For love of country, travel, adventure… and cycling!

It didn’t happen all at once, this dream of mine. Maybe it began with that feeling of freedom as a child, my insides screaming “Wheeee!” whenever I rode my bicycle. Family bike rides. Leaving my own 7th birthday party because a bike ride sounded like fun. Maybe it started when Terry Fox made us all dream of crossing Canada on foot. Maybe it was when I began riding centuries for charity and saw how much distance one could really cover by simply pedaling. Or maybe the real dreaming began when I picked up a copy of Alastair Humphrey’s Moods of Future Joys and read about his own four-year cycle journey around the globe. What I do know is that once I started collecting pictures of other people’s touring setups, watching their videos, reading their blogs, creating screensavers full of other people’s cycling adventures, the wheels were in motion: It wasn’t a matter of IF anymore, it was a matter of WHEN.

In the summer of 2016 I began riding my bicycle from Tofino, British Columbia, and ended my ride three and a half months and over 7000 km/4500 miles later at Cape Spear, Newfoundland. That ride changed my life, showed me what was possible within myself, proved the naysayers wrong, gave me an even greater love for my home country of Canada, and was the most fun I’ve ever had.

In the summer of 2017 I set out again, this time riding the west coast of the U.S., starting in Vancouver, British Columbia, and rode nearly 3000 km/1800 miles to the U.S.-Mexican border at San Diego/Tijuana.

Before embarking on my first adventure I was told “people don’t do this sort of thing,” and then “well they certainly don’t do it alone,” and then “it’s dangerous for a woman to do this sort of thing alone.” While on my tour I heard “you’re riding over there? You’re not going to be able to make it.” With that said, I received far more encouraging words than I did disparaging. People were incredibly supportive and excited for me wherever I went. But the doubt can creep in for us all sometimes, so I bring my story to you to say: This sort of thing is done all the time, people cycle alone all the time, and you can bet some of those solo travelers are women!

Hope you enjoy!