic, even caustic comments about our journey make the day a little brighter, and by sharing the hardship, it seems to dissipate. There is nothing to do but pedal and eat. One stop every few dozen kilometres to stuff a banana or wagon wheel, but otherwise all we do, all we can do, is crack on, pedalling in the rain.

We've gone through wind and rain, and have been promised more to come, but heavier and more persistent. 160km in the wind is a totally different world to 160km in the calm and the wind is relentless, always present and never favourable. We slog through it all, and still we're waiting for the other side, for the promised sun and tailwinds that usually feature on this barren and surreal land.

To do this alone would turn all but the strongest minds first into philosophers, then into madmen.

View Bens Transcanada for Help for Heroes in a larger map

It's been a while

Dear devoted readers and transient guests,

It's been a while since my last update, I apologise. I now have a lot to say, and many beautiful pictures to show you. I'm in Canmore, staying with warmshowers.org hosts, Alex and Megan Dunn, and their friend Brendan.

I'll start from where I left off, in Revelstoke. As soon as I left the city, I was climbing. I have no thermometer, so my guestimate of temperature is inaccurate, but I'd say it was about a squillion degrees centigrade. My task for that day was to ascend the Rogers Pass, a 1330m high gap between the mountains which would then wind at great speed onto the road into Golden. This was by far the most beautiful day of cycling I have encountered. I had had a glimpse of what was to come, but it had been spitting with rain, and the cloud was low, so I had little motivation to peer up at the mountains around. Not today, though. By the time I had left, the sun had burnt away the clouds to leave a perfectly clear blue sky and a white hot sun and the entire landscape had opened from the green walls of pine on both sides, to a grand, snowcapped mountainscape. Almost every bend in the road brought a new mountain for me to pull hard on the brakes and photograph.

Sadly the weather started to take a turn for the worse, and ended up grey and drizzly once again. This did have the benefit of making the intense and unrelenting climbing somewhat cooler, aided by the elevation gain.

Gradually, I slogged my way up to the top and over the pass to the monument signifying the highest point or, in my case, the end to a 4 hour sufferfest. Somewhere along the route, I passed the snowline, so the top of the pass, was dotted with grubby lumps of snow. Grubby lumps of snow in JUNE. About 2 minutes after stopping climbing in just a t shirt, I had wrapped up in fun foul weather gear for the descent.

I passed out of the Glacier National Park, which I had been in for most of the days' ride, and looked for a place to camp. At that point anywhere would have done. A grotty campsite under a bridge would have sufficed. As it turns out, I stumbled across the Heather Lodge. The sign said it was closed, and there was a heavy iron chain barring entry, so I was pretty confident it was empty. No one was around, so I set up my tent and sat on their balcony as the sun set over the mountains. Altogether a beautiful, if brutally difficult, day of riding.

Morning came, and I defrosted myself after a freezing night with sickly vanilla coffee and porridge, and set off for the totally uneventful ride into Golden. I thought it best to take a day off at this point, so after a considerable stop in Tim Hortons, I found a campsite and settled in.

Golden is nice, in a valley between two big mountain ranges, but small and unremarkable. I wandered into the centre and bought myself a huge plate of blueberry pancakes and coffee, then wandered for a bit and found a supermarket. It was a good rest day, just what I needed after the battering my legs received on Rogers Pass, but I'm afraid it won't ever make thrilling reading.

My next stop was in Lake Louise, right in the heart of Banff National Park. The mountains were getting seriously big by this point, and I felt very small slipping between them. I was halfway up the Kicking Horse Pass, reading tourist information boards about a railway, when another cyclist pulled up next to me. His name's Brad, and he said he was cycling to St. Johns, a very similar trip to mine and in roughly the same timeframe as me. We stuck together going up the pass, which I had expected to be much more of a significant climb than it was, and came to this sign.

I mentioned sticking together for a while, because we were both on exceptionally lonely trips and seemed of similar fitness levels, so hopefully one wouldn't get left behind.

