One of my friends has decided that next summer, he and a mate are going to cycle across Canada, from Vancouver to Toronto. They've set a time scale of a month and a half, I think.

I like the idea, and as of yet have no plans for next summer, so am considering joining them. The idea is, apparently, to raise money here, and also while we're out there (somehow). They are also going to try and get sponsored by various institutions to raise money for equipment etc.

I am unsure of how serious they are about this, but I thought this forum is a good place to start regarding general advice and suggestions for necessary training etc. The thing is, the 2 people considering it are not seasoned cyclists by any means, and I don't think they know what they're getting themselves into.

Canada is big, fucking enormous in fact, and there are the rockies to get over, somehow. I think they have calculated that they need to be doing over 60 miles a day to do it in their time-slot. Is this accurate?

Now, I suppose the best thing for them to do is to get on a bike and get some serious distance training done, but I have very limited/no experience of this myself.

Also, any advice on equipment would be great, and how soon do they need to commit 100% (I'm thinking it's probably like 4 weeks ago)? In fact, could/should this be attempted for next year, or should they start planning it for 2010?

Thanks, any advice would be great.

Alex

mate of mine's blog is probably worth reading: http://www.transamericatrailcycle.com/
60 miles a day seems reaonable.

Htfu + Otp.

You should deffo do it brakeless... Sounds like a mad fun adventure! :)

gofind a book called the hardest road or the longest road or something like that. two non cyclists, rode accros the states, africa asia and europe on mountain bikes fully loaded with gear. they didnt train enough, well one did more than the other, and they managed it. an amazing adventure, they rode themselves into (the ground?) fitness the realms of hardcore. get on it with them i'd say. its totally do able and will be amazing. sorry not the best advice, but fuck yea go forit but make sure you have enough time off work/study in case you wanna detour/extend/rest etc. oh yea, they should get bikes now. not now, but right now.

+ I would take a spare inner tube with me too.

4300k, 80-100k/day every day for 45 days is a fair undertaking, especially for non-cyclists.
Doable but not a light undertaking by any means. You'll want to think carefully about this.
There's always bail out options - train part of the way, etc. You'll want/need to spend a couple of days in some places so your 1.5 months might either blow out or you'll need to make up the distance.
I'm unfamiliar with the terrain but from what I've seen of Canada it could be hard work.

Anyway totally brakeless fixed 92" is the way to go.

whoops i made a bit of a mistake with that title and description, here it is on amazon anyway....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Discovery-Ro...446871&sr=1-10

Thanks so far guys! It would be done on geared bikes, for sure. Which none of us have. In fact, I don't think either of the other 2 have bikes at all!!

hm..sounds like you're going to be dragging them along at this rate - you'd have to have massive confidence in each other's capabiltites for this. NO bailing half way through - by that time whoever else is involved will be setting serious targets for themselves in completing it.

interesting to see this one develop dude.

12 months to train to ride 4300k and two of you don't have bikes yet..

I think you can guess what my first suggestion is gonna be. :)

yep. def geared, good strong wheels to carry the heavy load. mate of mine who regularly tours (he's done alaska, NZ, norway, iceland) uses a surly crosscheck. the toughest bit would be trying to go over the rockies, between vancouver and calgary, most interesting as well. much of the middle, from what ive been told is dead flat and boring (got a mate from winipeg).

good luck. sounds like a proper adventure. id say about 35-40days? 1mth seems a bit quick

oh, if you're goin to document it, try not to whinge on camera ;p

if you're not going for a record attempt and can afford the time off, try and enjoy yourselves, build in as much time as possible for days to get drunk/whore/site-see.

site-see? What are you fucking builders? Sight-see! you know what I mean. Bed time.

The Rockies would come as a blessed relief after the thousands of miles of flat, windswept plains you'll cross between Toronto and Calgary. It won't be very interesting as rides go. Why not fly to Rome or Athens or somewhere like that and ride back to the UK?

me and my mate decided we were going to cycle thro the USA. touching niagra falls in canada on our fixies too

My friends and I have been thinking of doing something vaguely similar but in Europe.
Being wets and weeds however our thinking was that each day a different member of the group would drive the support vehicle (camper van) with all the clothes/tents/spares and tools.
This would mean that we could all ride "lighter" than we do for a conventional outing, as we could keep all spares etc in the van.

+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.

I think Toronto to Vancouver is the wrong way to go. If I were going, I would do this: land in St Johns, Newfoundland and head south; take the ferry to Nova Scotia, cycle to Halifax (haven't been, but supposed to be a really cool city), then west; catch a ferry to Prince Edward Island and cycle across it; take a ferry to New Brunswick and start heading west; head along the fleuve St Laurent) through Quebec and onto Montreal (must go to Montreal!); from Montreal you can hit up Ottawa (or skip it) and then Toronto. Could even head to Algonquin Park after Ottawa before heading to Toronto.

This is the ride Sheldon would tell you to do (because it goes through Quebec)

Check this out for some (lots of!) journals though: http://xcanada.roosmachine.com/yearbody.html

Very roughly, this is the route I'm saying I would do:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&sa...78&ie=UTF8&z=5

4,349km. Although that's on highways largely, so it'd be longer. At the same time, there are areas where you could substantially drop the number of kms if you wanted (don't go around the entire gulf for example, or skip Ottawa and Algonquin Park - and I suspect there must be an easier way from St Johns to the ferry).

I want to do this ride now.

I have a book about cycling across canada with all the maps and routes etc, was thinking of doing it in a few years but don't think its going to happen now.

I much prefer the idea of riding in europe or flying out there and riding home now. I do not like the idea of having to buy some kind of mountain bike or hybrid.

+1 ... but what about the rest of the country? :/

There is no "rest of the country". Upper and Lower Canada ftw!!!

Haha! Too bad I have to spread my rep around first (no offence Teddy).

i'm with horatio. going the wrong way, ending in toronto would be dull. the best bits are eith west coast or east coast quebec. Vancouver and the beach or halifax and the beach would be a better ending point than toronto and the lake. I drove east to west a few years ago and lots and lots of long distance cyclists, so it's doable, but the plains are gonna bore the life out of you.

I agree with you guys, I've been to canada and seen the flatness. Thanks for the advice - it's all going to get forwarded to the other people involved.

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..

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..