Here I come Canada!!!!

This land is your land
This land is my land
From Bonavista
To the Vancouver island
From the article circle
To the great lake waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking,
That ribbon of highway
I saw above me
That endless skyway
I saw below me
That golden valley
This land was made for you and me

This is it!!!! One week and I officially leave to start my journey of a life time. I get to spend one amazing and incredible week in Edmonton with my brother his fiancé and my two very energetic nephews, which I can't be more excited about. From there I fly to Vancouver to embark on the adventure. The 24nd is the first official day of riding. We are heading to Mile Zero on Vancouver Island. Here we will spend the day and night and then ride back to the mainland to start the 72 day excursion. My stuff is packed, my bike is tuned, I’ve said my goodbyes and thank you’s and I officially can say I am ready. I will try and update facebook as often as I can with as much detail about the trip as possible. I wish you all could be there with me on this journey. Maybe one day you will. I wish everyone an incredible summer remember impossible is nothing. Here I come Canada get ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots and lots of love,

Steph:)

Ontario.......the windy city???

Training rides have been incredible the past couple of weeks. Now with school being finished all I have had to focus on is training and preparing for the trip. I've been working as often as I can to ensure I have a bit more money at the start of the trip. I've been hit by rainstorms three times, yet with the distance I've been riding I happen to ride right through it. As much as I hate it, its preparing me for the trip.

The one thing I have started to hate is the wind. My gosh is it awful. I have never known Ontario to be so damn windy. It has seemed that the past 4 rides I have encounted windy days. No matter the direction I face I always seem to be going into the wind.

I already have hilarious looking tan lines, from my cycling jerseys and my cycling shorts, which I can only imagine how worse they will get. I've defintyl encountered some laughter at my running clinics.

So within the next couple weeks I hope to cycling a few longer distances as well as keep up the smaller days of riding as well. I bike to work(s) and to running clinic as well as small average rides from 30 to 70km. The most so far has been 135km which was a really enjoyable ride. Let's hope I can squeeze in a few longer distances before I fly out west.

My packing list has been made, and a list of stuff to buy has been made. Lets hope that within the next 40 days I am able to buy everything that remains and take care of the little important things.

Super steph???

This past week has been incredibly busy...and next week isn't looking any better. Trying to balance both jobs and running clinic is alot more stressful then I originally thought. Having both of those as well as the normal stress from exams just really pushes me over the edge. I think I am in the need of a really good sleep and a very relaxing day down by the water, any takers???. Some social activity would be really good right now, since I find myself seculded so frequently lately, not by choice of course. But don't fear everyone I am still squeezing in cycles. I'll give you a little play by play with the past week and the upcoming week. Hopefully you can feel my pain.

Sunday: Run club - ran 8.5km.....cycled 65km
Monday: Class...Worked....and worked on take home exam
Tuesday: Donated blood....worked on take home...movies/sleepover
Wednesday: Ran with friend.....Ran with Run Club....worked on take home...celebrated roomates birthday
Thursday: Cycled 80km...Ran with run club
Friday: Worked on take home....work
Saturday: Cycle...work
Sunday: Run club...work
NEXT WEEK
Monday: Work
Tuesday: Cycle 100km
Wednesday: Run club...take home due...Cycle
Thursday: Exam....run club
Friday: Exam....work
Saturday: Work....cycle
Sunday: Run club...Work....cycle

On a side note I should be the aunt to my very first nephew within the next 10 days. So very very exciting. I don't even know how to feel.

69 days....

So here it goes. The final low down. The final week of class. Spring has arrived. The winter boots, and winter coats have disappeared. The spin classes have ended and cycling has begun outside. Running has continued (yet in desperate need of new shoes) and school is closing to its end as well. The final door of fourth year has almost closed. Within the next 69 days before I leave, I have a pretty hectic scheduale. I have 4 exams to write plus 4 days a week I will be instructoring a running clinic. Donating blood, volunteering for the final time, and helping with my soon to be nephew! I will also be working two jobs, cycling on the off days, saying goodbye to friends and family, creating final packing lists, organizing flights, packing the bike, logging still what I beleive is 1000km, enduring two big bike trips to prepare myself for the distance all while trying to have a social life. If anything fails let that be the social life, everything else seems to important right now. The closer this trip draws the more excited I get. I'm not even sure how to feel, I think theres too many thoughts both of excitment and of nerves. I think for now the best thing to do is just to keep on going, enjoying it all. Even the hectic stressful days ahead.

Update!!!

The Update:
- 13 days of Cycling
- 12 days of Running

I have now still 1553km to log before I leave in June. With my Bike now in St. Catharines I find this objective to be quite easier. I went on two long bike rides since my bike arriving on thursday.

First I went 32km was an amazing ride all along the welland canal at sunset, I saw a massive turkey. Like up to my waist in height. He was in the middle of the road and I felt it was my objective to get him off the road so I then got off my bike and walked over to him shooing him off the road. Twas a success. I still think it was quiet weird to see a turkey in St. Catharines.

