The training begins

Greetings from Summerland, BC, Canada!

Alia and I arrived here a week ago, after farewelling our former home in Toronto. It was a sad farewell, and we will miss all our friends there. We were there since November 9, 2007, which seems so long ago now. In some ways it was a tough decision to leave, not just our 'home' but also the security of our jobs. But a few things have happened since then that only reaffirm to me at least that we've made the right choice. One is a severe illness that is affecting one of our close friends here in Canada; another was a visit to a local retirement home. Both things only serve to remind me that life is very, very short and transient, and whilst we all have responsibilities (many of you have families to support, for example), there are times it may be right to opt out of 'normal' life to partake in what this wonderful planet has to offer. As always, each to their own.

We certainly left plenty behind in Toronto, including kilograms of clothes. It's amazing how much I've accrued over the past few years.

Anyway, on to the mission at hand, should we choose to accept it.

We're staying a dear friend of the Parker family, Ellen. It's essentially the perfect person with whom to begin our adventure with. Just as a reminder, our 'adventure' will see us ride our mountain bikes from Jasper, Alberta to the US/Mexico border (in the US state of New Mexico) along the Great Divide bike trail. At that point (in New Mexico) we may ship our bikes to somewhere south of the drug zone, which is essentially northern Mexico, and then continue on in Mexico. Not sure I want to dabble in running the drug zone gauntlet...unless funds get tight of course.

The Great Diviode trail is 90% off-road, mainly on fire trail-type roads. We have detailed maps of the trail, which highlight everything from what turns to take at what mileage, through to nearby motels, campgrounds and bike stores. It lacks a complete list of nearby liquor stores, but rest assured I will have that completed once we're done. And you know I will, don't you...It will take us through Alberta (Canada), Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. Around 3000 miles of pain along the world's longest off-pavement bike trail. You can learn more about our trip at http://www.adventurecycling.org/

So, back to Ellen - this is an amazing woman who has climbed Everest, amongst many other amazingly challenging climbs, treks and hikes. Seriously. So, as a very active person, she's kindly organized plenty of bike rides for us whilst we've been here, gradually increasing the distance each day (the photo is one such ride).

Our most recent ride, which we undertook yesterday, was 45km from just west of Summerland (Faulder) to Osprey Lake, along the bed of a former railway line that once ran from Vancouver (the Kettle Valley Railway, or KVR). The benefit of riding along former railway beds is the (vertical) grade - just 1-2%. The negative is these grades are continuous and (seemingly) neverending. Alas, into a solid headwind, it canbe tougher than it appears, but we managed 10km/hr, which is a solid (early) effort. We'll need to do that carrying around 10kg each, so we still have plenty of work to do.

Still, a much better effort than our very first ride. Thinking I would start riding hard nice and early, I challenged myself to a rapid ascent up one of the local hills; suffice to say I ended up walking up half of it, with my tail between my legs. Lesson learned.

Our schedule has us here in Summerland until next Tuesday, at which point we fly to Vancouver for three days or so. After that, it's to Victoria, on Vancouver Island. Our first serious bike ride will begin Tuesday week, at which point we'll ride 280km from Courtney to Port Hardy (both on Vancouver Island), over a 6-day period. A challenging start but one I'm confident we can accomplish. I'll update you all again then.