Day 1 – A Day Riddled With Mishaps – 126.19 km
The day begins simply enough. Last night I took a cab to a friend’s house in Anchorage (who I actually just met thanks to CouchSurfing). I’m still not sure how I ended up paying $25 to drive a distance of about 3 miles… No matter. Meghan and her house guests were great people, as pretty much all couch surfers are! I awake and finish assembling what is left of my bicycle, then disaster strikes. Well, not really, but it wasn’t exactly the best thing that could have happened. In preparing my bicycle for the plane I had to turn the handlebars, remove the front wheel, as well as unscrew both pedals. The handlebar and wheel were trivial, as was one pedal. When I got to the other I realized that the thread was stripped and I could not screw the pedal in! Needless to say, what this meant was that I had to pay a visit to the nearest bicycle shop, which happened to be about four miles away. Let me tell you, riding four miles with one pedal and a bike loaded with gear is NOT fun. I sincerely hope it never happens to you. But wait, that’s not all! On the way to the bike shop, my handlebar bag mounts begin to loosen and fall on my wheel. I miraculously arrive at the bike shop which at the time seemed like an oasis. I was luckily saved by a skilled mechanic with both problems. Now in good spirits, I grab a quick lunch as well as a few supplies then hit the road! Today I manage to make it all the way to Chickaloon Alaska. Had a minor fall due to a small shoulder with a tight drop off, luckily wasn’t going too fast. Magnificent views, although otherwise a fairly uneventful ride. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing…

Day 2 – Hills, Wind, and Freezing Cold – 90.18 km
Today it was absolutely freezing, I’m not sure how much more plainly to word it. I guess I am heading into higher elevations as I now see snow much more often, especially along the road way. The views are much nicer here, but I guess the cost is my comfort (my fingers are still thawing out). Eventually I ended up wearing not only all my regular cold gear, but as well put on my rain jacket, which conveniently doubles as a wind jacket. The cold would have been good enough, but no. Today’s road was filled with a never ending series of ups and downs. The stretches of down are great, expect for two facts. The first being that going 55 km/h downhill makes you even colder, the second being that eventually you have to climb back up. All in all it was a fairly painful day. Oh, I also forgot to mention that I’m sore all over. I figure that eventually I’ll just grow used to it.

Oh, also saw Alpacas/Lamas today (I can never tell the difference). I figure that’s kind of cool since they seemed very out of place.

Day 3 - A Day Full Of Surprises - 94.05 km
Today was a day that was quite simply full of surprises. In the morning when I woke up, I was kind of cold. I look outside, blink a few times, then shake my head in disbelief. It seems that over night I was snowed in! There was about 2 or 3 inches of snow surrounding my tent. After seeing this, I decided to go to sleep for another few hours, hoping that it would warm up. Luckily it did, and then I went to breakfast. When I asked the locals about this snowfall in May, they laughed at me and told me they get snow all the way into June!

But wait, it gets better! In the morning I suited up in all my rain gear expecting the worst. For the next two hours I didn't see a flake of snow or drop of rain. After those two hours I was pretty hot and decided to take that rain gear off. As my luck would have it, about five minutes later it began to start raining, meaning I had to rush to get all that stuff back on again! For the next while I was absolutely drenched (luckily only my rain gear and not me!) and freezing cold. In the middle of what seemed to be nothingness I saw a godsend, it was a liquor store. I of course hurried inside where it was warm. Now this is where it gets really interesting. As I'm not 21 I of course can't buy alcohol in the United States, so I grab some junk food and head to the counter. The guy asks me for ID. I respond with a blank look and say "Huh? I'm just buying chips?” According to some new Alaskan law you have to be 21 to buy ANYTHING in a liquor store. Needless to say, I was denied buying a bag of chips. I never thought that would happen, unless it was my mom who would be the one saying no.

Anyway, am currently in some town called Glenallen, Alaska. I think that I’m probably going to camp out here tonight since there is nothing for the next 120 miles. I talked to a trapper today who cautioned me against black bears. He said at this time of year they are especially dangerous, and if you meet one, you can basically kiss your behind goodbye.

Day 4 – Better weather and less hills – 127.10 km
Yesterday evening I decided to camp out behind a post office right in the middle of town. I figured no one would really mind since it was already late Saturday, and well, post offices are always closed on Sundays. I guess I was right since I didn’t get a knock from an officer at night. When I awoke I was once again cold. The last night it rained, and in the morning the left over droplets froze on my tent. Check my pictures if you don’t believe me!

The weather up here is pretty crazy. In the morning you’re absolutely freezing because the temperature drops below 0 degrees at night, but at midday you have to start taking off layers because you feel as if the sun is roasting you. Then once again you have to dress up in all your rain gear because you’ll either get a few sprinkles or because it’s so windy that it makes you cold again.

Today overall was a much better day, I only got about ten minutes of light rain. The road also had fewer hills than the day before, which was a real relief. From what the locals tell me though, the next two or three days down into Canada should be tough.

I also happened to cross paths with the strangest character today. He calls himself “Al Tokey”. He says that he originally comes from Ontario, but that now he’s been living in Alaska for over thirty years. He rides his bike from town to town, but the locals all know him so they give him lifts occasionally. He said that up here he actually mines for gold. Another thing I found absolutely crazy is that he wears eleven pairs of pants and seventeen shirts! I kid you not; check out my pictures if you must see it for your own eyes. He told me that back in 2002 he made the front page of the Anchorage news, being nicknamed “the Lance Armstrong of the North”.

Day 5 – Rain, rain, go away! – 101.54 km
When I woke up today it started to rain, it pretty much stayed that way throughout the day, occasionally with some pauses. Definitely not the greatest weather to be biking in let me tell you! Was otherwise a fairly uneventful day until I settled down for the night at a campground here in Tok, Alaska.

Let me tell you, tonight I feel as if I’m in the lap of luxury! The campground where I’m staying has showers, laundry, as well as wireless internet. I haven’t felt so clean in days! Now here’s the best part, I’m the only one here! It’s not tourist season yet, so there is no one up here. In about three weeks time it should be completely full however.

The owners here are very friendly people. They even made me burgers fresh off the BBQ! I found out from them that in the winter temperatures here have reached -70 degrees Fahrenheit, and that’s without including the wind! In the summer however, it can get all the way up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, talk about a big difference! I also found out that unfortunately at this time of year I won’t be seeing the northern lights as it is too light outside even at night.

No worries, I’ll just have to come back another time! As for now, I’m off to bed. I hope to make it close to the Canadian border tomorrow. Farewell Alaska!

Day 6 – Back Home, Yet Not – 149.76 km
Last evening in Tok someone told me there was no way I was going to make it to the border tomorrow, so I just had to prove them wrong. As I type this I am sitting in my tent on the Alaska-Yukon border, well, I’m about 15 feet away from it actually… on the Canadian side of course!

I haven’t passed through customs yet, and it’s not because I smuggled myself across on the bottom of a truck. The US customs is about a half mile past the border on the US side, whereas the Canadian customs is about 20 miles away from here!

All in all the road from Tok to here was quite dull, and well, there wasn’t much on it. I counted three gas stations and a handful of houses from time to time. The road condition was pretty bad in some parts. When I told the locals that they laughed at me and said the worst is yet to come in Yukon. I just can’t wait to find out (note my sarcasm).

The weather once again did not fail to disappoint. Today I got both hailed on and rained on. I must say that the hail wasn’t the most pleasant feeling, especially when it hits your face when your going 30 km/h, actually, it kind of stings. But me being the sadistic cyclist that I am, I did not stop and kept riding right through it. After all, minutes are miles!

Day 7 – Dodging Landmines in No Mans’ Land – 146.56 km
As I type this I am sitting in my tent at a rest stop, I have no idea where I am. May I also point out that my tent is sitting about fifteen feet away from a sign that explicitly states no camping or overnight parking. Am I a rebel without a cause? Perhaps. But then again, there has been absolutely nothing for the last 120 kilometers.

After I left the town of Beaver Creek this afternoon I have traveled through what seems to be a desolate land. I believe I counted three gas stations, all of which where either abandoned or closer. I also counted three campgrounds, which were likewise closed.

May I also point out that the road from Beaver Creek was interesting to say the least. If I had to compare it to something, I would say it was a lot like Swiss cheese, where the holes in the cheese are the potholes in the road. Today I basically felt as if I were riding in a minefield, for I well knew that should I accidentally hit one of those potholes I would probably injure myself as well as my bicycle rim, and then I’d basically be screwed.

On a positive note, I officially crossed through Canadian customs and got a nice warm Canadian welcome. I am officially heading to sleep after a long and tiring day of cycling. Hopefully I don’t get an early wakeup call from a Mountie due to my blatant disregard of posted signs.

Day 8 – Oh The Horror! – 98.00 km
I severely underestimated today’s road. It was not extremely hilly nor did it involve rain. However, it did involve wind. Oh what a wind it was! It was quite possibly the most severe headwind known to man, beast, or cyclist. May I also inform you that it was not a on and off kind of thing, but it was non-stop, all day long. You know it’s getting pretty bad when you have troubles going downhill in your lowest gear. It turns out that the large lake located next to this stretch of road seems to provide that effect.

The winds had taken such a toll on me that when I arrived at the restaurant in Burwash Landing I swear I could have eaten a horse. Unfortunately since they were all out of those I had to settle for hot chocolate, salad, veal culets, poutine, and finally cherry pie with vanilla ice cream.

On another note I met a couple cycling down to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Unfortunately since they are not going as fast as I need to go in order to reach Panama in time, I won’t be able to join along with them.

Finally, it is interesting to note that just because something says ‘Closed’ in the Yukon, doesn’t mean that it exactly is. Today as I rolled on by a closed campground I decided to knock on the door of the office and see if anyone was around. Sure enough someone was home, and they were more than willing to let me camp for free (which is where I am right now as I type this). They even offered me firewood had I wanted some!

Day 9 – The Sun Lives Again! – 163.27  km
Today was simply a great day for cycling. In the morning I started off near that dreadful lake I so thoroughly mentioned yesterday, so for about half an hour I still got some nasty head winds. Right after that I hit a 12 km stretch of rough gravel road. Let me tell you, not fun to bike on, and even less fun when trucks kick up a lot of dust in your face.

After that it was smooth sailing. The roads were not excessively hilly and the winds did not hinder me. I made it to Haines Junction at about 3:30 PM. I had the biggest craving for Chinese food, and as luck would have it there was a Chinese place in town. Unfortunately the food wasn’t that great. My meal that was supposed to be spicy was quite bland. None the less, a success either way, although I still have a craving for Chinese!

In Haines Junction I also stumbled upon a general store. When I entered that place I swear it was as if a shining beacon of light beckoned me in. Unlike the severely under stocked gas station stores that I was used to, this was an actual store with a very good selection and good prices. The gas station shops along the way like to inflate their prices a lot. Needless to say I got a little overexcited and stocked up on way too much food, I actually had trouble packing it all into my bag later. I mean, I even bought a whole loaf of bread!

Past Haines Junction a nice fellow also stopped while driving to give me a few tips on routes amongst other things. He directed me to the aboriginal town of Champagne, and along a short cut of sorts. Let me tell you, if you simply removed the cars in that town it would look like you stepped back into the 1600s.

Today I finally also saw my first true wild beasts of the north. I saw a porcupine as well as a moose today. Unfortunately both quickly ran away when I tried to pet them. Do you think I’m crazy? I didn’t really try to pet them, but they both did run away.

Since I managed to catch up on the mileage today I only have about 80 km or so to Whitehorse tomorrow where I will be staying with someone I met from CouchSurfing. Should be a nice and relaxing day, I think I’ve earned it!

Day 10 – The Road to Whitehorse – 76.30 km
What? Only 76 km you ask? Officially, yes. Unofficially I cycled about 140 km today. The 76 km that I am counting is part of my route, all the rest is simply detours. I biked all around the town of Whitehorse, took a major detour to the Takhini Hot Springs, and even took a short bike ride to a party.

