Author: JaBig

Remember how week 6 started off in a rather dull manner and ended with a long ride that I had to abandon because it was so challenging?

Week 7 was no walk in the park either but lord was it full of fun adventures and moments that I will forever cherish as you will read in this update.

The day before Week 7, a Sunday, I had abandoned my ride in Pokiok a small town in New Brunswick due to fatigue that was caused by high cross-winds, a distance that was too much to cover in one day and a bicycle that was too heavy to what I was used to.

However, I still had ridden 156km which is not bad considering the factors! At least, that is what I told myself to feel better about everything…

First order of business?

I had to finish the ride to Fredericton. A quick look at the map showed that it was a flimsy 60 km on a beautiful sunny and windless day. In my head it was a routine ride that I would get done in no time at all.

Thank to Mr J, the father for driving to Pokiok to resume my ride.

I was soooo confident that I did not even bother to eat properly and packed light as you can see in the photo below.

See how I was all smile and full of confidence?

Well, within the first 20 minutes the smug face disappeared and I wondered what the heck was going on. Why?

That ride was cocktail of hill after hill after hill. And these hills were not short either. I would climb for 20 minutes at a time and have a little downhill and climb again for 70 km!!! The route way over 60 km because the GPS miscalculated the distance.

I really should have taken a day break and attempted that ride on the following day but I had to take that day as on the Tuesday there was a crazy snowstorm that was on the weather predictions so Monday was the best day!

That was the first time, I rode such crazy hills that I was praying, almost crying, used foul language, ran out of water, ran out of excuses and just wondered why life was being unfair.

But what a sigh of relief when I saw the sign telling me that there was indeed a light at the end of the tunnel.

That ride was extra special because since the day I started The Big Journey, I saw the first cyclist. He or she zoomed past me as I was taking that Fredericton sign photo so by the time I saw him or her it was too late but I caught a blurred photo.

It was a big deal for me since for two months and a half or all of 2016 so far, I had not seen anyone on a bicycle as every single cyclist was hibernating except for trail riders who have fun on their fat bikes. I am talking about road and touring cyclists.

After overcoming hills that looked like mountains, I finally got to Fredericton tired and confused.

By the way, you hear me complain about hills a lot and the reason is that I am in fixed gear. Basically my bicycle only has one gear and I chose one that allows me to go fast on flats but I pay heavily on the hills as I am climbing them with a strong gear.

My advice is to read the fixed gear entry on Wikipedia to understand what my fuss is all about.

Why fixed gear across Canada? If you know me you already know the answer: why take the easy way when there is the hard way?

After a day of pedalling up and down hills as if I was on a roller coaster, I had to get my after-ride treat: chocolate of course.

I also did some stretching using a foam roller to soothe my muscles and it was the first time ever and I did not anticipate this level of extreme pain!

I hate pain so I bailed out and will try another time when I am in a better mood. But I do understand that if it hurts, it means that my muscles are very stiff and actually really need this weird contraption!

On Tuesday, the skies opened up and that snow storm really did fall fast and furiously and within hours everything that was snow-free the day before was covered in exactly 20 cm of this white powdery stuff!

Crazy huh? And to say that in some of parts of Canada not far from Fredericton, people were already in their shorts and t-shirts!

Eventually the snow stopped and surprisingly melted as fast at it fell and I hit the road again towards Saint John, New Brunswick and this was one of the most dramatic ride, yet again!

I will not even complain about hills anymore because it’s fast becoming a tired song for you dear reader but you have to understand that they are worse than the foul weather!

I would rather ride on a -30 C day without wind and hills than a beautiful 25 C day with hills or crazy winds.

I tried to be smart and take a shortcut and promptly got lost in a forest. I was so petrified because it was in the middle of nowhere and I expected at any time for some wild animal to pop out of nowhere and eat me alive!

And as you can see from the photo above, there was no more paved road but mud and mud and mud. In some instances I had to dismount and push my bike as I was stuck. And then my feet got stuck and I had to run as I was scared to get permanently stuck!

Notice how I am my own worse enemy. Or should I say my mind that plays tricks on me and comes up with the world’s worst case scenarios?

And out of nowhere, two samaritans appeared out of nowhere and were surprised to see me lost but resilient.

Evan and Corey, thank you so much for bailing me out from that forest and giving me good directions and a ride to the closest paved road. I owe you a lot!

I kept on riding and of course, there were more hills and hills… This time I walked them because I was just sick and tired of them LOL

At one stage, I was so thirsty and had run out of water and I prayed for water and out of the blue appeared a fountain of fresh water and its owner invited me to fill my bottles which I did! Talk about a miracle!

Eventually, I did get to Saint John way into the late evening and it was pitch dark. I don’t like riding after sunset but that adventure in the forest cost me two good hours.

I was tired and hungry and just wanted to get it over and done with.

But I got the world’s best welcome in Saint John thanks to my hosts!

A video posted by JaBig (@jabig) on Mar 17, 2016 at 8:17am PDT

And when I got inside their home, I even got a bigger welcome surprise!

I should mention that the ride to Saint John was my last ride in New Brunswick as I would have to cross the body of water into Nova Scotia another province after this journey.

New Brunswick is full of wonderful people and I had a warm welcome and amazing moments and I will write about this at a later stage but I was also looking forward to Nova Scotia and its adventures.

And thus ended Week oo7 🙂

Week 6 was an equally uneventful week as Week 5 as there was almost seven days of heavy snowfall in the regions so I stayed indoors and was just working on music and travel logistics.

I also put that “dead time” to good use by eating properly and sleeping since these are very essential to good rides.

Of course by eating I also mean indulging in chocolate since I am allowed to given that I am the one suffering everyday cycling across Canada, right? 🙂

While waiting for the weather to clear, I also ordered bicycle bags to carry my belongings since I wanted to be independent and need to depend on my support vehicle with all my luggage.

Below is what the bicycle looked like fully loaded. I probably have an extra 15 kg on it and as I will tell you later, it really did affect everything about The Big Journey!

By Sunday, the weather had calmed down or so I thought so in Grand Falls (Grand Sault in French) I got back on my bicycle on my way to Fredericton.

Here I am looking all futuristic and stuff without knowing that I was about to suffer like never before.

At first the ride was smooth and the bicycle was surprisingly light given the fact that I had way more weight on it than usual.

I was pedalling along all happy and impressed with myself at how fast I had the ability to adapt to riding such a heavy two-wheeled, human-powered vehicle.

Until I stopped for a quick second to drink some water…

BAM!!!! I almost got blown by the wind!

What was going on is very simple. I had the wind on my back and it was pushing me along and that is why the ride seemed sooo easy!

The wind was so strong that whenever I stopped, I had to lay low as I feared that it would blow me into the river. We are talking about 45 km/h winds with gusts of up to 70 km/h.

I got back on the bicycle and kept on pedalling while praying that the wind stayed at my back as otherwise I would be in deep trouble.

Did I even mention that I was trying to ride 200 km, the longest distance that I attempted so far on The Big Journey? So I had extra weight, crazy wind and I was aiming for an impossible long ride.

But I was in high spirit and would even stop to take some photos:

Naturally I was covered from head to toe as it was a freezing day and in such conditions, no part of my body is exposed to the elements as it could get bitten to pieces.

The most important landmark on my Grand Falls- Fredericton ride was the world’s longest covered bridge. I tried to cross it but the wind was so strong that I did not even bother.

The bike was rolling along smoothly with the wind on my back so I felt good and powerful

See the above map? It means that the wind was blowing South but eventually, I had to make a left after Woodstock and then that friendly wind became my foe as it was now a crosswind that proceeded to heavily slow me down to the extent that I knew for sure that there is no way I would make it to Fredericton before sunset

And to make matters worse, one road turned into a snow trail (in Summer it would be a gravel trail) and I had to dismount and walk for a good hour in deep snow.

I tried to pedal but eventually the trail went to ice (which I could cycle) to soft snow and my tires got stuck to the extent that the bike could stand on its own that’s how deep in the snow it was!

The fact that my bicycle was heavy and that I had been riding for over 8 hours did not help. I was just exhausted.

Luckily for me, my host in Fredericton got concerned and realised that I was not showing sign of life and offered to come and pick me up.

For the first time on The Big Journey, I dropped out of a ride because I was too exhausted and there is no way I was going to make it my destination.

I felt like a loser but like I will explain in the next update, quitting that day was a blessing in disguise so make sure to read about Week 7.

In a small community called Pokiok, I sat down exhausted and defeated and was out breath, motivation, strength and everything that one can think of.

I held my head down in shame although deep down I knew that I had been way too ambitious to try and ride the longest distance ever 200 km (my average ride is 100 km so I attempted double that) on a very windy day and with a lot of new weight that I was not used to.

In the van on the way to my host’s home, I kindly asked him if we could stop by a supermarket so that I could get myself my favourite brand of chocolate since in victory I celebrate with chocolate and in defeat I get over my shortcomings with chocolate.

When I looked at my travel log, that night, something important caught my attention. Even if I had quit that ride that day, I still had travelled 156km which is the second-longest distance that I have cycled on The Big Journey (the longest was only 160km). Yes, I was aiming for 200 km and stopped at 156km but that alone is not bad if I put ego aside for a quick second!

And that was the end of Week 6, a very uneventful six days with a soul-stressing seventh day!

Last week was adventure-filled as I did not ride much waiting for the weather to clear.

There was so much snow that the only thing to do was just to embrace it instead of crying about it.

But first! I got some amazing press coverage in Edmundston’s weekly French newspaper.

That was pretty exciting! Click on the second image for a bigger image. Sorry the article is in French and I don’t have time to translate it unfortunately.

This week, I finally hit the road again and I was blessed with the best weather so far although to you it may seem intense

Yes, -37C (-34F) looks intense but there was zero wind, zero cloud in the sky and zero snow on the road which meant that I was able to ride fast and effortlessly and got to my destination an hour ahead of schedule.

It actually messed up my plans because had I known earlier that such favourable conditions were going to make the trip easy, I would have ridden farther!

By the way, when it’s this cold, I stay warm from the body heat that I am generating from the pedalling. So far, I have never ever gotten into a situation where it was too cold to ride and I can safely say that I won’t either since Spring is around the corner and temperatures are rising.

The ride was so beautiful as I mentioned earlier…

I even rode by McCain, the number one maker of frozen French fries in Canada.

I eventually got to my destination, an amazing water fall in Grand Falls, the aptly-named town.

But look at this…

As I rode into town, I wondered why I was suffocating. I was so hot that I could hardly breathe. A quick look at the local weather told me why…

-8C (17F)! What a weather difference in the space of three hours and 65 km (40 miles)! It felt like a Summer ride although when I started Winter cycling, I could barely survive those temperatures and now I almost ride naked in them!

During the ride, I encountered a pain that’s always there when I cycle. I asked the Internet what was that all about and it turns out that my seat is too high therefore my leg gets over extended hence the pain.

I lowered the saddle and will report on the results when I resume the riding.

To kill time, I watched House of Cards and watched all 13 episodes in a weekend since I don’t know when I will have access to fast Internet again to watch shows and movies on Netflix.

All that eating lots of chocolate of course!

I also learned how to use my new GPS unit that was sponsored by Andre Gingras, a gentleman from Montréal who owns ARG Sports, the exclusive distributor for Canada of highend European bicycle brands as well as a complete line of Italian bicycle gears and shoes. Him and his company have been very supportive and I appreciate the fact that he was able to expedite it to me which was amazing!

That’s it from a pretty uneventful week although behind the scenes there was a lot of work done as you will read next week so stay tuned!

As always, thank you for your support and thank you to all who are contributing financially because I will tell you this: crossing Canada by bicycle in Winter is an expensive expedition!

The fourth week, a month on the road, started off in Edmundston after a 160 km ride from Rivière-du-Loup and it was full of adventures as I wrote previously.

This week, I spent it in Edmundston as I could not find good weather to keep going and I also decided to ditch my car and travel unsupported because this trip is starting to become very expensive and I am burning cash so fast.

So, I will get bags and attach them to my bicycle and keep cycling the bare essentials hoping that the weather plays its parts and gives me a break that I much need.

On my first day here, I met up with Mr Cyrille Simard, the mayor whom I met online after he welcomed me to Edmundston and politely corrected my typo (he would eventually tell me that everyone mistypes his city’s name so I did not feel that bad)

@JaBig Bienvenue à #EdmunDston 🙂

— Cyrille Simard (@cyrillesimard) February 21, 2016

 And so, I met up with him the first day and the day after, we had a more formal conversation.