We flew down the pass and onto the first bit of flat land for a very long time before ending up at Lake Louise. We parted for the night, he went into a hotel so he could dry his kit, and I headed to the campsite. In the middle of the national park, camping rough with food, is just inviting somewhat unwanted interest from the larger species of wildlife, so a campsite was a potentially costly but very much necessary move. This was highlighted to me when I found the area for tents. To get in you must pass over the biggest cattle (grizzly) grid, which was electrified and painted bright yellow, and the entire enclosure was wrapped with electric fencing, 8 wires, and 5 feet high. The kind of thing you might erect to halt an attacking military force, but for wildlife. Inside these barricades, every building and signpost had warnings against leaving out food or keeping a messy site, and they even specified which bear might be of particular nuisance to us campers. Apparently grizzly #74 had been spotted and had her two cubs in tail, and was a regular visitor to the area around the campsite. I was glad to have found this relative shelter, as I had considered just putting a tent up in a field or open area.

The next day Brad and I met up, and cycled up to the lake from where Lake Louise got it's name. It was a beast of a climb, 400m in 4km, but the scene that met us at the top was more than worth it. I won't even try and describe it, I'll just put a photo up. Shame about the tourists though.

Having descended from the lake, we then had a choice - either highway 1, or highway 1A. Both ended up in the same place, but 1A promised greater scenery. We were right, and highway 1A was unfailingly smooth riding. Trucks were banned from this road, so apart from the occaional RV and angry Texan, it was just us and hundreds of cyclists. We saw one tiny cloud that day, just a puff of white which promptly disappeared when we publicly vented our dismay at it. I saw my first black bear as well, a baby by the side of the road looking bemused but not at all phased by the cars stopping to have a look. We didn't hang around, as if there's a baby bear, there's a mummy bear not far off, and getting between the two is not a recommended activity. 77km in 4 hours, and one of the easiest rides I've ever done, we just flew along the perfectly smooth asphalt in the warm sun. Bliss.

We parted once again just before Banff. Brad had to be in Calgary that day, so he carried on while I went and found a campground for the night. I managed to share my site with two other Brits and saved myself $20 in the process.

Another freezing night at altitude (roughly 1400m) followed by a cloudless day under a white-hot sun. I spent the morning walking around Banff feeling like Bill Bryson, drinking coffee in coffee shops and perusing the gift shops. I was disappointed my Banff I'm afraid to say. I had expected a mountain town, so lots of active looking people doing active things, plenty of sport shops and a spattering of healthfod and coffee shops. I was wrong. What I found was the most touristy, tacky place I've visited so far. Every other shop was filled with gifts, covered in maple leaves, caricatures of grizzlies and moose, and selling 'native' crafts, all made in China. I left quickly, and packed my kit to make for Canmore.

I only had 25km to go for Canmore, a nice easy ride, even a rest, that I made in just under an hour. I'm now coming out of the Rockies, so it was downhill most of the way, but on the flats I was happily cruising at 40kmph. This is the upside of pulling a trailer; having slogged up every small hill for the last two weeks because of the extra weight and rolling resistance, I now get to experience the added momentum that it gives me. Once I'm up to speed, it takes very little energy to keep moving fast, so as long as the road is flat I can eat up a large number of kilometres with relative ease. Relative to the Rockies, the next 1,500km will feel effortless.

I'm into Calgary tomorrow, 110km of downhill and flat. I'm sad to be leaving the Rockies, they're a beautiful place (especially when you can experience them at 18kmph) but brutally difficult at times. Tomorrow I'll start my journey through the Great Plains, an expanse of...well very little, it's all wheatfields as far as you can see, and them some.

I passed 1,000km today, only 5,500km left to Halifax.

Ben

View Bens Transcanada for Help for Heroes in a larger map

Settling in

Today was a good day. I've found myself very emotional at the end of each day, because it's been a push to the end and I simply haven't been eating enough. When it's getting dark and you're hungry after a long day on a hard saddle, a lot of stuff can come out (metaphorically, I mean). Today was not one of those days. I finshed with a smile, which made a nice change and bodes well for the rest of the trip, now that I seem to be meeting my food needs for each day. I even made a friend, Dave, who's sixty-something and is cycling from Vancouver to St. Johns. I lost him about 12km back along the highway though, I think he's stopped in a cheap hotel we passed along the way because when I stopped he never appeared. He had food poisoning and kept saying he wanted to find somewhere. I'll probably see him tomorrow when we both have to go up the Rogers Pass. He'll set off earlier than me, but I'm a bit faster.