The road into Whitehorse itself was fairly straight forward and uneventful. I decided to drop my bags off at Charles’ place, who I met through CouchSurfing. Once I unloaded my bags and rode my bike with nothing strapped onto it, I felt as if the ball and chain had been removed from my foot. I could pedal faster and easier, what a relief! I also visited today what is possibly one of the best inventions of the Western world, Chinese buffet. I tell you, that place alone made my day!

After bicycling around the city of Whitehorse, I then had the bright idea of bicycling 28 km to a place called Takhini Hot Springs. It wasn’t the most phenomenal hot springs I’ve seen in my life, simply a large hot tub, although it was refreshing none the less.

The road back from Takhini Hot Springs to Whitehorse was not as simple. I was hit with fairly rough winds, but I made it to Whitehorse none the less. I thought I would have some free time in Whitehorse, but nope. Charles invited me to a party, and I’m not one to turn that down! So we of course hopped on our bikes and off we went! It turns out there is a large community of Quebecers here in Whitehorse, and everyone at this party happened to fall into that group. A great and fun crowd of people, although I did have to brush up on my French a little bit!

Day 11 – Sweet Home Alabama – 110.66 km
To me Whitehorse might as well have been New York City. It had everything and anything that one could want. This morning I felt right at home when I saw the welcoming neon lights that read “Tim Hortons”. Never has soup and sandwich with hot chocolate tasted so good.

Today in Whitehorse I talked to a motorcyclist who had come up the Cassiar highway, which is what I’ll be on in about four days time. He kindly informed me that he had seen eight bears in one day while on that highway. Needless to say, I immediately went to Canadian Tire to purchase a can of bear spray. It was quite the rip off at $44.99 per can, but a wise investment none the less. I mean, I could take one, maybe two bears on, but definitely not eight!

On my way out of Whitehorse I saw a sign to the famous Miles Canyon. I decided I could not pass up an opportunity to see it when so close. The next sign informed me it was 4.5 km to the right, easy enough I thought. Oh my dear readers, how wrong I was! That 4.5 km involved the most grueling and painful hill climbs I have ever endured in my life. I tell you, just looking at these hills was enough to make a grown man cry. Pain and suffering aside, the canyon itself was quite nice and well worth visiting.

Currently between Jake’s Corner and Johnsons Crossing at some closed campground. Although the barrier was down, I could still squeeze by using my bicycle. There’s envelopes which state you must put $12 in an envelope, stick it in a box, and put the stub on your rear view mirror of your car. Since the place is technically closed, and since I don’t have a car, I think I’ll just accidentally forget about all that. My memory is deteriorating, I am getting old after all!

Day 12 – What’s That Big Black Cudly Thing? - 120.85 km
I will be the first to admit that today was quite a dull day. At Johnsons Crossing I tried a “World Famous Cinnamon Bun”. It really wasn’t the greatest cinnamon bun in the world. I’d much rather have one from Cinnabon any day.

Right after Johnsons Crossing there was some bridge work being done, and traffic was stopped. I ended up chatting with the traffic controller for about 20 minutes. She told me that so far the spring has been much colder than usual. Another cool thing she told me is that in the winter, the temperature had to reach negative 55 degrees Celsius before they didn’t have to go to school. Ouch! Looks like we have it easy in Ontario!

On my way to Teslin I saw my first black bear of the trip. Upon seeing me he simply ran off into the woods. He really wasn’t that big, I could have probably taken him on. On a serious note I hope all my bear encounters end in this way!

I arrived in the village of Teslin at about 3:30 PM; a quaint, but nice, little town of about 300 people. Here I did some souvenir shopping, visited the post office, and then sat in a restaurant for about two hours. No, I wasn’t eating for two hours, but this is usually the only way I am able to charge up my iPod, laptop, phone, camera, as well as access the internet.

Am currently camped (probably illegally again) at some rest stop beyond Teslin. I am actually in the province of British Columbia since this road dips into the province for about 50 kilometers or so.

Day 13 – Roads and Bikes Both Under Construction – 105.40 km
Today’s day started off really, really rough. The first 40 kilometers of the day really took their toll on me. Not only was I tired because I stayed up a little late the night before catching up on missed episodes of ABC’s hit show “Lost”, but I was hit by stronger than usual headwinds. I tell you my dear readers, if there is one thing worse than a steep hill, it’s going up that steep hill against a tail wind. I also happened to pass through a stretch of road that was under construction and thus gravel. What mad it really messy was that they had just sprayed water onto the surface to keep the dust down. Sure, no dust, but on the other hand I got all muddy!

After suffering through 40 kilometers I decided to take a lunch break near a stream, where I made a gourmet meal of tortellini and whole wheat bread. Soon after I hit the road again I saw six deer by the side of the road. They were unfortunately scared off by a car, otherwise I would have gotten a picture. That seems to happen a lot to me.

Following that I hit some construction, which is very common in the Yukon. However, this time they wouldn’t let me through on my bicycle! I’m not surprised, the road was all torn up and I would have probably killed myself trying to get across. Needless to say my bicycle went in the back of a pickup truck and I got a ride across the construction zone.

Soon after this I realized that I had experienced my first mechanical failure of the trip. It seemed that my water bottle cage had become detached on one side, and by the time I got to camp, on both sides. No worries, nothing a few zip ties couldn’t fix! The more unfortunate mechanical failure was of my rear view mirror, which snapped when I laid my bike down wrong. It looks like I’ll have to stick to looking over my shoulder!

Another thing I saw today that I thought was neat was a bald eagle. Although I’m not positive, I’m pretty sure it’s not that easy to see them in the wild. I saw this one actually swoop down and catch a fish in the lake. What happened after was actually quite comical. Since there is a layer of ice covering the lake, the eagle actually was stuck and had trouble getting out. At one point he just laid his wings out flat on the ice and looked like he passed out from exhaustion. Eventually he did get out and flew off, with the fish of course.

Day 14 – Welcome to British Columbia – 109.56 km
I have learned that dinner meals work equally fine for breakfast as well as lunch. Today for breakfast I made myself mashed potatoes, lightly seasoned with chicken something, along with my favorite combine with everything food, bread. What can I say, I would love to make eggs with sausage and bacon, but that’s kind of hard to carry around, and every bear within a 100 km radius would probably sniff me out!

After breakfast I covered a distance of roughly 80 kilometers before I hit the junction of highways 1 and 37. Before that spot, there was absolutely nothing. I spent a few hours here in order to eat, update all my loyal readers, send a few messages to people, as well as upload some new pictures.

I tell you, there is an absolutely amazing café at this junction. I received a beast of a burger with cheese, bacon, mushrooms, mustard, relish, mayonnaise and who knows what else. I mean, it was seriously twice as tall as it was wide! That was followed up by the largest cinnamon bun I have ever seen in my life, which was equally delicious. There is a picture of it included in my photos with my business card next to it for size reference purposes.

I am currently next to highway 37 in British Columbia, more commonly known as the Cassiar, roughly 30 kilometers past that junction. I should note that as I turned onto this road there was a sign which said “Check Your Gas – Next Gas 254 km”. In other words, there’s not going to be much on this road for awhile
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As for my first impressions of the Cassiar, well, you know those creepy roads in horror movies that people turn onto while everyone in the audience yells “No!”? Well, it actually reminds me a lot of that. Additionally, it’s quite the rollercoaster ride. The downs are quite fun, but the ups are another story since you have to climb them manually.

Unfortunately the last kilometers of the day involved me getting rained on. It didn’t look like it was going to stop anytime soon and it was getting dark, so I ended up setting my tent up in the rain for the first time of the trip. Definitely not a fun task as you have to essentially set up your tent in reverse. As luck would have it, it stopped to rain about 20 minutes later and it hasn’t rained a drop since. That’s Murphy’s Law for you!

These next 700 kilometers or so of road should be the most desolate, challenging, and dangerous with respect to wildlife that I should encounter on my whole trip. Wish me luck, and don’t be surprised if updates don’t come daily, there’s not much out here!

Day 15 – Rough Day With A Relaxing End – 141.20 km
I will admit that today was a really rough day, and it wasn’t because I covered more mileage than I usually do. The first 80 kilometers of the day, which took me from 10:30AM till 5:30 PM were simply excruciatingly painful. I would have thought that heading south I can worry less about headwinds. But oh my dear readers, how wrong I was! Today I battled some of the fiercest headwinds that I have ever experienced. I would explain in more detail, but the mere reflection of them makes me cringe.

The next 60 kilometers took me a mere two and a half hours. The winds had mostly died down and the road was either flat or downhill with very few climbs. I saw an advertisement for a campground that would have ended my day at kilometer 127, however they were unfortunately sold and closed. I continued on fourteen more kilometers to another campground, where I am right now. Along the way I also saw a fox as well as a moose, both didn’t seem to mind my presence the slightest bit.

When I initially asked for a cabin at this site, they told me one could be had for $45. I told them that my poor college student pockets couldn’t afford such a hefty fee, and thus took a campsite instead for $15. Of course, me being so charming and likable, after some sweet talking I managed to eventually get a cabin for a mere $25. Inside my cabin can be found a table, two chairs, a kitchenette, a light, and two beds. Most importantly, it’s warm! I made myself another gourmet meal of some instant food from a packet along with some bread of course. I tell you, those instant foods taste really good when you mix some of them together. What more could I ask for? I have to give myself a pat on the back for being able to organize this one!

Day 16 – A Day Full Of Excesses – 109.89 km
I started my day off refreshed and in good spirits after spending the previous night in a warm cabin. Unfortunately, I soon hit a nice long stretch of gravel road to beat me up again, 25 km long actually. Although not as terrible as I expected, the stretch of road went slow and was very shaky. In fact, my hands are still trembling from the aftermath as I type this! There was one really nice and long section of downhill, but let me tell you, rushing down a gravel road on a bicycle at 50 km/h is quite the adrenaline rush! You know that if you slip or hit a pothole it’s going to hurt… a lot.

I made it to the village of Dease Lake where I stopped at a restaurant called Mama Z’s. On the menu was something called the “King Mountain Burger”, a huge burger containing one pound of beef topped with bacon, cheese, mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and who knows what else. What I found quite funny is that there was actually a warning on the menu: “Warning! Do not order unless you are extremely hungry!” So of course you can all guess what I ordered!

The waiter brought me my burger and said that it should fill me right up. Let me tell you my dear readers, I devoured that burger faster than a bear could devour me! When the waiter asked me if I was full, I told him that I could easily eat another one of those. “No way!” was his response. So then I asked him, “Want to bet? If I can eat another burger like that, you have to give me both for free, if I can’t, I’ll pay for both!” Needless to say, the waiter consulted the owner, both of whom seriously considered my offer. However, seeing that I was a hunger stricken cyclist and that I could probably eat a second burger, they declined my offer. Perhaps it’s a good thing, because had I eaten that second burger, and I know I could have, I probably wouldn’t have cycled much further!

I did however find out that there is a place in Vancouver where they have a burger with a whopping two pounds of beef, and if you can finish it it’s free. Guess where I’m stopping when I’m in Vancouver? Anyone want to bet me if I can finish it? If I win the bet, you have to make a donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation! (Which you should do anyway, even a few dollars makes a difference)

Before heading out of Dease Lake I had to do some grocery shopping, as there really isn’t anything for the next 340 km. I figured I needed about three full days worth of food, which means breakfast, lunch, dinner, and of course snacks! Let me tell you, I think I overdid it a bit. I walked out of that grocery store with thirty-two pop tarts, ten packets of instant hot chocolate, three boxes of Kraft dinner, two pouches of instant mashed potatoes, two pouches of instant pasta, two bags of jelly beans, and two loaves of bread. Grand total: $33 CDN. Not too bad at all! I finally realized that I may have exaggerated a bit when I had some serious trouble closing my bag. Needless to say, I now have two bags with food hanging in a tree as opposed to one!