The second ride I attempted today, didn't end with such great results. I attempted to ride 60km a nice loop out to beamsville and back. It started off well. A little cold but as the day went on it got quite a bit warmer. The wind was awful, riding into it and up hills was difficult but still managable. Roughly 20km into the ride I felt like I was having a tough time pedaling and could feel that I wasn't gaining as much speed as I intially had hoped. I looked behind to see that my back tire was completely flat. OH GREAT!!!!! By this point I was no where near St. Catharines, to be honest I was near the town of Jordan. I needed to find a gas station to pump it up to get me home at least. So I turned off my main strip where I was riding and start walking down a street which I had thought was a main street of Jordan, instead surrounded by fields and winnaries. I began to get erally worried. I was way to far from home to walk, didn't have enough money for a cab. Had no idea where the bus station if there was one was. And I was stuck walking in my cycling shoes. I decided I would head into the next business looking place and see if they could give me directions. So in I walked into a place called Upper Canada cheese company. I walked in asking for directions, which then led to these women believing I was too far away from home especially on bike and I looked way to worried. Therefore they offered me a ride back to St. Catharines. From here I could use a pump at a gasstation to get home. I was incredibly luck. This women wasn't even supposed to be at work today, she deicded to come in and help but was done around lunch time, hence when I arrived. So she drove me to St. Catharines and I couldn't thank her enough. She left me and I went to pump up my tire, to only find out that the tires on my bike need special pump, or an adaptor. GREAT!, so now I am at the opposite side of town, freezing and forced to walk in my cycling shoes. Awful news, I figured hey I'll walk downtown to the bike store pump up my tires. Ohhh No won't do that. I get there to find out the store has been moved!!!!! So I go to my last resort, THE BUS! I walk to the terminal ask the first bus if I can come on, bring my bike etc, she says nope. I was crushed, I decide to wait for another bus to see if a different driver would present different results. Sucess!!!! He offers to let me on and drives me back up to my way of town. This trip was scary, and from it I thought about alot of things, had a very discouraging afternoon and have begun to think that maybe i'm not cut out for TDC.........who know's.

a quote to keep us going.

To give anything less than the best is to sacrifice the gift

-Steve Prefontaine

a double dose

1. So this past weeekend, I went out purchased loads of stuff for my trip this summer. Became way more realistic to come home and just open up bag after bag of new toys:) I was able to pick up my bicycle, cycling shoes, cylcing shorts, cycling gloves, backpack, camelback, bike lock, head light, rain jacket and pants, sewing kit, patch kit, first aid kit, stuff bags, dryfit bags, journal, address book and I am sure other things which I can't imagine the name. None the less brough everything home over the past 3 days and feel in love with each and every belonging. The trip is defintly becomming a reality and I think I am finally becomming nervous. Sunday came and decided to test out the shoes. It was wonderful weather got nice and dressed and biked the northern part of town, the country aspect. Did a wonderful 25km felt like nothing at all. Felt like it was a good start to the training weeks again. Yet Monday came, and pure blizzard. Snow plows came out, ice on the windows, just devastating stuff to crush the dreams of wanting to cycle all week. We'll I guess its back to the spin classes for a few more weeks.

2. Learn to live with no regrets. Focus on tomorrow. Believe it is the truth. Actions speak louder then words. Stop questionning things. Stop overthinking. Go with your heart. FORGIVE!

4 months remaining

Gah!!!

So it's roughly four months until I leave for the journey of a life time. I've awaited the countdown for some time, and every time I get an email from TDC I almost pee with excitment! Im heading home this weekend to finally purchase the bike of my dreams, my shoes, gloves, pedals, etc. I know with each month drawing nearer the more excited I get for the overall outcome. Training as been going well. I have yet to do any rides outside, but there seems to be quiet a bit of snow and I'd rather not risk it. Instead I've been cycling at brock's spin classes, and running on the days when I can not make those classes.

Training thus far:
Cycling: 14 days of cycling which transfers to 230km. Which leaves a possible 1770km to go before the final 2,000 have been logged.
Frisbee: 4 games
Running: 4 days of running

Let's see how this next month holds up.

Training Underway

So with TDC in less then 6 months it has come to my conclusion that a bit of training needs to begin. It is recommened that you log 2,000km on bike before the start date in June. Who could blame you trying to hike it over the rocky mountains with no cycling under your belt. Well best of luck, is all I have to say. There has been a lot of recommened training recommondentations ie. spin classes, or swimming, running, anything to give your legs the cardio engery needed. I figured I have kept up with my runnign quiet a bit so I will keep doing that, but I also needed to step up the cycling bit therefore introduce SPIN CLASSES. I've decided I'll spin everyday and run ont he days when I can't make the spin classes because of previous arragements and run those days. Sometimes double the cardio will have been done because of intramurals so frisbee or volleyball, and it is subject to change in the warmer weather. For now!!!!!!Therefore some weeks have the potential to spin 5 days that week. I went to my frist two. They were amazing. It felt great and I definlty can understand where the leg power will come into play. I haven't yet heard back from how far on average the distance covered would be but by next monday I should know. Below here's the hectic schedual of spin classes.

Bike across Canada???...sure why not!!

With 2010 now here training will start to go underway. I plan to keep running of course multiple times a week, include the distance with warmer days. The other days when I do not run will be spin class days. To get a good balance of both. I plan to spin @ the gym from monday to thursday, and run friday to sunday. I need to be sure to log 2,000km from Janurary to June. Here's hoping the regime stays. None the less thought I would share the exciting news.....I finally found the bike, and the shoes. Both key components to have on this trip. I will be picking them up from a store back home in feburary and I couldn't be more excited.

The Bike:


The Shoes: