Advice: Are my friends (and me) insane?

... but the plains are gonna bore the life out of you.

It gets really hot in the summer too. Think the Aussie outback, but fewer (deadly) spiders.

i think this is a really daft idea, to be honest. you can't underestimate how massive canada is, and how bleak and empty in places.

London is closer to the east cost of canada than vancouver is, btw..

It gets really hot in the summer too. Think the Aussie outback, but fewer (deadly) spiders.

don't forget the bears

don't forget the bears

They shoot bees from their mouth! Although there has been a bee shortage, so maybe it's a good time to go!

i cannot imagine a more mundane ride. thousands of miles (literally!) of straight, flat road with wheatfields on either side. mind-numbing. don't do it.

and that's the interesting part.

Ok so maybe we'll cycle from london to toronto instead. Slightly more challenging terrain..

much of the middle, from what ive been told is dead flat and boring (got a mate from winipeg).

I count one bike:

YouTube - One Great City!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b009zx42/

+1

The prairies will be a combination of boring as shit, flat as a pancake, and windy as fuck. And this will go on for hundreds and hundreds of miles.

bit like Waterloo Bridge then, expect not as tedious.

I think you may have trouble getting sponsorship for equipment as what you are doing in the scheme of things is not that amazing or long.

Not sure also how well you'll get sponsorships for the charity too.

Apart from that the idea of a big trip over the summer sounds great fun. Why not do America or London to Istanbul for something similar if you don't like the idea of riding across the plain of Saskatchewan.

+1 on brakeless too. Anything else is just cheating.

[Edit] I've never been to Canada so I can't say anything about the route itself... the advice below is more directed towards long-distance cycling trips in general, and cycling n00bs thinking about embarking on long-distance trips... [/Edit]

I did 1326 km from London to Barcelona last August. It took 11 days, all on-road (although the roads varied in quality), and it was a supported ride (support van carrying our luggage, support staff setting up snack and meal stops, etc).

I didn't even own a bike when I signed up for that trip, and I hadn't cycled since I was 10 years old. I hadn't exercised regularly since I graduated high school and gym class was no longer mandatory. I bought a geared road bike 3 months before the trip, trained about 300 miles (lots of London-to-Brighton runs), and I managed to finish the trip without too much pain, including the day we went through the Pyrenees (sea level to 1900m in half a day... coming down the other side was fun).

Physically, you guys will be getting stronger and HTFU each day of the trip, so by the time you hit the Rockies, you'll be in great shape. I don't know exactly how flat Canada is, but try to include some hill climbing into your route before you reach the Rockies.

Psychology is probably the bigger issue to contend with. As other people have said, flat land with unvarying scenery is boring as hell after a few hours. It also takes mental discipline to force yourself to wake up early and get back on your bike, day after day after day.

If your friends calculated that you have to do 60 miles each day, remember that's the average distance per day. You'll do less distance on days with hilly terrain, so you'll have to make up for it on other days with flat terrain, especially if you have days off (which you will definitely need).

Every summer, students at the university I went to do a US east-coast-to-west-coast ride from Baltimore to San Francisco. Basically it's 4000 miles (not km) in 2 months, but bear in mind that it's a supported ride as well, and they have scheduled rest days fairly regularly. The website has a map and details... I know it's not Canada, but it might give you an idea of target distances each day, how frequently to schedule rest days, etc.
http://www.hopkins4k.org/map/2007/

Hope this helps!

Ok so maybe we'll cycle from london to toronto instead. Slightly more challenging terrain..

You can always try to cross the Atlantic in pedal boats...

good post, CBGB, but they're not going to do it! it's a silly idea..

Btw... I highly recommend the London to Barcelona route that I went on. There are a few boring days, but overall there's a good mix of scenery, from big sunflower fields to mountain gorges to vineyards to 20-km climbs.

good post, CBGB, but they're not going to do it! it's a silly idea..

I've never been to Canada so I can't say anything about the route itself... my advice was more directed towards long-distance cycling trips in general, and cycling n00bs thinking about embarking on long-distance trips...

I just got back a fortnight ago from cycling London - Valencia (beat you, CG! :-D), that was an awesome trip, but one thing I learnt is that cold weather is better than hot weather any day. I was wanting to get to Gibraltar but by the time I hit Spain it was 40+ temperatures every day, you can't cycle in that. I gave up and went back to France.

Crossing Canada by bike, aside from the hills, I think sounds awesome, and the temperature will probably be pretty nice around now. The Canadians have a lot of respect for cyclists too so it should be really safe. Just zone out and push those pedals, I think it sounds like a great project - do it!

I just got back a fortnight ago from cycling London - Valencia (beat you, CG! :-D), that was an awesome trip, but one thing I learnt is that cold weather is better than hot weather any day. I was wanting to get to Gibraltar but by the time I hit Spain it was 40+ temperatures every day, you can't cycle in that. I gave up and went back to France.

Crossing Canada by bike, aside from the hills, I think sounds awesome, and the temperature will probably be pretty nice around now. The Canadians have a lot of respect for cyclists too so it should be really safe. Just zone out and push those pedals, I think it sounds like a great project - do it!

Grrrr. Maybe I should quit my job and go do the Baltimore-San Francisco thing next summer. Then we'll see who's the winner!!

I was in Morocco in June, and I met a couple guys who'd cycled from Madrid and down along the Moroccan coast (actually, one of them had started in Korea). I remember being in awe, because it was boiling hot.

Why not do America or London to Istanbul for something similar if you don't like the idea of riding across the plain of Saskatchewan

I can highly reccomend London to Istanbul. Lots of fun. I followed the Rhine, then the Danube (roughly) then the Black Sea coast, took two months, only training I did was the daily commute and a few weekend rides and didn't really find the ride particularly demanding physically. Was much harder mentally as I was on my own for the second month. Higlights were Serbia and Bulgaria.

Man, London - Istanbul is so totally on my list of things-to-do!

i cannot imagine a more mundane ride. thousands of miles (literally!) of straight, flat road with wheatfields on either side. mind-numbing. don't do it.

Having done this ride, erm.... bollocks.

+1

The prairies will be a combination of boring as shit, flat as a pancake, and windy as fuck. And this will go on for hundreds and hundreds of miles. Could quite easily end in tears.

Oddly enough, not actually true. Admittedly when I did this we didn't get the usual prevailing westerlies and it rained a lot but there is stuff out there to see. Is best to hug the northern edge of the prairies though.

Just to add, when I cycled across Canada, I met these three women who had very little cycling experience before they started their trip and did pretty well.

Oddly enough, not actually true. Admittedly when I did this we didn't get the usual prevailing westerlies and it rained a lot but there is stuff out there to see. Is best to hug the northern edge of the prairies though.
Are you actually disputing a Canadian on his knowledge of Canada?