Like I mentioned, I returned the next day for an official visit as he also signed my witness statement, a document that tells Guinness World Records that I was really there.

I was pleasantly surprised by the way this mayor is looking to the future to attract young people and keep locals in town. I wish him well.

After I left city hall, I crossed the street and went for a quick interview at Le Madawaska, a prominent weekly newspaper. I spoke about my tour, the reasons behind it and my thoughts of the city so far even if it had only been 48 hours!

These two ladies are probably the most fascinating people I met in Edmundston. They’re Stephanie and Kristine. Stephanie founded Rehab Night, an events promotion agency that organises dance parties that attract over 3000 from all over the Maritimes.

Kristine, a long-time friend of hers, just joined her as her assistant and the production agency’s first 2016 year event is scheduled in March featuring a DJ from Montréal that I know. What a small world!

Stephanie is only 22 and is already on top of the game! I cannot even imagine what she will be up to in ten years when she turns 32. World domination anyone? Thanks for the Rehab Night beanie! I will adorn it with pride 🙂

We talked for hours and we go hungry so they took me to a restaurant to try out a local pancake called ploye which is eaten with meat or brown sugar.

Let me tell you: it’s filling! It’s actually very good food for cycling since it can be eaten fast and it takes forever to break down. Most people hate that but I like to ride on a very full stomach!

Another day, another chain problem. Joey, a mechanic at Jessome’s La Source du Sport looked at it and put a chain tensioner that should keep the chain in place.

It’s insane how the chain issues are the ones that are slowing me down and bothering me the most. But at least they’re easy fixes!

This week the weather has been terrible. Everything all at once: rain, snow, freezing rain, fog and unsalted roads which makes a very dangerous travel cocktail.

So, I am going nowhere.

I ate this for dinner. It’s a regional delicacy and it’s basically tender beef. Meat without any steroids. Organic meat as locals call it! I am not the most adventurous person when it comes to food but I have to get used to it!

France, my wonderful host and Chantal, her friend took me on a road trip where there was an ice hockey meet on a frozen lake! I had a great time there and drank the world’s most disgusting hot chocolate. I could not believe how bad it was. Luckily, it was cheap.

We also went to Grand Falls where there is a mesmerising freezing water fall. It’s something out of a Disney movie.

On the other side of that frozen river, probably 2km, is the United States!

The next day, Sunday, was more sightseeing…

France D’Amour, my wonderful host, is not fan of photographs but I managed to take one with her.

And that was week four! No cycling at all and a lot of tourism. I don’t mind, it’s part of the trip. That is why I gave myself an extra three months of this Canada bicycle crossing.

I want to be able to stick around some of the places where I enjoy myself the most because while Canada is a very beautiful country, its the people that make it exceptional and so far New Brunswick is exceeding its reputation for friendliness and hospitality!

More adventures coming soon. Thank you for reading and until the next update!

My last update ended on a sad note as I had to cancel one ride due to terrible weather that made road conditions very dangerous.

Week 3 was spent mostly indoors as I waited for the situation to improve as there was a combination of freezing rain, heavy snow, high winds, and very low temperatures (-30 C, -22F).

I don’t mind extreme temperatures but high winds and freezing rain make cycling a hazard and like I said, this is an adventure not a suicide mission 🙂

By the way, if you enjoy what my adventures as I cycle across Canada and would like to support my Guinness World Record attempt, please make a donation by clicking here? You may even donate as little as $1 as everything counts to keep me warm and safe. You may also send any amount of your choosing by Paypal to jabig@jabig.com Thank you!

Towards the end of week 3, out of the blue, everything improved and I could get back in the saddle again.

So I left from Québec City where I had been stranded for almost a week.

But first and foremost, I need to thank Collège Notre Dame du St Laurent for allowing me to keep my car there while I rode towards Rivière-du-Loup (eventually, Mr Martineau one of the people in charge drove my car all the way there which was meaningful gesture!)

Québec City to Rivière-du-Loup is a 200 km ride along Route 132 (the longest highway in Québec that runs South of the Saint-Laurent river) and there is no way I could ride that great distance in one day as I would have been caught in the dark and all of you fans and friends forbid me to ride after sunset 🙂

So, I stopped halfway for the night in a municipality called Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies with a population just under 1000 people!