Coming out of Dease Lake I encountered some colder temperatures as well as quite a lot of wildlife. I would have taken out my jacket to put it on, but since it was under all my food, I decided I would rather freeze a little than have to repack all that! When I reached the place where I am camped for the night, which is simply a clear patch of ground not far from the main road, I saw fifteen deer and seven elk.

Day 17 – Where Do I Begin? – 125.92 km
Today was by far the worst day of the trip and quite possibly one of the worst days I have ever had the displeasure of living through in my entire life. Disaster struck in the morning and continued throughout the day up until this very instant. Today’s day quite simply kicked my butt, hard.

Yesterday my fuel ran out for my stove. Luckily I was in Dease Lake where I could re-supply. My little stove burns denatured alcohol, which can be found at any paint or hardware store, as well as Wal-Mart. There happened to be a hardware store in Dease Lake, which as my luck would have it was closed. My stove is also advertised to burn other alcohol based fuels such as rubbing alcohol or 150 proof alcohol. Since 150 proof alcohol is kind of expensive and would be a waste to burn, I opted for the rubbing alcohol.

I found out the hard way that my trusty little stove does not burn rubbing alcohol as advertised. Luckily I was able to fall back on my Boy Scout skills and constructed a fire with which I managed to boil my water with ease. I used the rubbing alcohol as a fire starter, at least one thing it’s good for. I made myself a delicious meal of Kraft dinner and of course bread.

Shortly after breakfast is when the fun started. I once again hit a stretch of gravel road, one of which I hope I never have to experience again. This gravel road was not hard packed as was yesterdays, but was rather quite loose. The first section consisted of a 5 km downhill. Since the gravel was loose I nearly lost control countless times. The second section was a nice 7 km uphill grade of 8%. An uphill grade of 8% would be bad enough, but combined with loose gravel, it makes it terrible. To make matters worse, at about 11 AM it began to rain. This meant I had to put on all my rain gear, in which it is very hot when the sun is out at the same time.

But wait, it gets better! It began to rain harder. Then it rained some more, and then it kept raining. By this point I am absolutely drenched, completely filthy, and kind of cold. Keep in mind that my stove doesn’t have fuel, so the only way I’m going to make myself a warm dinner is by making a fire. Well, as you can guess, that didn’t happen. Today’s dinner involved pop tarts, granola bars, bread, and jelly beans for desert. I guess I’ll just have to make do with what I have.

On a funny note, I participated in my first moose chase today. I saw a moose on the road, so I yelled some stuff at it in order to get it to move out of the way. The guy just started running along the road. I cycled after him for about three kilometers before he finally got off. It was actually quite a challenge to keep up with him since he was doing a good 25 km/h!

Right afterwards I hit another stretch of gravel road, once again loose packed and only a downhill of about 2 km this time. However, what made it really interesting is that at this point it was pouring rain. Let me just say that going down that hill was quite scary. I have never been gladder to have disc brakes, as those things can stop me in rain, slush, snow, or mud.

If there is one thing I hate more than anything in this world it’s putting a tent up in the rain. Well, guess what I had to do today? To make it even more fun for me, I had to battle wind at the same time. Could it be worse? Oh yes! Since there is about two feet of snow everywhere here it’s quite a challenge to find a bare patch of ground. Therefore the best I could do was a combination of grass and mud, just great!

It is now 11 PM. It has not stopped raining for even five minutes over the last 12 hours. I am tired, cold, and miserable. I don’t think I have never gotten so drenched in my entire life. I would have gladly stopped at a motel or even at someone’s house to ask to sleep in their garage. Unfortunately for me, I have not seen a single building for the last 70 km. I think that I’m going to sleep in tomorrow…

Day 18 – A Beautiful Day - 160.56 km
In the morning I suffered several hardships which led me to believe that today would be another bad day. It stopped raining at about 7 AM, but I promised myself the night before I’d sleep in and thus woke up around 9:30 AM. Dark clouds loomed overhead, and it was quite cold. The night before I had hung my food bag up in a tree so well that not only could a bear not get it down, but neither can I. Needless to say, I ended up climbing 20 feet into a tree in order to recover my precious food.

It also turns out that I’ve had some electronic failures. My phone gives me a message saying “GPS failure. Contact service provider.”, perhaps that’s why I can’t seem to get any service these past few days. My iPod is also giving me issues, the screen shifts off center and the thing just freezes. The only way I can get it to work again is to let the battery completely drain, then charge it up again. This is the second time it’s happened and it’s quite annoying. I didn’t drop either of these or get them wet or anything, they just decided they hated their miserable existence and thus stopped to function. No worries, I’ll simply have to locate the nearest Best Buy to exchange my iPod and Telus to exchange my phone.

The rest of the day turned out to be absolutely awesome. The sun soon came out, the winds died down, and the road was in great shape. There were some steeper hills, but they didn’t prove to be too much of a problem. The thing I find so strange about it up here is that there can be absolutely nothing for 100 km or even more at a time. I mean not a single house, gas station, building, anything. Just road, road, and road.

While stopped on the side of the road in order to take a drink of water an elderly couple pulled up to me and asked me if I had just seen that grizzly bear sleeping right next to the road. It turns out there was a big one lying pretty much right next to the road way, but I somehow didn’t notice it! Don’t ask me how it’s possible not to notice a big brown bear, but I guess it is!

On the other hand, today I happened to see six black bears! The first proved to be the most trouble. I yelled at him in order to try to get him to move, but he just wouldn’t. I’m not daring enough to just roll on past him and hope he doesn’t do anything, so I got a ride past him on the back of someone’s pickup truck. I managed to get a picture of him while driving past. The other four bears didn’t prove to be too much trouble. When far away I just start yelling and waving my hands, if they move, I just keep on rolling by yelling off some gibberish. If they don’t, which has only happened with that first one, I’d have to stop and back up.

I decided to push on further today in hopes of reaching some civilization. Seeing six bears was also quite a good incentive in order for me to not just pitch a tent in the middle of a forest. I made it all the way to Mezidian Junction, which just so happens to be one of the furthest things possible from civilization. It’s amazing this place is even on the map. It literally consists of five buildings: a house, a storage building, a gas station office, a restaurant/grocery store, and this big empty log building in which I am sleeping. May I add that everything here is still closed for the season!

I ended up setting up my lodging in this big empty log building which I came across. Initially I just setup my sleeping pad and sleeping bag, but upon seeing that the birds above are dropping hazardous wastes, I decided it would be wise to setup the rain fly from my tent. I would have had to set it up anyway in order to let it dry from the night before. As a side note, I saw my sixth bear of the day while looking outside of this log building, he was just minding his own business next to the road. Needless to say, my bear spray is within close reach!

I am still out of fuel for my stove and am thus living off of pop tarts and bread. I really would love to make a fire in order to cook up some pasta, but everything here is snowed in and it’s impossible to find firewood. It’s still the end of winter here! Hopefully tomorrow I can find some fuel for my stove as well as a restaurant where I can charge up my laptop, I only have 30 minutes of battery time left!

Day 19 – Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures – 152.04 km
Next to the building I was sleeping in was parked an RV. Just as I, someone had decided this would be a good place to stay for the night. In the morning I went to go ask these people if per chance they had any denatured alcohol, and if not if I could simply have some boiling water to re-hydrate my instant mashed potatoes. As luck would have it this couple was from Germany and they didn’t speak any English. As further luck would have it, I used to know German but unfortunately was young at the time and forgot it when I learned English. So basically: no denatured alcohol, no water.

As I was packing up I noticed that I was down to my last six pop tarts, the rest of my food all required cooking. As the German couple was leaving they brought me a cup of coffee. For those who know me, I simply do not do coffee. Either way I thanked the man graciously and continued to pack up my things. That cup of coffee just kept looking at me, all hot with its rising steam. I unfortunately could not resist drinking any warm beverage and thus somehow managed to ingest that beverage. It was the first cup of coffee I have ever drank in my life and I sincerely also hope my last. It is by far the most vile beverage I has ever consumed, and I have no idea how some of you drink it daily and like it!

No matter, I decided to push on. At about two o’clock I found a suitable stream in a dry place where I could start a fire. Although it took me an hour to filter water, rather firewood, find stones, prepare a fire, and cook my meal, it was well worth it. Being as this was my first warm meal of any kind in two days I can honestly say that Kraft dinner has never tasted so good. Unfortunately at this point I was completely depleted of my supply of dry food, and to make matters worse, I also found out that my one and only water bottle had sprung a leak in the bottom!

As much as I did not want to push on today, I decided it would be best to make it to civilization. I rode 100 km without a bite to eat and very little to drink, but in the end it was all worth it. Three black bears later, which I all yelled and waved at, I made it to a town called Kitwanga in which I found a splendid campground. I was fed two burgers as well as two popsicles. I decided I was still hungry and rode to the dinner three kilometers down the road. Here I swallowed a roast beef dinner with fries, as well as a drumstick for desert. Luckily tomorrow I will finally be able to decently resupply. There is both a hardware and grocery store here in Kitwanga where I can make all the necessary purchases. The worst of my road is over as the rest of my route is fairly populated, or so I hope! The next two days should be fairly relaxing as I have only 170 km to go until I reach a town called Houston, where I will surfing someone’s couch.

Day 20 – The Case of the Missing Croc – 105.09 km
Today in the morning I had the biggest craving for two things: chocolate milk and cereal. I decided it was best to kill two birds with one stone, and thus ate cereal with chocolate milk. The grocery store was having a sale on Rasin Bran at $2.54 a box, so how could I pass that up? I must say that it was actually quite good. Perhaps next time I’ll have a craving for orange juice and cereal, although I’m not sure how that will taste! However, on my to do list food wise are: drink a gallon of milk in a hour, eat a gallon of ice cream in an hour, and eat that burger with two pounds of beef? Why you ask? Just to see if I can!

While in the village of Skeena I took a seat on the steps of a church, where there conveniently happened to be a WiFi hotspot. From here I updated you last after my absence of several days. Many locals passed by, many of whom I chatted with. A teacher from the local school also passed by, and after finding out what I was doing insisted that I be a guest speaker at their school. Of course I agreed! I distributed several of my cards, told them about what I was doing, and answered some questions. It was actually quite fun!

Today I also had quite the adventure. When I made it to New Hazelton I looked at the cargo rack of my bicycle and nearly had a heart attack, one of my Crocs had gone missing! As you know I occasionally strap loaves of bread in the same place in order to not take up space in my bags. At the last rest stop I had removed a loaf of bread from there and put it in my bag, but I forgot to tighten the bungee cords holding my Crocs! Needless to say, I backtracked 10 km to that rest area searching for my Croc. I searched high and I search low, but to no avail. On the way back I searched the ditches, and as luck would have it I managed to find my Croc! It would have been very bad to lose it for several reasons: I had grown very attached to it after 2000 km, I would have had to pay $44.95 for a new pair of Crocs, and they’re my only pair of non-cycling shoes! Needless to say, disaster was averted at the cost of an additional hour and a half as well as 20 km, which may I add are not included in today’s total.

On another note, I broke a speed limit on my bicycle today! On the way into New Hazelton I reached a speed of 54 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. I kind of wish they gave me a speeding ticket, how cool would that be? Although my maximum speed as of now is 65 km/h, it still feels pretty cool to break a speed limit!

Day 21 – The Quest for Denatured Alcohol – 78.33 km
In the morning today I was supposed to meet up with a reporter in Smithers who was supposed to do a story on my trip, but unfortunately he was off for the day. Perhaps I will get in touch with him by phone later on. Either way, I still decided to stop for breakfast in the town of Smithers. I stopped at an oasis with the name of “Tim Hortons”. Here I feasted upon a toasted twelve grain bagel with cream cheese and a medium Iced Cappuccino with a flavor shot of hazelnut. As you can tell by now, I might as well have Tim Hortons running through my veins!

