Ten Lessons Learned Cycling Canada for Cancer

    As I look back at our coast-to-coast ride for cancer, I am struck by how overwhelmingly positive the experience was. We had set forth with the intention of raising awareness and public action for ovarian cancer, in honour of my sister, not knowing how futile or effective our mission would be.  We had set forth, two seniors, one on a bike and one behind the wheel, now knowing it either of us had the ‘mettle’ to deliver our message one pedal and one community at a time.  We set forth not knowing if we could muster an enthusiasm for a country that yawned large and too familiar in our minds.  

     Now, 12,850 kms later, we can report that people were receptive to our mission, our stamina measured up, and Canada emerged a much more vibrant and diverse country than we had imagined. For a sight-seeing motorist, a cross-Canada trip can mean an endless re-run of forests, lakes and Tim Hortons; for a cyclist, it is an ever-changing tapestry . And, as you are outside and physically and emotionally engaged, the tapestry is not just seen, it is felt. Intensely felt.

Should it surprise you that cycling this country could be enjoyable, let me detail the lessons, specifically the crusty assumptions about Canada and Canadians, that were updated by this tour:

Assumption #1 – Canada is Boring

We know the drill – start your road or train trip in Vancouver and finish it in Calgary, because the rest is just flatland, rocks and trees and traffic snarls. Not true. Each section of Canada has its own beauty: Saskatchewan’s rippling grasslands, Northern Ontario’s jewel-like lakes,Ottawa and Montreal’s abundant pedestrian-and-cyclist-friendly parks and greenways and Eastern Canada’s heritage-proud farms and villages. From the seat of a bike, the view is spectacular.

Assumption #2 – Canadians are Boring

I have been guilty, like many of us, of assuming that the interesting and the ‘exotic’ live elsewhere. Not exclusively. Be prepared to meet bush pilots who happily fly in Canadian winters, mountain biking medical researchers, motorcycling ovarian cancer survivors, young backpacking Quebecois about to begin their police training, round-the-world trekkers pushing baby strollers, inner-city police skilled at kibbutzing with tourists, entertaining historians, student paleontologists showing off their most recent find – 6-million-year-old

brontosauruses buried in layers of sedimentary rock – visionaries who have turned churches into homes and breweries, fire halls into market cafes.

And then there are all our notable predecessors: the voyageurs, the redcoats, the Nellie McLungs,Viola Desmunds, Rose Fortunes, and Andrew McCullochs, the Ukrainian and Doukhobor settlers, the Algonquin traders and warriors, the captains of industry and commerce such as

Wawanesa, Irving, McCain….The strong fibre and imagination that has made this country and is propelling it forward – this could hardly be the feat of boring people.

Assumption #3 – Canada has no History

This assumption gets turned on its head the moment you peel back the layers of civilization on this continent. And while the most recent history – the one where Europe decided our resources were worthy of harvesting and then immigrating for – may have left its occasional mark (such as an overgrown cemetery or orchard, turn-of-the-century hotel, or abandoned mining car), Canada’s stories thicken as you move east. By Quebec you are passing villages established in the 17^th century, churches erected in the 18^th, and itinerant colonies – Champlain’s and Cartier’s- that date back to 1608. Peering into local prairie and Maritime museums – such as those in Etzikom, Alberta; Carlyle, Saskatchewan; or Doaktown, New Brunswick– reveal storied pasts, something every small community in Canada can boast. Immersion in larger museums – such as the Manitoba Museum, The Canadian War Museum or The Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa affirm the incredibly vibrant and multi-layered history of this country.

Assumption #4 – We Export our Humanitarianism

Canadians may have a reputation for humanitarianism overseas – as peacekeepers, medical personnel, project advisors – but this trip truly revealed how central good citizenship, care and consideration for

others, pride and volunteerism in one’s community is to our national psyche. People stopped to listen to our story, money was thrust into our hands, donations poured in on-line, others turned their cars around to help us. Campsites, libraries, visitor centres, farmers’ markets and press rooms – all became a speakeasy for our cause, thanks to the open-heartedness of our benefactors. There is goodness at the core of Canadians; a genuine, unreserved goodness.

Assumption #5 – Canada has a Stagnant Economy

Living in one of the more economically depressed areas of the country may lead you to believe that our economy is in the doldrums. A cross-Canada trip radically upsets this belief. At the time of our travel, every available field was being planted, every bridge in Ontario undergoing upgrading, every road in Montreal under construction, and every boat in the Maritimes out fishing. Rare was it to encounter those symptoms of unemployment we know too well in B.C. – homelessness, substance abuse, panhandling. Industry, prosperity and community wellness prevails in most other regions of Canada.

Assumption #6 – “It’s a Jungle Out There”

The degree in which a country respects ‘the law’ of human civility and decency is revealed pretty quickly to the cyclist. Canada gets thumbs up in this department. Drivers are rule-conscious (red lights, stop signs, road construction speed limits are all observed) and cautious when it comes to cyclists. At all times, they slowed down and gave me a wide berth (usually a whole lane) while passing or yielding, trucks often alerted me to their presence well before passing, and I was guided safely and preferentially through road construction. In communities, municipal and good-neighbour by-laws mean that gardens, lawns, yards, municipal parks and campgrounds, museums and public sites are all well maintained and free of nuisance, including unleashed dogs, and, wait for it, unscooped dog poop!

Assumption #7 – Canadians are Copyists, not Creators

While European standards of art, and American talent for

business and entrepreneurship has undeniably influenced our culture, innovation and originality can be considered hallmarks of our country as well. From our Group of Seven, to Leonard Cohen, to cadre of stand-up comedians, to leaders in architecture, space and aeronautical industry, to the French flair for art and design, we are increasingly celebrating what is distinctly Canadian in character.

Assumption #8 – Canadians are Caucasians, and definitely not Two-Spirited

Witnessing what looked like 100 different ethnicities waving one flag – Canada’s – on Canada Day in Ottawa opened our eyes to the celebrated diversity of this country. This is probably the most Canadian of our traits – tolerance and acceptance of others – knowing that each of us, of any race, religion or sexual orientation, can bring something to the table. Of course it hasn’t always been this way, but efforts to right past wrongs, and move towards a country that believes that respect and equal opportunity are inalienable rights of every Canadian citizen, is well under way.

In addition to re-arranging assumptions about Canada, this trip revealed a few things about myself, and our ‘modus operandi’.

Assumption #9 – Canada is big.  63 is old.

Still trying to wrap my brain around why the second largest country in the world was not an impossible challenge for a 63-year-old female cyclist who does not consider herself an athlete. Perhaps it started with the caminos – if you can walk across a European country, you can consider yourself a candidate for cycling across a North American one? This could be the beginning of something……

Assumption #10 – Bikes break down.  So do cars.

Cannondale bikes and Marathon Schwalbe tires rock! No mechanical failtures, no flat tires…these steeds were as reliable and rugged as one of my….Toyotas! And then there is our 2004 Dodge caravan – it was no slouch, either. What a boon not to be stuck waiting in Wawa for parts to arrive!!

For someone who never had across-Canada ride on her bucket list, this ‘unscheduled’ trip for cancer awareness yielded unexpected rewards and revelations. And as you may have noticed, enough to transform former ambivalence about my country into gushing praise. Sorry!