The best feeling in the world after a long freezing ride is no longer a very hot shower but to sit in front of a fireplace that warms up the mind, body and soul.

I decided that night that when I buy a house, a fireplace will be a MUST!

Also, my host’s flatmate played me a tune on his guitar and there we were in the middle of rural Canada on a cold night listening to the sounds of Bossa Nova.

How epic is that?

The next morning I got back on the bike but first, I needed to take care of some serious business an hour into the remaining journey to Rivière-du-Loup

I am not a big eater but I had no choice. I had almost 100km to ride and I did not know if I would come across decent places to eat and so at the first restaurant, I had what for me is a mega breakfast!

There was a groupe of senior citizens that were on their monthly brunch meetup and they were fascinated by the fact that I was crossing Canada by bicycle in the middle of winter. They asked me millions of questions and they were particularly amazed by my heated soles that prevent my toes from freezing.

And then I hit the road.

The sun was out but so was the wind. The temperatures were so cold that I had to stop every hour and seek shelter in any sort of business if I was lucky to come across one to give myself 3 minutes to warm up again because it was just that cold.

The route was a climb all the way to Rivière-du-Loup. I am in fixed gear (one gear) and it was slightly challenging but a piece of cake compared to what awaited me a few days later as you will read soon.

So that made the journey tiring and long but it’s what The Big Journey is all about, right? But I still enjoyed myself and the scenery as you saw from previous pictures.

At long last, I arrived at Rivière-du-Lup just as the sun set. It was so cold that everyone who venture outside was running to get from one building to the next or to a car or bus.

I was welcomed by Aurore (right) and Laura (centre) who kindly let me stay with them for two nights. It was supposed to be one but the weather got so bad that I had to stay in an extra day.

But no matter the bad weather, I had the time to tour the small city (population 10 000).

I also had my bicycle looked at by Cyclo Expert, a local shop and they gave me a new chain as the new one that I had was already worn from all the salt and dirt which makes me understand why few people cycle in winter and why the few that do ride bikes that are easily replaceable!

Thank you Serge! 🙂

My Rivière-du-Loup hosts were amused at how I washed dishes in my cycling clothes. It’s a personal principle for me to wash dishes when someone offers me food. That is my contribution. It does not matter if I am some famous DJ, it’s just good manners!

I even got a private concert from one of my hosts but she will kill me if I post the video so you’ll have to do with the photograph. She sang me her own rendition of “Stand By Me” 🙂

On Sunday February 21st at 7:20am on a grey day with rain and snow, I left Rivière-du-Loup towards Edmundston.

(Aurore took the above photo as I was leaving. She was amused by how I had a banana in my back pocket)

That was to be a long epic ride, the longest daily distance so far. 160 km (100 miles).

Well, let me tell you something. This ride was not a Sunday pleasurable outing.

It had rain, slight freezing rain and NEVER-ENDING hills. It was the first time in my riding life climbing for almost two hours straight.

The hills were not that steep except at the end but since the roads were slippery and I am in fixed gear, my back tires kept spinning when I stood to pedal and I could not remain seated because I did not have enough power and I want to spare my knees.

I will even complain about the temperatures. They were mild at 0 C which honestly feels like summer. But I was overdressed so I was sweating and when I started going downhill all that moisture froze and I got so cold LOL

BUT!!!

It was the most beautiful ride so far. It was challenging but the sights were so breath-taking that I was in awe with God’s creation. I did not take many photos because while climbing, I could not afford to stop as I would lose my momentum and while going downhill I could not stop either because I was going so fast to catch up on lost time during the ascent.

But then one peculiar part of this ride caught my eye and I slammed on the brakes, pulled a u-turn and had to go closer to inspect what in the world was going on and try and make sense of it all.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the flags of Canada, Québec and USA on a bridge.

I thought to myself “That would be a weird border”

And then I stopped because I realised that it was INDEED a border!

There sits this bridge in the middle of nowhere. It’s less than 100 m and on one end is Canada where I stood and on the other was the United States!

The border is unattended although I was told that there were multiple cameras there so any attempt to cross would send the American border agents and I did not want to get shot so I politely stayed in Canada.

As you will read later though, I would get myself in trouble LOL

If you look at the route, you’ll notice that all along, I kept riding along rivers that separate both countries. It’s no big deal to many but to me it was awesome!