Today I was not only partaking in my epic journey from Alaska to Panama, but I was also on a quest. My sole mission for today was to find denatured alcohol for my cooking stove. I visited four hardware stores and two outdoor stores in the town of Smithers, but it was to no avail. It was beginning to seem as if my quest for denatured alcohol may as well be a quest for the Holy Grail itself! I have been looking for the stuff since Whitehorse and haven’t been able to find it anywhere. Needless to say I decided to give up on my search, and opted to buy a new stove at the next REI I pass that will burn anything.

From Smithers, which is a very cool town with an absolutely awesome main street may I add, I traveled to the town of Houston, where I am surfing someone’s couch today. While fixing my bicycle in the garage, my host for the night, Paul, came in and asked if I needed a hand with anything. I explained to him my dilemma of my lack of denatured alcohol. No more than twenty seconds later I was staring at four liters of precious denatured alcohol. It turns out that over here it is called by many different names, and denatured alcohol does not happen to be one of them. With my fuel bottle filled I showed off my very cool alcohol stove and my superior light weight packing skills.

So I managed to find denatured alcohol, tuned up my bicycle, and received a monster of a dinner meal. All in all I must say it’s been a very good day! Remember that I post photos on my website, check them out!

Day 22 – Smooth Sailing – 163.77 km
I stayed up quite late last night. It was not because I could not sleep, but rather I had to watch the season finale of ABC’s show “Lost”. Absolutely brilliant finale, I won’t ruin it for you if you haven’t seen it yet, but it was simply awesome. If you don’t watch Lost, you really should!

Being as I got a mere five and a half hours of sleep, I figured today would be a rough today where I wouldn’t be able to cover much distance. Luckily that proved to be quite wrong. A great breakfast combined with an early start, great weather, and smooth roads turned out to be quite the good combination, an absolutely great day for cycling.

Although I covered quite a bit of road today, the day was actually quite uneventful. The highlight of my day was seeing five bears at once, a large black bear along with its four cubs. I remember that someone recently told me that if I come across eight bears at once, I’m better off just spraying myself with the bear spray and hoping for the best. I decided that really wasn’t necessary in this case, luckily!

The only other highlight of my trip was buying some souvenir at an antique store, which of course I talked the price down for. May I point out that I have not yet once paid full price for any lodging/camping or souvenirs on this trip. It may not seem like your saving much, but it really does add up! What can I say, I’m quite the economist!

Remember to check out my website for photos. If you’re feeling extra generous you can also make a donation, just as every kilometer counts so does every dollar!

Day 23 – The Day of Champions – 141.23 km
Yesterday it was late when I got to my campground, so I didn’t think too much of its location. When I awoke in the morning I finally looked around and saw that I was next to a major highway on one side and a railway on the other side. Luckily I’m a very sound sleeper, otherwise it would have been a rough night!

In the town of Vanderhoof I met up with a reporter who conducted an interview with me regarding my trip. I would say things went fairly well, at least I hope so! Vanderhoof is quite a small town, but very neat. Then again, any town with a Tim Hortons is great in my books! I of course stopped by there to get myself a toasted bagel with cream cheese as well as an Iced Cappuccino for brunch.

Quite a ways past Vanderhoof I stopped at a gas station where they were also selling some food. I decided that I would have the lunch of champions. Any meal of champions simply involves adding as many things to it as possible. Thus, I ordered myself potato wedges with gravy, to which I added ketchup, mustard, relish, and mayonnaise. As disgusting as it may look and sound, it was actually pretty good. Sure, each forkful may have tasted different, but it was probably nutritious and definitely filling.

Following my lunch of champions I slowly made my way to the city of Prince George. A fairly decent sized city of about 80,000 people, as a hunger stricken cyclist you can find anything you need here. I managed to locate my cell phone provider, who told me as long as I don’t use my GPS function I need not worry about my error message. I also stopped at a Future Shop at which I bought a new case for my iPod, as my old one was inadequate to say the least. It was quite pricy at $34.95, but necessary none the less.

From here I made my way to the downtown area of Prince George. I took a few pictures of buildings and other things that I found to be pretty neat. All in all it’s a fairly nice city. The only thing that surprised me was that the downtown area was practically dead even though it was a Friday. I went to an Italian restaurant for dinner which proved to have most excellent food. At least I think so, however when your hungry everything tastes good! Although I must admit that it was quite strange being the only person in the restaurant. Keep in mind that it is 8 PM on a Friday night. Where I’m from all the restaurants are packed at this hour. In the time I was at this restaurant no one else came to eat there. Two people did drop by in order to pick up orders they made over the phone, but that was it.

I am currently surfing someone’s couch here in Prince George. If you’ve never tried couch surfing, you really should. It’s a great way to not only travel cheaply, but to also meet some great people.

Day 24 – So Much To Do, So Little Time - 117.24 km
Today in the morning I woke up refreshed and full of energy after getting a good night’s sleep on a real bed. My hosts made me a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and bison sausage. I must say, it was quite good!

My first order of business for the day was shipping off a package home since it was quite a pain to carry around, I mean, it was literally the size of a pizza box! Luckily I managed to find a post office that was open early on a Saturday. Soon afterwards I had an appointment to meet a reporter from the Prince George Citizen at the place where most business is done in Canada, Tim Hortons of course! I tell you, that place is a gift from the gods sent down to us Canadians. Afterwards I headed out of Prince George, but not before buying some superglue. I cracked my sunglasses yesterday and had to fix them. I tell you, there isn’t much superglue, tape, and zip-ties can’t fix.

The road to Quesnel was quite dull. There really wasn’t anything interesting along the way. Unfortunately I got rained on quite hard before reaching Quesnel. I did put on my rain jacket, but simply didn’t feel like putting on my rain pants or shoe covers. A big mistake I tell you. My shoes and socks are still wet. I am definitely never doing that again!

Since I made it to Quesnel early, I managed to catch the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie playing at a theatre. I thought it was pretty good, but I didn’t realize it was that long! I am currently staying at a campground on the outskirts of Quesnel. In the morning I’m supposed to meet a reporter from the newspaper here, and then I hit the road once again. So much to do, so little time!

Day 25 – Food Overload – 132.42 km
Have you ever heard anyone say that it’s nearly impossible to drink a gallon of milk in an hour without throwing up? Well, I decided to put this myth to the test today. In the morning I bought a gallon of milk along with my favorite add to everything food, bread. Supposedly in some places heavy drinkers eat bread before a good night of partying as it absorbs some of the alcohol and lets them drink more, I thought that this same principle might work for milk.

Let me just say that doing this was a very bad idea. The first two liters went down without a problem; I actually managed to drink them in under ten minutes. It all went downhill after that point. The next liter was real rough. What made it even worse was that I was sitting on a park bench outside, and the sun was making my milk warm. Needless to say, after three quarters of a gallon I felt that should I take another sip of milk, all that I had drank would spontaneously and suddenly erupt out from within the deepest and darkest bowels of my stomach. That, and the fact that I actually planned on biking that day made me call it quits. Alas, a failure, but I did manage to finish the whole loaf of bread without a hitch. I plan on attempting this daring feat again sometime, but next time I will utilize chocolate milk and keep my milk refrigerated to keep it cold!

After recovering from my milk drinking spectacle I hit the road. Although the roads here are in southern British Columbia are both flatter and in better condition than in northern British Columbia, the landscape is nowhere as scenic. The only upside is that with the presence of civilization there are neat places to stop along the way.

My first stop was at a country restaurant where I tried something called bumbleberry pie, heated with vanilla ice cream on the side of course. That’s the only way to eat any slice of pie after all! This pie is basically a combination of a bunch of different berries. I can honestly say it was the absolute best piece of pie I have ever had the pleasure of digesting. To make things even better, the owners of the restaurant were so intrigued with my trip that I ended up getting it for free. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Further along down the road was a gift shop where they also sold fudge. I had never really tried fudge much before and decided now would be an excellent time to do so. As luck would have it, they gladly provided me with free samples to taste the various kinds of fudge. I think that I sampled nearly every flavor they had, and they were all so good! My favorite flavor ended up being mint chocolate, of which I purchased a small piece of for the road. Fudge is a winner in my books, although I don’t dare wonder how many calories it contains! And to think, my mom worries about me being malnourished!

One strange thing that I have noticed about British Columbia is that most people here give distances in terms of miles and not kilometers. I mean, we use the metric system in Canada! When I asked a few people in a restaurant how far it is to the next town they all gave me distances in miles. Most of the signs for gift shops and such are also provided in miles. It seems that our friendly neighbors to the south have infected our western Canadians with their confusing system of measurement!

Day 26 – Showered With Gifts - 123.42 km
Today while on the road I got flagged down by some people standing at the side of the road next to their car. It turns out that these people had seen me cycling up in Alaska and were wondering if I was the same guy. They graciously bestowed upon me priceless gifts of snacks and a cold beverage. It turns out that they are also avid bicyclists, so they naturally asked me all about my bike, route, and gear. I tell you, for a hungry cyclist nothing is better than being showered with nutritiously filling food!

Afterwards I passed through the town of 100 Mile House, which is actually a very neat place. I bought myself some bread and bananas at the supermarket, then took a quick snack break at Tim Hortons. Amongst the interesting things I saw here were: a railway cart store, a giant pair of skis, a teepee, a ski through tunnel. Check out the pictures in my photo album, they’re actually quite neat!

On another note, I reached my top speed on my bicycle today. A staggering 76 km/h. On these skinny bicycle tires that I have, it kind of makes you think about how much faith you put into your equipment. Although, at the time I didn’t really care as I was making excellent time. You know your going fast when your eyes being to tear up!

I managed to get a killer deal on camping today. Most campsites charge anywhere from $12 to $15 per night, but today I only paid $5. As always, there is a catch. No water, electricity, bathroom, or showers. Most campgrounds have laundry and showers and such, but today there were no such luxuries. I had to make use of the power outlet across the street at the post office in order to charge up my collection of electronics as the only outlet that was present here was not functional. It could be worse though, at least I have a WiFi hotspot nearby!

Day 27 – I Need to Buy a Better Map – 108.37 km
Yesterday while planning my route I noticed that there was a shortcut I could take which would save me nearly 50 km. Brilliant! My map shows that about 15 km of this road is gravel. But hey, no biggie, I’ve done plenty of gravel roads on the Cassiar highway with no problems. I mean, how bad could it be?

The day started off real well. I made it to the town of Clinton where the junction for this road was. I managed to find it without any problems and was quickly on my way. The first 20 km of the road went by great. The road was a peaceful two lane road through rolling meadows which was really beautiful. There were hardly any cars on it and the climbs were not bad at all. I arrived at a provincial park called Downing Lake, which was really beautiful. The water of this lake was so clear and had such a brilliant color that it was truly a sight to behold.

Right after Downing Lake is where the gravel, as well as the fun, started. It was a one lane, rough gravel road. I really have no ideas how two cars could pass each other on it, as it simply wasn’t physically possible. After two kilometers of this gravel I saw a sign which made me both curse aloud and nearly break down into pitiful sobbing: “Steep Up-Grade 14% for 5 km”. For those of you who don’t know, a 14% grade is very steep. Add a dirt/gravel road, my skinny tires, and my sharp gearing to that mix and it spells disaster. I tell you my dear readers, it was bad. Very, very bad.

I can honestly say that it was one of the most painful experiences that I have ever endured in my life. What makes it real rough is that although you are exhausted from climbing, you really don’t want to stop, because if you do it’s very difficult to get back on your bicycle. Stepping into those clip-in pedals on a 14% grade is not at all easy.

Not expecting such a sharp climb I depleted my water supply quite early on. As luck would have it, a couple passed me by soon after. They first commented on the fact that I was crazy for taking such a route, then they asked me about my trip. One topic of conversation led to another and I was soon offered water. Unfortunately all that they had was frozen, so I ended up getting a two liter frozen block of ice. A great success either way as it slowly melted throughout the day, always staying cold. I once again thank the good Samaritans from Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia!

