…In fact we’ve been thinking about this bicycle trip for several years now.

We have been planning the details since spring of 2018.  The purchase of new gravel bikes in August meant we were committed.

We anticipate 100 or more days in the saddle (ow) – roughly 80kms a day.  Wherever possible, we will avoid the Trans Canada Highway, instead exploring back roads, gravel roads, bike paths and the Trans Canada Trail (renamed The Great Trail for no reasonable reason by some unreasonable bureaucratic person).  Not only will this add to the adventure of the trip, but we will have an excuse for being the slowest cyclists to cross this country.

We are riding without vehicle support, so will bring tent, sleeping bag and stove, but I am assured that there is a Fairmont every 80 kms with a reservation.

This adventure isn’t all about us.  We have teamed up with our Winnipeg buddy Ken Vanstraelen (Freedom Concepts), who builds bikes for people with special needs.  They create mobility for people who never thought they could ride a bike.   Check out their amazing work at freedomconcepts.com.  Through Freedom’s network, we will give a bike to someone in need in each province.  We hope the joy we get from cycling will be shared with others.  Hence Joy Ride.  We have had friends ask how they can help with this effort of bringing more bikes to more people, so if you would like to contribute towards a bike, please click on “Donate” in the menu.

“If you want to know the truth of who you are, walk until not a person knows your name. Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass. A long stretch of road will teach you more about yourself than a hundred years of quiet.”

Patrick Rothfuss