I was sad to leave the Golden Ears Community farm. Even though I only stayed two nights, I felt like I'd made friends there, so it was with a heavy heart that I set off. I had bought some food from their little shop on the highway, and was pleasantly suprised to find they had invented the best flapjack in the world (for those Canadians who don't know what a flapjack is, it's oats, golden syrup and butter melted together and baked with flavourings like currants or chocolate). Apple and cinnamon, with possibly a little peanut butter. Om nom nom. Nom nom. Nom.

I had three, but I wish I'd bought so many more.

Last night was my first true rough camp. I found a little creek just off highway 1, which had a nice big flat area of grass and saplings and set up camp. The scariest fauna in the UK would be a big dog or maybe a bull, so it's taken a while to rid myself of the irrational fear that everywhere that isn't roads or picnic sites is FILLED with angry, hungry bears with a penchant for a lone cyclist's flesh. I still took all the precautions I had been pre-warned to carry out; food in a sealed bag up a tree, make lots of noise and don't camp anywhere obviously frequently visited by Yogi. Either they worked, or there were no bears there, because today I was cycling with all my limbs in tact. Which is nice.

I'm getting better at using the right words for stuff as well, bin is trash, bathroom is restroom, and mate is dude. People are actually beginning to understand what I say now that I can speak their language. This stops when I meet anyone from Quebéc, but it's a start. I hope everyone's English is passable, moreso than my French when I'm in Quebéc, otherwise I could have a few problems, and lots of sign language. We'll see. Insha'Allah.

Here's roughly where I am now, and where I've stayed along the way:

View Bens Transcanada for Help for Heroes in a larger map

Rogers pass tomorrow, so big it has its own wikipedia page. It's going to be brutal. Then Golden the next day.

In the words of Mr. Ringo Star - Peaceandlove peaceandlove.

Taking it easy

This was unexpectedly soon for an update, as t'was but yesterday I was in Kamloops moaning about how I need to slow down. Well, this is me slowing down. I had planned on taking a rest day sometime soon anyway, but after the battering I decided to inflict on myself, I thought I'd take it today.

What a place to take it though! I've stopped at the Golden Ears Community farm. I had half expected to be some bunch of rednecks living in and around a farm, maybe with a mangy dog, chickens clawing at the dirt in front of a porch, and people saying "gee maa" or "yeee-haw" with real conviction. Turns out I was wrong, oh so very wrong.

About 15 people, between the ages of maybe 18 and 30, live in and around the farmhouse, few of them related, and few of them permanent. The ethos of the farm from what I gather is to source everything locally, organically, non-GM, and as ethically as possible. They 'dumpster dive', or what's also called freeganism (nicking perfectly good food out of supermarket skips) and run their own fruit and veg stall 200m away on Highway 1.

This being Canada, everyone was exceptionally welcoming, despite me being two days early, and asking for another night's stay. I've used the word welcoming very loosely however, because within a few hours of having met everyone, I was invited into the 4 person (although we managed 6 friendly ones) sauna. Basically a very hot dark room with sweaty people. Naturally this led us into a naked sprint for the river in the pouring rain to cool off, then back into the sauna until the cold shock had passed. Now, what to do once you've been in a sauna, then into a river? Go inside, you say? Perchance a shower? Wrong. Naked yoga, obviously. When in doubt of what to do in a new, and potentially awkward situation, follow the naked hippy girls. Always.

I'll also apologise to the guy that peered in the window just after sundown, to offer cake to those 4 people doing yoga. I wish you could un-see things Matty.

To pay for my extra, and unplanned night with the Golden Ears people, I've spent today working with them, on their farm. A morning of making raised planting beds was punctuated with an enormous lunch of beans, potatoes and chicken, with salad. If it wasn't produced on the farm, it was local, and anything left came from a skip. Their food is what food is meant to be, and really good as well. I felt like some kind of drugs peddler for offering my wagon wheels around.

After lunch, about a dozen of us set out with our hoes (the tool kind) to weed a two acre corn field. Not much to comment on, though the conversation was good; we discussed love, life and lesbians, and the job was done.

I have no pictures yet, I would feel stupid walking around taking pictures, maybe before I leave I'll put some up. For now, here's where I've got to:

View Bens Transcanada for Help for Heroes in a larger map

Salmon Arm tomorrow, then Revelstoke. That's the plan. Insha'Allah...

Too much, too soon

So I've made it to Kamloops in one monumental day's jump. 164km from end to end. By far the longest ride I've ever done, with the addition of a lot of kit and some substantial mountains to slow me up. I think I need to slow down and stop battering myself so hard.