Soon after passing the couple who gave me the block of ice I came upon an ice cold mountain stream. I tell you my dear readers, I pounced upon that stream faster than a college student jumps at the opportunity to get free beer. As time was of the essence I decided to take my chances and pass on filtering the water. No worries, I’m still alive!

I soon figured out that the way down would not be much better than the way up. I may not have to pedal anywhere as fast, but there were countless other obstacles. Going down a one lane winding gravel road at 60 km/h is simply scary. Let’s just say that your holding onto your handlebars for dear life praying that you don’t wipe out and nearly soiling yourself on every bump and turn. After awhile the road got so bad that I had to constantly apply my brakes as I feared I would lose control and go down a 100 foot drop.

The road flattened out slightly after several kilometers, but was still fairly downhill. It was here that disaster struck. As I was going around a corner I came face to face with a car. I instinctively slammed on my brakes. Unfortunately, my bicycle isn’t equipped with anti-lock brakes and thus I slid all over the place then crashed. I didn’t hear the car at all as it was one of those hybrid cars, which are deadly silent. They may be good for the environment, but they are dangerous to cyclists like myself. Although I bled quite a bit I suffered a mere flesh wound. I quickly managed to bandage myself up and be on my way. What makes this all the more ironic is that the car which caused me to lose control was a government forest service car!

To make the day even more eventful than it already was I also saw two grizzly bears in the meantime. Me being so scary and all, when I yelled my bear yell, which is usually just random gibberish, they hightailed it into the woods. Disaster averted once again!

Pain and suffering aside, today was an absolutely gorgeous day. The views were simply spectacular and there was not a cloud in the sky. I am currently camped at a provincial campground not far from the city of Lillooet. This particular campground is really nice because it is provided free of charge by BC Hydro, all you have to do is register.

From what I am told the road tomorrow is quite brutal as well, involving numerous 14 and 15 percent climbs. However, since the roads are paved it makes them much more manageable. What makes this all even worse is that I have to cover 130 km of this brutal terrain to make it to Whistler tomorrow. I plan on waking up extra early!

Day 28 –Up and Down and Up and Down - 131.93 km
Today in the morning I saw a sign which read: “No service for next 100 km”. As I have found out previously, what this basically translates to is “Nothing for the next 100 km”. Luckily I was fully supplied with both water and lots of snacks!

The road started off rough from the get go. I was at first hit with a very sharp hill ranging in grade from 12% to 14% for roughly 8 kilometers. This was followed by a slight downhill, and then 15 more kilometers of what I like to call rollercoaster riding. It basically involved a 13% uphill followed by a 11% downhill, and it kept repeating and repeating.

I am basically crawling up these hills at a snails pace. Sometimes I even travel across the road in zigzags so that it’s easier for me to be able to get up it. The next 40 kilometers were easier, but far from easy. The whole time the road ran next to a raging river which was ironically called “Canyon Creek”. This meant two things: I was going slightly uphill for a staggering 40 km, I was facing headwinds for 40 km.

Needless to say I somehow managed to struggle through all this. The road then flattened out a bit to my great relief. Soon afterwards I say a sign which made me truly happy: “Extreme grades for next 13 km”. For the next 11 kilometers my speed did not once drop below 50 km/h. Although I was freezing for most of the time, it felt great to be able to make up all that lost time.

The going got ugly when I saw a sign that read “15% grade for next 2 km”. I take pride in breaking speed limits, but I now know that they exist for a reason. There was a fairly sharp turn at which a sign for 30 km/h was posted, I decided to be adventurous and go into this turn at 50 km/h. Bad, bad idea. When I realized that I was going too fast and decided to apply my brakes it was too late. I hit the gravel shoulder and wiped out. Falling off a bike at 50 km/h hurts just a little bit. The worst thing is road rash, let’s just say that it hurts and let’s leave it at that. My second fall in two days, I have to be much more careful!

Luckily I suffered only flesh wounds, quite a few of them, but nothing overly serious. I’ll have a few black and blue bruises to add to that as well. I’m actually quite surprised that my fall didn’t hurt that much. I was a little sore but not really in too much pain. My mom bought me this spray called “New Skin” which you can spray on injuries and it kind of acts as a band-aid. Let’s just say that if the hell came in a spray bottle, that would be it. Spraying that stuff onto my injury caused pain excruciatingly worse than was caused by my injury. I don’t know who invented that stuff, but it’s terrible!

Although I came out of the ordeal with only scratches, my bicycle was not as fortunate. It too suffered some scratches, but it also suffered an injury to the right shifter. Needless to say I can’t use a bunch of my gears. I managed to do a quick repair to be able to use only my lowest gear so that I could still climb hills, allowing me to make it to Whistler with ease. I will have to take my bike in for some minor repairs tomorrow as well as a tune-up.

I managed to make it into Whistler, mangled but alive and well. Wow is it expensive here! The only campground in town wanted $35 a night for a tent spot! I decided to bicycle 5 km out of town to a hostel where I paid $23 a night. Tomorrow I will be doing absolutely no biking, well, none that will count to my total at least. I will be dropping my bike off at the shop and taking a day off to go skiing! Luckily falls on snow are much less painful that falls on pavement!

Day 29 – On the Slopes of Blackcomb – 0.00 km
Today in the morning I got a nice and early start. I woke up at 6:30, full of energy and ready to go skiing. I made myself the breakfast of champions, which consisted of two helping of instant pasta. For dessert I had a bowl of cereal with milk, which I conveniently got from the free food cupboard here at the hostel. At about 8:00 I headed to town on my bicycle. I had to drop by bicycle off at the repair shop to get a few things worked on.

Whistler village is about 10 km away from where this hostel is, so the ride took me about 40 minutes or so. Unfortunately I did not know that the bicycle shop opens at 10:00. In the meantime I visited the post office where I had a care package shipped to me from home. Inside were countless priceless goodies ranging from quality Polish chocolates to more of my business cards and even permethrin, a long term mosquito repellent. In the meantime I also visited the local IGA in hopes of finding a very cheap backpack into which I could put my camera as well as some other stuff for when I went skiing. Unfortunately I had no success in finding anything suitable.

The bicycle shop opened about 10 minutes ahead of schedule, giving me 10 more minutes of precious skiing time. I explained the problems I was having, which I was assured would be fixed without any problems. I begged and pleaded with the owner to let me borrow an old backpack of some sort, but unfortunately all he had were new ones. I did manage to get quite the bargain though. I got a backpack that was originally priced at $70 for a mere $25 as it was the last of its kind and I guess no one wanted it. It is baby blue and looks kind of girly, but oh well! I originally anticipated on borrowing an old backpack and throwing it away, but since this one is really nice I think I’m going to hang onto it.

Map in hand, I quickly proceeded to the main gondola for Blackcomb. I managed to find it with ease and in no time was downstairs in the rental shop. I had a choice between two kinds of boots: beginner boots that were my size, or intermediate/advanced boots that were a size too small. Never would I dream of wearing beginner boots on a hill like Blackcomb, so I opted for a day of toe pain in exchange for better skiing. I also told the guys that I wanted the best skis they got, and needless to say I was not disappointed! I got a very nice pair of Salomon twin tip skis which were quite long and wide, perfect for today’s conditions. Price for ski rental: $35. Not too bad at all for such fine skis! The lift ticket for Blackcomb was $40, not the cheapest price in the world but nothing that will make a big dent in my pocketbook.

If there is one thing I love on this world more than cycling, it’s skiing. I don’t know what crazy guy had the idea of strapping two wooden sticks to his feet and going down a hill, but that man was a genius! There is nothing like the feeling of rushing down a ridiculously steep hill at breakneck speeds. Needless to say, today was an absolutely incredible day. The snow was wet and felt heavy, but it was still excellent for summer conditions. There is nothing like being able to hit the slopes in a t-shirt and shorts and not be cold at all!

Whistler Blackcomb is quite simply an amazing hill. The runs here are so beautiful they actually bring a tear to my eye. Other ski resorts in the east like Killington and Tremblant might as well hide in a corner in comparison with a place like this. Although the conditions were anything but ideal, today was probably the most fun day that I’ve ever had skiing, and only a small part of the hill was open! Only a small section near the top is open as that is where the snow is, but let me tell you, it was more than enough skiing. You know that a hill is decent when your legs begin to burn on the way down! To be able to ski all of Whistler and Blackcomb in the winter season you would probably need at least two weeks. Needless to say, I am definitely coming back here sometime in the winter. I love this place!

All in all it was an awesome day. Although I didn’t do much cycling, it was still quite strenuous physically. Skiing sure takes a toll on your legs and knees, but it is so worth it! Currently back at the hostel where I hitchhiked to without many problems. My bicycle is still at the bicycle shop as I decided it was probably wiser to pick it up in the morning. Will be making it into Vancouver tomorrow and will be stopping at that restaurant with the infamous two pound burger, hopefully they still offer it!

Day 30 – The Road Is Long and Narrow - 125.10 km
In the morning I quickly packed up all my belongings in the hostel and proceeded downstairs. Here I begged people for a ride to Whistler village. I left my bicycle there the day before, thus I had no means of transportation. I would have walked to the village, but with all my belongings it would have been quite a difficult feat. Luckily I managed to find someone who was going to the village, so I packed into their car. It would have been really tough trying to hitchhike with all my junk!

I picked up my bicycle when the shop opened at 10 AM without any problems. Everything was in working order and it didn’t cost me an arm and a leg to fix. A $28 well spent if I may say so myself! Afterwards I waited around for about thirty minutes to get my picture taken for a paper in Whistler. It was 11:15 AM and time to hit the road!

The road from Whistler to Vancouver wasn’t exactly tough due to the fact that it consisted of many hill climbs, but it was tough due to the fact that there was construction almost throughout the whole road. This meant that there was nearly no shoulder, yet I still had to squish in there on the side with a semi truck passing me on the left. Quite scary when a big car like that passes you with mere inches to spare, yikes!

Closer to Vancouver the road basically turned into a major highway, yet it was still the official bicycle route! This meant that at every exit and entrance ramp you had to stop and make sure there was no cars coming in order to avoid being hit and becoming flat as a pancake. Within the city of Vancouver itself things are really well organized for bicycles. There are specific lanes and paths dedicated solely for use by bicycles, however these are not always available. There were quite a few occasions where I had to squish in between cars and busses, as my bicycle is wide with all the bags in the back, not the easiest task! I would say that bicycling in downtown Vancouver was similar to bicycling downtown in a city like Toronto, you really have to be careful!

Without getting lost or making too much hassle I made it to the famous restaurant that I was told has a two pound hamburger which you can get for free if you manage to finish it. I of course ordered the mythical beast; the waitresses asked me two times if I was sure I wanted it! I found out there was a catch, I would have to finish the burger in 40 minutes or less or pay $27 for it. Not being one to back down, I accepted the challenge either way.

This burger was absolutely massive, I didn’t think it would be this big. The picture is posted in my photos, you really have to see it to believe it. The bun for this thing was basically a loaf of bread cut into three parts. This came accessorized with two burger patties of one pound each topped with cheese and mushrooms. Don’t forget the tomatoes, lettuce, and a lot of sauce! Armed with a fork, knife, and pitcher of water I was good to go!

Things went quickly at first, then gradually slowed down. Needless to say I wrestled with the beast for quite awhile. I was both determined to finish it and I really didn’t want to pay for it! Ultimately, I both succeeded and failed. It was a success in that, although with great difficulty, I managed to finish the burger in a still quite impressive 46 minutes. It was a failure in that I went over the time limit, and thus had to pay for it. In my training for this feat I didn’t realize there was a time limit, arg! Still not a total failure, since I got my name and picture up on their wall of fame. According to this wall only two people have finished it in 40 minutes, and one other in 45. That puts me at number four on the list, not too bad at all!

After taking a detour to the bath room, I hopped onto my bike and headed off to my CouchSurfing host for the night. Yes, even after finishing a two pound burger I was able to continue riding my bicycle! Luckily it was only about two kilometers away from the restaurant and not too hard to find. My host for the night, Gerald, was absolutely great! That night there was actually two other couch surfers staying with him, so I was the third! No worries, we all managed to fit, and all great people of course!