In a deli along the way in a town called Pohénégamook, after I ate lunch I wanted something sweet and I stumbled across a M&M chocolate bar. I did not not know that they now made them and I had to find out about it in the middle of nowhere!

Naturally, I was too curious and got one and it was delicious!

Eventually, I crossed into New Brunswick the ONLY Canadian province that is bilingual. What is also cool is that I entered a different time zone and my phone adjusted automatically.

You’ll notice that this photo is taken from the wrong side of the road. Sometimes, I do that since it’s better for me to see what’s coming in front of me than what’s coming behind me. I do that especially in the wind since I can’t hear anything.

Perhaps I should invest in an uncool rearview mirror for bicycles!

Then I got myself into real trouble…

As I rolled into Edmundston, I saw another bridge. I could not believe that the border was right in the middle of a city!

So I rode close to the bridge to take this photo but what I did not know was that I had just left Canada and was in the “no man’s land” and so when I tried to get back on the road, I came across the Canadian border and I did not think much of it and kept pedalling.

Then I had a scream of someone telling me to stop. I did and I went towards him and he asked me why I was trying to come into Canada without showing my papers.

I replied that I actually came from Rivière-du-Loup and was taking some photos. He did not seem to understand how I was from Montréal and was in Rivière-du-Loup and yet had just came from the USA.

By the way, if you enjoy what my adventures as I cycle across Canada and would like to support my Guinness World Record attempt, please make a donation by clicking here? You may even donate as little as $1 as everything counts to keep me warm and safe.You may also send any amount of your choosing by Paypal to jabig@jabig.com Thank you! 

I told him that I had just stopped to take a photo and that was it and I did not even have a passport. He thought that I was trying to come in and dodge customs because I did not have valid papers.

My selfies saved me… I told him that I could show him my photos of how I rode all the 160 km and so it was impossible for me to come from the USA. I also advised him to check his security cameras that surrounded the building as they’d show that 3 minutes before I came in, took a photo and that was it.

He let me go and that was the welcome that I got as I got into Edmundston LOL

Tired, hungry and amused by the border incident. I had made it to Edmundston 160 km (100 miles) later.

It was the most tiring ride of the journey so far and after leaving the province of Québec into New Brunswick, I am now comfortable to say that I am able to get The Big Journey done until the end.

Stay tuned for the next update as I met the mayor and so many prominent local citizens that make this small city so vibrant!

By the way, if you enjoy what my adventures as I cycle across Canada and would like to support my Guinness World Record attempt, please make a donation by clicking here? You may even donate as little as $1 as everything counts to keep me warm and safe. You may also send any amount of your choosing by Paypal to jabig@jabig.com Thank you!

The plan with week two was very simple. Ride from Québec City towards Halifax or Moncton. But first, I had to ride a 200 km journey to Rivière-du-Loup, because the overall segment is pretty long and I will do it in two weeks.

The days before Monday February 8th, there were some pretty strong weather alerts but I did not think much of them as they were forecast for Québec City, the city that I was leaving.

What mattered to me was the conditions on the route and at my destination.

So here, I was at the beginning of the ride

I caught a ferry towards Lévis to join Highway 132 that would take me all the way to Rivière-du-Loup.

That is Québec City from a distance…

And that is where all hell broke loose.

The winds were just too strong and were pushing me into traffic and I was moving so slowly that after some quick mental calculations, I realised that at that speed, I would make it to my destination way into the night and I have a rule: I don’t ride in the dark. (I did it once in Summer and it was a nightmare. In Winter it would be suicide mission).

I took the decision to turn around and abandon that day’s ride.

Here is the GPS route

As you can see, I did not go far. I was frustrated but first and foremost, safety first is the motto.

And the following day, there has been a heavy snowstorm and the same the day after so now, I am just sitting waiting for the roads to clear and the alerts to be lifted.

As I sit here, I have to rethink my strategy. Given the strong winds, I have to ride shorter distances on a daily basis which means that I have to scratch all my accommodation plans as the city stops have changed and I DEFINITELY now need a full time road manager to help me carry my luggage and equipment by car.

Furthermore, I am so behind schedule (not that I am racing against time) that I have to overlook some cities in Eastern Canada.