Yesterday (3rd June) started off beautiful, going through a sunny gorge following the Thompson river. The terrain then flattened out somewhat and the clouds came in a bit, and the scenery became similar to the south moors of Dartmoor, rolling, grassy and empty. More importantly, very, very boring to ride through, especially with pretty low blood sugar and the first sprinkling of rain. Luckily the rain never came to anything and the day remained pretty favorable and warm.

I made it to Kamloops to stay with my hosts, and although I was 24 hours ahead of myself, they kindly took me in and fed me some crazy South American food, which was more than appreciated, just as the sun was going behind the mountains. I should have been able to enjoy the beautiful panorama, but because I felt the need to crack on and get to 100miles before the end of the day, I feel I missed taking it all in. I've learnt my lesson - that is, I need to take it a bit slower and enjoy myself. It's in my nature to keep pressing on when I feel strong, but when the distances are so vast, I need to be more realistic with my intentions. I still made it though =p

I almost forgot to mention that because there are fewer trees covering the ground, I've seen a greater abundance of wildlife. Yesterday I saw what I think was an Osprey, definitely a bald eagle, a whitetail deer and a coyote. I tried to get photos, but they all seem reluctant about being shot, even with a camera. How inconsiderate of them.

That's all for now, I'm heading 55km up Highway one to Chase, to stay with the Golden Ears community farm, potentially for two nights for a well earned rest.

Ben

View Bens Transcanada for Help for Heroes in a larger map

One hell of a learning curve

Wow, what a place. I've made it to Lytton, a small town about 110km from Hope where I stayed yesterday morning. I'm in a campsite called the Kumsheen river rafting resort about 3km east of Lytton. It's lovely here, I have a hot tub to fall asleep in and showers, a pool, everything I could need. Unfortunaly there's been a tanker crash just up the road overnight, and a chemical spill, so I won't be able to leave here until tomorrow. Fortunatly Canadians are the nicest people in the world, and because I turned up at the campsite looking "kinda beat up" I was offered a free night tonight; she even said she felt bad for making me pay $20 for the first night. On top of that she drove me into town so I could buy bananas, tuna and doughnuts, and bought me lunch. See what I mean?

The first day was pretty miserable. I got off the ferry and started cycling at about 1400h, and made it to someones house at about 1900h. It rained all the way, which is odd for this time of year, and this combined with the stresses from flying and packing meant I was not a happy bunny. I stopped with some nice people, in their garden, and found out in the morning that just down the hill was where a mother bear lived with her cubs, and they had been spotted climbing in the tree about 20 metres from my tent. I hurriedly knocked on my hosts' door, who said something along the lines of "yeah, it's fine, they're often there, in fact I saw some bear crap just next to where your tent is the other day". I felt like a silly English tourist for being scared of something as minor as a few bears.

Day two was better, I totalled 99km that day, and stopped just north of Hope, with a guy called Kurt. I turned up at his house just off the highway, and asked to pitch a tent in his yard. He said yes, but then offered me an RV that was abandoned just on the other side of his land. Perfect. I got my tent dry in his barn, and slept with a roof over my head. He even gave me the leftovers from his Chinese takeaway.

He then took me for a drive around Hope, because I was going the other way and wouldn't get to see his town. It had a population of about 5,000 and had a beautiful lake. Unfortunately the tips of the mountains were misty, so I could only see a wall of green forest surrounding the town.

We got talking about my trip and what I had planned for the next few days. As he was leaving he dropped into conversation that he did something similar when he was 19. He moved up North in the Yukon (waaaaay up North) and lived off the land. Pretty impressive, no? He did it for 10 years... I was speechless. We shook hands and he left me to ponder that little revelation.

The next day I cycled to Tim Horton's, a sort of coffee/doughnut takeaway place for breakfast, and bought a tramp a B.E.L.T. (bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato sandwich). The road took me up 'The One' (highway 1 East) through the Fraser canyon, which was stunning. The first part of the day took me through occasional drizzle and misty mountains, but this cleared up to reveal a baking sun and LOTS of hills. I was expecting to stop in Boston bar, a little town about 60km north of Hope, where I'd started, but it was a bit of a dive, and a crazy lady kept complaining about her weeds to me. So, I cracked on to Lytton, about 50km North.