One of the other couch surfers, Boris, is a musician from France who is currently touring Canada and America. He was doing a show today in Vancouver, so when I was invited to attend I could not turn it down! He was playing at a coffee shop in downtown Vancouver, which is an absolutely beautiful and awesome place. Overall it was a great time filled with of course, great music.

The show was followed up by a party put on by actors and musicians in Vancouver. They have a warehouse where they make sets and props which they turn into one mean venue for a party every once in awhile. They were actually serving free burgers and hot dogs there, but I could not even bear the smell of another burger. Those last few chews of burger I felt as if I was chewing paper. Once again it was a really great time with an excellent crowd of people.

Most people would retire at this point, but not us! We had to visit the best twenty-four hour restaurant in Vancouver to try some excellent Vietnamese cuisine. We tried a soup made from tripe and intestines which although it may sound discouraging was very good. We were also educated on how to eat Vietnamese food properly. Armed with a spoon in my left and chopsticks in my right I tackled this soup, I assure you it was no easy feat after that two pound burger! I specifically found it interesting that you dip your chopsticks into your tea then wipe them off on a napkin to clean them.

It was quite the busy day indeed, but it was a great time! My host for the night as well as the other couch surfers staying with him were absolutely great, and the city of Vancouver really is quite the city to behold. But alas, time to get some sleep, I’ll be headed into the United States once again tomorrow!

Day 31 – Detours and Delays - 175.76 km
This morning I had to do only one thing before leaving Vancouver. I had to visit a store called Mountain Equipment Co-Op in order to exchange the pair of cycling shorts that I viciously destroyed as well as to buy some other small bicycle supplies. As I soon found out, navigating around a city like Vancouver without a map is a bad idea. I got lost and ended up somewhere in Chinatown. I attempted to ask for directions, but I really didn’t understand the responses that I received as they were in a different language, literally! The only map I had was on my mapping program on my laptop, so I took out my laptop and used that as a map. I was probably a prime target for getting mugged, but I managed to make it to the store in one piece.

At the store the guy gave me a funny look when I brought my cycling shorts to return them. I’m not sure if it’s because they smelled funny, or because something smelled funny about my story. I claimed that my shorts got caught on something and just ripped, since they lacked proper durability I would like to exchange them for another pair. Eventually I managed to get my way, and I picked up a brand spanking new pair of the same cycling shorts that I had destroyed in a high speed accident.

With all my supplies accounted for I hit the road. I decided to take Highway 99 again just like yesterday. Although it was not the most enjoyable road in the road to bicycle on, it was both the most convenient and probably the fastest. This idea worked fine for about 30 minutes, then I saw a nice sign saying that bicycle were no longer allowed past this point. No problem I though, there must be signs telling me where to go on these side roads.

Nope. I was simply thrown out into a residential neighborhood and forced to fend for myself. At this point I gave in and finally couched up the precious five dollars necessary to buy a decent map. I managed to find side roads which would lead me roughly in the same direction as the highway; unfortunately much slower and less convenient but doable.

The real trouble came when I found out that I had to cross a river. Highway 99 consists of a tunnel which goes under this river, but as we all recall cyclists aren’t allowed on Highway 99. After much asking around I found out there is a free shuttle bus which takes cyclists across the river through the tunnel with their bikes. Great! I managed to find the place, then my heart sank. I arrived at the bus stop at 1:10 PM. The previous bus had left at 1:00 PM, and the next bus was leaving at 3:00 PM. Absolutely brilliant! I had to wait nearly two hours for a bus to drive me through a tunnel that I could have biked through in five minutes.

At this point I knew that I was in trouble time wise. Even though I left fairly early in the morning, I had effectively lost three hours of time. Not too bad on any other day, but today I had to cover a staggering distance of 170 km in order to make it to Mt Vernon, where I had arranged to spend the night with somebody.

Regardless I pushed on. Since the American border was coming up I decided that I would, for what will possibly be my last time for three months, stop in a Tim Hortons. Here I purchased the obligatory bagel with cream cheese as well as an Iced Cappuccino. Today I decided to try one with a flavor shot of mint. I must say that it was quite excellent, even better than the hazelnut which I usually get! I really recommend that you try one.

The border crossing went smoothly. I didn’t receive any trouble, but I did talk with the guys there for a few minutes about my trip which they believed to be absolutely crazy. The rest of the road from here was rough. Even though I was doing a fairly decent speed it still took me a long time to make it to Mt Vernon. It was the first time during the course of my trip that I had to resort to riding at night. Normally I would have stopped, but I had given my word that I would be stopping by on this day, and I am not one to break a promise! Being determined I turned on my rear light for safety and my headlamp in the front so I could actually see something!

At around 10:00 PM I decided to take a quick snack break. Being as I was cycling through a city, I was the shining lights of Wendy’s beckoning me towards them. I swallowed a triple with cheese, which basically contains three quarters of a pound of meat. For those of you out there who think you can finish that two pound burger I ate just because you can finish three triples, think again! These burgers are lightweight with their white bread and lack of other accessories, that two pound burger was a monolithic beast! Either way, thank for Wendy’s for allowing me to eat great, even late!

When cycling through cities it wasn’t too bad visibility wise as there are streetlights everywhere; however my hosts for today live out in the county on a farm. There aren’t really any streetlights out there. It’s really an interesting experience riding your bicycle on county roads when it’s pitch black outside. But no worries friends, when the clock struck 11:30 PM I finally arrived at my destination safe and in one piece. Tomorrow I have a much shorter day into Seattle, which I am told is also a very neat place!

Day 32 – Refreshed and Full of Energy – 100.58 km
Last night I had gotten the best sleep that I have had in a month as it was the first time that I had slept on a real bed. All the other times I had slept on my air mattress, couches, or rollaway beds. I was as refreshed as ever!

My awesome hosts made me a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and a whole plate of fruit. Since I have such an appetite, I inhaled everything with ease. My hosts were heading out to church that morning and thus offered to take me along should I like. Although it was not a Roman Catholic church as I am accustomed to, I decided that some church is better than no church! The church we went to was a Christian Fellowship church. The ceremony was very different from what I am typically used to, but hey, prayer is prayer!

All refreshed and blessed I finally hit the road at about noon. I could have taken I-5 today, which is basically a major interstate, as bicycles are actually allowed on it. However, I decided that even should it take me a little longer, I would take the more enjoyable side roads.

Along the way I stopped in a country restaurant. These kinds of places always serve the best food in large quantities at the best prices; quite simply a win, win, win situation for a hungry cyclist! Here I was served a handsomely large piece of lemon meringue pie served a la mode of course; that’s the only way to eat pie after all!

Soon afterwards I made it to highway 99, which is simply a busy road filled with traffic lights. Not at all scenic, and quite a pain to bicycle. About 40 kilometers from Seattle the suburban sprawl had already begun; the farmland ended and the strip malls and suburbs began. Although it’s nice from the point of view that there is always someplace to stop and get whatever you need, it’s not that great when there is a traffic light every half kilometer, especially since I have the bad luck of being caught by most of them.

Needless to say that stretch of road took me a little longer than expected due to all the lights on it. I made it into Seattle at about 8 PM, which is where I am writing this from now. I am once again couch surfing with a fellow cyclist who has bicycled both the coast of the United States as well as across the country. He gave me a bunch of great advice with respect to my route and also filled me right up with food, for he too had felt the cravings of a cyclist diet in the past!

Overall it was a nice and relaxing day. To finish it off I watched Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto”. Not a bad flick at all. Just for the record, it’s the second movie I’ve seen in a month after the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. 

Day 33 – Ahoy Maties! – 111.13 km
Today in the morning I was treated to a most excellent breakfast thanks to my host, Joe. Breakfast is quite possibly the most important meal of the day, and definitely one of the best! After breakfast I had to call my cell phone provider as I was having problems with my phone working here in Washington. I was transferred from one representative to the next, but thirty minutes later my phone was once again operational.

Since Joe had the day off from work, he volunteered to not only show me around the city but also show me the best way to get out. This was a tremendous help as bicycling in a city as large as Seattle is not easy for anyone who doesn’t know the city and doesn’t have a bicycle route map! I visited the Seattle city center as well as all the popular tourist spots. Overall I’d say it’s a very cool place indeed.

The best place in which I stopped today was the famous REI flagship store in Seattle. REI is probably one of my favorite stores, so this place was simply paradise for me. The only problem is that whenever I enter one of their stores I end up dropping a lot of money in them. Today I purchased: new pedals, new bar tape, a camera tripod, two tent pegs, and a guidebook for bicycling the Pacific coast. The total damage was somewhere around $170 US, ouch!

With my bags filled with new gear, and my pocketbook slightly lighter, we proceeded to the harbor downtown from where many ferries in Seattle depart. I decided it would be much better to take a ferry across to the less populated side and work my way to the coast that way. I could have cycled south out of Seattle all the way to Olympia, but that way I’d be cycling over 100 km through a never ending city. With all those traffic lights it wouldn’t exactly be an enjoyable experience.

I must say that the ferry itself was very neat. You drive in, or ride in as in my case, park your vehicle, and make your way up to the passengers lounge. Here you have seats, tables, vending machines, a cafeteria, an information booth, bathrooms, as well as a bunch of other things that I’m forgetting. I must say that I was quite impressed. Not only was the ferry very well organized, but it was also fairly inexpensive (cost me $8) and everything was made to look very presentable. All in all a very enjoyable 50 minute ferry ride from Seattle to Bremerton.

When I disembarked from the ferry in Bremerton I had some slight problems finding the highway that I was supposed to go on. My map of the city was very general, and there weren’t any signs that pointed in the proper direction. I also learned today that many people have real trouble getting around even their own city, which is actually quite sad. I asked four people for directions on how to find this specific highway. Three of them all gave me different directions, all equally wrong. I finally ended up asking a fellow cyclist on the road for directions, and he was finally able to point me in the right direction.

The ride from Bremerton was fairly calm with gently rolling hills. There were a few hill climbs, but nothing excruciatingly terrible as I have unfortunately experienced in the past. Evidently it went by pretty quickly. I am now staying at a hostel in the town of Elma. I decided it is better to spend $20 for a hostel and get a bed rather than $15 for a campsite where I have to setup my tent.

Day 34 – Finally On the Coast - 118.62 km
In the morning today I decided to stop by a restaurant for some breakfast. It was a really neat place called “The Rusty Tractor”, obviously due to the fact that there were a bunch of rusty tractors outside. A restaurant with a very neat décor where I was served a beast of a breakfast: three eggs, three sausage links, three strips of bacon, and three pancakes. To make this place even better, they had free WiFi, so I could update you all on my latest adventures.

Today’s route was actually quite relaxing. There were several hill climbs and some strong headwinds, however nothing I couldn’t manage. The road was more enjoyable as highway 101 is now a smaller two lane highway as opposed to a major freeway like it was beforehand. The highway now also runs in serpentines through brilliant evergreen forest, which is not only a pleasure to look at but makes the air feel refreshing delightful. 

Another thing I have accomplished today is that I have finally made it to the Pacific coast. Earlier I made just skimmed by it or visited a city where I passed by it momentarily, but now I will be hugging it for quite awhile. All the way down to the border of Mexico I will be taking highways 101 and 1. From what I have heard it is not terribly hilly, quite hot in some areas, and very beautiful. I have actually decided to take a route for tomorrow that is about nine miles longer than another route I could have taken. Supposedly there are some cool lighthouses and other neat things along the longer route, which I believed were worth biking the additional nine miles for.

Deciding that I went slightly over budget today with my hostel stay the previous night, I decided that today I would stealth camp. That is to say, I would simply pull off the road somewhere and camp in a place where I’m probably not allowed to. No worries! I am currently hiding in my tent behind a large bush, fairly out of sight of the road. Sure, I may not have included showers or a bathroom, but I do save $14 in camping fees!