Stay tuned for the latest updates. For now, I am reworking the plans and cannot wait to get back on the bicycle.

 

Week 1 started on January 31st 2016 when I started of The Big Journey in Montréal with my two witness as per Guinness World Records requirements.

Meet Andrew Kelly and Maria Sanz, the only people that were present at the beginning and the last Montrealers that I will see in a long while.

My first ride was from Montréal to Trois-Rivières, a city located halfway to Québec City.

The ride was long but pleasant as I had the wind on my back. (See the GPS itinerary here)

Two friends met me halfway at Berthierville to deliver me a warm lunch which was very welcome by my hungry tummy

Then I carried on.

Along the way, I would make some quick stops to snap some photos but had to get back on the bike right away to stay warm.

This view completely blew my mind. This is the frozen Saint-Laurent River. See the two tiny dots on the horizon. That’s a couple that was casually taking a stroll on it! You can even see the footsteps. I wanted to take my bicycle and ride down there but I chickened out!

The couple in question as they got closer to me. I was so fascinated and quite scared for them. Who does that? But I guess that is a funny question coming from a guy on his way to cross Canada by bicycle in the middle of winter!

I eventually got to Trois-Rivières and I am afraid to say that there is nothing much to say about this city except that I have very good friends there that I was fortunate to see.

To be honest, I did not even take one photograph there although I admit that I was not motivated to thoroughly discover the municipality.

Two days later, I left Trois-Rivières towards Québec City.

Again, I was lucky. The weather was good (it was VERY cold but sunny and with no snow on the roads) and the wind behind me so I was flying.

I saw ice fishing huts on the frozen river… FYI, most of Quebec’s inter-provincial roads run along the Saint-Laurent River which is great scenery but very cold.

Are those volley-ball fields on ice? Yes! How do you even play that?

Québec, the province, has so many churches it’s amazing. I have never been in a place with so many of them in my life!

Halfway in the middle of NOWHERE, I came across a restaurant (Restaurant St-Alfred) that served GREAT food. I had a little chat with the chef and when I asked about desserts, he made me this monster that was amazing.

After this yummy lunch, I was full of energy so I raced towards Québec City and not even 20 minutes later, I was gathering speed to climb up a hill and not even two seconds into it, I heard a funny noise coming from the chain and I immediately knew something was wrong.

Before I could even stop, the chain snapped and broke off.

That was the end of my ride right there as I don’t have the tools or knowledge to repair a chain. What puzzled me was that my chain was less than a week old and was told that it would last me a good 5 000 km.

Anyway, I was stranded and after 5 hours waiting in a warm Mc Donald’s in Donnacona. Thank goodness for mobile phones as I used that time to reply to unanswered emails and messages. (See the GPS details of the ride)

Eventually my bike got fixed and I returned from the point I broke down and finished the ride to Québec City (See the GPS ride details).

And I even made new friends in Québec City…

And of course, I ended up my week’s ride with a treat!

Then it was time to call it a week…

 

This is how I dress for extreme cold weather. I am talking about down to -20C (-4F). Just one base layer, one mid-layer (a jersey) and a hardshell jacket.

With just this, I can cycle all of Canada. When it gets below the above temperatures, I just add an other layer between the base layer and the jersey and I am good.

At the bottom, I just wear some long johns over padded cycling shorts, long warm socks and cycling bibs.

The hardest part is keeping my fingers and my toes warm.

I have some sort of poggies that I put on the bike to protect my hands from the wind and I just wear normal gloves. When it really gets cold, I will throw in there a Zippo hand warmer to heat it up a little.

For my feet, I wear cycling boots. They are warm but not my toes get cold fast so I have had to get heated insoles too.

I have two helmets: a normal road cycling helmet for when the weather is reasonable and a ski helmet for when the temperatures are too freezing and my head needs to retain heat.

I protect my eyes with glasses and googles with clear, dark or tinted lenses depending on the conditions.

 

And for finally, the mode of transportation,,,

This is a Cinelli Mash SSCX bicycle set up as a fixed gear. This will be the two-wheeled vehicle that I will ride across Canada on The Big Journey. Initially, I had three bikes in mind but my Guinness World Record attempt rules stipulates that it must be done with just one.

I still have not come up with a name for this bike so any suggestions are welcome!