I was almost in Lytton when another tourer came down the hill the other way. He pulled over to me and said hi. His name was Uk and was from Korea, and he had got here from New York in two months. I'll put this into perspective for you. For me to get to Halifax in three months, a trip of similar distance, I'll need to average 50 miles per day, and I'll have mostly tailwinds on the plains. For Uk to get to Vancouver from NY, he will have had to average 75 miles per day, and he will have had headwinds most of the way across the plains. (FYI: headwinds are horrible to cycle against, and tailwinds are easy sailing). The man deserves respect. He gave me an apple turnover, and we got a photo each. He said he had enjoyed it, but he was tired now, and wanted to go home. It was really good to meet him, but I never got his email. Lame.

I cycled through mountains with snow on the top, which was surreal because I was cycling in the burning sun. It was beautiful, but the hills are brutal when you're pulling about 50kg of kit.

Here's a map of my current location, as well as some markers for the other places I've stayed

View Bens Transcanada for Help for Heroes in a larger map

My next update should be sometime on the 4th or 5th, as I'll be in Kamloops with some pre-planned hosts, so I'll try and get some internet time to check in.

This place sure is beautiful, eh!

Ben

Phone update

For anyone who wants to text / call Ben at any point, this is pretty vital. It seems that texts from him show up as being from the number he gave us. HOWEVER, when sending texts to him, you have to use a different number: +18314407979.

I really don't understand this, and maybe it'll turn out to be just my phone, but I thought I should let you know :) My advice is to check your credit after sending a text - if it hasn't gone down, try the other number.

Right, signing off! And SUPER GOOD LUCK to Ben!!

xxx

It begins...

So I made it to Vancouver, and I'm now in Duncan 50km north of Victoria on Vancouver island staying with some lovely family friends called the Hendersons. I've done a final shop for equipment, and a food shop, so once this is written, I'll be building my bike and getting everything set for leaving tomrrow morning, when the trip starts proper and I'll hopefully end up camping about 65 miles from Vancouver.

Thank you to everyone that's donated, I'll be appearing in a localy newspaper or magazine at some point; I'll find a link or something to put up so keep checking here.

View Bens Transcanada for Help for Heroes in a larger map

In Ben's absence...

He's on the plane now, so I'll have a sneaky post. I'm serving as the admin for this blog, so you may very rarely get something up from me. More usually, I'll be fixing his spelling and grammar... Basically, this is just to let you know that once in a blue moon I may write on this :)

RIGHT it's actually all happening now, so go go go donate! And give him your support via the blog; I know he'll appreciate it when the going's a bit tougher. And seeing as this time next week he'll be in the Rockies, that may be pretty soon :p

Becca xxx

Cool new phone

Just a quick update to say that I've received my quad band phone for Canada. It looks like an iPhone, works like one, but cost me £45. Thank-you Chinese rip-off companies.

This means I have a new number +447924440946 (or just 07924440946 if that doesn't work)

On another note, it's now three days 'til I fly. In a week I'll hopefully be somewhere in the Rockies. What a thought...

Edit: If you want to Contact me, feel free, but bear in mind (Bear!) is costs me $0.45 (about £0.29) for every minute of a call, and $0.35 (£0.23) to reply to a text. In other words - make it short, or send me an email :)

Showbiz

To help raise money for Help for Heroes, I've been making contact with local newspapers, and here is my first appearance. Hopefully it will be one of many, as already a kind lady has donated £50 to H4H. Thank you kind lady, that was very kind of you.

Pulman's Weekly News

If YOU feel like being kind as well, then go to: justgiving.com/benstranscanada

Two weeks out

Two weeks out and I'm making final preparations to leave. I should be appearing in local papers soon, so have a look. Also the MOD publicity office has got hold of my story, so I could be featuring elsewhere.

If you STILL haven't donated, then get a move on. Go to: http://www.justgiving.com/benstranscanada. Be generous :)

Just so everyone's suitably jealous, check out my day 14 campsite

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Consolation-Lake-Szmurlo.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Moraine_Lake_17092005.jpg

Here's to no punctures and no angry bears.

Map of the trip, starting in Vancouver

View Bens Transcanada for Help for Heroes in a larger map

I'll update this map every time I can get to a computer; hopefully when I get to Halifax there will be a line of blue markers showing where I've been every few days