Day 35 – Losses Upon Losses – 88.05 km
As you may recall from yesterday, today in the morning I was stealthily camped behind a bush not far off the road. When I awoke I quickly packed up and hit the road. I soon reached a town called Ilwaco, in which there really isn’t much. One thing that did catch my eye was a sign that read “All You Can Eat Fish N’ Chips”. I hadn’t had breakfast yet, but I decided that a breakfast of fish and chips would be quite a feast indeed. You know how in most restaurants when you get served fish and chips you get a bunch of fries and maybe two or three pieces of fish? Well, in this place it was exactly the opposite. I got a few French fries and about seven pieces of fish. I could barely finish the plate I was given! However since it was technically all you can eat I reluctantly accepted when asked if I wanted more fish. I packed that fish in there to make sure I didn’t go hungry later!

It’s no great feat to get stuffed up at an all you can eat restaurant. What is a daring and impressive feat is being able to get on a bicycle afterwards and pedal for hours on end! Although it wasn’t easy, I made my way to Cape Disappointment State Park, where there was a cool lighthouse I could visit. Although a few miles out of the way, I decided it would be worth it. When I got there it turned out that you had to hike 0.7 miles to get to the lighthouse. There was no way I was going to leave my bicycle unattended at a busy parking lot, so I reluctantly brought it along with me. Big mistake.

The path wouldn’t have been so bad if someone didn’t put wooden planks on it which doubled as steps. I had to walk my bicycle nearly the whole path, but even so it was not easy. Although with great difficulty, I managed to make it up to the light house in order to take a few pictures. On the way down I stopped by a place called Dead Man’s Cove. There was a sign which explicitly said to not hike down there due to bad trail conditions. Whenever there is a sign telling me not to do something, I usually do it!

On the way back to the parking lot from where the trail left off I ran into some serious trouble. It turns out that while going back down with my bicycle I went off one of the higher steps a little too fast, which resulted in me bending my wheel. I turned over my bicycle in the parking lot and attempted to fix the problem, but I soon realized that it was no quick fix. It was bad, my wheel was totally warped. I could not even ride my bicycle as the back tire was rubbing against the frame.

Luckily I managed to get a ride into the closest town where as luck would have it there were also two bicycle shops. The first shop told me I have a problem as the particular wheel I have is very difficult to find, however they could custom order it for me and it should be there in a day or two. Not wanting to be stranded for days I picked up my bicycle and walked with it several blocks to the next bicycle shop. Luckily they just so happened to have a wheel in stock. Unfortunately, bicycle wheels do not come cheaply. The bicycle rim as well as the costs to mount it cost $125, however since the owner felt sorry for me he gave me a good deal and only charged me $80. I will admit that the wheel is much better than my old one, but seriously, most car wheels don’t even cost that much!

I headed off down the road and into the fine state of Oregon. I was finally relieved that my bicycle was once again operational. After about twenty kilometers I dug into my bag to grab my guidebook to cycling the US portion of the Pacific Coast, which I had purchased a mere few days ago for $17.95 USD. Alas, it was nowhere to be found! It turns out that I left it on the counter in the bicycle shop. There was no way I was going to go back twenty kilometers, and the bicycle shop was already closed anyway. Great, just great. Not sure if I’m going to be able to find one of those soon. That is very unfortunate as the thing was really great, it literally told you everything you wanted to know.

To add to my list of casualties for the day my cyclometer suffered a valiant and fearless death, well, not really. At one point I looked down and it told me I was going at an incredibly fast rate of 0 km/h. It turns out that my cable ripped right through, and I was wondering why the thing wasn’t working! Will try to fix it tomorrow, hopefully it’s possible! Today’s distance was calculated not thanks to my cyclometer, but rather to Microsoft MapPoint North America 2006.

In the town of Cannon Beach I decided that I had endured enough pain and suffering for one day. I didn’t feel like breaking the law today by camping out in the bushes somewhere, so I went to the local campground in order to get a tent site. They wanted $22 USD for a tent site. There was no way I was going to pay that much. For that much I could stay in a hostel somewhere or even buy myself a new guidebook. I decided to visit a local church in order to ask to camp out on their lawn. Unfortunately no one was around, so I cycled away. I did see a man doing some yard work outside his house, so I pulled up and asked if it would be alright if I setup my tent in his back yard.

He told me that there was a vacant field not far away where I could pitch a tent and no one would probably mind, but he first insisted that I come in and have dinner. I told him all about my travels as well as my life back home. Before I knew it, it was dark outside. I told him I could still pitch a tent without a problem, as I have done it so many times that I could do it blindfolded, but he told me that he had a spare bed that I was more than welcome to use. Lesson learned: ask to camp at churches or yards before resorting to the evil money sucking campgrounds!

Day 36 – Camping Without Tents? – 152.15 km
Today in the morning I once again woke up refreshed after having a decent sleep in a real bed. I feasted upon a breakfast of toast and milk, then hit the road. It was raining outside, so I got suited up in all my raingear. Once I stepped outside it stopped raining, and it didn’t rain another drop all that. That’s Murphy’s Law for you!

Today a large portion of the road was directly along the coast. The views as well as the beaches here are simply spectacular, they truly are a sight to behold. As much as I would have liked to go take a dip in the ocean, it was freezing cold. Since all I carry with me is my ultra-compact camp towel, which is more like the size of a washcloth, I decided that would be a bad idea. Swimming in the ocean will have to wait until southern California!

Along the way today I passed by countless small towns and communities, each with their own neat felling. One very neat place I visited today was the “Blue Heron Cheese Factory”. This place made authentic French cheeses, offering tasting of both these cheeses as well as a variety of wines. Since US laws prohibit me from drinking alcoholic beverages, I had to stick to just the cheese tasting, but I did make the most of it! For lunch I picked up some smoked Brie as well as a delicious French baguette. The store was very pricy, but then again, quality over quantity!

On a negative note I got my first flat tire today. I figured I was slightly overdue after 4,000 km. It turns out that my rear tire is in quite bad shape. It has numerous cuts as well as small holes in it, it is likewise showing wear. To make a simple comparison let us consider that my tire is a piece of bread in a toaster. The bread would currently be dark brown, and will soon turn black. I just hope it doesn’t start smoking before I make it to San Diego, as that is where I want to change it out for a new one.

Today I also accomplished a great feat in the field of multitasking. I was riding my bicycle, listening to my iPod, changing gears, consulting my map, and texting someone on my phone, all at the same time! If that isn’t impressive I don’t know what it. Probably not the safest thing in the world to do, but quite efficient!

I had some real trouble finding a place to pitch a tent tonight. The road here is very populated, with a bunch of hotels and restaurants everywhere. It seems that every foot of land next to this road is owned by someone. I did not want to pitch on someone’s lawn and get shot at, and there was no way I was going to spend $45 to stay in a motel. You know those highway signs which tell you that there is food or gas at the next exit? Well, there happened to be a few signs like that which explicitly stated “Camping” and directed you to an RV ‘resort’ as they call it. When I get to all these places a nice sign reads “RVs only, no tents”. Seriously, is RVing now called camping? Since when does camping not involve a tent? What has the world come to?

Needless to say I am currently tucked away in the bushes in some state park. State parks also charge money to camp, around $16 or so per night, so I decided to be sneaky and stealthily camp out in the middle of nowhere. I hope I don’t get busted!

Day 37 – Just Another Day On The Road - 118.40 km
Today in the morning I was stealthily camped in the bushes of some state park. Rather than pay $20 for a nice tent site, I decided to go out into the deep bushes and pitch a tent. It turned out to work out just fine. I woke up nice and early and packed up extra quick just to ensure that I wouldn’t get busted. The day was filled with absolutely amazing views. The shores of Oregon are sometimes sandy but on many occasions rocky. Several times I was taking a picture off a ledge with a 150 foot drop right next to me. Quite daring considering the strong winds here, but it was worth the great picture!

I also made a side trip today to the tallest lighthouse in Oregon. I only went to visit it because the road was paved, had it been a path again like the last lighthouse I visited, I would have passed considering the bad experience I had. Unfortunately the inside of the lighthouse was not open yet, and I didn’t feel like waiting around an hour.

After visiting the lighthouse I went to one of America’s greatest inventions, an all you can eat buffet. It was some neat Italian place. I tell you friends, the best $8 that I have ever spent in my life. There is no way that place made money on me. I loaded up one seven full plates of food. The first four were full of warm food ranging from pizza and breadsticks to chicken tenders and mashed potatoes. The next two plates were loaded up completely with melons and pineapples. The last plate was a dinner sized plate full of ice cream. I practically limped out of that place I was so full. It was a miracle I was able to bicycle afterwards!

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. I had nice winds pushing me along the whole time as well as fairly flat roads for most of the time. I experienced a few decent climbs, but nothing like I experienced in British Columbia. I am currently camped at a state campground that has a hiker/biker site. Someone on the internet forums I post on informed me that these are only present at some campgrounds and not all of them. Basically you pay $4 for a tent site. For that much it’s not worth the risk of camping out in the bush somewhere!

There are several other cyclists just like me here, but they are all planning much shorter trips. A pair of other cyclists treated me to a treat of smores. It was the first time I have ever eaten them, since I don’t think Pop Tart smores count, and I must say that they’re great!

Day 38 – Torrential Downpour – 108.00 km
I was quite surprised to be the first one out of camp this morning. Generally I wake up around 7 AM and get packed and going at around 8. Today I decided to sleep in till about 8:20, but still managed to get out on the road by 9:15. I thought I was getting up late, but here everyone else was sleeping! It looks like I must be really dedicated or something.

Although I never check weather reports, I already knew in the morning that it was going to be an ugly day. The campsite was located under a canopy of trees, which helped lessen the harsh weather, but on the open road there is nowhere to hide. I dressed up in all my rain gear in preparation for the worst. The bad thing about that stuff is that it is so hot in it. Sure, it keeps you dry from rain, but it still makes you wet inside from perspiration.

There were some nice views along the way, but unfortunately I didn’t take many pictures for two reasons: with the foul weather it was pretty ugly out, my pricy camera isn’t exactly waterproof. It’s kind of a shame since today I passed by the famous Oregon coast sand dunes.

The day only got worse and worse with respect to weather. Now, not only was there a downpour onto my head, but I was likewise being hit by frigid and strong headwinds. Rain is bad enough because it soaks you right through. Combine it with cold winds and your freezing like an ice cube!

I decided to take a lunch break at a Wendy’s, hoping that the rain would subside. Here I decided to visit the bathroom, in which the toilet was conveniently plugged up. I tried to give it a flush hoping that would solve the problem, but then water started coming out the sides onto the floor! I left that bathroom quicker than an underage high-school student leaves a party that is being broken up by cops.

I made it to another one of those hiker/biker sites I was talking about yesterday and decided I had enough tortre for the day. It was still early and I? could have pushed on, but I decided to leave that for a better day.

I am now at the campground and type this from mobile workstation. You know how they have those posts with electrical hookups for RVs at these campgrounds? Well, my waterproof bag is on top of one of these posts with my laptop inside. Its actually quite an efficient setup since it’s still raining!

Day 39 – Feels Like Christmas – 137.23 km
This morning I got a much later start than usual. I decided to sleep in a little since I had stayed up late the previous evening reading Lance Armstrong’s book: “It’s Not About The Bike”. I must say that it was an excellent read, I enjoyed it thoroughly and would really recommend it to others. Anyhow, 10 AM rolled around and I realized that I needed to get rolling as well.

Although it was slightly cloudy in the morning it soon cleared up, providing me with blue skies for the rest of the day. At times the wind was pushing me up hills, but at others it was pushing me back down them. In general the winds blow from the north-west, which is beneficial to me since I am traveling south, but I guess the wind get’s mixed up sometimes.

In the town of Port Orford I passed by a café called the “Wild Wind”. Although I wasn’t overly hungry, the sign on the restaurant read “Internet Access”. There is nothing better than being able to sit in a nice place with my laptop plugged into a power outlet and being able to use the internet. It isn’t the most fun experience in the world to travel around neighborhoods looking for wireless internet access, then having to balance your laptop on your knee while typing.

After I placed my order for a soup and salad the owner of the café came by and asked me what cause I was cycling for as well as some other things about my trip. He must have really liked what I was doing since he told me that he would cover the cost of my lunch! I thanked him sincerely, and being in a better mood already since I had saved $10 ate up my lunch and did all my bureaucratic doings on my laptop. I thought that things couldn’t get any better, but I was wrong. On my way out I was also bestowed with a bag full of baked goodies and two packs of beef jerky. I thank the great folks over at the “Wild Wind” in Port Orford once again!

Being in great spirits I pushed on once more. The road was once again littered with brilliant views of the Oregon shoreline. There were several medium sized climbs: trivial with a tail wind, slightly harder with a head wind. I passed over Oregon’s tallest bridge today: 325 feet. Let me tell you, that’s pretty high, and what a view it was from up there. I wish I could have gotten a picture of this bridge from the side but there were safety barriers all over so I couldn’t get out to the edge of a cliff to take a picture. Perhaps that’s a good thing after all!

I am currently camped out at the Harris Beach campground which is located very closed to Brookings, Oregon. I can hear the waves of the ocean in the distance. It sounds just like those nature sounds CDs you can buy, very relaxing! I am only a few miles from the California state line, which means that tomorrow I will be “California Dreaming”! All in all it was a very manageable day, may there be many, many more just like it!

Day 40 – Into The Woods – 108.30 km
Today in the morning I traveled through my last seven or so miles of Oregon and then made it into California. Yet another state, yet another stepping stone of my epic journey. I’m really surprised at how fast this is all going by, it seems just like yesterday that I landed at Anchorage International Airport.

I must say that it was quite exciting to see my first palm tree of the trip. That’s when it finally hit me as to how far I have actually traveled, since there isn’t any way that palm tree would make it up in Alaska. My joy would soon be subsided as I would soon be entering Redwoods National Park.

I will admit, there were a few decent climbs today. I have gotten lazy since British Columbia as I have been graced with a multitude of flatness, however today that changed. Although I had to struggle a bit, I made it to the tops of the hills with no problem.

The Redwoods are truly a magnificent sight to behold. They are the tallest trees in the world, quite a bit of which reach heights of well over 200 feet. Riding down this road it felt as if I was riding between skyscrapers in a large metropolis. The size of these trees is really something you have to see to behold, as pictures merely do not convey the same effect. The only downside was that these trees provided a large amount of shade in which it was actually quite cold!

Although most of the road today was simply stunning I will not bore you with details. It is best to check out the pictures in my album to see these amazing trees for yourself. Two trees of interest that I saw were the “Corkscrew Tree” and the “Big Tree”. The corkscrew tree simply looks as its name describes, like a corkscrew winding up into the heavens. Quite a neat sight to behold, really makes you wonder how it ended up growing like that. The big tree is once again true to its name, big. It is 304 feet tall with a diameter of 21’ 6” and an estimated age of 1500 years. It really was true to its name, the thing was simply massive!

I am currently camped out at a campground located not far from these magnificent Redwoods by the name of Elk Prairie Campground. I’m really starting to like these hiker/biker campgrounds as they are simply a great deal. Camping today cost me a staggering $3, tax included! Luckily I managed to find myself a new guidebook today, the same one that I lost, so I can find these sites a little easier.

Day 41 – A Step Back In Time - 158.54 km
The day begins just outside of the Redwoods at Elk Prairie Campground. I received a nice and early start as I knew that today would be a longer day. At the next town I stopped by the grocery store to grab some milk, cereal, and bagels; a fine breakfast and lunch! I also dropped by the post office to send some stuff home which I didn’t need anymore.

I moved pretty quickly on highway 101. The highway is now much flatter, but is unfortunately a wide interstate. Although there are wide shoulders, you still need to be very cautious at the on and off ramps as to avoid being hit by traffic. Although the miles go by quicker, they are nowhere as enjoyable as on the scenic side roads.

Right at the entrance to the city of Eukera I experienced my second flat tire of the trip, once again due to a shard of glass being embedded within my poor dying tire. To anymore out there who has ever thrown glass onto the side of the road, I seriously hate you. The wide shoulders on the freeways are nice as they are much safer with respect to traffic, but at the same time they are usually littered with glass and other potentially hazardous obstacles. No matter, I fixed up my flat tire and was good to go. Unfortunately, in the process I had also somehow lost one of my rear break pads. Don’t ask me how, but it happened. I decided to visit a bike shop to get my brakes looked at as they were giving me a little trouble anyhow.

It seems that this area of California is very well known for its’ stunning Victorian buildings. I must say that some of these buildings are very unique and beautiful. They are generally very ornate and encompass bright colors. One building in particular which I liked was the “Carson Mansion”. Unfortunately it was not possible to go inside as it is now a private men’s only club.

Leaving the hustle and bustle of the city behind I moved on. Highway 101 was once again flat as a pancake with little or no winds to hold me back. I passed through several small towns with nothing interesting in them. The only interesting thing I did was buy a map of California at some gas station, which proved to be useless as it is far too general.

I turned off of the busy highway onto a more scenic route called “The Avenue of the Giants”. I have once again entered the domain of the redwoods. No matter how many times you see these trees, they never cease to amaze you with their size. The ride between these trees provided a nice break from the busy traffic from the highway. I am currently camped in the midst of redwood trees at a place called Burlington Campground, not far from the town of Weott. I had originally planned on staying on a campground two miles before this one, but when I got there I found a sign which told me the campground was now closed. I moved on to find a closed road due to a mud slide. Luckily it was only closed to vehicles and not cyclists, otherwise that would have caused some more delays.

Day 42 – Flats (Tires) and Climbs (Hills) - 115.63 km
Yesterday when I pitched my tent it was already dark, thus I couldn’t really see the beautiful views around me. Today in the morning when I woke up I was in awe as to how beautiful the campground around me was. Redwoods towered into the sky, and in between them all was my humble little tent. No matter how many times I see these trees, they make me gasp in awe each time.

Since I had two punctured tubes I decided I should patch them up in case I get another flat. My tube from yesterday had not one, not two, not three, but four punctures in it. Don’t ask me how that’s even possible, but it somehow happened. After all my handiwork I headed out along the avenue of the giants once more for about 20 miles. I passed through several interesting small towns as well as some neat attractions. I reluctantly paid $2 to see a drive-through Redwood tree, although it was a must see since someone recommended it to me.

After the avenue of the giants ended the road threw me back onto highway 101. It would be smooth sailing for the next while, or so I thought. I felt a little off balance, so I knew something was up. It turns out a received a flat tire in my rear wheel yet again. This is really starting to get quite annoying, but I am intent on riding that tire all the way to San Diego. I swapped the tube out for one I had patched up that morning and was on my way.

About 5 miles later I see that my tire is almost flat once again. No puncture this time, but it turns out that there is some really some hole in my tube that I did not catch in the morning. Great, I fix another flat. I’m pumping and pumping, then boom! Although my tires were under their maximum recommended pressure my tube had exploded. Quite a scary event I must say! It sounded like a gunshot, causing quite the ringing in my ears and causing me to go deaf for a few seconds. Unfortunately the tube was not fixable as the blowout caused a nice five inch gash in it.

Shell shocked and displeased with the fact that I had to change out my tube three times today, I moved on. I made it to the town of Legett where I took a short break to “borrow” someone’s wireless internet as I like to call it and update all of you back home. The climb out of Legett contains the largest climb of the whole United States portion of the Pacific Coast route. Many cyclists despise this climb, others simply fear it. Seriously, they’re over-exaggerating. Although it was the first decent climb I have had since British Columbia, it is still a bunny hill in comparison with some of the other hills I have conquered. I actually quite enjoyed this portion of the ride. There were barely any cars, great views, and the downhill ride from the top made it all worth it. There is nothing like the feeling of rushing around a corner at 50 km/h.

Now out of the forests and on the coast, I am currently staying at the Westport Union Landing State Beach. Once again I only paid $3 for camping, but this time there isn’t any showers or electricity. No worries, the location of this campground more than makes up for it. I am right beside the Pacific Ocean, thus today the sound of waves will lull me to sleep.

Day 43 – From Costal Cliffs to Rolling Meadows - 127.38 km
Last night’s sleep wasn’t terrible by any means, but it wasn’t exactly as relaxing as I had hoped. The sharp winds from the ocean made it seem like my tent was situated within a wind tunnel. But no worries, I still managed to get enough rest to be up on my feet this morning, and that’s all that matters.

So far the coast of California has been much rockier than that of Oregon. Additionally, there are much taller rock cliffs which seem to just plummet into the water. It’s quite interesting riding your bicycle on a road where there is a 200 foot drop to the ocean just beyond the turn and no safety barrier. Kind of makes you think twice before taking that turn at top speed! Talk about a bad place for your brakes to fail.

Today’s road was not very interesting, luckily my iPod managed to saved me from boredom. The road hugged the coast for awhile where at times the wind would help me along by pushing me, while at others hinder me by pushing me back. There were a few decent climbs which I was not expecting, but I somehow managed to crawl up them. Afterwards the road pushed slightly inland where it passed through some flatter terrain. The rolling meadows were a nice change of scenery from the towering Redwoods as well as the rocky coast.

I must say that there are some interesting people here in California. Today in the morning while buying milk I saw a guy who looked exactly like the mad doctor from the “Back to the Future” movies. I so wish I could have gotten a picture, but he too looked a little crazy so I didn’t want to risk it.

I did however manage to shatter my previous top speed today. While on a downhill today I reached a speed of 78 km/h. So what if it was only for about two seconds, it was still fast! The wind is really nice when it’s at your back, not so when it’s hitting you from the front!

Currently I am camped at the Guala Point Regional Park campground. I am starting to feel the effects of the ridiculously high prices of southern California; today I paid a staggering $5 for a campsite as opposed to the regular $3 or $4! I only have 114 miles to go to get to San Francisco, so the next two days shouldn’t be too bad. I will be taking a day off in San Francisco to see the city, I figure I will have earned a break after 45 days!

Remember to check out my website for pictures!

Day 44 – The Road is Long and Winding - 137.65 km
Today in the morning, as you may recall from yesterday, I started off from the seriously overpriced (although very nice) Guala Point campground. I set off southwards once again. I stopped at a corner store to pick up my obligatory half box of cereal and one quart of milk for breakfast, then once again moved on.

I came upon a historical site called “Fort Ross”. It turns out that this fort was constructed by Russian settlers back in the 1800s as a base for their trading operations here in America. I had no idea that the Russians ever had a settlement here in America! The fort turned out to be awesome and a very worthwhile side trip. I got a bunch of great pictures there and a nice little break from cycling.

After Fort Ross I traveled over what seemed an endless cycle of ups and downs. Eventually I made it to the town of Bodega Bay. I occasionally use this list called the “Warm Showers List”. It is basically a list of people you can call to ask if you can spend the night at their house. It is exclusively by cyclists for cyclists. When I was checking this list out earlier I recalled that there was someone on it from Bodega Bay, and that they also owned a candy store in town. I figured I might as well drop in and say hello!

I walked into “Candy & Kites” and was right away asked where I was traveling from. I told them all the details and asked if they were in fact the people from the list. They were delighted that I had dropped by and even gave me a bag full of free salt water taffy! At this point I was kind of regretting that I had to push on! I tell you, some of the best salt water taffy on the coast; if you’re ever in these parts be sure to drop by here and try some!

From Bodega Bay the route pushes inward, becoming much hillier and hotter. In order to prepare myself for this tougher section of the road I bought a pound of delicious California cherries by the side of the road, which I snacked on while riding. The inland section proved to be much harder than I had supposed, and for all the wrong reasons! The road was indeed very hilly, but I wasn’t expecting was the very strong headwinds that I had the battle. Additionally, as opposed to being hotter it actually proved to be muc